Sermon - "All for One and One for All", by Pastor Ruth L. Foss, April 19, 2009, Suncook United Methodist Church, Suncook, NH

Acts 4:32-35
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Reading of Acts 4:32-35

The Lord be with you
And also with you
Let us pray

Prayer:
Creator, Sustainer, All Mighty God, you who created all humankind in your image. We have come into your house to worship you this morning and hear your word. Give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart that is open to your calling. May your word be heard through me or in spite of me. May the mantle of Your Holy Spirit fall down upon us gathered here today. May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing to your our Rock and Redeemer. Speak Lord, Your servants are listening.

I was doing some research for one of my classes and I wanted to know about communal living. What is it about this way of living that attracts people? What is the benefit of living in such a way? Why is it that the early church lived in these communities? Some people today call them “intentional communities”. What I found was very interesting. It made me wonder why more people don’t live in such a community. It seemed pretty straight forward to me. I mean can you just imagine…everyone living together as one big family? No social hierarchy…no one having more than another…everyone living for others. What a concept!

These communities, as we see them today…came out of the Utopian theory. They were very big in the 60’s and 70’s but they are making a comeback today. It was all about “repersonalising” a society that, post-WWII, had become increasingly about materialism. It idealizes social unity and is based on an idea of “heaven on earth”, or happiness in the present. (Thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven) Everything is done with a sense of community. Everyone works together for the common good. If someone needs childcare, they look within the community in order to fill that need. They help each other instead of trying to “outdo each other.”

But…we can see that this is not a new theory. It was actually practiced in the early church. It worked for them and it can work for us…as long as we abide by the rules. Unfortunately…our human nature gets the best of us and we begin to think in societal standards and not God’s purpose…our Creator’s plan for our living out our faith together.

Society would have us living like drift wood on the sea. It tells us that we are loners, we need to take care of ourselves first, and we are individuals with our own thinking, living, issues, problems and possessions. But…Jesus had another plan for us…by living this way we have no way against the tide…when the current picks up, we scramble to keep up with it (kind of like keeping up with the Jones’s or the Smith’s, or the Foss’…well you get what I am saying) and when we finally reach that still water, we are afraid and it feels strange because we spend our lives fighting against the current. In the passage from Acts this morning…we see how the first church lived in community with each other. {Everything they owned was held in common}

There was no on in need. Everyone was “Their brother’s keeper.” There was more than enough of everything because everything was shared with the community. When we accept Christ as our Redeemer and Savior, we are unified with Christ and one another. We become one family which makes our witness stronger. We become one church under Christ’s rule and guidance. We, as Christians, need to live more like the early church and stop living for ourselves and live for the common good…by doing so…we strengthen our witness to the world. {All for One and One for All}

Ecclesiastes 4 tells us that “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” When we live in community we are there for each other. We carry each other’s burdens so no person walks alone. {All for One and One for All}God has called us to live differently that what society tells us.

There was not one needy person in the early church community. They realized that everything they had did not actually belong to them. They realized that all they had {and we have} the blessings that they {and we} received are because of Jesus’ redemptive gift of the Cross...all blessing flow down from the Cross…from the blood that was spilt on Calvary’s hill. This gift…this blessing…goes on as we share in His ministry…His life lives on through us as we share with one another.

The disciples realized…they understood…God’s gift of grace and blessings to them. They also understood that these gifts from God were not to be hoarded but shared with those in need. They…and we…had…and still do today…a responsibility to be like Christ to the world and carry on His ministry of grace, hope and love to others. They gave it all to God, from which it came. They weren’t concerned with building a bigger church (that would happen with time) or to have more “programs” within the church. They wanted to build the family of god by sharing what they had. They cared about others and wanted no one to be in need. {All for One and One for All} The first church realized that God wanted, and still does, them, and us, to be a community with Him and with one another. God has provided all we need…and then some…so that we can live in community with each other not as secular individuals grasping at the brass ring for our own comfort. {All for One and One for All}

I would like to end my sermon with a song from, I think, the 70’s by the Youngbloods. It is a song that embodies living together and living for each other.

{Get Together by the Youngbloods}

You and I hold the key to the door. Which door will you open?

AMEN