Book of Acts Sermon Starters Week 4

Background

Today’s passage features two essentials of Christianity: repentance and social responsibility. Repentance is the prerequisite for personal salvation: remorse over sin and sincere faith toward Jesus Christ. Social responsibility demonstrates our compassionate love for God (and creation) and neighbors. A prickly tension sometimes arises over the latter.

The culture surrounding the early church was communal, ours is not. The American rugged individual persona, endemic in our culture, may hinder our ability to remember the communal benevolence practiced by the early Christian church.

Could it be that the purpose of repentance is to redirect our view from self-centered navel-gazing to compassionate consideration of others? Take time to explore the implications of repentance and social responsibility for both the first-century and twenty-first-century church.

Repentance

Simply said, repentance is the act of turning from sin to God. Theologians commonly describe repentance as a complete change of heart, mind, and will. Some note that this change pertains to four things: a change of mind respecting God, ourselves, sin, and righteousness. Our perspective changes when we turn toward God in faith. Repentance is intertwined with faith in God's mercy and forgiveness of sin.

Peter's preaching on the Day of Pentecost convicted the consciences of many in the crowd. The resulting remorse over their sin had one remedy: repentance that included baptism. This baptism had two new features: (1) it was administered in the name of Jesus Christ; and (2) it was associated with the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Baptism in water was an outward demonstration of faith in Jesus, whom the convert professed as Lord and Savior. Baptism in the Spirit was an inward work of regeneration.

Social Responsibility

Since the 1970s, social responsibility and business ethics have become common considerations in the business world. Ideally, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) requires businesses to be accountable for any impact they have on the environment, consumers, employees, stakeholders and communities. When CSR is rightly employed, public interest becomes intertwined with the business's decision-making. Such action leads to a triple bottom line: People, Planet, and Profit.

What about the church? What's our take on corporate social responsibility initiated by local congregations? Acts 2:37-47 rehearsed the early church's embrace of social responsibility, a concept first introduced centuries earlier during Moses' lifetime! (See Deuteronomy 15.)

In two places in Acts, Luke comments about the social responsibility practiced by the early church community: "all who believed were together and had all things in common" (2:44); and "there was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold…[and] laid it at the apostles' feet." (4:34-35)

Luke's summary of the social responsibility practiced by first-century Christians is an echo of Deuteronomy 15:1-11 where God's law directs Israel to "grant a remission of debts" every seventh year. (15:1) The passage says further, "There will, however, be no one in need among you…" (15:4a) and "If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of your towns…do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbor." (15:7) Some refer to this act of sharing as Cooperative Commonwealth.

The basic point of the latter part of the Acts 2 passage is simple: share willingly with those in need.

For more on responsible living, see Everything Must Change by Brian McClaren

Notes for Acts 2:37-41*

• Verses 36-41 are the conclusion of Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost. Peter's sermon set precedent in several areas.
  • It was a public affirmation that the Crucified One is also the Messiah spoken of by the prophets.
  • It established a pattern for the emerging church -- repentance and baptism followed by the discernable activity of the Holy Spirit. This pattern may be observed repeatedly (Acts 8:16, Acts 10:48, Acts 19:5). For a United Methodist Understanding of Baptism, see By Water and the Spirit, approved by the 1996 General Conference.
  • The sermon demanded an immediate response. Three thousand people welcomed his message and were baptized on that day.

Notes for Acts 2:42-47*

From this brief snapshot of the emerging church we learn several things.

• Their common life was characterized by:
  • Teaching/learning -- they devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching (Acts 2:42).
  • Fellowship -- they found it important to spend a great deal of time with each other (Acts 2:42, 46).
  • Prayers -- prayer was extremely important to this group (Acts 2:42).
  • Breaking bread -- commentaries are unclear about whether the writer meant Eucharist or table fellowship or a combination of both (Acts 2:42, 46).
  • Shared possessions and the equitable distribution of goods -- initially, this group pooled its resources and provided for the needs of all who were a part of the new community (Acts 2:45-47).
• These early believers continued to embrace a Jewish identity -- they spent much time together in the temple (Acts 2:46).
• Visit www.textweek.com for a wealth of additional online resources for this text.

Sermon Notes

Beyond Belief. Peter urged his Jewish audience to repent and to be baptized. Both were unheard of for people who thought of themselves as God's chosen people by birth. Repent for what? And baptism? That was normally reserved for converts to Judaism. All of this coupled with the baptismal formula Peter used: in the name of Jesus!. Weeks before, at the insistence of a crowd much like this one, Jesus had been condemned to die as a common criminal. Under such circumstances, baptism in the name of Jesus, the Crucified One, was a radical public affirmation of faith and an irreversible break with an old way of life.

Contrast the radical demands of the good news of Jesus Christ with some popular ideas about faith. How often have you heard people say "I believe in God" or "I believe in Jesus Christ," indicating their identification with Christ and the church? Peter's sermon suggests that there is more to being Christian than just believing in the existence of God. Help your congregation understand the importance of repentance that leads to changed lives.

Putting the Sermon Together*

What Is the Abundant Life? I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10). We live in strange times when popular theology suggests that God has blessed those who have too much and has not blessed those who struggle to find bread. But what is the abundant life? Is it symbolized by the embarrassing quantities of goods and wealth that we hoard for ourselves in this country? Probably not!

Early Christians understood something about sharing goods and distributing their wealth (Acts 2:44-47). Is it possible, these days, for Christians to align ourselves with God's plans for a good life for all people?

Questions to Wrestle With

1. In the first-century context, where people were often hostile toward Christianity, what did it mean for someone to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ?
2. Someone once said, "There's more honesty in an AA meeting than in a Sunday church service." How has your congregation prepared to engage in the act of repentance -- both turning from sin with remorse and receiving the repentant in grace?
3. People sometimes struggle with the term conversion, a term that implies transformation, reform, and the need for re-education. What does it mean to be converted to Christianity? What is left behind and what is embraced?
4. As repentance involves a change of heart, mind, and will, what change(s) need to occur in your congregation to be more socially responsible in your community?
5. The first-century converts were baptized, which signaled a break from their former lives and carried the anticipated reception of the gift of the Holy Spirit. What do twenty-first century converts break from and what do people in your congregation expect to happen after receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit?
6. Gather a small group of leaders from your congregation. Read Deuteronomy 15:1-11 without discussion or commentary. As a group, drive through the area immediately surrounding your church building or another area in your community and note any people or places in need. If you are in an urban setting, walk several blocks around your church and note the needs. Write down your observations. Return to the church and pray about what you saw as a group. Then discuss what you saw and commit to pray daily for the next month, "Holy Spirit, what do you want us to do in our community?" The following Sunday, invite the congregation to join you in prayer for at least a month. Instruct people to use Deuteronomy 15:1-11 as a daily reading before prayer time. Gather peoples' prayer responses on 3 X 5 index cards weekly each Sunday. Invite your leaders to meet the following month to read the prayer responses and discern what the Holy Spirit is leading your congregation to do in your community.
7. With the leaders of your congregation, watch an episode of Clean House or Wa$ted! Discuss the challenges posed by material goods when enough becomes too much. How might our stuff be redeemed to help others?

Suggested Resources

Online

"Repentance and Forgiveness" by David Blumenthal. Repentance, from the Jewish point of view, is more than just saying, "I'm sorry."

Continue to Change the World series

Print

Everything Must Change by Brian McClaren

Preaching Luke-Acts by Ronald Allen

The Acts of the Apostles by F. F. Bruce

Paul, Apostle of the Heart Set Free by F. F. Bruce – a classic on the life of Paul

Interpretation Bible Commentary: Acts

New Interpreter's Bible Volume X

Abingdon New Testament Commentaries: Acts

The Storyteller's Companion to the Bible, Volume 12: Acts of the Apostles by Michael Williams and Dennis Smith

Classics

The Helper (written from a layperson's perspective) by Catherine Marshall

The Breaking of the Outward Man by Watchman Nee

The Release of the Spirit by Watchman Nee

Basic Bible Study

The Holy Spirit in the Wesleyan Heritage
Teacher
Student

Questions — the Holy Spirit, from the Cokesbury series "The Questions Senior Highs Ask" (electronic download)

What's in the Bible About the Holy Spirit? By Alexander Joyner

---

*Notes, Sermon Notes, and Putting the Sermon Together, adapted from Preaching Helps for the Third and Fourth Sundays of Easter, Year A, by Safiyah Fosua