School’s out for summer, and for some people, school’s out for ever. For most pupils, the seemingly endless school holidays will soon come to an end, and come the end of August, they’ll be back to the same school for another year. Some will have left their old school behind, but have the prospect of a new school - at the end of Primary School or Junior High. But some will have finished with school all together - both pupils and teachers. One of the words normally used about teachers is that they were devoted - and we know what that means. They were committed to educating their pupils; going above and beyond in the task.
Or think of some of the other times you’ll hear the word devoted. Speaking of someone as a devoted husband or wife, or a devoted parent. They’re all in, living out that relationship completely. Or think of a devoted sports fan - they’ll make sure to never miss a game; they’ll go to support the team; they’re devoted.
The question I want to ask you today is this - what would it look like for us to be devoted followers of Jesus?
You see, you could be a teacher, but not really care about the children, not be devoted. Some husbands and wives and parents are far from devoted. And some sports fans can be fair weather fans, only turning up if the weather’s good or the results are going well - not really devoted. And we might follow Jesus, but not be devoted in our following. So what would it look like for us to be devoted followers of Jesus?
This morning as we work our way through Acts, we come to this short summary of what it looked like in the early church to be a devoted follower of Jesus. Already in chapter 2, we’ve heard about the events of the Day of Pentecost, when the poured out, promised Spirit gave power to proclaim the prophesied Saviour. And as Peter preached about Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, about three thousand people accepted his message, were baptised, and added to their number.
So what happened next? They started the day with a group of about 120 believers, and now they’ve an extra three thousand, so what did they do? How did they organise themselves? What were their priorities? And what might that say to us about being devoted followers of Jesus?
Before we dive into the passage, though, perhaps we need an extra question to help us navigate not just this passage, but also the rest of Acts (and indeed, when reading any of the historical books of the Bible). And the question is this: Is what I’m reading descriptive or prescriptive? Or in other words, is this a description of what happened at that time, or is it a prescription, something we’re also to do. Descriptive or prescriptive?
So let’s dive in to verse 42. And straight away we come across the word of the day - devoted. We’re told there that ‘they’, that is, these believers ‘devoted themselves’ to four things: ‘They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.’ (42)
It seems to me that this is the summary of the summary - that in this verse we have a description that is also prescriptive, the essentials that we need to be devoted to; and that the rest of the verses provide the description of how they went about it in those days immediately after Pentecost. As we work our way through each of these elements they were devoted to, we’ll see what that looked like for the first believers and think about what it might be like for us here and now.
So the first mark of devoted followers is that they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching. These new believers wanted to find out more about Jesus, and how he had saved them, and how to follow him. And who could they turn to? Who could they listen to? They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.
The apostles were the men chosen by Jesus, who had been taught by Jesus, and trained by Jesus, and who were witnesses of the risen Lord Jesus. We’ve already seen the apostles’ teaching in Acts 2, as Peter taught about Jesus.
And in verse 43, we see that the apostles’ teaching was being authenticated and verified by their actions: ‘Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.’ The signs are given to prove their message - to show that they are speaking the truth. But I think this is descriptive - after all, we don’t have any apostles now. But the prescriptive part is that we also devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching.
And how do we do that? We have it in the New Testament. The teaching of the apostles has been written down and preserved for us in the gospels, and Acts, and the letters. And their teaching is based on the Old Testament Scriptures, pointing to Jesus. So, on the Day of Pentecost, Peter quotes from Joel and several Psalms in his sermon. The question is - are we devoted to the apostles' teaching? To reading, and understanding, and growing?
The second mark of devoted followers is that they devoted themselves to the fellowship. We’re used to hearing about youth fellowship, and we used to have ‘the fellowship’ on a Thursday night. And sometimes we reckon that if we have tea with a non-Christian then that’s friendship, but if we have tea with a Christian then it’s fellowship. but what is fellowship? And what is ‘the fellowship’?
Perhaps the best example of a fellowship is from Lord of the Rings. The three films are each over three hours long - the book is even longer. The first film is all about how a group of nine creatures (4 Hobbits, 2 men, 1 elf, 1 dwarf and 1 wizard) set out on a mission together to destroy the ring of power. They are ‘The Fellowship of the Ring.’ And so they are together, and help one another, and work together in this common purpose.
Do you see how that’s illustrated in verses 44-45? ‘All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.’ They’re in it together, working in partnership to help each other in this common purpose. Their fellowship means that they care for one another, and especially for those in need.
This wasn’t an early form of communism - it wasn’t enforced, it was voluntary; and not everyone had sold their houses as they continue to meet in them; but it is fellowship being worked out practically. We may not immediately go to sell everything we have as if this is prescriptive; but how devoted are we to one another, serving one another’s needs? Are we devoted to the fellowship of the believers?
The third mark of devoted followers is that they devoted themselves to the breaking of bread. Now that might mean simply eating together - as we see in verse 46 - ‘They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.’ But it’s also pointing to THE breaking of bread - sharing in the Lord’s Supper / Communion / Eucharist together. [And there’s no need to hold them separate - in 1 Cor 11, the breaking of bread comes in the context of a fellowship meal.] They are devoted to remembering and celebrating the sacrifice of Jesus together as they break bread as he commanded, ‘in remembrance of me.’
We may not do it in the context of a meal here, but we regularly celebrate Communion together. Twice a month, we gather round the Lord’s Table, as we break bread and drink wine together. But are we devoted to it? It seems to be the case everywhere I’ve ministered, but the Communion services are always the poorest attended. And I’m wondering - why? Is it because it’s a slightly longer service? Or we’d be embarrassed if we didn’t go up to receive? If you have any wisdom, do let me know. I’d love to talk about it with you. Are we devoted to the breaking of bread?
The fourth and final mark of devoted followers is that they devoted themselves to prayer. Some versions suggest that it’s not just prayer in general - but ‘the prayers’ - as in a gathered time of prayer with others. This may have been in the temple, as we see in verse 46: ‘Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.’ There’s also the element of praising God in verse 47.
Are we committed, devoted even, to praying on our own, and as a church? Are there ways we could do it more, or better? As one small step, you’ll see on the notices sheet a prayer diary - one topic to pray for each day, that we can do together even if we’re not in the same place. Come the autumn we’ll have the Growth Groups and All Together starting up again - opportunities to meet together to grow and to pray.
What might it look like to be a devoted follower of Jesus? We’ll be devoted to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, to prayer. It might not look exactly like how the early church did it, but it must include these four devotions. Is there one that you need to work on? One that you’ll focus on over the summer?
These first followers of Jesus were devoted disciples - and people were taking notice of their devotion. They ‘enjoyed the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.’ (47) May we be known as devoted disciples, and see the Lord adding to our number.
This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 30th June 2019.
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