Acts 2:42 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
In our first session we talked about how the early church was built up and held together as they followed the apostles’ teaching. The early church met together to worship and to hear the apostles teach but they also spent time together eating and sharing times of fellowship. Fellowship may be a “churchy” term, but what the term means is they spent time talking, encouraging one another, lounging around and getting to know each other. They shared about their families and their own joys and struggles. When a need was made known the community of faith shared what they had to meet the need.
Acts 2:46 says “And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,” I love that they had generous hearts. It was through worship and spending time together getting to know each other they became a family of faith.
Jesus is the perfect example of having a generous heart and expressing hospitality through spending time eating and fellowshipping. Think for a minute about times Jesus ate with people or spent time visiting with them. Stop here before you go on and maybe even list as many times as you can remember of Jesus sitting down and eating or spending time getting to know people.
Compare your list with this one. I bet you listed many more. You may have thought of times when He fed 5000 or 4000 people, the time He told Zacchaeus to come down for He was going to his house. Did you think of the wedding at Cana of Galilee where He turned the water to wine? Maybe you remembered the last supper or when Jesus made fish for the disciples as they were coming in from fishing. There are many other times when Jesus spent time with people and a great number of those times included a meal. Jesus found that eating was a great way to sit with people and really get to know them. Jesus provided the food many times, but other times like when Peter’s Mother in Law had been sick Jesus healed her and she got up and cooked. Mary and Martha’s home was one of His favorites to visit because they made Him feel at home. Maybe your remember the encounter the travelers had on the road to Emmaus when they said Luke 24:35 “Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.” They knew who Jesus was immediately as He broke break with them! It was something familiar because it was His custom.
You may be thinking, that is great for Jesus, but how can I become a person of fellowship and breaking of bread when I don’t have a nice house or I don’t like to cook? It is not just about preparing meals and having people in your home. It starts with caring about other people. Romans 12:9-13 says, “9Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
As we take our eyes off of us and put them on Christ, it is a natural response to want to serve and encourage others. Genuine love is a natural out growth and looking to how to serve and encourage others was the example Jesus set. My favorite verse is verse 13 that says, help those in need, practice hospitality. As we the church minister to one another and to those in our community, the reputation of the church and even God is revered.
To express fellowship you may want to invite friends out to eat. I love it when someone else cooks. You may want to pick up a bucket of chicken and serve in your home where conversation comes easier and time restraints are not as demanding. You could plan a picnic and ask friends to contribute to the meal. One of the things we have always enjoyed is going out to eat or having friends over after church. On Sunday nights we always went to a pizza place after church when our children were small. To this day if you call the name of Mazzios, my children will immediate talk about great times spent on with church friends on Sunday evenings. One warning here, please remember to include new people! So often we get into unintended cliques because it is easy to just keep doing the same thing with the same people. I can’t count the number of times I have heard people say, “I just did not fit in with their cliques” and that is why they stopped trying to develop togetherness.
You may be thinking yeah Page I hear you, but what happens when not everyone acts or behaves like Christ? I wish I could say that will not happen, but I know it will and it does. God also knew that humans would not treat each other kindly at times so He left us these scriptures to instruct us. Romans 12:14 “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
You can’t control how others act, but you can control you. So live at peace as much as possible. When it is not possible, choose to love anyway and do the right thing whether they do or not. I love the last verse that says overcome evil with good. People are always watching to see how we respond. As we treat each other with kindness the love of Christ is evident to all. Let me go ahead and say, if you have been hurt by church people I am so sorry. Please don’t allow your hurt rob you of the joy that really can be yours as a follower of Jesus in a family of faith. Please choose to forgive and allow God give you a new experience. Pray asking God to send you a new friend or group of friends who are chasing after Him!
Last thought. Do you believe we should do what God says to do? When the verse says practice hospitality it is not a suggestion, but a command. Again, we are back to God knowing how we will work best and what it takes to be together. He says that as we work, eat and minister together, the kingdom of God, His church will grow. So what are you waiting for. Think of someone you will break bread with in the next few days. Call and set a date. Do your part at your home church to build up the body of Christ by choosing to have fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ. Pray and ask God who around you might not have a relationship with Him yet and engage them in friendship. Who knows what God may want to do through your intentional relationship with them. So party on!!! And build the kingdom.