deacons – Dancing In The Kingdom

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 12 – Launching the church

The Spirit and the Story

[Bible references: Exodus 18:13-26; Joel 2:28-32; Psalm 16; Luke 16:19-31; John 16:13; Acts 2:1-4; 6:1-7]

During Jesus’ three years of ministry, His teaching about the Kingdom of God coming to earth was accompanied by signs: miracles of healing, cleansing, and raising the dead, and by forgiveness of sins. The miracles affirmed the message. With the introduction of the church as the vehicle by which the gospel would be spread, more signs and miracles were called for.

On Pentecost, Jews from all over the Roman Empire gathered in Jerusalem. Many were in the upper room with the apostles, when the Holy Spirit visibly empowered the apostles with tongues of fire, a violent wind, and the reversal of the tower of Babel as people of many different language groups were able to hear the apostles speak in their native tongues. These signs caused much excitement and wonder as the people responded to the work of God. As was true during the time of Jesus’ ministry, there were some who were ready to hear the gospel and others who were not. Those who were ready to hear the apostles’ message were able to understand the apostles’ message while those who were not ready did not understand the signs and resorted to mocking the apostles as if they were drunkards. This was no different than the time of Jesus’ ministry, the signs of the kingdom caused some to respond with increased faith while others responded with unbelief and hardened hearts.

As Jesus had promised, the Holy Spirit gave the apostles the words to explain what was happening. Peter quoted from the book of Joel about how the Spirit would be poured out causing all kinds of people to prophecy: sons and daughters, old men, and young men. Then Peter also quoted from David’s Psalms as he wove together the story of how all these things fit into the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Those who were ready to hear the gospel asked what their response should be. Peter told them to repent, be baptized and then they too could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Since many of these people were from the Jewish diaspora, they, now filled with the Holy Spirit, would have been able to return to their homes to continue to spread the gospel, although it seems that some people from the diaspora stayed in Jerusalem.

We have sparse details of the life of the church, but there are a few things we know which are described quite succinctly in Acts 2:42-47:

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

With the rapid increase in disciples came some logistical problems as well. The miracles of the Spirit did not end the day-to-day problems of communicating between different cultural groups within the church. In the normal practice of sharing goods within the church and within that the need to take care of widows and orphans, there came a point where the Greek-speaking widows from outside Israel were not getting the same care as the Hebrew speaking widows. Because the apostles wanted to focus on teaching and prayer, they gathered the church to address the issue. The church resolved the issue by selecting seven men to oversee the distribution of goods. However, this would not be the last time that language and culture barriers would affect life of the church.

Observe

Read Exodus 18:13-26; Acts 6:1-7. What do these passages say about effective leadership?

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 12 – Launching the church

No detailed strategic plan, but promises and presence

[Bible references: Genesis 12:1-4; Matthew 13:15; 26:56; 26:69-74; 28:16-20; Mark 16:1-3; John 20:19; 12:31-36; Acts 1:4-9]

When Jesus had ascended to heaven, he had left a group of bewildered disciples who had no idea about the kind of enterprise they were going to launch. They were all missing pieces of the puzzle. Although Jesus had been explicit about his suffering and dying and resurrecting, the disciples did not fully grasp what had happened until they witnessed his appearance after the resurrection. A few days before his crucifixion, when he told about the death he would die, i.e., “when I am lifted up” which people knew meant crucifixion, the people protested saying they knew that the Law said the Christ remains forever, so how could that be?

Even the chosen apostles were unprepared. Upon Jesus being arrested, they fled and hid and, in the case of Peter, even denied knowing Jesus. They fearfully gathered behind locked doors, not knowing their next steps. Even those women who were close to Jesus thought they needed to anoint his deceased body. The words of the prophet Isaiah, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes and understand with their heart,” seemed to apply just as fully to Jesus’ closest disciples.

What the evidence displays is that the program and order of Christian communities originate in direct continuity with the synagogue communities of Israel … These communities had assemblies, elders, presiding elders, deacons and a full program of worship, common policy-making, social welfare and interurban alliances. They lacked the authorization to govern themselves on behalf of the empire. But in other respects they developed patterns of community organization that were traditional to their Jewish origins and members.[1]

Even after his resurrection, when Jesus appeared again, he apparently did not give any instructions about how to organize the church, particularly for the next 2000+ years. The evidence we do have shows that early church organizational structure was based on the organizational structure of the synagogue. In fact, the first explicitly Christian assemblies were split offs from the Jewish assemblies. What they did have, and what they and their successors did build on, was the liturgical and governmental structure of the synagogue.

Jesus instigated no characteristic new organization or anarchy among those who shared faith in him. They proceeded from where they found themselves. And they found themselves in the synagogue. The synagogue became the church, not by dint of a new social format, but in virtue of new convictions within its members. It developed and adapted and consolidated and searched for its own authenticity. We claim here only that to study the energetic development we must know that it proceeded form the organization of the synagogue.^{^[2]}

In fact, there seemed to be some hints that the final consummation of the kingdom would occur in their earthly lifetimes. The main preparation of his disciples seems to have been spending time with Jesus, listening to Jesus’ descriptions of the kingdom of God and seeing (and sometimes participating with) Jesus in the inbreaking of the Kingdom through teaching, healing, compassion, and casting out demons.

After the resurrection Jesus spent times with various groups of his disciples during the next forty days. Then just before he was to “ascend to heaven,” he gave his apostles one last charge. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Before he was to visibly leave the earth, he had given the promise to be with them … always. The living God was not going to be present in a physical body nor would the living God leave any instructions in a written document, instead the living God would be present by means of the Holy Spirit.

[1] Burtchaell, James Tunstead. “From Synagogue to Church: Public Services and Offices in the Earliest Christian Communities” Cambridge University Press 1992 (pp. 334-336)

^[2] Burtchaell, James Tunstead. “From Synagogue to Church: Public Services and Offices in the Earliest Christian Communities” Cambridge University Press 1992 (pp.349-352)