As you have already gathered and had the opportunity to hear Mary Cunningham speak a beautiful testimony to the Stephen Ministry emphasis, which is today, to help us get into this theme, I chose what some might consider a rather unusual passage. It is a word from Luke that bests describes what I believe a “spirit-filled” church really looks like. You know… That’s a phrase you hear passed around and thrown around a lot in various Christian circles. We want to look at what “spirit-filled” really means biblically.

 

In order to do that, let me suggest to us that we have to look at the context, because, as always, when we are doing Bible study, we have to look at the context. You’ll remember that Jesus’ friends have just gone through a very, very difficult time. They have seen their Lord and Master hauled off by the authorities, stripped and beaten within an inch of his life, nailed to a cross, and crucified until he died. Then, as you also know, miracle of miracles, they witnessed his resurrection from the dead. My goodness gracious! According to Luke, they visited with him an additional 40 days. Together, Jesus and his disciples talked about the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). Evidently, it was a great time, a wonderful time, an amazing time, an encouraging time. But then Jesus left. The Bible says he was taken up before their very eyes to go and sit at the right hand of God. Suddenly Jesus was gone. Suddenly Jesus’ friends found themselves all alone.

 

“What do we do now? Is it over? Is it done?”

 

According to Luke, the author of the book of Acts, the answer is, “No, my friend. It is not over. In fact, it is just beginning. Go. Sit. Wait. And you will receive power (Acts 1:8).” “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, when you encounter, experience the Living Spirit of God in Christ. Your life will be changed. It will be transformed, and you will receive power.” And according to the book of Acts, that is exactly what happened.

 

Then they all went out. They spoke the Word with power. And with great power they continued to tell, witness, teach, testify to the resurrection of their Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. And then, it says, “There was no needy person among them.” That’s why there was no needy person. If you just hear that text and skip the context, you have missed where the power to do that comes from.

 

Now, to my way of thinking, there are only two ways to have that kind of church, to have that kind of community of faith, a place where there is no needy person among us. 

 

One way is to screen all the candidates for membership. I mean… It’s sort of what Molly, our daughter, does out in San Francisco. Today she is screening potential members for a roommate for her apartment in San Francisco. Do you know what they do nowadays? They post the vacancy on the Web; something called “craigslist.” Anybody ever heard of that? She puts out all the characteristics that she requires. “They must be female, non-smoker, no pets, no drugs, no live-ins. They must observe reasonable quiet hours, and most importantly, they must be able to pay $900 a month plus utilities every month on time for one room plus a shared bath.” They stand in line to interview. Only one person is going to make the cut. We’ll let you know by Friday.

 

Now, that is one way to be the Church. That’s one we can do that. We could get very selective, and we could screen the folks who want to be members of our community of faith. 

 

The other way… The only other way is for us to take care of the needs of people. There is no other way. To respond in very appropriate (key word: appropriate) ways to every person’s need. Not their want, but their need. To do so, in our judgment, is one, not the only one, but it is one of the primary characteristics of a church that dares to call itself “Christian.”

 

Now, some things, granted, we as a community of faith do not do well. You get a bunch of Christians, for instance, together. Get them away from home, and all of a sudden, we become experts in matters about which we don’t know very much. But at home, where we do certain things quite well, for we do what we do best, the thing we do best at home is to care. That is a big, tough, four-letter word. “CARE.” 

 

What is it to care? Let’s put a definition together. Let’s first of all think about Jesus. The Scripture says, “This is one who had a tender care that nothing be lost.” Isn’t that interesting? Scripture says he would not even break a broken reed, a weed. He would not quench a smoking candlewick. People and things matter. To care for them in some kind of relationship, that’s what you have to do. You have to be in a relationship with them. It’s to feel a sense of responsibility towards them. It’s to take their need seriously. It’s to genuinely value who they are. Scripture says, “What is man, O God, that you are mindful of him, the son of man, that you care for him (Psalm 8)?”

 

Folks, good news today. Good news everyday. Good news from Scripture. The Creator, the creative force of the universe, cares. Not only that. According to Scripture, God cares for the land. God cares for the water. God cares for the fruit that the land produces, and we are called to do the same. And we are called to do the same (Psalm 65).

 

And God calls. God expects the righteous to care about justice. We are to, if we are righteous, care about what is fair, especially for the poor (Proverbs 29).

 

People and things matter. All people, all things matter. 

 

Of course, in today’s text, (remember it’s context) this is the very first church established any where in the world. It is there in Jerusalem at the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. That very first community of faith that you will remember, in time, literally turned the western civilization upside down. One of the key reasons that they turned western civilization upside down is because in their fellowship there was not a needy person among them. They acted in ways that were appropriate to every person’s condition. That’s what Christian caring is. 

 

Now many years ago, there weren’t many books around. There weren’t many teachers. There weren’t many preachers. Some say that was a good thing. It was a great day. You may not know this, but a long, long time ago, some of the leaders of the church got together and they made a list of sins, so that the people, at least, who couldn’t read or there wasn’t anybody to tell them, at least they would know some of the things they were not supposed to do. To be helpful, they tried to rank order that list. There were little-bitty, tiny, picky-uny sins. Then there were some lightweight sins. Then some of them were pretty heavy-duty. At the very top of the list, they put “The Seven Deadly Sins.” Did you know that? Now we laugh at that today. 

 

One night when we were in Edinburgh, Jan and I went out to a pub. We were just going to see what the nightlife in Scotland was like. We found this place, not too far from the hotel. Actually it was an old downtown abandoned church. It had been bought and restored and made into a pub by some young entrepreneur. For those of you who go to church, it is a little strange to be in a church that is now a pub, which gives you some idea of the spiritual condition of Scotland. But that’s another story. What I want you to know is that the specialty of the house was a series of mixed beverages called “The Seven Deadly Sins.” Folks, it was 11 p.m., and church was packed. Don’t even go there. We’re not going to go there. I know that would bring them in, but we’re not going to do that.

 

But in the old days, everybody knew what the top seven sins were – the Seven Deadly Sins. They were the ones that could crawl up from the floor of hell, and if it ever got hold of you, it could totally destroy your life. One of those sins is a word that translates in English “sloth.” Now that is not a very good translation, they tell me. Sloth, for most of us, sounds like laziness, like couch potato, like messy, like unclean, or sloppy. That’s not a very good translation. No. The scholars say that the original meaning of the word “sloth” was simply, “I don’t care.”

 

Watch out for that one, folks. That will kill you.

 

You see… It is possible to be a member of a church. It’s possible to go to church on a regular basis and become so jaded, so calloused, so hardened, that you just don’t care any more.

 

What does it mean to care? It means to take people’s needs seriously. We become the Church of Jesus Christ when we care for people at the point of their needs. Underline the word we. This is not the pastor’s task. This is not the staff’s task. This is not the officers’, the elders’, the deacons’, the mission and outreach committee’s, nor the Stephen Ministers’ task alone. It is “we.” We become the Church of Jesus Christ when we care for people at their point of need. Every single one of us.

 

The family that fled genocide taking place back in their homeland. They come here to this town. They don’t know a soul. They don’t know a word of English. They have no home. They have no job. Their point of need.

 

The woman who moved here from across the country, with a 15-year-old daughter, two part-time jobs, no friends, doesn’t know a soul, living in a one-bedroom apartment, no furniture. Her point of need. Material needs. 

 

But those are only part of what we are talking about. We are talking about all kinds of needs. Let me give you an illustration.

 

A friend tells of going to a church meeting years ago. He teamed up with another fellow in town, who goes to another church there. They decided to share a ride to save gas. He said, “I’ll stop by and pick you up at seven in the morning.”

 

He said, “Fine.”

 

“When he came by,” my friend said, “I went to get in the car, and there in the back seat was the man’s wife. I’d never met her before. She was already there, sitting in the back seat. 

 

She said, “Sit up front.” 

 

“OK.”

 

“I’m not going to the meeting. I’m going shopping.”

 

“Oh, well. Wonderful.” So we started out,” my friend said, “on a 200-mile trip. She in the back seat; I in the front seat. We’d gone about 20 miles when she said, ‘You’re going too slow.’ So her husband speeded up. Then she said, ‘You’re going to kill us all.’ The husband slowed down. We came up behind another car. She said, ‘Why are you staying here waiting in line? At this rate we are never going to get there.’ He pulls out to pass. She says, ‘Didn’t you see that yellow line?   You’re going to kill us all.’”

 

“I thought to myself, could we just kill one of us? Pick, pick, pick, pick, pick! The man was sitting there behind the wheel in silence. I’m embarrassed,” said my friend. “What do you do? I’m thinking, I’d rather walk. No. I’m thinking, if this man were a man, we’d pull over and make her walk. When we got there,” my friend said, “the wife went shopping, and he and I went to a little place for some coffee. We sat there for a long time, just staring at our coffee. What do you say after 200 miles? Finally the guy said, ‘You’re a member of old First Church?’

 

“Right.”

 

“You study the Bible?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“You’re really into the faith, aren’t you?”

 

“Well, yes, kinda.”

 

“So tell me, in your opinion, what hope do you think there is for a man who at 50 has everything? He has everything in life that he wants except the one thing he wants the most.”

 

Folks, this guy needs a friend. He needs a caring, Christian friend for right now. He’s down. He’s in a bad place. Everybody has a point of seriousness. It’s not just material. It can be. And the church becomes the Church of Jesus Christ, when we deal with people’s needs at their point of need. Well…

 

Fred Craddock, the great Disciples preacher, tells another story. I may have told it to you before. I can’t remember. It’s about growing up in Tennessee. That’s where he grew up. He said:

My Mom took us to church. My brother, my sister, and I went to Sunday School and church almost every Sunday. My Father didn’t go. I don’t know exactly why. He sort of had a chip on his shoulder. There was something going on. 

 

Sometimes the preacher or some member of the church would call, and my Father would talk, and then he would hang up the phone. Then my Father would say, “I know what that church wants. That church doesn’t care about me. What they want is just another name on the roll. They want another pledge. Right? I mean… that’s what it’s all about. Isn’t it? Isn’t that the game? Another name. Another pledge.”

 

That’s what my Father said. Always said. If I heard it once, I heard it a thousand times.

 

“Church doesn’t care about me. All they want is another name! Another pledge!”

 

But, there was one day when he didn’t say that. It was the day he was in the Veteran’s Hospital. He was down to about 78 pounds. They had taken out his throat the week before. I flew in to see him. He couldn’t speak, couldn’t eat. I looked around the room. Potted plants and cut flowers filled the windowsill. A stack of cards 20-inches thick was right there on the stand beside his bed. All those flowers, every card, every blossom from persons from the church.

 

Sometimes we don’t think those small things make a difference. 

 

He saw me read the cards. He couldn’t speak, so he took a Kleenex box and turned it on its side. He found a pencil and wrote this line from Shakespeare on it: “In this parched world draw your breath in pain to tell my story.”

 

I got down next to my Dad. I got real close to him and said, “Your story, Dad? Daddy, what is your story?”

 

My Father wrote, “Tell them I was wrong. I was wrong.”

 

Folks, many, many people in this church are caring, Christian folks. Everywhere I go I hear it. According to Luke, the reason is the power of the Holy Spirit of God is working in us. That’s how it works. That’s what the Bible means when it says, “being spirit-filled.” “That’s a spirit-filled church.”

 

Now, sure, there is plenty of room to grow, but we are moving in the right direction. I want to ask you if you think you have a gift for Stephen Ministry… You have the little brochure there. It tells you what it’s about. If you would like to explore what that possibility would be, if you would be willing to pick up a packet or visit with one of the leaders, maybe that is for you. It’s not for everybody, but it might be for you, because we are the Church of Jesus Christ when we actually care for people at their point of need.

 

And all the people say… “Amen.”

 

 

Call us, Spirit of God.

Ask that we be your hands, your feet, and your heart.

Remind us that you are here for us and we are here for

Each other. Amen.