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Great Hungers Part 1: Community

Sermon by Rev. Doug Pratt — September 16, 2007
 

Introduction
Hunger is universal. God made us in such a way that we all need and crave “our daily bread.” We all have experienced hunger — that nagging, gnawing and rumbling sensation when you’re an hour late for an appointed meal time. Some humans, regrettably, experience a deep and crippling hunger, from months and years of malnutrition and deprivation. We’ve seen the tragic pictures of children and adults in famine areas, with their distended bellies and skeletal limbs. We know that hunger causes desperate physical, mental and social problems.

The Green Revolution
A half century ago some “experts” were gloomily predicting imminent disaster, as the population of earth swelled beyond its supposed ability to feed its inhabitants. But as the doomsday prophecies were grabbing headlines, a quiet revolution was beginning: a series of developments in biotechnology and agriculture that have been given the name “The Green Revolution.” In the late 1940’s PhD scientist Norman Borlaug, with a Rockefeller Foundation grant, began to experiment with genetic modification and new farming techniques for wheat in Mexico. The results were dramatic, nearly doubling grain production in that country in a few years. The experiment spread to India and Pakistan, with similar improvements — making those countries self-sufficient in food production, even with their ballooning populations. The Green Revolution spread across the globe. Norman Borlaug was recognized with a Nobel Peace Prize, as his work led to the saving of perhaps hundreds of millions of lives. And biotechnology continues to offer great hope for even more dramatic breakthroughs in the future.

Today we can thankfully contradict the doomsayers. The world is able to provide adequate food for its inhabitants, and will continue to do so. But, of course, there are still people who are hungry. Hunger is caused not because of the inadequacy of Planet Earth, but by human problems: poverty and injustice, poor use and distribution of resources, waste and corruption, civil wars and violence. There are still pockets of great need and suffering. The challenge for our times is to get nourishing food to all who need it.

Within every person there are emotional and spiritual hungers every bit as real as the physical hungers in our bodies. God made us this way. He created us to have a longing for something more. “Man shall not live by bread alone,” the ancient scriptures proclaimed. Just as God has placed the human race on a fertile and abundant planet that is adequate to meet our nutritional needs, so He has also provided the means of satisfying those other hungers. The spiritual challenge before us, in each generation, is to deliver that satisfying “soul food” to people who are desperately hungry for it.

The Christian movement has been as profound a force in relieving spiritual hunger as the Green Revolution has been in our lifetimes for relieving physical hunger. The Book of Acts in the New Testament is the thrilling historical account of those early days, nearly 2000 years ago, when the message of Christ first burst onto the world scene. In a series of four messages I will be presenting this fall, I will identify four of the greatest hungers of the soul. We’ll be exploring passages from Acts and seeing how God offers to satisfy our inner hungers through His Son.

Scripture
Our scripture text for today is Acts 2:42-47 (New International Version):

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. ⁴⁴All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. ⁴⁶Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Our Hunger for Community
Psychologist Alan Loy McGinnis tells in one of his books (The Friendship Factor) about a very successful man who made an appointment to see him. The man was in his early 40’s, a highly-respected and financially secure neurosurgeon at a major university hospital in Southern California. The man seemingly had everything he could have ever wanted or dreamed of: two homes, four cars, a beautiful family, prestige and an exciting profession. Yet something was missing, and he was miserable. He felt a loneliness inside, although he was surrounded by people all day long. He admitted to the counselor that he had no real friends — just casual acquaintances and professional colleagues. Nobody really knew him, and he felt secure and comfortable with no one. And, most frustratingly, he didn’t know how to fix the problem. He wasn’t sure how to go about making friendships. “I feel like I’m about to perform surgery and I don’t have a scalpel. I just never got the tools to form a friendship. Can you teach me how to make a friend?”

It’s a real problem — and not very often discussed. The typical American in his middle or later years, when asked about his best friends, would likely speak of people known since childhood, school days, college or the military — many years, even decades, earlier. In those circumstances, friendships often happen spontaneously and naturally, without having to work at them or focus on them. And they arise from spending countless hours together in the same place and the same activities. But when we enter the real “adult world” of jobs and families and houses, we tend to become isolated from other people. Our interactions become more limited and narrow. We live in our separate homes, drive in our separate cars to our separate jobs, and then return home again. And here’s the result: if we don’t know how to make adult friendships, and don’t have the time and energy to invest in them, friendships no longer happen spontaneously. And thus we can become lonely.

There are trends and developments within our lifetimes that have made deep personal relationships more difficult. Isn’t it ironic that our nation has never had more people in it — now more than 300 million of us — and yet we have never felt so acutely the lack of true community? Most of us have lived a portion or all of our lives in major metropolitan areas or their suburbs — with people everywhere, and yet few friends.

We have understandable concerns for our safety and privacy and confidentiality, because we know that there are some dangerous people out there who would do us harm or take advantage of us. But in building all our safeguards and protections — gated housing developments and shields of privacy and isolation — we have, in the process, made it harder to connect with our neighbors and to feel part of something greater.

The dramatic increase in mobility and transiency is also part of the problem — and we certainly experience that here in southwest Florida, where very few of us were born. Approximately 20 percent of Americans move to a new home every year — and many of those moves are from one state or region to another. Most of us have family members scattered all across the continent. When we move to a new home, we face many challenges in “replanting” ourselves. There are so many adjustments, and so many things to find to replace what we’ve lost. There are new-resident directories at our wonderful Chamber of Commerce that will help you find a new doctor and dentist, a lawyer and accountant, a place to get your dry cleaning done and to repair your transmission. You can find directories for golf courses and boat marinas and churches and service clubs. But nowhere in those helpful guides do you find a listing for “Friends.” We have to develop those on our own, or live without. And friendship — true community, true belonging — is one of the greatest hungers our Creator placed within us.

I have seen the personal toll that a lack of friendships can bring to a person. And I’ve seen what happens when a husband or wife lacks friendships, and therefore places all of their needs upon their spouse. Those of us who are married, no matter how much we love and care for our partner and want to be a good husband or wife to them, simply cannot meet all of that other person’s needs.

In a city where I previously lived, the local paper one day had a report on a failed renovation project in an old house in one of the neighborhoods. The new owner of this “fixer-upper,” who was doing the work himself to save money, was trying to open up the first floor that had been honey- combed with small rooms and doorways. He wanted to create a large “Great Room” on one side of the house. So one day he ripped out a couple walls and tossed the wallboard and plaster and pillars into the dumpster outside in the driveway. The next morning he returned to the worksite to continue his labors and discovered that the second floor of the house had collapsed into the first floor on the side that he had hoped would be the Great Room.

What had been his mistake? He had, inadvertently, removed one of the weight-bearing walls. All of the weight of the house was now resting on a single remaining wall, and it couldn’t carry it. In the middle of the night it collapsed from the strain. I’ve seen that happen in some marriages. Here’s one hypothetical scenario: a husband, or wife, or both, retire and move to Florida to begin what they think will be an idyllic life. But in this new place they neglect to build a support system of friends and relationships in their new community — relationships that could help “bear the weight.” All the burden is thus on the spouse alone. And when some problem comes — a health crisis, depression or a struggle with alcohol, for example — the overburdened spouse cannot bear the strain. What a difference it would make in this scenario if these two had become part of a circle of supportive and caring friendships!

The Church as Community
Let’s return to our Scripture text, Acts chapter 2. We find the newly-born Christian church exploding into the first century world. People flocked to that fellowship of God’s people. What can account for such dramatic growth and popularity? It was not just the great preaching of Peter and the other Apostles — it was the quality of their common life together.

The church itself, as a community of God’s redeemed people, brothers and sisters in the family of the Lord, acted like a magnet. People were drawn to the church because they saw the quality of the relationships those Christians were experiencing, and they thought, I want some of that! This passage in Acts 2 portrays the healthy and fulfilling dimensions of these friendships. They truly cared for one another; they communicated on a deep level, studying God’s Word and worshiping and praying together; they helped each other in practical ways; they celebrated the good times and the bad times together; they made room for one another in their busy lives; they simply spent time together. What a winsome, attractive, desirable group they were. Who wouldn’t want to be part of it?

I believe there are two reasons why a Church of Jesus Christ is uniquely able to satisfy this deep hunger of ours for friendship and true community. One reason is the entrance requirement. Many clubs and associations in this world set very high standards and exclusive requirements for people to join them. If you’re not of a certain class, race, economic status or profession, you’re not welcome.

What’s the entrance requirement to become part of a church? You have to be a sinner, and know it. You have to be an imperfect person who has received God’s grace with open and grateful hands. And that’s it! Nothing else. You don’t have to be good enough or holy enough. You don’t have to meet any other standards. The church is the place for all who will just admit our need, drop our pretenses of self-sufficiency, and receive God’s unconditional love.

The other reason why the Church is such a well-suited place for true community is because of the promise of Jesus Christ to live spiritually inside of each of us. It is His Spirit within you and me that draws us to one another, that breaks down those human barriers that might separate us. Whatever there might be that is different between you and me, that might stand as a wall keeping us apart, is absolutely insignificant compared to what we have in common. Jesus in you and in me is our common bond — even if we are from different races or nationalities, speak different languages, have different political opinions, prefer different hobbies or musical styles. Ultimately, for all eternity, those things will melt away, and what will remain is God’s Spirit connecting us to one another and to Him.

I firmly believe, and have experienced more times than I can count, how the quality of friendship between two Christians is deeper and greater than what I can find anywhere else. God’s Spirit within us allows me and that sister or brother in the Lord to connect on a spiritual level. It allows for a trust, a vulnerability, and a true caring. It’s a great equalizer. That is why the Church, beginning in Acts 2 and continuing for 20 centuries, has been God’s provision to meet our hunger for true community.

The Pastor’s Appeal
Let me end this message with an appeal to all of you, in two dimensions. First, in the dimension of your personal life: take an honest inventory of your friendships — and particularly of your friendships here in this place, near where you live. It’s wonderful to have good friends and dear family members whom we can keep in touch with by phone and computer and occasional visits; the technology of travel and electronic communication is a blessing. But it’s not enough. All of us need friends who are local, who are visible, who are near us in the flesh.

If you’re lonely and needing some friends, maybe the Lord will put it on your heart this week to reach out and take the next step to start or develop a friendship. You can take the initiative. The old saying goes, “If you want a friend, be a friend.” Forming adult friendships isn’t easy, but it can be done with some thought and effort and prayer.

And the second dimension is my appeal to the entire church. It has been obvious to me in the 3+ years I’ve been your pastor that this is, at its core, a friendly and welcoming church. You wear nametags to get over those awkward “senior moment” memory lapses we all have. You reach out warmly to visitors and new residents. You show your caring in hundreds of ways to those in our midst who have various problems and challenges. This is an Acts 2 type of church.

But I believe we can do even better in the months and years to come. And that’s my personal goal and commitment, to find ways to connect us with one another in deeper, more spiritual and more fulfilling ways. Even as our church grows in numbers, we can become more intimate and supportive. Paradoxically, the bigger a church becomes the smaller it needs to be — as each person finds their place in a more intimate portion.

I would love to see more small groupings of Christians arise among us. And maybe you will feel the Lord’s nudge to join a men’s group, a women’s group, a class or Bible study, choir or committee or volunteer team. What we need is for some of you to even be willing to take the initiative and help organize a group of Christians in your home or your neighborhood.

The believers in Acts 2, after all, didn’t just get together at the church. In fact, they didn’t even have a building. They met in their homes and enjoyed meals and times of fellowship together there. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see a whole network of Christians meeting together in our various communities and neighborhoods across our area! That is my vision for our future.