I read a very familiar story this morning in the book of Acts. One of the most familiar passages in the NT to many believers is 6 verses in this passage which paint a picture of community and fellowship which so many Christians have set up as the highest ideal.

“ ⁴²And they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. ⁴³And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. ⁴⁴And all who believed were together and had all things in common. ⁴⁵And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. ⁴⁶And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, ⁴⁷praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved."

These are the go to verses for every preacher when they talk about community. For preachers, this may be the case only because the first thing “they” did was “devote themselves to apostle’s teaching.” For pastors and preachers that sounds like a utopia.

So they listen to and apply the teaching. That’s amazing. And that’s not even all. They hang out and fellowship together, they eat meals with each other, they perform miraculous signs and wonders, they share their material wealth so that everyone is well cared for (they did this of their own volition and not through coercion or government redistribution), they were together day to day in the temple (church building), in homes, motivated by and reflecting hearts of gratitude, joy and generosity, all in praise and worship to God who had saved them through the finished work of Christ. It’s as if all of life for this community was consumed by love for Jesus and his people. It’s as if nothing else mattered more than what Christ had done and what they were called to do and to be. It’s as if they were altogether different than other people. And by the way, they were so radically different that other people were being saved and added to their number daily. That is, people every day were so moved by the way these people related to each other that they voluntarily began to place their faith in Jesus and live in this way too… selling possessions, sharing wealth, consumed by the life in this new community.

There isn’t a pastor on the planet that doesn’t want their church to look like this. It’s quite simple really… All we want is for all of you to be consumed by what our church is doing and give all of your time and resources to the church. The truth is that all of your time and resources and abilities do not belong to the church, and aren’t owed to the church. They belong to God and they are his gifts to you. You are a steward of these things.

I have heard Acts 2:42-47 taught on or appealed to as a biblical model of community more than any text in all of scripture. Wouldn’t it be great, people say, if we lived this way, sharing resources and possessions, eating together and spending all our time together studying and obeying the BIble. But this description of the church doesn’t start in v. 42-47, it culminates there. The basis for this gospel community is in Acts 1 when Jesus, just before his ascension, and in light of life, death and resurrection commissions the disciples as His witnesses in the world who need to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit which had not yet come. Subsequently, in Acts 2:1-4 when the Holy Spirit comes in power and falls on the followers of Jesus, the Church, gathered at Pentecost, they were filled with the Holy Spirit… and everything changed.

Peter preaches a sermon telling the jewish people how they killed God, and rather than dismissing his message or getting angry with him, 3,000 of them agreed, repented and trusted in Jesus for salvation and they received the Holy Spirit too. In other words, it is only once Spirit filled disciples of Christ, make a Spirit filled proclamation of the finished work of Christ, that unregenerate sinners come under conviction from the Holy Spirit, believe the gospel, repent of sin and join the ranks of Spirit filled, Spirit empowered followers of Jesus. Acts 2:42-27 is the product of the power, presence and filling of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Christians.

If we want God to establish biblical community among us we can’t just change our habits or restructure our lives. We must ask God to pour His Spirit out upon us. This counter-cultural expression of community does not take place because of programs, systems and administrative excellence nor is it the result of simply teaching good theology, though both of these are helpful. This kind of radical community requires a move of the Spirit of God which we can’t control or program.

You might say that if we believe in the gospel, repent of sin, obey God’s word than we will have great community. It is the Holy Spirit that grants faith to believe the gospel. It is the Holy Spirit that convicts our hearts of sin and leads us to repentance. It is the Holy Spirit that illuminates our understanding of scripture empowering our obedience to God. We want a gospel people living out gospel community on the gospel mission. That is what is depicted in Acts 2:42. But just like the early church was empowered by and filled with the Holy Spirit, we need the Helper to come. We are completely dependent on the Helper to come on us individually and collectively to compel us to worship God, to empower our witness in the world, and to equip us for service in the church. The disciples were promised the Holy Spirit as we are. They didn’t receive the Spirit right away, they waited… patiently.

We can’t force God’s hand on this, but perhaps his heart would be moved by his disciples sitting still, praying, crying out to him, believing him,  and waiting for him, humbled by our limitations, acknowledging our weakness, but trusting in his promise, hungry for his presence, focused on his mission, dependent on his activity, begging for his Spirit to come and accomplish that which only he possesses the power to accomplish… the transformation of our hearts, our families, our relationships, our churches, our community. May we be so blessed that He would pour out his Spirit on us in such a way that we would see his gospel reshape our hearts and penetrate anew the hardest hearts. And may we experience such an outpouring of his Spirit that we live in a reality of people joining our number daily, that is not adding to our church’s number, but adding to the Church’s number. For any of these things to happen, Holy Spirit, we have need of thee.