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Acts 2:37-47

They Devoted Themselves

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Acts 2:37-47

They Devoted Themselves

By Richard Niell Donovan
This is a very special time of year. The weather is warm; the trees and shrubs have regained their leaves; God has repainted the world in all shades of color.

It is also a great time because of the wonderful fruits and vegetables that are available now. We have been enjoying the strawberries—big, beautiful, red strawberries.

I act shamefully during strawberry season. I get a large bowl, put short-cake in the bottom, pour in a pint of strawberry chunks, soak the shortcakes in cream, and top the whole with a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream. I love to celebrate the strawberry season.

Today is Pentecost. The liturgical color for Pentecost is red, because the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles on the first Pentecost like tongues of fire. Today we will have strawberry shortcake for the Fellowship Hour to celebrate the “red” of Pentecost. Be careful! The whipped cream is real!

And tomatoes! Soon we will have beautiful, vine-ripened tomatoes. They will explode with tomato taste— much different from the greenhouse tomatoes that we get in the wintertime.

The first fruits of our harvest are always special. When we can bring in the first strawberries or the first tomatoes, we experience a special kind of joy.

The Israelites acknowledged this with a religious holiday which they called the “Feast of Weeks” or the “Feast of Firstfruits.” They weren’t celebrating the harvest of tomatoes—I don’t even know if they had tomatoes. They were celebrating the harvest of grain and the birth of livestock.

You might not realize it, but the harvest of grain starts about this time of the year—not in the fall. In Kansas, my home state, the farmers plant wheat in the fall. It begins its growth during the winter, and is a lush green early in the spring—and a harvest yellow by this time of year.

In acknowledgement of this harvest and the birth of calves, the Israelites had a celebration much like our Thanksgiving—except that it was called the “Feast of Firstfruits,” and it was held in the springtime instead of the fall.

The Israelites would celebrate this festival by giving God offerings of bread baked from flour made from this early harvest of grain. They would also offer sacrifices of year-old lambs and calves. In doing so, they demonstrated their conviction that God deserved the “best.”

And the best that they could offer were the first fruits. Just think—to have waited all winter for a good tomato and finally to have one in your hand—and then to say, “I’ll give this one to God.” That is a greater sacrifice than giving one later in the season—when we have plenty. The message of the Feast of Firstfruits is that God expects us to give him our best—just as he gives us his best.

The Feast of Firstfruits was one of the three great festivals of Israel. The other two were “Passover,” which celebrated the Exodus from Egypt and “The Feast of Tabernacles,” which celebrated the fall harvest and the deliverance of the Israelites from oppression.

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In Jesus’ day, people had begun to refer the Feast of the Firstfruits as “Pentecost,” and this is the word that we use today. “Pente” is Greek, and is the word for “five.” You know that the Pente-gon has five sides. Pente-cost is a festival that comes fifty days after the Passover. The word Pentecost refers to the fifty days.

You will recall that Jesus was crucified at Passover time, rose again in three days, and stayed with his disciples for forty days after the resurrection. Just before he ascended into heaven, he assured the disciples:

“I will pray to the Father,
and he will give you another Counselor,
that he may be with you forever—
the Spirit of truth”
(John 14:16-17)

Jesus was explaining that he would not always be with the disciples, but that the Holy Spirit would take his place as their constant companion.

Then, ten days later, the disciples gathered together at Jerusalem with thousands of other people gathered for the festival of Pentecost—and amazing things began to happen.

•There came a great noise, like the sound of a mighty wind.

•Then, tongues of fire rested upon the disciples.

•They were filled with the Holy Spirit.

•They began to speak in foreign languages—languages that they had never learned.

•People from all over the world, who had gathered for the feast, each heard the preaching in their own native tongue.

Then, once the crowd was paying attention, Peter preached a great sermon, recounting the prophecies that had pointed to Jesus, and telling them that Jesus had come as the Messiah in fulfillment of these prophecies. Then he said:

“Let all the house of Israel therefore know certainly
that God has made him both Lord and Christ,
this Jesus whom you crucified” (2:36).

The people were “cut to the heart,” and said, “Brothers, what shall we do.” Peter answered:

“Repent, and be baptized, every one of you,
in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins,
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (2:38).

Those people who believed Peter were baptized—some three thousand of them. And that was the birth of the church.

After describing the baptism of the three thousand people, Luke tells what those people did next. Their actions serve as a model for us. Those disciples devoted themselves to:

• The apostles’ teaching
• To fellowship
• To the breaking of bread
• and prayer.

In other words, they devoted themselves to their own spiritual enrichment. They devoted themselves to letting God fill them with his Spirit. They devoted themselves to receiving God. And, once they were full of God, they went out and changed the world.

We wonder how to get more people to come to church here. We wonder how we can keep the “Little White Church on the Corner” alive through another century. These first Christians provide the model. They devoted themselves to:

• The apostles’ teaching
• To fellowship
• To the breaking of bread
• and to prayer.

And then they made a splash at Pentecost that sent out ripples that have grown ever larger through the centuries, until those few disciples have become hundreds of millions.

They devoted themselves to:

• The apostles’ teaching
• To fellowship
• To the breaking of bread
• and to prayer.

And then they conquered the world for Christ. Let us devote ourselves to:

• The apostles’ teaching
• To fellowship
• To the breaking of bread
• and to prayer.

If we could get a dozen people in this congregation to devote themselves to:

• The apostles’ teaching
• To fellowship
• To the breaking of bread
• and to prayer.

we would never have to worry about filling these pews. If we could get a dozen people in this congregation to devote themselves to:

• The apostles’ teaching
• To fellowship
• To the breaking of bread
• and to prayer.

we would never have to worry about keeping these doors open. If we could get a dozen people in this congregation to devote themselves to:

• The apostles’ teaching
• To fellowship
• To the breaking of bread
• and to prayer.

we would transform this church, and then we would transform the Monterey peninsula—or rather, Christ would transform this church and the Monterey peninsula through us, his faithful servants. Let us devote ourselves today to:

• The apostles’ teaching
• To fellowship
• To the breaking of bread
• and to prayer.

so that Christ might do his will through us.

Today I am going to offer a special invitation. I am going to invite each of you to search your heart and to determine if you would really be willing to devote yourself to:

• The apostles’ teaching
• To fellowship
• To the breaking of bread
• and to prayer.

just for the summer—just until Labor Day—just to see what God could do if a dozen of us would truly devote ourselves to allowing God to fill us with his Spirit—if we would really let Christ be Lord of our lives for three months.

I want you to consider this invitation seriously. Don’t respond unless you are truly willing to devote yourself for the summer to:

• The apostles’ teaching
• To fellowship
• To the breaking of bread
• and to prayer.

Let me tell you what that would look like.

• We find the “apostles’ teaching” in the New Testament. In other words, if we want to devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching, it would mean that we would commit ourselves to read the Bible every day—and that we would try to go where it leads us—to do what it teaches.

I had planned to cancel our adult Bible study for the summer, but I will have an adult Bible study at least once a week. If you respond to this invitation today, you ought to attend the adult Bible study.

• “Fellowship” includes the various activities that bring us into fellowship with other Christians. That includes church dinners. This summer, we will get carloads of people to attend concerts at Mount Hermon on Saturday evenings. If you respond to this invitation today, you will be saying that you will attend as many church activities as possible—to strengthen your love for each other—to build a sense of community here in this church.

• “The breaking of bread” refers to the Lord’s Supper. If you respond to the invitation today, you will be agreeing to devote yourself to the breaking of bread—to be present every Sunday for worship insofar as that is physically possible. You would be agreeing to attend church here whenever possible, and to attend church elsewhere when you are out of town. You would be agreeing to devote yourself to the breaking of bread.

• And prayer! That’s the real key, because it connects us directly to God’s power. Unless we are praying regularly, we have no power. It is as if the power lines were broken between us and the power station. If you respond to this invitation today, you will be agreeing to pray for this church—and for the people on our prayer list—every day for the summer. You will be agreeing to pray for yourself—that Christ will truly become Lord of your life.

I will be the first of the twelve. I will make a commitment to devote myself this summer to:

• The apostles’ teaching
• To fellowship
• To the breaking of bread
• and to prayer.

That might sound as if it should go without saying, but it is as difficult for a pastor to observe spiritual disciplines as it is for anyone else. But I will be the first. Would you join me in a commitment to devoting yourself this summer to:

• The apostles’ teaching
• To fellowship
• To the breaking of bread
• and to prayer.

It could be the most important thing to happen in this church this year. If you would devote yourself to:

• The apostles’ teaching
• To fellowship
• To the breaking of bread
• and to prayer.

Amen!

Scripture quotations from the World English Bible.

Copyright 1996, Richard Niell Donovan