All With One Accord | Sunday, May 31, 2020

When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. (Acts 2:1)

On the church's birthday, a plea for one accord—and a return to the basics that have sustained believers for two thousand years.

Divided on Pentecost

Those are the words that open Acts chapter 2, and it is a little disheartening that on the day Pentecost 2020 has fully come, we are not with one accord in one place. The obvious way is that you're watching online and we're not gathered as a body. But the more disheartening way—maybe the less obvious one—is that the larger body of Christ is divided this Pentecost Sunday over the issue of gathering or not gathering.

Let me state the obvious: there is not a pastor I know, and I know many, who wouldn't want to gather his church today if given the choice. I do not know a single pastor who would choose to preach to a camera over preaching to his church. Of course, I'm preaching to a camera this morning, like most churches; some of my friends are preaching in their sanctuaries to a socially distanced congregation. This has caused division within the body of Christ.

Please don't misunderstand—I sympathize with the desire to gather. I would absolutely choose a regular service over preaching to this camera. I've developed new respect for people who stand in front of a camera day after day; it is far more challenging than I assumed. So why aren't we gathering like others today? I've received your emails, so I want to speak to it.

The Scriptures Call Us to One Accord

Nineteen hundred and ninety years ago the church was all with one accord in one place. Today we are neither together in body nor in mind and heart, and that distresses me, because the Scriptures exhort us:

Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. (Philippians 1:27)

A few verses later Paul writes:

Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. (Philippians 2:2)

It's as if Paul is saying, "You want to make me really happy? Work together to be of one mind and one purpose." He follows with: let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself, looking out not only for his own interests but also for the interests of others.

I'm not going to read the minds or infer the motives of other leaders, but I think it's clear that some have aims in all of this that are not wholly sincere. A little over a month ago my friend David Guzik addressed the question "When should church meetings start again?" on his YouTube channel. One of his points: any pastor who goes against governmental ordinance or recommendation should diligently search his heart to see he isn't doing it out of vainglory or a desire to attract attention. "That," he said, "is never of the Lord."

Now, I have very good friends who have decided to hold socially distant services, and I believe they are completely sincere—they feel it's an issue of obedience to Scripture, or they believe it's time. I rejoice with them, I pray for them, and I look forward to hearing how things go. But let's be honest: some leaders in all of this at least appear to be grandstanding, and that grandstanding is contributing in a big way to the division I spoke of. It is not helpful, and it is not good.

Three Reasons We Are Not Yet Gathering

You may still ask, "Pastor Miles, why is Cross Connection not gathering yet?" Let me give three reasons.

First, despite a lot of rhetoric about the church being singled out and discriminated against, I haven't yet seen good evidence that's what's happening. I don't see professional sports happening, movie theaters open, concerts, or other large gatherings. Church does not appear to be singled out. If it were, I would have a bigger issue with this.

Second, I don't have a theological conviction that says the church needs to be in the church building to have church. I love gathering with you every week and I miss it. But theologically, this building is not sacred. One well-known Southern California pastor recently called on churches to reopen today and commented that "this is God's house." I'm sure if I spoke with him he would agree that's neither theologically nor historically accurate. It is a wonderful privilege to have this building, but it isn't the church and it isn't God's house. You are the church; you are God's house.

Third, when we gather at Cross Connection we do so for important reasons articulated in our mission and vision: life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus. Our gatherings facilitate connection with God in worship, with one another in fellowship, and with the world through outreach. But the current Cal/OSHA and California Department of Public Health guidance for places of worship, released this last week, is not conducive to worship, fellowship, and outreach. The guidelines recommend no handshakes, no hugs, no corporate singing, no hospitality—no donuts and coffee—no children's outreach. That's not church as we think of it. Gathering that way doesn't support the furtherance of our mission, so it doesn't make sense to meet that way.

If I had a theological conviction that we must be gathered here, or felt we were being unduly discriminated against, or thought gathering under that guidance would more effectively fulfill our mission, I would call you to be here. But I don't, and I'm not—yet.

You Can't Please Everyone

Some of you aren't happy with what I've said, and I hope you'll stick around. I learned a valuable lesson long ago as a leader; I didn't make it up, and there's debate about who did, but I've found it true: you can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time.

Here's another lesson, if you're a follower of God: let your conduct be worthy of the gospel, standing fast in one spirit, striving together for the faith of the gospel. Fulfill Paul's joy by being like-minded, of one accord, doing nothing through selfish ambition but in lowliness esteeming others. This is what it means to have the mind of Christ—to be Christlike.

Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. (Philippians 2:14–15)

The Birthday of the Church

When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind... and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:1–4)

Pentecost means "fiftieth day"—the fiftieth day after Passover. Seven weeks have passed since resurrection Sunday; this is ten days after Christ's ascension. For all intents and purposes, today is the birthday of the church. Happy birthday, Church—you are about 1,990 years old, looking a little gray. On this day the Spirit was poured out on a gathering—the word church means gathering—of 120 followers of Jesus in one accord in an upper room in Jerusalem.

Because this is an important day, a large group of pastors have said this is the perfect day to get back to gathering, even that it is essential to gather so that God can "do it again" and pour out His Spirit. I have a couple of issues with that. First, God hasn't stopped pouring out His Spirit. More importantly, the church is not of one accord and one mind, and Paul's exhortation to the church at Ephesus is worthy of our consideration:

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit... one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. (Ephesians 4:1–6)

Jesus gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints, for the building up of the body, until we all come to the unity of the faith and the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. We've got a lot of growing up to do.

What the Early Church Devoted Itself To

When Pentecost came, the Spirit was poured out, the gospel was preached, the people responded in repentance, faith, and obedience in baptism, and the church was born. And what did the church do?

They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers... Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common... So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart... And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42–47)

Christians have remained committed to these basics for nearly two thousand years, and we will until the Lord returns—even while unable to gather in our facility. The church didn't have its own space at the beginning, and for many hundreds of years it did not. Yet the church grew and flourished because it was focused on the apostles' teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayers.

The apostles' teaching. The church grew from 120 to more than 3,000 in a day, and most of those new believers had never met Jesus or heard Him teach—yet they were submitting to Him as Lord. The only way to know Him was to hear from the apostles who knew Him, so they remained devoted to their teaching, daily, in the temple and from house to house. We still continue in their teaching through the study of their writings—formerly in our facility and small groups, and right now through YouTube, podcasts, emails, Zoom, and every means we can.

Fellowship. The early Christians shared with and cared for one another, having all things in common and dividing their goods as anyone had need. The church has been caring for one another by sharing with one another for 2,000 years; we're doing it today and will keep doing it until the Lord returns.

The breaking of bread. This means two things. It speaks of communion, the Lord's Supper, but also of hospitality and shared meals. In 1 Corinthians 11 we see the custom of gathering house to house for a meal, then commemorating the Lord's Supper at its close. The early church lived life together in one another's homes and regularly remembered the death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and coming return of the Lord. We will partake together in a few minutes.

Prayers. Given the context, this likely means groups of believers gathering daily in Jerusalem for prayer. We continue to make prayer a central focus at Cross Connection, and we invite you to make it a daily discipline. You can send us your requests through our website and sign up to receive prayer requests daily so you can pray for one another.

Favor With the People

The result of these commitments? They ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Even in present circumstances, our desire is to have favor with all the people in our community by our witness, that many may be added to the Lord's church through salvation—those who are then initiated into the body by baptism, which we still hope to do next month, and who celebrate communion, which we'll do this morning.

Communion: Remembering the Cross

In Romans, Paul tells us we were slaves to sin, in bondage—and then Jesus came, His body broken and His blood shed, so we could be free. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed. To help us keep this truth at the forefront, Jesus, on the night before His crucifixion, took the bread and the cup and instituted the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.

When we did this some weeks ago, I realized, somewhat to my own embarrassment as a pastor, that my own four children—who have grown up in this church and its children's ministry—didn't really know what communion was about. That's unfortunate. So what we're doing at home, especially for families with children gathered, is really important. One of the most important things to pass on to our children is what Jesus did on the cross, and we have a tangible reminder that engages all our senses. I think that's why He gave it to us, saying that as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you." (1 Corinthians 11:23–24)

Would you partake of the bread with me now as we remember His body broken for us? Jesus, we thank You that You went to the cross on our behalf, that Your body was broken so that by Your stripes we could be healed from sin and forgiven. We remember Your body broken for us today.

In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." (1 Corinthians 11:25)

Let's partake together. Lord, the bitter cup You drank for us is sweet to us—sweet because through Your shed blood we are forgiven. Hebrews says without the shedding of blood there is no remission, no forgiveness of sins. By Your blood shed for us, we are forgiven, and we rejoice in the salvation we have in You.

Closing Prayer

Father, I thank You for the work You are doing in and through Your church—not just at Cross Connection, but nationwide and worldwide. We are seeing You reach many new people through technology in a way we hadn't seen before, because we've been forced into this mission field on the internet. I thank You for YouTube, podcasts, and our website that let us reach people, and we pray this is only the beginning. I look forward to gathering again to worship You as a body, but until then use the message going out. Your words from the Scriptures are reaching India, Indonesia, throughout Europe, and even Africa—what a privilege.

Just as You told the early church, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts," we pray for a fresh outpouring of Your Spirit upon Your church, even though we're not in one place today. Pour out Your Spirit upon us and make us a greater witness here in North County, in Southern California, in the United States, and to the uttermost parts. Use Your church powerfully, because You gave everything so people could know the truth of Your love, grace, and forgiveness.

We say this morning, the Spirit and the bride say, come, Lord Jesus. Come and pour out Your Spirit upon Your church, come and rescue Your church. We look forward to the day You rule and reign with righteousness, but until then we rejoice in Your body broken for us and Your blood shed for us. And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.