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(This devotional was written in the midst of the Covid pandemic 2020 and yet I’m hopeful that the message applies even today)
Every once in awhile something will happen in life that makes me see a passage in the Bible as never before. Acts chapter 2 had always seemed to me to be an idyllic picture of faithful people living in community with one another; “they were together and had all things in common… day by day they spent much time together and they broke bread at home and ate their food (together).” Acts 2:44-46. After the past 6 weeks I read that and find myself wondering; How did these first Christians live together under one roof without killing each other? Did they have rules for cooking and cleaning? Did they get angry if someone didn’t put the dishes in the dishwasher? At what point did the annoying habits of one, get under the skin of another? Where did they go when they needed a break from one another? How did their marriages survey this kind of living situation?
I’m not sure I’ve ever had a life situation that rattled the picture I had in my mind’s eye of a text more than this. As they lived together in community they must have struggled as we are struggling. They must’ve gotten on each other’s nerves as we are getting on each other’s nerves. They must’ve been running low on grace. They must’ve seen their ability to forgive tested. They must’ve experienced daily challenges to their ability to display love to loved ones. And yet the passage doesn’t end by saying; and they strangled one another out of frustration after a few weeks of giving this community living thing a try. Rather it tells us that they did this all “with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.” Act 2:47
How is that possible? I think the only way people could live together in harmony in close quarters like that and still have glad and generous hearts, is if a couple of really important factors are at work; grace, forgiveness and love. If you’re running short on any of these- welcome to the club. I have to believe that they too struggled with these same challenges to living in community. However, what this text suggests to me is that they were committed to practicing these qualities espoused by Jesus, their teacher and mentor. It seems to me that the only way we can live in relationship with others is if we approach the whole thing as they did; with generous hearts. That means extending grace to one another even when they’ve gotten on our last nerve. It means giving people the benefit of the doubt even when they fall short of our expectations. It means forgiveness is at a premium when someone forgets to empty the dishwasher or fold the clothes. It means striving to practice love for those we want to throttle even when their annoying habits are proving too much for us to bear. I believe the only way they could have lived with one another like that is precisely because they worked like heck to overcome life’s challenges with the characteristics of the Christian life; grace, forgiveness and love. And the crazy thing about it is that rather than desperately hoping their community quarantine would end, people were actually drawn to what they were doing. The final verse tells us that “day by day the Lord added to their number…” Apparently, people felt so cared for that they actually increased the number of people living in their community. I couldn’t imagine adding anyone else to my already full house.
As we struggle to live in community may we practice grace, forgiveness and love, so that people (even our own family members) might be drawn to what they see in us. May God give us generous hearts, drawing us back into a close relationship with those with whom we’re sharing our lives.
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