The Beauty of Community

This is no individual faith.

Luke 5:17-26 | Acts 6:1-7

The work of Christ and his Church can really be a beautiful thing of community.

In our gospel passage today, we see Jesus perform a miracle - Luke tells us - based upon the faith not of the one who was healed, but the faith of those who strove to get him before Jesus. That’ll really mess with our theological understandings of personal salvation, forgiveness, and community.

And in Acts 6, we get the first ever selection of a local church committee. In all seriousness, it demonstrates to us that there are different roles within the Church. The Church is no democracy. It is a body, with all parts working together to seek to fulfill the will of the head, Jesus Christ.

Some will be pastors and leaders, some will serve on committees, and some will go to the ends of the earth to bring healing to the sick. All along, Jesus is with us, encouraging, inspiring, correcting, and loving.

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Luke 5:17-26

One day when Jesus was teaching, Pharisees and legal experts were sitting nearby. They had come from every village in Galilee and Judea, and from Jerusalem. Now the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal. Some men were bringing a man who was paralyzed, lying on a cot. They wanted to carry him in and place him before Jesus, but they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd. So they took him up on the roof and lowered him—cot and all—through the roof tiles into the crowded room in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

The legal experts and Pharisees began to mutter among themselves, “Who is this who insults God? Only God can forgive sins!”

Jesus recognized what they were discussing and responded, “Why do you fill your minds with these questions? Which is easier—to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But so that you will know that the Human One has authority on the earth to forgive sins” —Jesus now spoke to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, get up, take your cot, and go home.” Right away, the man stood before them, picked up his cot, and went home, praising God.

All the people were beside themselves with wonder. Filled with awe, they glorified God, saying, “We’ve seen unimaginable things today.”

Acts 6:1-7

About that time, while the number of disciples continued to increase, a complaint arose. Greek-speaking disciples accused the Aramaic-speaking disciples because their widows were being overlooked in the daily food service. The Twelve called a meeting of all the disciples and said, “It isn’t right for us to set aside proclamation of God’s word in order to serve tables. Brothers and sisters, carefully choose seven well-respected men from among you. They must be well-respected and endowed by the Spirit with exceptional wisdom. We will put them in charge of this concern. As for us, we will devote ourselves to prayer and the service of proclaiming the word.” This proposal pleased the entire community. They selected Stephen, a man endowed by the Holy Spirit with exceptional faith, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. The community presented these seven to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. God’s word continued to grow. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased significantly. Even a large group of priests embraced the faith.

Prayer

God,

I’m not feeling well.

It feels like something is against my body and thus, my body is against me. I pray to you - like the psalmist - for healing:

Lord, my God, I cried out to you for help, and you healed me.

You’ve done it before and I pray for it again - lift this body from sickness. I want to do what is good in your Kingdom, but feel like I can’t at the moment.

So help me, God.

By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.