Sharing Is Caring

By Rev. Heidi L. Barham |  April 7, 2024

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Read Acts 4:32 – 35 (NIV)
 
As some of you may know, as I am preparing the sermon for any given Sunday, I will look back to see if I have used a particular text in the past.  It affords me the opportunity to look at what was happening back then and consider how the Scriptures may be speaking to us now… in comparison to what we took from the text before.
 
So, imagine my surprise when I looked back and saw that the last time that I preached from this particular text was back in 2015… on the occasion of us celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of Ledgewood Christian Church.  Can you believe that next year we will mark the 60th anniversary of this church?
 
They do say that time flies when you’re having fun!
 
Now as we give consideration to both of the lectionary texts for today from the Old and New Testament… it is fitting that both texts speak to the coming together of brothers and sisters in the house of the Lord.
 
It has been roughly 60 years since God gave the vision to the founders who came together to plant the church which was then known as West Geauga Christian Church… and has become the church that we now know as Ledgewood Christian Church. 
 
Before they had an inkling of what would happen six decades into the future, God already knew… and so He blessed the vision and allowed it to come to fruition.  And now as we sit here all these years later… God is calling us to think back to that vision… but God is also calling us look to the future and the exciting things that He has in store for us.
 
The Psalmist David said, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!”
 
The physician and Gospel writer, Luke, said, “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.”
 
And with that thought in mind, I want to focus our attention on the subject this morning on something that Ron is fond of saying whenever I have something that he would like to have as well: SHARING IS CARING.
 
Now the Psalmist David and Luke both seem to be focused on unity within the body of believers.  It is clear that the idea of coming together in unity as brothers and sisters in Christ is not a new concept now… nor was it a new concept back in 1964 when the original group got together to discuss the possibilities of planting a Disciples congregation here in Geauga County.
 
Looking at our Old and New Testament scriptures today, one thought readily comes to mind and it’s the refrain to a song written over 50 years ago:

I am the church! You are the church!
We are the church together!
All who follow Jesus, all around the world!
Yes, we're the church together!
Would you all do me a favor this morning?  Turn to someone beside you and say, “I am the church!”  Now look at someone else and say, “You are the church!” 
 
And if you believe either of those statements that you just made, I want you to say with real conviction, “We are the church together!”
 
Now, the fact of the matter is that this wonderful edifice where we gather on Sundays and any other day of the week is really not the “church.”  That is because it is people that truly form the church. 
 
If this building were left to sit empty, it would simply be a building with beautiful stain glass windows, amazing wood carvings, and a fantastically crafted cross.
 
That is something that became glaringly obvious during the start of the pandemic when we were not able to worship inside the sanctuary.  We could not come together in the building… but praise God, we did not cease to be the church.
 
And the fact of the matter is that even without all of these appointments around us… if this building was taken down to just the bare walls… with all of us gathered here together… we would still be the “church.”
 
In fact, if we look at that song I mentioned, the first verse says:
The church is not a building;
the church is not a steeple;
the church is not a resting place;
the church is a people. 
And so, even all those years ago… they did not really need Westwood Elementary school as a meeting place in order to be the church. 
 
The fact that they were coming together as likeminded individuals with the goal simply to serve and worship God… that is what made them a church. 
 
Moving from Westwood Elementary School to the building where we are now was not what made the men, women and children who met together each week… a church.
 
What made them a church back then is still what makes us a church today… and that is the people.  I am the church… you are the church… we are the church together.
 
Reflecting back on the history of The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) as a denomination… it was originally started with the church that is described in the book of Acts as its model.  Brothers and sisters who were believers and shared one heart and one soul coming together on one accord to worship God and to serve the people of God… understanding that SHARING IS CARING.
 
In the Book of Acts, we find that there were apostles sharing their testimony of the resurrected Christ with great conviction… people who were dedicated to the proposition of meeting the needs of all those around them… making sure that if one had much and someone else had none… at the end of the day, they all had something… demonstrating the power in that statement… SHARING IS CARING.
 
And isn’t that what the church is supposed to be about?  Ensuring that the needs of the people are met… spiritually, physically, mentally, and yes, on occasion even financially.
 
It is about the children of God coming together on one accord to share the Good News of Jesus the Christ.  To go and tell the world that Jesus’ death on the cross and burial in an empty tomb was not the end of the story. 
 
To let the world know that although Jesus Christ was indeed crucified, died, and was buried… on that Easter morning, on that Resurrection Day… Jesus got up from the grave with ALL power and authority in His hands.
 
That is the good news that the disciples were commissioned to share back in the days of Luke.  It is the same good news that the founders of Ledgewood Christian Church were commissioned to share back in the mid-1960s.  And it is the same good news that we as the church today are commissioned to share as well… because SHARING IS CARING.
 
And I must say that the world needs to hear us share that good news now more than ever.  There is so much happening around the globe but also right here at home that reminds us that the world always has and always will need a Savior.
 
From the days of the disciples who were first called Christians at Antioch… to the days of Barton Stone, Thomas and Alexander Campbell, and Walter Scott coming together with a desire to restore New Testament Christianity to achieve unity and freedom… to the 1960s when a group of committed individuals came together to form what is now Ledgewood Christian Church… to this very day when we have gathered… we always have been and always will be… in need of a Savior.
 
All anyone has to do is turn on the TV, the radio, or look at the Internet to see that we need a Savior.  And the good news, the absolutely great news, is that God has already provided just what we need.
 
He has given us His only Son, Jesus the Christ, to be our Savior and the foundation of the church… not the physical foundation of this building that we refer to as the church… but to the spiritual foundation of the people who literally ARE the church.
 
It is amazing to think about how far God has brought this church since it was founded in 1965… but it is even more amazing to think about the opportunities that await us as we move into the future from this day forward.
 
There are even greater things that we can do as the body of believers planted here in this community than what our founders ever dreamed of. 
 
But to be honest, if we were to just look at the numbers, it might be a little intimidating… after all there were 127 adults and 32 youth who signed the original charter in October 1965 and this past Sunday we had 32 people in total in the sanctuary. 
 
So, some might wonder, how can we do more than what they did with less than what they had?
 
By trusting that the same God who gave the founders the vision back then is the same God who is with us today.
 
Remember God does not look at the outer appearance, but at the heart.  God is not concerned with the number of people who come… but with the desire of the hearts of those who gather.
 
In fact, Jesus, Himself, said in Matthew 18 (19 – 20):
Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.
And how many Sundays have we had to remind ourselves of that… where two or three are gathered…  But let us not lose sight of the fact that it is not simply about growing numerically… we must continue to grow in God’s Holy Spirit. 
 
And as we strive to grow ever closer to Christ… His light and love will shine through us and we will be inspired and empowered to do the very things that will draw others to seek Christ here in this place… this space we call Ledgewood Christian Church.
 
And we will continue to be that, “Christian community, seeking to be a ‘light on a hill,’ serving God and neighbor through witness, love and mission from our doorsteps to the ends of the earth.”
 
By sharing this space as we open our hearts and our doors in welcome to all who consider this place to be “home” …including our brothers and sisters in the Recovery Groups that meet here five days a week… as well as the Scouts in the Troop that we sponsor.
 
By sharing our resources through our continuing collection of donations for the Geauga Hunger Cupboards as well as the St. Pauly shed and other outreach efforts like the annual blanket drive.
 
And by following the example of Jesus… who showed us what SHARING IS CARING truly means… giving His life for us…  because as He, Himself, said, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).
 
And that is why we must continue to build the church on that One sure and firm foundation which is Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
We have been called to be the church together built upon that One Foundation that we know will never fail. 
 
It is that same foundation that has supported the church, the body of believers, since the day of Pentecost when we celebrate the birth of the first church.
 
So let us stand now and celebrate the birth of this particular church as we join in singing our Hymn of Discipleship: We Call Ourselves Disciples (v. 1, 4, 5) #357
 

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