St. Francis of Assisi is supposed to have gotten his start when he heard the voice of Christ saying, “Francis, repair my falling house.” At the time, Francis was praying in a church that was neglected and in disrepair, and so he set out in literal fashion to put things in order. He thought Jesus was talking about the building he was in. Having spent his own money on the work, he then took some of his father’s property and sold it to pay for repairs. This got him into trouble: with the church, with the authorities, and not least of all with his father.
So Francis started gathering materials and doing the work himself. He begged people to give him stones that he could use in the project. Only later did it appear that the voice of Christ had been talking about something more than the rebuilding of one church, one physical structure, but rather about another, much more ambitious project. That was rebuilding the Church of God itself: the “living stones” that God fashions into “a spiritual house” (1 Pet. 2:5), as it says in the First Letter of Peter. G.K. Chesterton remarks in his little book on St. Francis that this was “something that has often enough fallen into ruin but has never been past rebuilding”: that is, the Church “against which the gates of hell shall not prevail” (St. Francis of Assisi).
I love this story because it assumes the connection between Jesus and the Church. Jesus tells Francis that he wants him to repair his Church: it’s getting a bit dilapidated and run down, and needs a little work. Maybe even more than a little. Not only did Jesus call the twelve apostles to lead the People of God; not only did he send the disciples out to teach and baptize (all of which assumes that there is a community); but Jesus continues to sustain the life of the Church. “Francis, repair my falling house!” The Church is the community Jesus brought into being, and it ought to be the community (dilapidated or not) where Jesus can be found.
Our first reading from the Book of Acts gives us a compelling picture of the life of this community. It’s the very earliest days of the Church in Jerusalem, in the time immediately after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit comes upon them: there’s a sound like rushing wind; the appearance of tongues of fire; a babble of voices in many languages that everyone can suddenly understand. Peter issues a call for repentance and baptism, and many respond to the call.
Here’s where we pick up with our reading: “Those who had been baptized devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:38). In other words, the early Christians engage in community life, in the distinctive practices that define what it means to be a Christian. Having heard the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and being filled with the Holy Spirit, they didn’t go home and back to business as usual. Our reading tells us, “All who believed were together and had all things in common” (Acts 2:44). They practiced life in community.
Let’s drill down a little on the character of that life. The “apostles’ teaching” is all about Jesus, continuing his own teaching ministry, leading people deeper and deeper into relationship with Christ. Our reading tells us that the apostles did “many wonders and signs” (Acts 2:43): a marker of the transformed lives that resulted. The “apostles’ fellowship” is community life itself, made possible by the sharing of resources and by the relationship of the members of the Church. The “breaking of bread” is the Eucharist, as Christians come together to share Holy Communion and to recognize the Lord living in their midst. “The prayers” are the practice of the presence of God as the Church gathers daily in the temple to make its needs known to God. “And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47).
These distinctive practices continue to define our life in the Church. We engage in community life because its brings us into contact with Jesus, through our connection with each other. This was true in Jerusalem then, it was true in Francis’ day, and its true of the Church now. In Eastertide, we proclaim the good news that Jesus is alive, not dead. Because he is alive, he continues to be the Lord of the Church, the body of which he is the head, as St. Paul says in Colossians (Col. 1:18). Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth. The Spirit is not confined to the Church (thank God!), but the Church is the only community that I know of that binds itself to following the example of Christ. That’s a high bar indeed.
One way in which we do that is by incorporating this commitment into the Baptismal Covenant. When we celebrate baptism or confirmation, everyone in the Church is invited to reaffirm their baptismal faith by looking back at this verse from Acts. The question is, “Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?” In just a few minutes, we’ll all have this opportunity. Our confirmands will witness to the reality that Jesus is alive, not dead. Today, Jesus invites us to enter more deeply into his risen life in community. Easter is the season. We are the People.