I was on a call the other day with some peers in ministry commiserating about how to do worship, given our new norm…and I was reminded – worship began in houses. Our liturgy began in houses. Christian communities began in houses. The Holy Spirit met us in our houses.
And y’all, I was so excited about this reminder – because where are we right now? In our houses. We experienced liturgy forming in houses on Maundy Thursday. I could keep going about the Holy Spirit meeting the apostles in the upper room after Christ’s ascension, how their world was entirely turned upside down, how they were probably scared and uncertain about an unpredictable future, how they didn’t know what their world would look like in their new norm… But. I’ll save that sermon for Pentecost – and I have a hunch, any one of us could preach about feeling uncertain. So instead, I’m focusing on houses. Because the Church began in houses. And today’s reading from Acts tells us what a powerful starting point houses can be. It is from an upper room in a house from which the vision of the ideal Christian community erupted and to which many were drawn. And, as we find ourselves quarantined in our houses during a pandemic we keep talking about life going “back to normal,” how we cannot wait for things to “go back to the way they were.” But if “normal” is what crucified Christ, and is what continues to crucify Christ, then is that really what we want in our new norm? The earliest Christian community only came to be by allowing the Holy Spirt to first disrupt the norm and then guide them in their new norm. Acts 2 challenges us to envision how our communities could function when we eventually leave our houses, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and engage the world in our new norm – a norm which has the potential to be a new creation. From the ideal Christian community of Acts, we learn that those who heard of what happened in the home, built communities centered on four values, values that we still uphold today. They valued instruction, community, care for others, and worship. As the text tells us, the earliest Christians devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching – the teaching of Christ – and devoted themselves to fellowship. They continued the tradition of breaking bread. They worshipped together in home and in temple and provided for those in need. Through all of it, they gave thanks to God. What was the result of their values-driven community? The Lord added to their number those who were saved. People took note of these Christ followers. They wanted to be part of the community. The Holy Spirit set their hearts on fire for Jesus. All this happened while under Roman rule, preaching a word counter to Empire. This public and communal display of values which attracted thousands had to start somewhere. For the earliest Christians, these values started in houses. What began in a house, seeped into community; what began in a house, shaped society. For us, too, these values can start in our homes – rooting themselves in our lives, becoming personal habits – habits we will take with us when we reintegrate into society and partner with God to make a new creation our new norm…and I’m confident that these values are taking already root. I’m confident of this because of the stories I hear. I recently heard a story from a schoolteacher in a low-income district whose school gave all the students Chromebooks to mitigate learning disparities within her school and across districts. She reported that the students, particularly the ones who had never had a laptop before, were more eager to learn now than they had been before pandemic hit. From their living rooms, the students felt empowered. Access to resources, rather than inequity, is their new norm. This teacher, and all teachers, are instilling the habit of devotion to learning by equipping students with the tools and support they need – all from houses. I have heard stories of dinner parties, birthday parties, and Seders over Zoom which bring together people from throughout the world to dine, talk, and have fellowship. I hear from families that they are having more family dinners now than ever before. Connection, rather than estrangement, is their new norm. These stories prove that in houses fellowship still thrives, people still break bread, and that community is valued and being cultivated as habit. I hear of people making masks with their own fabric from their own homes for people who do not have the means to do so; of people delivering groceries to folks who cannot go to the store; of people making endless phone calls to check in on those for whom they care; and of parents worrying about not just the intellectual but also emotional well-being of their children. Concern for the least of these, rather than privileging power, is their new norm. Collectively, our world is declaring that we value caring for others above the self. This habit of care is forming in houses. And I hear of – and participate in – worship happening in the home, perhaps for the first time ever for some of us. Many of us have been socialized to believe that prayer and worship occur only in a physical church building. We believe that worship cannot happen from the home, or that we need someone else to lead us. Discomfort stymies the stirring of the Holy Spirit who urges us to turn our homes into sanctuaries. Yet, if we think of temple, or church, as the house of the Lord; and if our current temple is our own house, then is not our house the house of the Lord, too? What would it look like to envision our homes as houses of the Lord, even after quarantine? Do our houses transform into sacred spaces? Would you develop radical hospitality, welcoming in friend and stranger alike? Praising God in everything, rather than only on Sunday mornings, is the new norm. Starting in our homes, worship becomes habit, and habit becomes value. This early Jesus movement rooted in instruction, community, care, and worship started in houses. The Holy Spirit met them in a house…and She meets us in our houses. In this exact moment while we are quarantined to our homes, we have the ability to establish new norms, to create the world as it could be – a world driven by love and fellowship and care for others, and all for God’s glory; so that all of creation can flourish. What we begin in the house, seeps into our communities; what we begin in the house, shapes society. This is what occurred with the ideal community in Acts – an ideal community which started in a house, during an uncertain time, when life as they knew it had been flipped on its head. From this house church erupted a movement – a movement in which people devoted themselves to each other, to teaching, and to prayer; in which folks allowed themselves to be awed by God’s works; in which people looked out for one another, taking care of the needs of others before themselves; and in which they praised God in public and at home. The values that began in the house, informed community; the values that began in the house, morphed society into a new creation. So, this is our charge. Envision the world as it could be, hope for what the world could be, and begin to make this a reality, starting at home.[1] And, in case you get discouraged, remember that in a time of uncertainty, one thing is certain – the Holy Spirit is at work, moving among us, shaping and molding us, and empowering us. May we be an example to the world of what it looks like to praise during pandemic, holding on to the vision of what can come from being in a house. Amen. [1] Informed by the catechism of the BCP 1979 on the ministry of the laity, 855. |