“The Church, Scattered” (Acts 8:1-4)

Auguste Rodin's The Cathedral

The Seven Habits
Imagine yourself 10 years from now. Will you be happier or less happy than you are today? If you ask this question to people in their 20s, most believe they will be happier. But if you ask people in their 50s, fewer give a positive answer. Then something surprising happens. As people grow older, they tend to split into two groups: those who are much happier, and those who are much unhappier.

According to the Harvard Study of Adult Development, there are seven habits that lead to happiness in old age. These habits are like a retirement account: the sooner you invest, the greater the return. 

1.     Don’t smoke.

2.     Watch your drinking.

3.     Maintain a healthy body weight.

4.     Make movement a priority (for example, daily walking).

5.     Practice healthy coping skills now.

6.     Keep learning.

7.     Build strong, long-term relationships. 

If you had to choose only one, researchers say the last is the most important: healthy relationships. Robert Waldinger, the director of the study, puts it this way: “Well-being can be built—and the best building blocks are good, warm relationships.”[1]

 

The Church: Its Birth and Growth
As I was reading this, I thought of Ephesians 2:14: “Christ is our peace. He made both Jews and Gentiles into one group. With his body, he broke down the barrier of hatred that divided us” (CEB). That’s how the church was born.

God created us as relational beings. But when sin entered the world, our relationships with God and with others were broken. Through Christ, our relationships were redeemed and restored. And Christ created a new community—the church.

Today’s passage in Acts 8 shows how the church grew in unexpected ways. At first, it sounds discouraging. On the day Stephen was martyred, a great persecution broke out. Saul began to destroy the church. All the believers except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Then comes verse 4: “Those who had been scattered proclaimed the good news wherever they went.” What looked like tragedy became the spark for revival.

 

Philip and Simon
Acts 8 gives us two snapshots of this growing church. First, Philip—one of those scattered—went down to Samaria and preached Christ. He healed the sick, drove out unclean spirits, and there was great joy in the city. Many believed and were baptized. Among them was Simon the sorcerer.

Simon claimed faith, but when he saw the apostles lay hands on believers and the Spirit was given, he tried to buy that power with money. Peter confronted him sharply, telling him his heart was not right with God. Simon asked for prayer, but we never hear what happened next. The story is left open-ended.

 

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
The second story takes place on a wilderness road. The Spirit led Philip to meet an Ethiopian official, a man already seeking God. He was reading Isaiah 53, but he did not understand it. When Philip explained the good news of Jesus, the man believed with joy. He saw water and said, “Look, here is water! What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” They went down to the water, and Philip baptized him. Then the Spirit carried Philip away, while the eunuch went home rejoicing. A mysterious, beautiful ending.

The Church, United
From the start, the church was made of Jews and Gentiles, Simons and Ethiopian eunuchs. By design, the church has always been diverse. In every congregation, there are people like Simon—selfish, proud, broken, difficult—and people like the Ethiopian eunuch—humble, teachable, joyful. From a human perspective, they are like oil and water. But from God’s perspective, both are loved and both are called to learn to live together. 

Theologian D. A. Carson once wrote[2]: 

Ideally . . . the church itself is not made up of natural “friends.” It is made up of natural enemies. What binds us together is not common education, common race, common income levels, common politics, common nationality, common accents, common jobs, or anything else of that sort. Christians come together . . . because . . . they have all been loved by Jesus himself. . . . They are a band of natural enemies who love one another for Jesus’ sake. 

The church is not a club. It is a family.

 

The Cathedral
On the screen—and in the bulletin—you see Auguste Rodin’s The Cathedral. When we hear the word cathedral, we think of a large church building. But Rodin helps us see what the church truly is. At first, his sculpture looks like praying hands. But look closer: they are not one person’s hands, but two right hands. Two individuals, coming together, becoming one body—the body of Christ.

In Raymond Carver’s story Cathedral, there’s a man who’s pretty closed off. He doesn’t like people very much, and he especially feels uncomfortable when a blind man comes to visit. He can’t imagine how someone without sight could really live or understand life. But then something unexpected happens. The blind man asks him to draw a cathedral. So the two of them sit down together. The blind man places his hand over the man’s hand, and together they begin to draw. And in that moment, something changes. The man closes his eyes, and for the first time, he really sees—not with his eyes, but with his heart. Two very different people, one blind and one seeing, one open and one closed, suddenly come together. That is the mystery of the church: when different people are brought together in Christ, they become one body, a living cathedral where God dwells.

 

The Church Scattered, The Church United
Then and now, the church is scattered. For me, this is personal. I grew up in a traditional Korean Methodist church. One pastor served one congregation, and when pastor and leaders worked hard, the church often grew. That was the norm. My grandparents’ church grew. My parents’ church grew.

But now, it’s different. Since July, in practice, four churches are yoked together with our family. Sometimes Joyce and I ask God if we are on the right path. I don’t always know the answer. But I do know this: God is at work among us. I saw God at work during our combined women’s retreat. I saw God at work in our combined VBS. And today, I see God at work in our worship services – like Penny from Patten leading the service at Hodgdon, and the way we help each other. God is here. God is moving.

Then and now, circumstances are not always favorable. The early Christians were persecuted and scattered. Yet wherever they went, they preached Christ. They preached to people like Simon. They preached to people like the Ethiopian. And revival came.

How many new members did we add this year? How many baptisms? Those are good questions. But an even deeper question is this: Are we one people in Christ? As Paul says, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28). May this be our church. Amen.

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[1] Arthur C. Brooks, “The Seven Habits That Lead to Happiness in Old Age,” The Atlantic (Feb 17, 2022)

[2] Scott Sauls, Jesus Outside the Lines: A Way Forward for Those Who Are Tired of Taking Sides (p. 54). Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.