Hello dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
What does it mean to follow Jesus? On Sunday, the first reading of the day will be from Acts. The book of Acts is a collection of stories about the first followers of Jesus; people who weren't exactly sure what they were doing, how they were going to do it, or what any of it would result it. For these people, these followers of The Way, this must have been a liminal time. Kinda sorta Jewish and kinda sorta something else.
What does it mean to follow Jesus? Tomorrow the portion of Acts that we will focus on is a litte bit about common life and what was important to these people. What I found striking in that passage was this line: "Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts..." (Acts 2:46, NRSV). This verse tells me that two things are important to the followers of The Way: the first is to be together in community in a holy space, and the second is to break bread together at home. Well and good in a time when people could gather. But what does it mean to follow Jesus now?
Now, in this liminal space where I cannot be in a specific holy space with a specific set of people at a specific time. Now, in this liminal space where church doesn't look like anything familiar. But wait - that's not exactly right. What is church? Is church a particular set of prayers and movements and pieces of music that happen at a certain time in a certain place? Or is church more like a sense of welcome in whatever space we find ourselves in as we encounter the Divine?
What does it mean to follow Jesus now? For me, it means breaking bread with my partner with glad and joyful hearts every single day. It means cooking a big Sunday supper so that I can feed both of us, and also provide a meal or two for my elderly inlaws which will be brought to them the next day. It means making phone calls, sending text messages, and hosting zoom meetings to check in on all the people I cherish. It means allowing myself to encounter the Divine in any moment on any given day. No longer does one particular building hold a monopoly on sacred space; or, perhaps the 1,400 square feet I live in has taken over the monopoly on sacred space. Now church and life and so intertwined I think I am beginning to see how the Apostles actually lived their lives. There was no difference between "church" and life for them - there was only The Way.
What does it mean to follow Jesus? Kinda sorta like what we are doing right now. Kinda sorta like what we did before. Kinda sorta like something we haven't yet figured out.
Photo by Maggie Breen
