The disciples had everything in common. They were in fellowship
together. Fellowship is a weird
word. Think about the passage with me
for a minute - when we talk about having all things in common, that doesn’t
mean that members of the early church could walk into Peter’s house and say, “Hey the Lord
has need of your television. Give it to me because we have all
things in common.” No. I don’t think that’s exactly what this means. I think
they had something in common that tied everything together. What was that? That
was Jesus. Of course, this is the easy
answer, but this is what pulled them together. This is what held the early
church together.
Paul, the apostle, begins to develop the concept of
fellowship with regard to the Lord’s Supper. The idea of fellowship, having things in
common, can be translated in many different ways. For example, the participating in, the
sharing in, or being together. The idea that
something holds us together, that we participate in something, that we are in fellowship the very thing we have in
common is clear in Paul’s writing. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10:16 Paul states, Is not the
cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks, a participation, a sharing in, a
fellowship in the blood of Christ. Is not the bread we break,
a participation, a sharing in the body of Christ because there is one loaf, we,
who are many, are one body, for we all partake in one loaf. What pulls us into oneness? This participation, this sharing
in Christ death and resurrection. The apostle John loves this word fellowship and
uses it to glue his letters together. In 1 John 1:7 John says: “But if we walk in the light, as
he is in the light, we have fellowship. We have a participation with one
another and the blood of Jesus, his Son purifies us from all our sin.”
If we walk with Jesus, we have a relationship with each
other. We share in his journey. Walking together is a togetherness journey
towards Jesus and with Jesus. In the same passage John says, we
proclaim to you, being the apostles, what we have seen and heard so that you may
have fellowship with us. Knowing Jesus allows us all to have
relationship where there was no relationship - so that you may have fellowship
with us and our fellowship is with the father and his son Jesus Christ we write
this to make our joy complete. John is saying, we have fellowship with
Jesus, and we are telling you about Jesus so that the barrier between you and
us, between God and you can be broken. We can journey together with Jesus who
makes all things right. The resurrection
is what makes us community together, so there has to be a response to this.
