Jump Start # 3652

Acts 9:26 “And when he had come to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, not believing  that he was a disciple.”

After the conversion of Paul in Damascus, he goes to Arabia for three years. He returns to Damascus and begins preaching that Jesus is the Christ. A death threat leads to Paul being lowered over the wall in a basket at night. He makes his way to Jerusalem, where our verse is found. It was Barnabas that puts the church at ease about Paul.

In our verse today is found the word “associate.” Others word this as “join.” It’s the word used by our Lord in describing the marriage relationship as leave and cleave. The cleaving, associating, joining that brings the accountability, intimacy, closeness that we commonly call “fellowship.” We are family in Christ.

Preaching on this recently, I took the audience down memory lane and had them write down how many congregations that they had been a member of since their baptism. We were talking about this after services ended. Most had been part of 4 or 5 congregations. I had been a member of ten. Another said that she was a member of a dozen. But the highest was 18. Someone who had traveled often in the military and even lived several years overseas. How about you? How many congregations have you been a member of since your conversion to Christ?

This journey into the past, thinking about these congregations we have been a part of reminds us of several things:

First, there have been good people in all of these congregations. Many of us have made life long friends and leaving, often to move to another city, was hard. It is always precious going back and visiting dear friends in these places that were a part of our lives. We prayed for those people. We taught Bible classes, had people into our homes and the congregation was a vital and extremely important part of our lives.

Second, when one goes back and visit, one realizes that things have changed. Life is like that. Life is fluid and rarely do things stay the same. People have passed on and are no longer there. Preachers move. New faces in the leadership. Even the building may look different. I remember visiting the church building I grew up in decades later. I walked through the basement and was amazed how small and narrow the hallway was. It had not changed. I had. I was no longer a little kid.

Third, as one reflects back on some of the places that he has been a member of in the past, he also realizes that he has changed as well. For some, there has been some painful nightmares that took place in those congregations. Things were not right. Harsh judgmental spirits ruled and many felt their souls crushed. Some took a real hit in their faith as they tried to understand how some brethren could be so mean and demanding and lacking the compassion of our Lord. As some left, they also left the Lord. Others moved on to different places. It took a while to trust brethren again. They had to learn that not every place is the same. True shepherds with compassionate hearts do exist today. As they find that lost sheep, like Luke 15, they carry that lost one home upon their shoulders.

Each place you are a part of becomes a growing process. You learn. You share. You see the good. You learn patience. You realize that doctrinally each congregation can be the same, but there is a different feel, a different flavor to each place. Some are so inviting and warm. Others seem distant and cold. Some are an oasis of learning with so many tools and opportunities. Others not so.

But as we grow and learn and take what we can, we also leave a part of us with every congregation. People remember us. They remember how active, strong and faithful we were. They remember how we walked with the Lord.

And, as life takes us different places, we come to understand that God has an enormous family. And, how thankful and rich we are to be a part of that amazing family of God. Worldwide. Never ending. Transcending even the passage of death, God’s kingdom endures and succeeds.

Associating with the disciples. I preached that recently and ended that lesson with the thought that if one wanted to find Paul, he’d be with the disciples. With the disciples, what a great expression to put on a tombstone. Whether here or up there, we are “with the disciples.”

Roger