LAST JUDGMENT/STEWARDSHIP OF TIME
November 78, 2010
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Acts 2:37-47

LOVE FOR EACH OTHER TAKES TIME
1. Spent in repentance.
2. Spent in the Word.
3. Spent with each other.

Acts 2:37-47 (NIV) “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” 40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

We are in the End Times portion of the church year. Today’s emphasis is “Last Judgment.” One truth that stands out is that your time on earth is limited. Across our Synod brothers and sisters are taking time to ponder that truth and examine their use of time. We are following the theme “Love Takes Time.” Last week we talked about why we want to take time to show love. By God’s grace alone, through faith in Jesus alone, we are the children of God as the Scriptures alone declare. This week we focus on taking time to show love to one another in our congregation.
The end of our reading gave us a picture of what we might call the perfect Christian congregation. They were together. They shared with one another. It was obvious to outsiders how much they loved each other. Now as you listened to that congregation described you may have found yourself mentally rolling your eyes. Perhaps you thought, “That’s not realistic for a modern day church.” Or perhaps you are new to St. Jacobi and don’t know many people so you don’t really feel the love yet. Or maybe you know your brothers and sisters too well and that’s causing problems for you. Is it unrealistic for a group of Christians to truly love each other and let it show? Not at all! But that kind of love takes time. Let’s see what God did with the church described in Acts.
I want you to imagine being a Jewish person. You have grown up your whole life hearing your pastors talk about the Messiah who will come. You long for that day. You are in Jerusalem. There is all kinds of excitement because it is Pentecost, the Harvest Festival. Joy and thanksgiving and good food are on your mind. Something weird happens though. The loud rushing noise like a wind drawing everyone to the house where the Apostles are. There you see what looks like tongues of fire on their heads. There they speak in different languages of the world proclaiming the great things God has done. Then Peter stands up. In a way you have never heard before he walks you through your Bible explaining the real work of the Messiah and then this is his concluding sentence: “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ!” Gulp!
That background explains the reaction. “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” God’s law did its work. Sin was exposed. And there is something about sin when it comes to the sinner. Sin does not need to be explained. It does need to be understood. It does not need to be coddled. It does not need to be justified. It needs to be repented. “Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” 40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”
Many of them did. They spent time in repentance and their repentance showed. “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Now these people spent time in the Word. Forgiveness of sins comes from God. It flows to His people through the means of grace, the Gospel message that comes in Word and Sacrament. Here we find people devoting themselves to these means. Hearts were changed and lives were changed.
Now they spent time together. “All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Wow! What a church! Wish ours could be that way.
It can, but brothers and sisters, it will take time. Love for each other takes time. It will take time spent in repentance. Oh, we may have not murdered the Son of God by nailing Him to the cross but consider these words from 1 John 4:20 “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” Hatred of each other in a congregation can take many forms. The cruel teasing of a classmate. The deliberate irritating of another in return. Derisive comments. Thoughts or words that lead to intentional or unintentional shunning of someone. Delighting in taking words and actions in the worst possible way rather than the best. Gossiping about others sins, failures, misfortunes instead of covering over them with love. Those are not little things. Don’t roll your eyes at me like that’s just the way it is. Those are sins. Filthy, disgusting, exhibitions of hatred. Sin doesn’t need to be explained, understood, justified. It better not be tolerated or coddled. It needs to be acknowledged, sorrowed over, repented. Forgiven.
In a little bit the members of St. Jacobi will have a chance to take the Lord’s Supper together. A word to our visitors. It is our love for you that asks you to wait to participate until you know what we believe together. We don’t want to force our beliefs on you. God says it’s a unity meal. If you’d like more information, just ask me after service. It’s also a forgiveness meal that requires repentant hearts only. Love each other takes time spent in repentance.
It also takes time spent in the word. The correlation is obvious. This new Christian congregation spent time together in the word. Yes, I must highlight the importance of every member who is able to, to come and worship here regularly with each other. Yes, that takes time. Love takes time. Another good way is in one of our many Bible Classes. It is good to have your daily Bible time for yourself. It is also good to be in the word with your fellow members. Love for each other takes time spent in the word.
And then time spent with each other. Some of you saints who have been around a lot longer than I have still talk about the time when the church was the center focus for its members socially as well as spiritually. I hear about the picnics, the choir plays, the dart ball leagues. Times have changed. There are so many other social and entertainment outlets. Can we think about maybe a slight return to the good old days so that we spend time together? I know that the Christian part of each of us really does love each other. But it is so much easier to love those that you actually know and you know what? Getting to know someone takes time! Perhaps if your children are not in school anymore you could volunteer at a tournament so you keep knowing school families. Perhaps you could join our greeters and boldly ask people their names or about their families. Maybe some of our fellowship opportunities could become a higher priority on the list. Maybe it’s as simple as talking with someone you don’t really know after service instead of the same people you already see on other occasions.
Now you are not sinning if you don’t do those things. Nor will doing them get you a better seat in heaven. You’re only going because of Jesus. But it is true that love takes time and showing love to each other takes time too. About our “perfect” church in Acts we are told that “ the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” That’s why we want to be a church family that truly loves one another. We want the Lord to add to our number those who are being saved. May God bless your use of His time. Amen.