Easter 2, Year B, 2024: Acts 4:32-35

In theology, as in all academic disciplines, there are ways in which a person can “specialize”. One can be a biblical theologian, a systematic theologian, a historical theologian, or a practical theologian - and within each of these types of theology, the theologian further specializes. For example, no one claims to be a historical theologian of all of history. The theologian chooses a manageable subset and lives in that world in the same way as a  lawyer practices a particular area of law or a musician focuses on their specific instrument. The wider categories make it easier for us to communicate with one another without having to go too far into the weeds and the specialties help us to focus on the parts of the whole. 

What we see in our reading from Acts today is a great example of the specialty of practical theology. Practical theology, broadly defined, examines and reflects on religious practices in order to understand the theology underneath that which was enacted through those practices and to consider and reflect on how a theological theory and theological practice can be more fully aligned. For example, a practical theologian would look at a parish and, rather than asking “what do you believe your responsibility is to the poor?”, they would ask “how does this parish minister to the poor in their actions?” and the action would be the answer to the question of what the parish’s theology is surrounding their responsibility to the poor.

While the spoken theology of the apostles was certainly revolutionary, what we see in this text is how they lived that theology practically. This snippet from Acts doesn’t straight up say, “the Apostles believed that this is how they should live”. Instead, it tells us how they lived and lets us figure out why they lived the way they lived. And this was how they communicated to the world what they believed: the early church was living in this way and people found that way of life so compelling that they wanted to see what was compelling them to live in such a revolutionary way.

A couple of chapters later, the community has grown so much that the first deacons are appointed to ensure that those in the community who are in need are not neglected nor is the spreading of the Gospel. We see how their verbally expressed theology and their lived theology go hand in hand, but that it doesn’t just happen. We see the apostles administrate, delegate, and  change the way they do things as their community grows and they meet those needs.

In our baptismal covenant, which we renewed at the Easter Vigil and will have an opportunity to renew again at Pentecost, we begin with a statement of what we believe when we answer the questions of “Do you believe in God the Father?, Do you believe in God the Son?” And “Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?” But then we are asked five more questions, which can be summarized as “And how will people be able to tell?” If we believe in this God who created heaven and earth, whose incarnate form defeated death, and in whom we live and move and have our being, it ought to do something to us. It ought to affect how we live our lives. Our lives should be a living proclamation of the Gospel, the Good News, of Jesus Christ.

When Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians to “pray without ceasing”, he of course doesn’t mean to walk around saying the Lord’s Prayer at all times. What he is encouraging the church to do is to let their lives be a prayer. To try, in everything we do, to glorify God. When my husband and I first moved to Virginia, he was in graduate school and I worked two jobs. The schedules at those jobs amounted to my effectively working split shifts multiple days a week. My evening job was at a women’s clothing store. It was…not the most fulfilling job I’ve ever had. It helped us make ends meet, but folding down tables at 10:00 on a Tuesday night was not my idea of a good time. One day, during the Christmas shopping season, I was expressing to my mom how emotionally draining this job was for me, and she offered up a different way to see it: to make that repetitive task of tidying up the store for the next day a meditative prayer practice. Thus began Sweaters for Jesus. There were multiple tables of sweaters that had to be folded and placed in order by size before the store was considered in good enough shape for us to leave for the night. You’ve seen those round tables with the same sweater in a dozen different colors? I got to fold them all. But by treating each of those sweaters like a prayer - I didn’t even have to say anything, the act of folding itself was my manual act of prayer - I was able to see that task in a new, less frustrating light and I was able to remind myself to orient everything I did to Jesus.

But this isn’t just about what we do as individuals. That wasn’t the case for the apostles either. It’s about what we do as a parish community. Just this week, St Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Brookings, Oregon won a lawsuit against a new ordinance in their city which attempted to restrict the number of days to two for which they could provide free meals to those in need in their community. The church had already been serving meals four days a week. In March this year alone they provided 1,170 meals, or 73 meals a day. A federal judge ruled that the city’s ordinance violated the church’s rights under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, as well as the right to free expression of religion guaranteed under the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In the judge’s decision he wrote, “The City of Brookings is very fortunate to have Reverend Lindley and the entire congregation of St. Timothy’s as compassionate, caring, and committed members of the community.” He went on to add, “The homeless are not ‘vagrants,’ but are citizens in need. This is a time for collaboration, not ill-conceived ordinances that restrict care and resources for vulnerable people in our communities.” Part of the success of St Timothy’s case was in that they were already doing this ministry; acting out their theology. The expression of their faith was already visibly impactful and believable. 

On the other side of the country, the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in Alexandria, Virginia made a radical decision demonstrating their own theology. Alexandria, much like Colorado Springs, has a shortage of affordable housing. Church of the Resurrection discerned as a community - their final vote was 99% in favor of the plan - that the best use of their property would be to demolish the church building, and filled the space with 113 affordable housing units accompanied by a much smaller worship space. During the 29 months this project took, others within the Episcopal community contributed to the project by giving Church of the Resurrection office space and worship space until they could move into their new building and families could move into their new homes.

If someone were to enter our church building, our community, what would they think we believe? What would they think we value? Would we agree? How can we - not only as individual Christians, but as the Christian parish of Grace and St Stephen’s - how can we live our faith so boldly that others see what we do, know what we believe, and become excited to join in in living the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Amen.