All Who Believed Were Together

Acts 2:42-47
First Reading for the Fourth Sunday of Easter (Year A)

Adaptation has been the hallmark of this weird season that we’re in. The important things in life have to continue even as the world as we’ve known it has ground to a halt. We try to do school from home as best as we can. We reach out and connect with friends and family over FaceTime and Zoom calls. We keep going where we are able.

My ministry with my students is the area where I have had to adapt on the fly the most. I am not always sure how we’re doing. The hallmark of a youth group is community and while we can see each other’s faces on our screen, I know that it is not the same as being in a room together or sitting down to a meal with friends. 

But you do all you can to try and meet the needs of your community. We’ve kept meeting on Sunday mornings and nights over the internet. We have Bible studies through the weeks and gather once a week to just hang out and play some games. It has been encouraging to see those faces pop up on the screen to still talk about faith and share stories. You adapt. You keep moving forward.

The first Sunday of May at our church is traditionally Youth Sunday in which our students lead in morning worship. As the days of sheltering in place stretched into weeks, it became evident that we were not going to be able to follow the usual script for this capstone to the school year. But cancelling was never an option in my mind. Our church has been doing virtual services for weeks now, so we were going to put our spin on the service.

We took a couple of Sunday nights to plan it. Under the guidance of our team of volunteers, our small groups ran with different aspects of the service; recording themselves on their phones or together on Zoom. Students prayed and sang into a screen not exactly sure what was going to come out on the other side. Four of our graduating seniors—robbed of so much this spring—stepped up to the plate and shared their hearts in a season unprecedented change. They could have been discouraged but instead delivered incredibly timely messages to our church.

All told, around 40 of our students and 10 adult leaders contributed to 24 different segments made up of somewhere around 60 or 70 videos. Looking at the numbers, it’s kind of crazy that they pulled this off. I know that I am incredibly biased, but I could not be more proud of them. It’s not what we were expecting. It’s not what was usually done. But they adapted and delivered in a most excellent way.

As the videos came in last week, I spent a great deal of time in front of my computer screen piecing together prayers, syncing videos to tracks in order to create a virtual choir (I was fortunate to have our Youth Intern Ashley edit some of the videos). Yet the cool thing in all of this work is that I felt like I was with my students the entire time. Their faces and words and melodies and personalities made it seem like they were right there. Even though we were not physically in the same space or even time, we were together. 

There is this beautiful passage at the end of Acts 2 in which speaks of the early church and how they met in each others homes each day. They broke bread and spoke of Jesus. They sold what they had and gave to whoever had need. They shared in life together. It is one of those passages that has always captured the imaginations of Christians. If only we could emulate that.

I have felt echoes of that early church this last week and throughout this strange period of time. The walls of the church have given away to church wherever you live. We have been in one another’s homes regularly to break bread and speak of Jesus. We have celebrated communion and eaten snacks during youth group. We have been in each other’s rooms as we have talked about Jesus and shared our lives. 

I am not saying we are the second coming of the early church. Some are definitely doing other stuff on their computer when we’re trying to have serious conversations (they think we don’t know; we always know). And we still have some strides that need to be made in emulating the generosity of those early Christ followers. It’s all baby steps, but I think the early church probably had a few of those too.

Still, feeling like I was with my students as I edited those videos reminded me of how we are held together. Don’t get me wrong. I am ready for this season to end. I look forward to the day when it is safe enough for everyone to be together in the same room, when friends can hug, and when we can gather around a table for a meal. But it is something meaningful in this time of isolation to realize that we are still very much together. All the believers are together even if time and space tries to get in the way.