Simple Faith: Under the Mango Tree

I remember hearing about a small Christian Church that was gathering under a mango tree. They meet there faithfully every Sunday as their minister gathers them for worship, and the children meet under a different tree just on the other side of the same plot of land. When it rained, they held up a plastic tarpon over their heads and did their best to gather in the place that God had called them to serve. When they gathered, they did whatever the group of believers did: they devoted themselves to the word of God as the Bible was read and taught, they broke bread together, and then they prayed for their lives and the lives of the people around them. This was a new gathering, so there was a sense of commonality as people made sure everyone was okay and had all they needed. Then, as they finished, they went back into their local communities as transformed, encouraging people who lived differently in the world around them in a way that drew people to them. Thus, by how they lived and loved one another, this little gathering under the Mango tree grew each week as the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

From Hearing to Seeing

It was one thing to hear about the simple faith of such an Anglican church some 5000 miles away, where brothers and sisters in the Anglican world were gathering in ways that were radically different, yet the same. They were gathering in faithfulness, they were gathering in love, they were gathering to hear the teaching of the apostles, to break bread, build community, and live out the faith in the power of the Spirit so that others around them would be drawn to faith. Thus, a church that was only a few years old, planted in a remote place, had grown from 5 to 10, 10 to 20, 20 to 40, and then to about 60 in the space of a few short years – why? Because this is how God builds his church – through the life faith gives: teaching of the apostles, breaking of bread, prayer, and the life of faith lived – sins of faith, all the believers being together in commonality of life, breaking bread in each other’s homes, and holding community with sincere hearts held together by praise of God.

A Picture of Acts

I remember hearing about that church and thinking about Acts 2:42-47 in terms of its simplicity and beauty, and wondering what it would be like to experience something like that, for that to be the norm – church under the mango tree, I remember being attracted to it in though at the time because it was so far away form my own experience of church at a point where I was feeling slowly called into the ministry, and the contrast of being in a building that was ancient by comparison to the beginning of somethign new. Thus, it was one thing to hear about it, to think about, and then to ponder it – it was another thing altogether to get to see it. By God’s grace, I had the opportunity to travel to that little place and find myself sitting under the Mango Tree in the same place my friend had been almost a year after he had been there, and exactly eleven years ago today. I found myself sitting under the same tree, holding up the same plastic sheet, listening to the same simple singing, taking part in the same simplicity of breaking of bread, and working with the same Children under a different tree as they learned about Jesus in that little church. I watched as they gathered during the service, and listened as they took part in meals after the service, and that community was still there – as names were mentioned, and people prayed for, and the life of faith lived, as baptisms were performed for new people who had come to faith. It was simple, beautiful, biblical, and powerful to witness. I remember thinking that one of the things that was even more beautiful was the sense of similarity – they were still Anglicans, living out the same priorities of faith, but doing it under the mango tree. It was the same in heart and form, yet different in outworking and practice.

Remembering who Builds the Church

One of the reasons we where there, was to help finish off a Parish church building for that little church gathering under the mango tree, to give them a home to their worship, a roof over their heads; and as we took part in their Sunday gathering’s each week under the three as the work slowly went on – I remembered wondering and hoping in honestly that the moving from the mango tree to the building would not change the heart, the simplicity, the beauty. I think about that little church often, and I think about it today because this was nearly the time I arrived eleven years ago to put into flesh the things my mind had processed. I remembered that sense of joy at being there in something that was the same yet different – something that was simple. Those were the best three months of life to be able to take part in something so beautiful, simple and gospel-centric in the month before starting to train for ministry, to be reminded what it is all about, and to be brought back to that lived sense of Acts 2 and the pillars of faith that must still shape our lives together today.

Pillar 1: The Teaching of the Apostles and Fellowship (2:42)

It is not random that the first thing that Luke records when he writes about the early life of the church together is this – the teaching of the faith. How else would they learn about Jesus by listening to those who have seen him and understood him? It is simple, the word of God is central to the life of the church, because it is by the work of God that we can understand who the Son of God is and what he has done for us. There is nothing else that can replace it, and if a church ever loses the centrality of the Scriptures, not just as something read but as something taught, then the church is no longer a church. And, we must notice and give time to the fact that the word is taught; Jesus is explained through the scriptures, and that is the foundation of their fellowship. Whether we are under a Mango tree or in a 175-year-old building, we gather around the word, hear the word, and then, by the word, go and live out our faith.

Pillar 2: Faith Lived Out (2:43)

I think we can read passages like this and make them something beyond ourselves, because none of us here are performing signs and wonders that fill people with awe. Yet, each of us here is a miracle in simplicity and beauty. We live in a world that wants to confuse us about what is true and how we should live; we are hit with lies about identity and what it is to be human; we listen to people tell us that there are many roads to the top of the mountain, or many different ways that we can explore what it is to be spiritual or human. Yet, we are right here on this day because God has brought us to this place, to remind us of the beauty of the gospel and the wonder of faith. Then, if we know Christ as Lord, we become the most wonderful miracle of all – Grace. To receive it is a miracle of faith, and to live it out each day is a living miracle of the work of God in us and through us in a dark and confused world. The Apostles performed signs and wonders, and we are a living sign and wonder when we walk in Grace and make Grace known together, so that others can come to know the wonder of faith in Christ. We are the miracle, and the sign that will bring wonder to the world around us when we go in the power of the Spirit, who is the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. So let’s delight in Grace and live it out so that our hope is made known. Yet, beautifully, we don’t do it alone; we are called to the common life of Grace together.

Pillar 3: Common Life (44-45)

Isn’t there something beautiful about verse 44? I love how Eugene Peterson phrases it: “And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common.” You see, when we get the basics right and the foundation is secure, then everything else flows from it. What we are is not what we do or how it is done – it is who we are and how we gather around his word, to learn the faith and live the faith. Then we are in Grace, we can live Grace because forgiven people forgive, loved people love, and we are called to the same end – make known Grace by how we love and serve one another. The early churhc gathering lived in the shadow of Christ’s call to love and serve one another, because by this the world will know that you are my disciples. Thus, right at the beginning of the birth of the church, we get to see an outworking of that love in Common Grace and community.

Let’s be clear, this is common Grace and not some weird form of Communism. Such is their unity of heart and purpose, and their overflowing love, that they sell their things to ensure those among them have what they need to live and grow in the faith that has united them. There is beauty in community, and joy in shared life, but that does not make it easy – commonality is not uniformity, it is keeping the first things first, and showing grace in places where we might disagree, and love when it is easier to be annoyed. It is living as Jesus lived with us – patiently, kindly, and forgivingly. Why? Because when we bear with one another, love one another, forgive one another and unite around the simple things, we make known the hope that is ours by faith, through Grace, and show people what the world is meant to be. The common life together in Grace is a sign of the Kingdom that is to come.

Pillar 4: Faith in the Normal Places (46)

One of the things that I think we can so often end up missing in a passage like that is one of the simplest things: rhythm. We are easily drawn to the signs and wonders, the word and the commonality. Yet, how often do we see the Rhythm that Luke points out as vital in the life of the Early church? The final pillar we see here is the rhythms of Grace in the ordinary places: there is not just a commonality, but time. The people of God are meeting in the house of God to hear from the word of God; they are moving from the house of God to their own places to meet, break bread, pray, and live out their faith. There is beauty in commonality, and it takes them throughout the whole week. It is not just about a sabbath gathering or a midweek gathering; their faith takes them into Monday together, then Tuesday, Wednesday, and through the whole week. This faith is not simply something private we live and practice in our quiet spaces throughout the week and then together on a Sunday. By the Holy Spirit, God moves us into the normal places to do life together and live out Grace together because that is the commonality of Grace, and the place by which people will know our faith. Added to that, the burden of our growth and discipleship is not just something for a minister to inspire in us, it’s something we own ourselves each day as we walk with God, by His Spirit and in his word. We are a people of the word, not just on Sunday, but every day at home, and then the Spirit helps us to live out the Grace God has taught us and made real in us. Why? Because faith that lives produces fruit.

The Fruit of Faith (Conclusion – 47)

I often long to go back to that Mango tree, and listen to worship and preaching in Swahili – not because I understood it, but because it was so simple it was beautiful. And, as I watched it, I was blessed to see theese pillars of the faith in a way that was the same, but radically different – the teaching of the word and fellowship around it; faith that we being lived out in the villages around; a commonality in Grace and love for the brother’s and sisters of the church; and then the rhythms of common life as people lived togehter and gathered in their Homes. What was funny was that we as a team were there to build a building, but as we watched this church live out its faith and grow in it – we were watching God build his church. Acts 2 finishes with one thing and one fruit as the people of faith live out the faith together with Gladness and sincere hearts. We are told of their worship of God and their favour among all people. As in their lives where they were focused on the call of God, and the city around them could not deny what God was doing in them. What happened? “Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.” Acts 2:42-47 is not a memory of an age of the church that has passed; it is a reminder about the simple things of faith, and the pillars that should hold us up and keep us together. That no matter if we are worshipping under a mango tree, or in the beauty and majesty of a building that is nearly 200 years old if we get the simple things right in prioritising the word, the breaking of bread, prayer, faith lived and, and the beauty of common Grace together – then God will shape our hears by his spirit to share gladness and sincerity; we will known the favour of our city because they cannot deny Christ in us, and in a messy and normal way he will add to our number those who are being saved.