Sermon for June 14, 2026: Held Together based upon Acts 2: 42-47

https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57374.

​Acts 2:42-47 (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
43 Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45 they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds[a] to all, as any had need. 46 Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home[b] and ate their food with glad and generous[c] hearts, 47 praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

---

     “If you owned a building, would you let your friends live in it rent free?” This is the question a woman named Ellyn Marsh asked her cousin Allan Giacomelli as they sat in the audience of the musical “Rent.” Allan had never seen it before. He and Ellyn share videos on social media of his first impression of musicals he’s never seen before. He’s a person who may like the music in musicals well enough, but doesn’t always follow the sometimes admittedly strange and convoluted stories in them. I watched a video this week of Allan’s first-time watching Rent, and it’s a delight.
​
    “Some of them. Not all of them.” is Allan’s answer to Ellyn’s question. Which is funny, even without knowing the musical. Maybe you’d say the same thing about letting your friends stay somewhere rent-free, too. Ellyn and Allan go on:

E: How many of them?
A: One.
E: How long would you let them live for free?
A: A week.
E: What about a year?
A: Rent free? For a year!?
E: Yeah.
A: Do they have a job?
E: They’re artists. It’s hard being an artist.
A: Is it?

     For those of you unfamiliar with Rent, it’s a musical about a year in the life of group of artist and activist friends who live in a building that is owned by another friend. It is set in 1989 in a part of the East Village in New York City. The musical is also inspired by Puccini’s opera La Bohème, a story about young, impoverished artists in Paris in 1837. Unfortunately, there are many eras in which choosing to pursue creative work, particularly as someone who isn’t from a wealthy background, puts you in precarious financial straits.

     As Ellyn and Allan’s video goes on, at intermission, Allan says, “I don’t get what this is about? How many people live in this building? It’s like Charlie Brown in there. Everyone’s just dancing!” He’s not wrong! The friends dance in their apartments and dance at the bar they frequent and then back at their apartments again. Like the party scene in the Charlie Brown Christmas movie, there’s a guy with a blanket and a piano, and a room full of dancing people! “Why don’t they wanna pay rent,” Allan exclaims at one point. As a person who’s lived in the city, like a normal adult, and rented apartments before, he can’t imagine a world where someone just tries not to pay rent. It is a social obligation that he understands, and watching a show about people who are trying to get out of doing something that he thinks is an inarguable obligation blows his mind.

     In the show, the landlord character Benny, who used to be a struggling renter like his friends, is trying to get two characters, Mark and Roger, to pay their rent, so he cuts of the heat to their place. He also offers to give them a pass on the rent if they can convince another activist/artist friend/former roommate Maureen to cancel a protest against him for clearing a homeless encampment in another lot he owns. She organized it with her public interest lawyer girlfriend, Joanne. So much of this film is about the tensions between making art and making money, nurturing relationships while balancing responsibilities and loyalties, and honoring your calling in challenging times.

     Like many musicals, Rent uses music and dramatic stages to discuss a very real, very challenging era in US history. The characters in the show reflect the lives of the struggling arts and activists that composer Jonathan Larson, knew in late 80’s and early 1990’s New York City. These were people struggling with HIV diagnoses in an era with few treatments. This was also an era when people in romantic relationships with people of the same gender had very few legal protections. Many people lost their homes when their partners died of AIDS, not only because they couldn’t afford them without a second income, but also because, without the legal protections afforded married couples, homophobic family members had the legal right to remove them. This reality, compounded with an affordability crisis in their gentrifying neighborhoods, the lack of safety nets for creatives, and addiction crisis of this era, meant that many folks living around Larson were managing a lot of day-to-day uncertainty. If you don’t know this history, some part of the musical will seem so silly or foolish. And, the people in the story might be hard to empathize with.

     It may seem strange to bring the musical Rent into conversation with the book of Acts. I think a lot of people have been taught to read the Bible, including the book of Acts, and assume that the characters are respectable. Even if we know that they may have been living in tension with powerful people, we will assume the tension is because of their moral uprightness and because of the unrighteousness of the powerful. Not everyone will feel comfortable hearing these artists struggling with addiction, living with HIV, and resisting paying rent being compared to the first disciples of Christ. But, I think the comparison is fruitful.

     In a commentary that includes preaching notes on this text, Dr. Wil Gafney notes that much of scripture discusses people who trying to survive in hostile situations. She points to other stories showing groups of people moving from one place to another to escape famine and of characters, making big, bold, and risky choices because if they don’t, they will surely die. The church in Acts is living in the wake of the political violence of Jesus’ crucifixion. Though they have the hope of the resurrection and the power of the Spirit to continue his ministry, there is a threat of violence from Rome that they must contend with. Also, it’s not clear at all that many of these disciples, who were a broader group than just The Twelve at this point had much money. There were certainly wealthy widow women patrons who supported early Christian communities, but most of the people in this text were not. They had to find a way to survive.

     As Dr. Gafney says, “In Acts, it is the community of the church that meets the needs of the people.” They held all things in common. They sold possessions and distributed the proceeds to any who had needs. They shared food, shared worship and conversation in the temple, and shared goodwill. Not only did they survive, but their Spirit-led sharing helped other new people understand that they would be welcomed. Scripture tells us, “Day by day, the Lord added to their number those were being saved.” In his commentary on this text, Jeremy Williams talks about this community that shared everything and prioritized shared faith and building relationships over political and financial success as “putting their critique of the empire into practice.” There are likely people, maybe even people in this very room, who greet this description of a communitarian church with the same level of flabbergast as Allan when he asked why Mark and Roger don’t want to pay Benny rent. What do you mean they sold everything they had and shared the proceeds? Who does that? They shared it with strangers and friends alike? What is going on?

     In verse 42, there is a word that is translated in English as “fellowship.” In Greek, it is “koinonia.” The root of this word is koina, which means common, not common like ordinary but common like shared. Williams argues that the earliest Christian community is marked by a deep, faithful commitment to sharing. Those who had more possessions would be expected to give up more. Those in need could expect the community to offer them care. Williams points out that this ethic probably wouldn’t surprise us if we remember that, in Luke, the prequel to Acts, wealth is often understood to be a barrier to building relationship with Jesus and the disciples. You might remember the rich young man who was very sad to be asked to give away everything to follow Jesus. You might also remember Zacchaeus, who returned all that he had swindled away from people, in order to follow Christ.
​
     After watching the complete musical, Allan says, “I don’t get this.” Ellyn responds, “All of the information is in the text.” As we consider how we interpret our scripture in ways that affect how we live out our faith, it might seem facile to say the same: all of the information is in the text. Williams described the lives of the disciples as “doing life together” in a “crisis moment.” That feels like a good description of the characters in Rent, too. The only way forward for all of them is through love and through sharing. As we live in what many feel to be a crisis moment, love and sharing are vital tools for us, as will the protests like Maureen and Joanne were organizing. This is a season of challenge. It is also a season of love. May the Spirit and our generosity continue to hold us together, and on open our hearts to everyone else.
 
Resources consulted while writing this sermon:
The video about the person watching Rent for the first time: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZY0qC8JjWV/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Rent's website: https://rentthemusical.com/about/
Background on Rent: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rent-American-musical
About La Bohème https://www.britannica.com/topic/La-Boheme-opera-by-Puccini
Jeremy Williams: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fourth-sunday-of-easter/commentary-on-acts-242-47-7
Wil Gafney, A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church Year A (New York: Church Publishing, 2021)