Transforming
Devotions in Acts
Act 4:32-37 NASB -
"32 And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul;
and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all
things were common property to them. 33 And with great power the apostles were
giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was
upon them all. 34 For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were
owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales 35
and lay them at the apostles' feet, and they would be distributed to each as
any had need. 36 Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called
Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement), 37 and
who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the
apostles' feet."
Musings
What does is mean
when a congregation is of “one heart and soul”.
It means that they think alike on the big issues and can agree to
disagree in an agreeable manner on areas of disagreement. They found their unity in the gospel of the
Messiah Jesus and the teaching of the apostles.
In this they were all united and they considered these two sources of
truth to be at the center of their outlook on life. They were all passionate about learning,
worshiping, praying, and being a community.
The resurrected Christ was at the center of their community as its
head. They were a community of grace
that was saved by grace.
Part of what happened
here were that those with financial resources sold them and this allowed the
poor to be cared for by the church. It
appears that a good percentage of the brothers and sisters who were saved were
economically challenged while others may have been among the “1%”. The teaching that they were to love each
other even as Christ loved them practically meant that sacrifices needed to be
made to make sure no one was without food, clothing, and lodging. Barnabas, the son of encouragement, is one of
these wealthy people who sells property to equip the church with the ability to
care for the poor.
This was a type of
simple volunteer communalism. Some would
have argued that Barnabas would have been wiser to provide jobs for people and
keep the land since it would have continued to produce a profit year after
year. It is likely that the early church
is thinking the return of Messiah Jesus would be soon and therefore were not
planning strategically. One could argue
the Lord Jesus would have encouraged them to do just that in HIS parables (Matthew
25:14-30). [1]
Christians have attempted things many times, often in imitation of what we read
here. Sometimes these groups became
cults and many struggled financially.
One of the most famous of these groups would be the Amish. This pattern was not followed in all the New
Testament communities so was an optional arrangement not one demanded as a
standard of life.
What is not optional
is that every Christian community has to be dedicated to caring for the
physical needs as well as the spiritual needs of everyone in the
community. Care for the poor is the one
of the best illustrations and examples of the gospel lived out since Christ
became poor for us by leaving heaven and paying for our sins. It is light of this great sacrifice that now
we sacrifice for others (James 2).
How should we then
live?
What could we do to
become of “one heart and soul” with those we go to church with?
What causes us to not
be able to feel very close to those that we worship with weekly?
How could we make
caring for the poor a greater priority and do it as an illustration of the
gospel?
Prayer
Lord, help us learn
to love each other as you have loved us.
Make us one in you and know the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace
found in the gospel. Allow us to seek
ways to help each other physically and spiritually so that the world would see
in us a community of great mercy, grace, harmony, and peace. Amen
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