Acts 2:42-47 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
After Pentecost the collective body of Christ penetrated the Jewish community in Jerusalem. These believers in the resurrection of Christ enjoyed the favor of all the people. The disciples were in the temple courts every day praising God for the new life they were experiencing. The apostles were busy teaching the converts about life in the Spirit of God, about the nature of the kingdom of God, and about the necessity of living their daily lives in Christ. Consequently, They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. The poor and disadvantaged were now one of their primary concerns. They were well aware of Isaiah's prophesy about the Messiah ministering to the poor. The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. (Isaiah 61:1) The disciples knew Jesus’ commission from God focused on the poor. When John the Baptist was in prison, he was concerned about whether Jesus was the Messiah sent from God or just a good man who follows the mission God has placed upon him in his life. Jesus tells John's disciples to go back to John and tell him what they have seen and heard. “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor." (Luke 7:22) Jesus assured John that He was appropriating Isaiah’s prophesy into everything He did. He was doing marvelous acts that no man from the beginning of time had performed and He was ministering daily to the poor. The latter was important to the nascent church. They decided to have everything in common. James speaks very clearly about ministering to the poor. Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? (James 2:5) The poor were ground zero in Jesus' mission on earth. James says that if people discriminate against them in any way, they have violated God’s written law. Therefore as a lawbreaker, you might as well have broken every law, for you are guilty before God of being unrighteous, deserving judgment. Of course we see the early church focused on the disadvantaged because of recently being baptized in the Spirit of God. Jesus emphasizes the love God has for the poor by relating the story of Lazarus and the rich man. We see the rich man living a very comfortable life. He has organized life around his own needs and welfare. “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. But on the other side of the coin of life was Lazarus who sat at the rich man’s gate every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. (Luke 16:19-21) The rich man lives a life for self: self-indulgent, self-satisfying. In this story we hear Abraham as the voice of God explaining the situation of Sheol, an eternal abode. He explains to one of his own descendants why he is now located in Sheol under horrendous torment and why Lazarus is in the comfortable abode with Abraham. Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. (Luke 16:25) The rich man lived a life of many amenities, but Lazarus’ only amenity was the dogs who licked his sores. However the rich man was not without love. His love was so great for his five brothers that he begged Abraham to send back someone from the dead to tell his brothers to change their way of living so they might escape this hellish torture he was experiencing. He had great love for them, but as Jesus said, anyone can love their own relatives, but I am asking you to love your enemies, or in Lazarus’ case, the unlovely. I am sure Abraham reluctantly had to tell him the facts of human rebellion to God and his goodness, even if he could send someone back from the dead to inform them of the need to change their lives, they would not alter the course of their existence. They are hardened in their lifestyle like the Pharaoh of Egypt: they desire to write their own script of how they should live. In this story, we see how much God cares for those who lose out in society. Now the nascent church filled with God’s Spirit and nature focuses willingly on the disadvantaged, insuring the best they can that there will be no poor among them.
The apostles continued Jesus’ amazing ministry of healing the bodies of people and casting out demons. Their power to do such marvelous supernatural acts amazes the people in Jerusalem, causing many to find Jesus as their Savior. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Jesus had told his followers not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for the infilling of the Holy Spirit. With this power of the Spirit in the midst of them, their lives were changed dramatically. The Spirit of God brought great contrast between their previous lives and the ones they were experiencing now in the church of the Living God. This contrast of their natural lives to their present spiritual lives affected all who saw them. Their willingness to forsake the natural passions of living in the flesh to lives committed to God and to others opened the eyes of many. For their own spiritual leadership in the Jewish community was focused mostly on fleshly matters. They knew their own priestly leadership was not focused on helping the poor and disadvantaged but on regulations and rituals of the law. Jesus knew the hearts of their priests; they loved the deference the people gave them, and they loved money, the wealth they accrued through their priestly positions. Jesus called them hypocrites; his discernment of them was correct. The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight. (Luke 16:14-15) However, the leadership in the early church functions opposite of the priesthood. They were not focused on earthly gain, but were literally willing to die to the things of this world. They laid down their fleshly desire for recognition. Instead they allowed themselves to be ostracized by the Jewish community. They were open to be disinherited because of their dedication to their Lord. Their temporal lives were of no worth to them and they considered the wealth of this earth as meaningless. Their only focus was on Jesus and his resurrected life. They understood that Jesus is the only way to eternal life. They were willing to give their all to obtain the resurrected life. Consequently, the attitude of Jesus was very important for them to hold dear. They knew Jesus was very fond of the poor, so they too were focused on the poor. Jesus pointed out to his disciples when they were with him to look at a widow who put only two coins into the coffer of the Temple. He told them that the widow gave her all to God; her offering indicated her great faith. She was dependent on God’s goodness to her, not on her circumstances. Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44) This poor, frail woman might have even been pushed aside by the more prosperous. The winners in society often want others to know that they are successful and have a good heart by giving money from their excess, but the widow placed her life in the treasury, knowing she had no one to depend on but God. Now we see the early church willing to be as the widow, dependent on God.
How difficult all of this teaching is on Christians today when wealth is so plentiful. The average ticket to the Super Bowl cost $6,559; the cost of attending a concert or a pro basketball game reaches into the hundreds of dollars. Money is plentiful for many, but the world’s population consists of billions of people who are living in great poverty. John the Baptist preceded Jesus, preparing the people to repent of their lifestyle. He was plowing up the ground, so Jesus could plant the seeds of eternal life. John lived a rudimentary life. His whole life was focused on doing the will of God. When the people heard his dire warnings of the judgment of God on their wayward, self-indulgent lives, they wanted to know how they could be right with a living, righteous God. John gave them a way to be pleasing to God: repent of your sins and seek to please God by doing good in your lives. He warned them, The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”“What should we do then?” the crowd asked. John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” (Luke 3:9-11) True repentance is a turning around in your lifestyle, even if you consider yourself somewhat poor. He states, if you have two shirts in your closet, you should share with the one who has none, and if you have any food at all, you should do the same, share. No one is off the hook; all are accountable to God on how he or she lives. We see the early church with this attitude. Why? Probably because they were filled with the Holy Spirit in such a marvelous way. The Spirit of God came to them in power, revealing the nature of the living, merciful God, full of grace for all people. Yes, for some people in this world, they must see the marvelous signs of a supernatural God in their midst to believe or to know God exists. But Jesus said those kind of people are corrupt and degenerate. Nothing will really change their minds if they only want to see a God of supernatural acts. But for most people, they want to see a God of love and mercy, one who cares for them. Enduring love is a trait of the living God. He loves all men and women. He will seek them even if they are his enemies. Supernatural signs are few, not often can people see God in the love displayed to them by Christians. Christians should exist in an environment of love, for the Bible says God is love. God asks us to spread his love to the world, especially to the least of these. We are not out to judge the world or to castigate the world, but to love the world as God loves people who are sadly embedded in darkness. Jesus said, we are lights. Light displays the truth to all people that Jesus--the epitome of love--is the light, the way, the truth. No one will step out of darkness on their own. A blind man cannot find his way out of darkness; he needs someone to lead him out of his desperate place. The early church, filled with the Holy Spirit, was the bright light in Jerusalem. They were the way, the truth, the light to the community of Jews in Jerusalem. They came to the needy, sharing all they had for the glory of God. What a challenge that is to us who exist today in the body of Christ. Full of God’s Love, may we meet that challenge today.
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