32 Now the full
number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his
own, but they had everything in common. 33 And with great power the apostles were giving
their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon
them all. 34 There was
not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses
sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 and laid
it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. 36 Thus Joseph, who was
also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a
Levite, a native of Cyprus, 37 sold
a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’
feet.
Acts 4:32-37
During that time, poor people were
plenty. And for the most time they got
no help from anyone. They were left to
rot and die. Remember Jesus’ story about
Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16:19-31?
Lazarus died a very poor man. The
rich man did not extend his hand to help Lazarus even when Lazarus was at his
gate. There were many of them in
Jerusalem. Many of the poor put their
hope in Christ because their life was desolate.
They wished for a better life.
The Jewish leaders in Jerusalem did not care about them. They were busy enriching themselves. Luke 16:14 testifies: “The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and
they ridiculed him.” They ridiculed
Jesus because Jesus was teaching the people that one can’t serve two masters,
God and money. So the poor listened to
Jesus’ graceful words, especially the Beatitudes. Luke 6:20-21 records these graceful words of
Jesus:
20And
he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:
“Blessed
are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
21“Blessed are you
who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.
They
were yet to foretaste the realization of such wonderful blessings. Because it had been some time and their lives
were still the same. They still had to
beg at public places. They still had to
check every garbage dump for leftover food.
No help came to them.
They might remember the time when
Jesus fed them, about 20 thousand people, with just two fish and five
bread. But Jesus was no more. And no miracle like that was ever performed
again. Not even by Jesus’ disciples. So they were desperate for a concrete and
immediate help. Many of them were
believers. Fellow brothers and sisters
in Christ.
Just like what Jesus said in Matthew
26:11 that says “For you always have the poor with you, but
you will not always have me” as He was rebuking Judas for his
hypocrisy, we too today have the poor with us.
Even in our modern world and economy, we do not lack poor people. They are everywhere. And surely there are many Christians who are
poor as well. Fellow brothers and sisters
in Christ who struggle to put food on their table each and every day.
Yes, many of our churches today are
wealthy. They can build remarkable and
beautiful buildings. They even can plan
programs that drain funds like a water drainage. Their windows are made from one of a kind
stained glass artworks that might have costed them a lot. Their sanctuaries are architecturally
designed with state of the art design plan and technology. Their parking lots hosts more than 2000 cars
at one time. Their façades are made of
the highest quality granite. They even
have a lot of security personnel guarding their church buildings. Yet the poor remain poor. The rich stay rich uncaring about the fate of
their fellow brothers and sisters who are poor.
Their excuse? “If we give them
help, they will become dependent and that won’t be good for them. They need to be tough and be independent,” so
they say, but their true motive is such that they do not wish to part with
their wealth, not even some, especially not for the purpose of helping
others. Because if they are to use their
wealth for themselves, they will do it without even blinking.
The problem is, even though there
are many believers who are rich, and even many churches that are very wealthy,
their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who are less fortunate are not
helped. Not by them personally, and not
by the wealthy churches either. There are many issues here and there. For one, the poor do not wish to be put on
the spotlight if they were to receive help.
They do not wish to be the church’s advertisement tool in order to
promote the church. The bottom line is
whether they actually get a genuine help without any hidden agenda. More often than not, help does not come to our
brothers and sisters in Christ who are in need.
Help is scarce. It comes very
stingily and rarely. What is worse? The fact that the wealthy come together with
the wealthy and form a church, whereas the poor are sidelined with the other
poor and form their own church. Boom
discrimination and division is then reigning in the so called church. Such is the picture of our modern church
today, is it not?
Now, the first church did something
that is yet to be imitated by the modern church today. The richer believers of the first church
shared their possessions with those who were in need! This phenomenon was beyond remarkable. Nothing like this had ever been done
before. There was something in the born
again Christians’ hearts that changed dramatically. It was as if their long dead hearts were now
revived. The hearts breathed fresh air
for the first time after a long sleep.
It was finally beating again.
Blood pumping through it, giving life to the entire person. The dead and cold person now alive and
warm. The living could not lay down like
dead people and do nothing. The living
had to do something, especially knowing that their born again brothers and
sisters struggled to put food on the table.
James Montgomery Boice commented:
Nobody who has come to know that God
has been so gracious can ever be exactly like he or she was before. If somebody
says he believes the gospel but then lives exactly as before, that person is
not really born again. He or she is not saved.
When you realize what God has done for
you, your nature is changed. These early Christians realized God had been
generous with them, and so they shared what they had.[1]
True
Christians express their true nature that is in and like Christ through their
action in their daily life. Christians
cannot say they have faith in God but never do the good things their very
nature in Christ prompts them to do. J.
I. Packer said:
Their love
extended to external benefits. Inner unity is the root, and the fruit follows
on later. We must observe the same order; we must love one another, and then
this love of ours will show itself in external ways. It is no good to boast
about love unless it is seen in actions.[2]
Richard
Lenski observed further:
Here the
additional feature is added that even in this matter “not one was saying or
claiming that anything of his possessions (literally, of the things belonging
to him) was his own.” Everyone regarded his possessions as not being intended
for him alone but to be employed for all as need required. Even in the matter
of personal possessions all were one heart and soul. This is truly remarkable,
especially in so large a body. “Not one”—usually one or at least a few are
opposed to such an arrangement. This is especially true where money is
concerned. Selfishness shows itself, often in shameful ways, and will not let
true generosity and Christian love flourish.[3]
Indeed
remarkable what the first Christians did in this passage that Luke reported. This is the model of a true Cristian
community and church. The grace of God
in Christ to all Christians transformed these born again Christians of the
first century to do things never been done before. This was the foretaste of the Beatitudes that
Jesus preached. The poor and needy
experienced the blessings from God. Not
that they became rich through this. Not
at all. But that they got the help they
needed from their fellow Christians. And
such was the foretaste of the Kingdom of God that Jesus proclaimed. Love of God and Love of neighbor was at work
in this case.
Isn’t that what we also need to
implement in our daily Christian life?
Many people skip this passage and do not care about implementing it in
their lives. They brush this off as if
this Christian community model is not important. Some say that what the passage suggests is
not practical at all for modern Christians to do. They say that they have family, they have
their own businesses, they have their own difficulties, that they can’t
organize such charity, that they can’t help others continuously, and the list
goes on. With such argument of
impracticality, they then justify their refusal to share their possessions with
the needy. Some even argue that it is communism
at work, and thus excuse themselves from even considering that it is something
that must be done. For those that employ
the argument of impracticality and communism in order to avoid doing what this
passage suggests, listen to what Kent Hughes said:
If we focus on what seems to be the impracticality
of this, or upon the seeming communism, we miss the point. Communism says
practically, “What is yours is everyone’s.” Christianity says, “What is mine is
yours.” A generous, giving spirit permeated this great church. The overall
atmosphere was one of care for one another.[4]
About
the communism issue, Martyn Llyod Jones pointed out:
But was this
communism? I would suggest that it was not and that it is amazing that anybody
should have imagined that it was. I want to try to show you that it was the
exact opposite of communism or of any other human effort to produce that kind
of community. What is the difference between the two? Well, there is one
difference in this account that is enough in and of itself to prove my point.
You notice that what happened here was entirely voluntary. How much of the
voluntary principle is there in Russia or in any other Communist country?
Nothing is voluntary where there is communism. This system carries out its
purposes by the power of the sword, by force. If you defy it, you are
eliminated. Communism has eliminated (to use that terrible term) probably more
people than even Nazism did. No, this Christian community was the antithesis of
communism. Communism imposes an equality. In the early church there was a
voluntary equality and a rejoicing in that. Nothing was done in a spirit of
fear because the secret police were watching and you had no choice. It was the
exact opposite of some imposed system.[5]
Hughes and Jones were right. Thus
there is no excuse for Christians of the 21st century not to do
what the passage in Acts 4 suggests. The
big question is: “Will you?” My question
to you as a minister of God’s word is: “What is your excuse of not sharing the
way we as Christians must?”
Those Christians did not consider
their possessions as theirs, but that what privilege and fortune God had given
them was meant to be shared with others in need. Today we too have plenty of poor and needy
people in our local church and in our greater Christian community. Before we even look at the poor and needy
beyond our Christian community, try to look at those within our “church”
first. You will be surprised at the
number. Once you find out about it, do
not just store it in your knowledge compartment. You must act upon it. Your love must find its way to be expressed
into something concrete. You cannot
merely say I love you and do nothing.
Now imagine you have plenty of food in
your kitchen. Then your kids come
hungry. You greet them with I love you
kids. Then you sit down in your
comfortable couch. Your five and three
year olds come to you and say that they are hungry. They need food. You look at them and say again: “I love
you.” But you just sit there on the
couch doing nothing. Your kids beg you
to give them something to eat. But you
do not budge. When they keep nagging for
food, you say to them: “Go away! What is
your problem? Don’t I have the right to
enjoy myself and not be bothered by you, kids?”
What would you say about this kind of parent?
Isn’t it the nature of thing that the
strong protects the weak? Our very
constitution and construction undeniably showcase this eternal truth. When the strong holds power and authority,
they ought not to abuse it, but instead they are to utilize their power in
order to ensure the safety and security of the weak. The problem Pharaoh had during the time of
Moses was that he abused his power and with the authority given him he enslaved
the Israelites. So the Almighty God had
to intervene and protect the weak. He
then liberated Israel from the bondage of slavery. Pharaoh, as king, was supposed to provide
safety and security for all the citizens of Egypt. But he didn’t.
Supposed that parent, instead of then
preparing food for his/her kids, he/she starts forcing the kids to do things
for him/her, wouldn’t he/she can be considered abusing the kids? If the law that is being cited is the law of
the jungle whereas the strong rules over the weak, then no one should complain
when a robber takes away our belongings, or an assassin murders our loved ones,
or a smart businessman deceives and takes over the company of his competitor,
or the rapist raping girls, or an armed force destroying our homes, and so on
and so forth. But why do we complain
when such things happen? Because somehow
deep down in our heart of hearts we know that the law of the jungle must not
prevail. We know deeply within than the
strong must protect the weak.
And in this passage, exactly this
divine character was displayed in full force as the Christians shared their
possessions with the less fortunate. And
in v. 34 it was declared that:
34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were
owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 and
laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.
This
was the result of such an amazing drive of sharing the first church
demonstrated. Like I said, our modern
church today is yet to imitate what the first church did as revealed in Acts.
Look to your right and left. Look to this corner and that corner. Look for those brothers and sisters of yours
that are in need. If you have been
blessed with plenty, share with them. Do
not be like this world, which philosophy is survival of the fittest, in which
the strong devours the weak. Those
unbelievers roam the street looking for prey whom they can devour. The strong in the world do not protect the
weak, but instead they exploit the weak so the weak will pay so much that they
will stay poor while the rich will grow richer and richer still. Five hundred years ago the Roman Catholic
Church went mad. They adopted the way of
the world, by which they exploited the weak so they could get more money in
order to enrich themselves. They
employed the penance and indulgence letter in order to squeeze money out of the
poor in order to fund the building of the Basilica St. Peter in Rome. Their aim was more power, more fame, more
grandeur, and more riches, and so with the power bestowed upon them they
manipulated the simple and poor to pay more money. Such crazy action prompted Martin Luther to
search the Scriptures to find answers.
He came out with the 95 theses which became the first act of the
Reformation of the church. How about
your church? Which model you are to
adopt? The world model or the first
church model as revealed in the book of Acts?
I shall leave that to you to decide.
But I must say that you ought to choose the model in Acts 4. Not just in theory, but also in concrete
action. May the Lord bless you. Amen!
[1]
James Montgomery Boice, Acts: An Expositional Commentary
(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1997), 92.
[2]
J. I. Packer, “Introduction,” in Acts, ed. Alister McGrath, Crossway
Classic Commentaries (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1995), Ac 4:32.
[3]
R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles
(Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 187.
[4]
R. Kent Hughes, Acts: The Church Afire, Preaching
the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1996), 71.
[5]
David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “Peace on Earth,” in Courageous Christianity, 1st U.S. ed.,
vol. 2, Studies in the Book of Acts (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001), 204.
No comments:
Post a Comment