"Proceeds to All, As Any Had Need"

Eleventh Friday after Pentecost

First, thanks to Joe and to Jennifer for their thoughtful and positive comments on witnessing.

Second, I'm changing the usual order of things this week. We're doing Bible study today, instead of tomorrow, because tomorrow is the Festival of St. Mary, or as Catholics call it, the Festival of the Assumption. Tomorrow we'll be talking about Mary.

Now, open your Bible or device to Acts 2:43-47 and read. 

Scholars call this a "summary statement." Luke sums up in a few words quite a lot of what is going on. Acts 1-7 all takes place in Jerusalem, mostly in the Temple precincts. It's only two months after the crucifixion. Apparently Pontius Pilate and Caiaphas have already forgotten about Jesus. They are apparently unconcerned about Jesus' followers hanging out in the Temple complex. Some of the Apostles may have already moved out of Jerusalem to spread the gospel to areas beyond, but Luke is at this point focused only on the ones who remain in Jerusalem.

These earliest Jerusalem Christians have already established a pattern for their community life. They shared all their possessions in common. Individuals sold possessions which were not essential and tried to make sure that all who were in need received what they needed. Luke portrays this earliest period as a time of joy, caring, love, and growth. 

Here are a few things to note. The earliest Christians were all Jews, devout Jews. The Jerusalem Temple was both central and sacred to them. Its outer court was also the principal gathering place Jews, a fertile ground for the Apostles to make converts. Jews were already nine tenths of the way there. They had belief in the one true God. They had the scriptures. They had the prayers. The only thing they needed to add to their faith was belief that the man Jesus had been raised from the dead and was the Messiah and the Son of God. In contrast, the gentiles, to whom the gospel was soon to be taken, were none of the way there. 

The Apostles' early Christian generosity was doubtless one of their faith's attractions. The poor in Jerusalem found that the gospel came with bread. Christianity from this earliest time down to this very day has attracted the poor. One of the chief criticism of the Romans against the Christians in the first four centuries was that the Christians had too many poor people. Christianity was a poor people's religion. Worse still, the Christians treated the poor as equals to the rich.

Luke portrays this very earliest time of Christianity as a time of joy and of community. As we'll see in chapters 5 and 6, conflicts will soon emerge. Jesus makes us good, but he doesn't make us any less human. Perhaps we could all do well to share a little bit more of our financial "proceeds to all, as any had need." (Acts 2:45). Perhaps if we do, day by day the Lord will add to the number of those being saved (Acts 2:47).

Faithfully,

Christian