Church In Action
Church in Action
Acts 4:23-37
What a wonderful place to live!
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.
Doesn’t that sound deeply appealing? Not least on a day like today when news reports are filtering in from Christchurch, New Zealand of at least 49 people gunned down in a terror attack.
· A community where everyone is together—not just geographically in the same place; it’s more than that: everyone is together in spirit, pursuing the same goals, united by a common devotion to the apostles’ teaching.
· A community where people are so devoted to sharing with one another that they voluntarily sell their possessions to provide for one another’s needs, and not because they have been forced to do so at gunpoint by a police state.
· A community where people delight to spend time together, so that they are in and out of each other’s homes on a daily basis.
· A community of generous-hearted people, where no-one is trying to outdo anyone else or show off what they have (not at least until ch5 anyway).
In the word of King David (Psalm 133.1), Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!
What a wonderful, attractive community to be a part of. Who wouldn’t want to be part of a community like this?
Especially when you’ve got fellows like Joseph around.
Joseph has a nickname, Barnabas.
Some of us have nicknames we’d rather forget because they relate to qualities of character that are not entirely endearing, or they relate to events from our past that we’d rather not remember.
Joseph’s nickname, Barny, means son of encouragement. What a remarkable thing to be known as.
No wonder. Look at what he does. He’s not even from Jerusalem, he’s from Cyprus. He sells his field, I take it was in Cyprus. He gives the proceeds to the apostles and says, ‘use it as you see fit’.
What a wonderfully generous fellow.
We’re not just talking about generosity with money – although it certainly includes that, but you don’t get the nickname Barny from just that.
Luke introduces this character here because he comes up a few times throughout Acts, and every time he does you can see why he was called Barny, the encourager.
e.g. 9:27
In Acts 9, not long after Christian-persecuting Saul is converted, Saul comes to Jerusalem and attempts to join in with everyone, and they all say, “Whoa, hang on.” Who is it that gets alongside him and vouches for him?
Acts 9:27, But Barnabas took him…
e.g. 11:22
In Acts 11, some of the Gentiles were being converted in Antioch, which was a bit controversial to most of the Jewish believers, who were jealous really. Who is it that goes to them?
Acts 11:23, When Barnabas came and saw the grace of God, he was glad…
This was the sort of other-person-centred, generous-hearted fellow he was.
What a great community to be a part of with guys like this around.
Tell me, why is it that while part of me says, “Wow, what a great community to be a part of,” another part of me baulks and thinks, “Err, maybe not so great”?
Is that just me, or is that others as well?
On the one hand, it sounds great. On the other, err, not sure I could do it.
It’s not because we think we need to do exactly the same as what they did – selling all their possessions and everyone having everything in common. We know enough to know it’s not saying that.
There is a principle here: belonging to Jesus means belonging to each other in a way that costs. We also know that to follow that principle:
It’s going to have to mean giving up some of my stuff, or my time, or my talents
It’s going to have to mean getting close to people
Suddenly that doesn’t sound so great.
Why do we baulk at doing what it takes to be this sort of community?
Why Don’t We?
We’re Fooled
We’re fooled into thinking stuff satisfies.
We’re fooled into believing the bumper sticker which says, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” We’re fooled into thinking that material wealth brings happiness. We’re fooled into thinking we don’t have enough.
Millions of people live as if that’s true. It’s the culture we’re in.
How do you know if you’re fooled?
Do you spend more time thinking about what you don’t have than being thankful for what you do have? Do you ever find yourself looking into your full wardrobe and thinking ‘I’ve got nothing to wear’, or looking into your full pantry and thinking ‘there’s nothing to eat’?
How long is your ‘they have, but I don’t have’ list?
How skilled are you in moving things that are desires into the need category? How quickly do things go from ‘that’d be nice to have’ to ‘I think we need to get that’, so you consider yourself, especially compared to these others, actually to be needy and so you can’t afford to be generous?
We’re fooled, and it’s foolish. He who dies with the most toys … still dies, and takes none of it with him. You never see hearses towing trailers full of stuff.
We’re also fooled into not trusting God.
Along with the message that stuff satisfies is the message that stuff brings security. Not only do we treasure money and what money can get us, we trust it.
As long as I have “X” dollars in the bank, then I feel safe. Once the house is finished (which they rarely ever are) then we’ll be free to serve. Now I’ve got a couple of new outfits I’m social acceptable, socially secure.
If I’m generous, radically generous, even half of what these people were like, well that’s too risky. I couldn’t possibly do what they did. After all, God hasn’t given me the spiritual gift to be able to do that.
Maybe, that’s true – not everyone has the ability or opportunity to do that. Or, maybe you’ve been fooled into not trusting him, not trusting that he will provide you with everything you need for eternal life, everything you need to live for and serve him. Fooled into not trusting that if he doesn’t provide it it’s because you don’t need it.
Maybe we’re fooled into thinking that once we reach a certain level, a certain standard of living, a certain figure in the bank books, then I’ll be set, secure, able to do x, y, z.
When you think about it, it really is foolish. Do you really want to trust stuff that moths munch on, or that rust ruins, or that thieves can steal?
Materialism leads to trusting self, because at the end of the day it’s all about getting what I want, when I want, how I want.
If your trust is in earthly treasures, or your security is in stuff, it’ll just be too risky to be very generous.
If your treasure is earthly treasures, your satisfaction is in stuff, it’ll be too painful to be very generous.
How Can We?
How can you make the sacrifices and take the risks that are involved in having generous hearts and an attitude that asks what’s best for the local church before what’s best for me?
The Invincible Sovereignty of God
“Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit,
“‘Why did the Gentiles rage,
and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers were gathered together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed’
David wrote those words in Psalm 2 a thousand years earlier, at a time when hostile nations threatened the young kingdom of Israel.
‘Such opposition,’ wrote David, ‘is so brazen. How dare these foreign powers set themselves against the Lord and his chosen King?’
And more than that, it’s futile. How can they possibly hope to succeed? For the people plot in vain when they gather together against the Lord and his Anointed.
As this young church experiences persecution for the first time, it takes these thoughts and applies them to their own situation. In fact, they seem to see David’s words as prophetic.
The Christians see themselves as God’s true people, and Jesus as God’s true Son, the anointed messiah. Herod and Pilate now represent those foreign powers conspiring against the people of God; against the Lord and his Anointed.
Just as that conspiracy was doomed in David’s day, so it is now, because, in spite of all their scheming God cannot be thwarted. How can you outwit the one who knows everything? How can you defeat the one who is all-mighty?
It’s impossible! They plot in vain.
These early Christians of course only had to look back a matter of weeks to see the prime example of this.
V27, for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
God planned it. God did it.
The Jews and Romans thought they’d won when they crucified Jesus. God used the malice of the Jews, and he used the impotence of Pilate, and masterfully wove them together into his great plan to redeem his people.
How could God do this?
Easily, because he’s the Sovereign Lord. The one who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them (which includes Herod and Pilate and you and me).
The word for “sovereign” in the original Greek is despot. Which may be an unexpected term with many unpleasant connotations.
Christians do believe in dictatorship: the dictatorship of God.
He alone has absolute power. He alone calls the shots. He alone is running the show. And of that these early Christians were absolutely certain.
If he could turn the worst evil that’s ever been from a defeat into the best victory, then there’s no set-back that could possibly hinder the advance of his purposes in the world. Let them put the whole church in prison if they want to, they will only achieve what God decided beforehand would happen.
When you know the sovereignty of God, you know:
- You’re secure
If you want gospel guts to stand firm against an intimidating and frightening opposition, then it starts with knowing this.
Chrysostom, the early church father, was on trial for his life. The Emperor said, ‘we will banish you!’
And Chrysostom is reputed to have replied, ‘You can’t banish me for the whole world is my Father’s home.’
‘Well then,’ declared the Emperor, ‘we will execute you.’
‘You can’t,’ he replied. ‘My life is hid with Christ.’
‘Well then, we will dispossess you of your estate.’
‘You can’t,’ he said. ‘I have not got any. All my treasure is in heaven.’
‘Well then, we will put you in solitary confinement,’ said the Emperor.
‘You can’t, for I have a divine Friend from whom you can never separate me. I defy you, there is nothing you can do to hurt me.’
That’s the defiance these Christians had because they knew what a sovereign God they had.
It’s why they could pray what they prayed in v29, And now, Lord, look upon their threats [i.e. deal with them as you please, but all we ask now is that you]grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness.
It’s why they did continue to speak the word of God with boldness (end of v31).
It’s (at least in part) why they could continue to be this generous-hearted, other-person-centred, unique, attractive community.
- That it doesn’t belong to us
Your house, your car, your money, your possessions, your abilities, your time all ultimately come from God and belong to him.
One day, a distraught man rode his horse up to John Wesley, shouting, “Mr. Wesley, something terrible happened! Your house burned to the ground!”
Wesley weighed the news, then calmly replied, “No. The Lord’s house burned to the ground. That means one less responsibility for me.”
Wesley’s reaction wasn’t a denial of reality. Rather he was affirming it – that God is the owner of all things, and we are stewards or managers of what he has entrusted to us.
Some people, in order to encourage giving, will say, “Open your wallet, and have a look inside. Is there some of God’s money in your wallet right now that you need to give?”
What a silly thing to say. It’s all God’s money. He cares about how you use all of it, not just the percentage you put in the offering plate, or give to the charity or whatever.
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it says Ps 24.1.
“The silver is mine and the gold is mine,” declares the Lord Almighty in Haggai 2.8.
Remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth reminds Moses in Deuteronomy 8.18.
All things were created through him and for him says Paul about the Lord Jesus. And so on and so on.
All things are from the triune God, and all things for him. Your time, talents, treasures.
So we might ask, why has he given you what he has given you?
Well Paul gives the answer in 1 Tim 6:17-18. He says there are two reasons. God has richly provided you with everything to enjoy firstly. God’s given you things to enjoy them. You don’t need to feel guilty about having a house, a car, a coffee, fishing rods, books, money, etc. They’re gifts from God to be enjoyed.
There’s a second reason however, why God has given you what he has given you. And that’s to be generous, to share them, to use our time, talents, and treasures for the sake of others not just for yourself.
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share.
Why don’t I want to be generous with my stuff? Because you might wreck it. Don’t you know I work hard at keeping my car clean? I’m not going to lend it to you so you can scratch it.
Why don’t I want to be generous with my time? Because you might waste it. Don’t you know I’ve got a busy schedule? If I lend you my time it’ll ruin my week.
Why don’t I want to be generous with my talents? Because you might get the credit for what was really my idea or my work, and I want to be seen as the one who has the smarts and skills.
What’s going to enable us? When we remember that actually it all belongs to God, not me – it’s from him and for him.
The mark of one who remembers it all comes from God is thankfulness and gratitude. The more grateful you are the more you’ll enjoy it.
That’s how God’s glory is revealed
Generosity displays the glory of God.
Generosity says something about what his kingdom is like and what the character of the King is like, who he is and what he’s on about.
Lack of generosity, in whatever way it might show itself, ingratitude, neediness, discontentment, envy, says something about what this earthly kingdom is like. It’s a kingdom of self-preoccupation, self-promotion, and self-pursuit.
Generosity says there’s something even better to pursue and promote and find pleasure in – knowing and showing the worth of the one from whom and for whom it all comes.
If we forget that we’re taking away a significant motivator for generosity.
When we’re generous with our time and talents and treasures it says there’s something even more valuable to us, worth more to us than our time, talents or treasures.
That’s why the prosperity gospel is so wrong. It says seek to be healthy and wealthy because when you are healthy and wealthy it will be proof to the world that God loves you.
Rubbish. Seeking wealth and health is proof to the world that you love money and you love your body and you love what money can get for your body.
Wanting to be healthy and wealthy doesn’t show the surpassing value of knowing Christ.
We know and show God more fully in gladly giving than we do in selfishly hoarding.
“We’re most like God when we’re giving. Gaze upon Christ long enough, and you’ll become more of a giver. Give long enough, and you’ll become more like Christ.”
A big God, a resurrected, Sovereign Lord Jesus, leads to big generous heart and big gospel guts.
A small god, who’s not worthy of that much, leads to small hearts and guts.
Its risky standing in front of the 71 men of the Sanhedrin as Peter and John had just done and declaring “Jesus is Lord”.
It’s risky giving up your time, talents, and treasures for the sake of others.
It is because of the sovereignty of God, and all that goes with that, it’s a risk you can afford to take.
It is because of the result (a community that promotes the name of the Lord Jesus), the reward far outweighs the risk.
Heavenly father, we confess how difficult it is to step back and evaluate our own culture we live in and the impact it has on us. In a culture, a kingdom that is largely about self we ask that we will not be fooled. Give us discernment and resolve not to conform but be transformed, that we might live lives that display the worth of the one from whom and for whom it all comes. May we be of one heart and mind in our use of our time, talents, treasures that may we be different from the world around us in a way that commends the surpassing value Jesus.-