Acts 2:43-47 (NIV)
Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he 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.
This picture of the early Church is neither an idealistic airbrushed portrait of honestly dysfunctional people like us, nor an example of socialism in action. Instead, it is a picture of the natural outgrowth of the devotion that these new Christians had for the apostles’ teachings, the fellowship, sharing food with each other, and prayer, facilitated strongly by the life-transforming, indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit within each of them.
The wonders and miracles done by the apostles (and others – Acts 6:8) were concrete signs that the whole community was living in the kingdom of God as a current reality. And, just as it was with Jesus, that supernatural ability served as a sign to those in the community that the apostles should be listened to when they taught, as well as serving as a draw to outsiders.
Their sharing of resources was not required by the community, but sprang naturally from hearts that were filled to overflowing with God’s agape love for each other (James 2:14-16). When they saw a need, their first response was to think, “What can I do to help with this need?” doing for others what they would want to be done for them if they were in the same situation (Matthew 7:12).
Their sharing of food from house to house sprang from that same motive. They didn’t have to have a church building in which to hold potlucks. Instead, each of them opened their own homes for other to come and share meals with them. They were now family, brothers and sisters in Christ, so this too came very naturally.
Praise and gladness flowed easily in and through this kind of fellowship. These people knew that they had been brought out of darkness into the light, and they delighted to see that light grow and spread to encompass family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and even perfect strangers.
And, of course, the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. People were drawn by the light of Jesus shining through these people of the kingdom (Matthew 5:14-16), because light is a powerful attractant to those who are stumbling in the darkness. Joy and hope are powerful attractants to the sad and disheartened. And peace is a powerful attractant to nearly everyone.
Father, we see this picture of the early Church and we crave what they had, and rightly so. Compared to them, our lives seem so powerless and ordinary. But externally-operated programs and activities are a poor and ineffective substitute for the Holy Spirit-motivated love, compassion, and power that these people had, based on their devotion to You and Jesus and Your word first, and then to each other as coworkers in Your mission to transform the world by helping individuals and families to find transformation through faith in Jesus. Work in us, Lord that same devotion, and fill us with that same Holy Spirit so that we can live out that same kingdom life today. Amen.
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