FIRST READING Acts 4:32–35
32 Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. 33 With great power the apostles gave 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 owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. 35 They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.
PSALM Psalm 148
1 Hallelujah! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise God in the heights. 2 Praise the LORD, all you angels; sing praise, all you hosts of heaven. 3 Praise the LORD, sun and moon; sing praise, all you shining stars. 4 Praise the LORD, heaven of heavens, and you waters above the heavens. 5 Let them praise the name of the LORD, who commanded, and they were created, 6 who made them stand fast forever and ever, giving them a law which shall not pass away. 7 Praise the LORD from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps; 8 fire and hail, snow and fog, tempestuous wind, doing God’s will; 9 mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars; 10 wild beasts and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds; 11 sovereigns of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the world; 12 young men and maidens, old and young together. 13 Let them praise the name of the LORD, whose name only is exalted, whose splendor is over earth and heaven. 14 The LORD has raised up strength for the people and praise for all faithful servants, the children of Israel, a people who are near the LORD. Hallelujah!
SECOND READING 1 John 1:1—2:2
Chapter 1 1 We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life — 2 this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us — 3 we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. 5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; 7 but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Chapter 2 1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
GOSPEL John 20:19–31
19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” 24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” 26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
CHRISTIANS AND GRITS
Some of you may remember the commercial from Lays potato chips that dared the consumer, “I bet you can’t eat just one.” The idea is that potato chips aren’t intended to be solitary; they need to be taken or consumed in groups to be effective. The same can be said for other things.
I read a story the other day about a guy named Ray who is originally from the South, but now lives in Chicago. Being a southerner, Ray says that one of the most challenging things about living in the Windy City is that it’s difficult to find a restaurant that serves grits. Someone once asked Ray what a “grit” was? Ray informed the person that there’s no such thing as a “grit.” They don’t come by themselves. ¬They come in a community of other grits. You can’t just order one grit. He makes a good point. Like the famous potato chip, you can’t eat just one.
When you think about it, the same could be said about us; we’re a lot like grits.¬ Oh, some of us may be ‘grittier’ than others, but we’re not here on our own. None of us are an island: We were created to be in community with others. This is particularly true as followers of Jesus. I could even go as far as to say that there’s no such thing as a solitary Christian that fulfills all God’s commands. How can a Christian separate themselves from the community of faith and effectively fulfill the Great Commission? Even Monks live cloistered lives.
Some of you may remember a song by country singer Tom T. Hall that went something like this: “Me and Jesus, got our own thing goin’. Me and Jesus, got it all worked out. Me and Jesus, got our own thing goin’. We don’t need anybody to tell us what it’s all about.” That’s the way many Christians would like to live, just themselves and Jesus. But it can’t be done. We are part of a body, Christ’s body. We live in union with Christ and with one another. We’re like grits. For all practical purposes, there’s no such thing as an individual grit or an individual Christian who separates themselves from the body of Christ.
This is an important principle; one that is difficult for people in an individualistic society, such as ours, to grasp before we can appreciate today’s lesson from the book of Acts. Here’s how Luke, the writer of Acts, describes the earliest Christians: “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all, that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.” Now for most people their initial reaction to this passage is either, that’s nice but it’ll never work here or that’s socialism!” However, those who think that this is an example of socialism are incorrect. Socialism is when the state orders that property to be shared. This is an example of Christianity in its purest sense when people feel the presence of God’s Spirit so strongly that they feel a responsibility for everyone’s well-being, and they share what they have with one another so that no one is needy.
Let me contrast this attitude with a true, and I think, tragic story. I heard recently about a devout young woman, committed to her church. She was browsing through some of her friends’ Facebook posts. She saw that one of her friends at the church had bought a new Maserati. Not only that, but this friend had also posted on Facebook that they paid cash. Obviously this friend was doing quite well in their business and didn’t mind boasting about it.
The young woman who saw this post wondered what on earth would inspire a Christian to purchase a car valued at $160,000.00+ and boast about it on Facebook when just a week before, another member in their church shared with the two of them that they had lost their job and had no food for the family. And the friend who had just bought the Maserati had done nothing to help this fellow member who was in need.
Is it a sin, in and of itself, to own a Maserati? Of course not. That’s not the real issue. The real question that should be asked is, is it a sin to ignore a brother or sister in need? The issue with the car is pride and envy as well as being insensitive to the needs of those around you. Recall the lesson Jesus taught in Matthew chapter 25 starting in verse 31. This passage begins with, “And when the Son of Man comes in His glory….All the nations will be gathered before Him and He will separate the sheep from the goats. Remember what the criterion was for those who inherit the kingdom and those who were thrown out? It was providing, or failing to provide, for those in need, food, drink and clothing and visiting the sick and those in prison. What’s also important to note in this passage, is that neither group was aware of their action.
One group, the accepted, took care of the needs of others from a selfless perspective; they provided for those in need without even thinking about it. The others, the rejected, failed to act out of selfish motives. They were so focused on their own lives that they failed to see others in need. The early church shared everything in common and so none of them was in need. Now let me say up front, I’m not suggesting that we do that.
Selling everything we own, pooling our resources and supporting each other simply isn’t practical in today’s day and time. And even if we came up with a way to do that, I bet the IRS would take a very hard look at what we’re doing. Besides, I believe they call that a commune and there are way too many examples of why this is bad, and, I for one, don’t want a moving van parked outside my house this week. Nevertheless, this is how the early Christians provided for one another. But the question I’d like to ask, and it’s important to the understanding of this passage is, what could motivate such behavior?
The key to how this worked is that, “All the believers were one in heart and mind. . .” This statement tells us that there was a great spiritual bond among the believers. There was a great sense of harmony and unity of purpose. Psalm 133:1 says, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” Can you imagine what a church could do if everyone was unified and working toward one common goal like that? Of course, these were people who were living very close to the resurrection of Jesus; a few had even witnessed the resurrection.
Dr. Ray Pritchard tells about a cartoon where a town council was seeking to have more unity in their small town. So they passed a resolution that read like this: “Be it resolved from this time forth, that all citizens will at all times agree with all other citizens on all issues.” The punch line comes at the bottom of the cartoon: “The measure passed by a narrow margin.” So much for everyone agreeing.
It would be a miracle if we ever completely agreed on everything. We have healthy and varied views on social, political and world affairs issues and this can be good, provided we show respect for each other’s views. However, when it comes to spiritual concerns and God’s commandments, we could, with patience and prayer, be in unison as was the early church. There’s great power in unity of purpose. Even more importantly, when we’re united, we are conscious of one another’s needs. It’s troubling when I see people in the world who are more caring about others than those who claim to follow Jesus. Now to be fair, I want to again recognize that we are a generous church. Tony Trudnak often takes a carload of groceries to the food bank and just the other day he repeated the comment, made by the folks in Dallas, that we are a very generous church who is the most consistent in our giving. However, that doesn’t mean we’re perfect. That doesn’t mean that we don’t have room for improvement.
There was story a couple of years back that made sports pages all over the world. It was about a 17-year-old long-distance runner named Meghan Vogel. Meghan had just run the race of her life. She had won the 1,600-meter race to become the 2012 Ohio state champion. That, in itself, would be quite an accomplishment. But she also had entered the grueling 3,200-meter race and now her energy level was at rock bottom. She decided to run anyway. As she turned the corner on the final, torturous lap, Meghan was in last place, but she was determined to finish.
Just ahead of Meghan was Arden McMath, a runner from a rival school. Arden was having a tougher time than Meghan. In fact, not far from the finish line, Arden collapsed on the track. Meghan easily caught up with her, but instead of passing Arden, Meghan did something quite remarkable. Meghan picked Arden up and held her up all the way to the finish line. Then, to top it off, just before they crossed the finish, Meghan pushed Arden in front of her. So, in the final standings, Meghan finished last. Meghan’s act of sportsmanship made headlines all over the world. “If you work to get to the state meet, you deserve to finish no matter who you are,” she said. “I think fate may have put me in last place for a reason.”
If it would have been me, I would have used a word stronger than fate. If she is a follower of Jesus, I’d like to think she pushed her fellow competitor in front of her across the finish line as a witness to her faith in Jesus. Nevertheless, I am aware that sometimes the children of this world live more Christ-like lives than the children of the Light. And that’s tragic.
Last week was Easter. Notice how Luke describes the willingness of the early church to lift up one another: “With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all, that there were no needy persons among them.” Showing concern and sharing with one another was how these early Christians testified to the resurrection of the Lord. They were a new kind of people because they had experienced a new kind of reality in Christ risen from the grave.
In his book Telling Secrets author Frederick Buechner tells about sharing a pleasant dinner with his mother one evening when they were interrupted by a telephone call from a friend of his. This friend’s family had been visiting another part of the country and had been in an awful accident. The friend asked Buechner if he would come wait with him at the airport where he was to catch a plane to where the accident had happened. Buechner agreed.
Buechner’s mother was furious. She said Buechner was a fool to think of ruining their evening together for such a ridiculous reason. For a moment, he says, he was horrified to find himself thinking that maybe she was right. Then the next moment, says Buechner, he saw more clearly, than he ever had before, that it’s on just such outwardly trivial decisions as this, should I go or should I stay, that human souls are saved or lost. He also saw, for what was maybe the first time in his life, that we are called to love our neighbors not just for our neighbors’ sake but for our own sake. Sharing with one another was how these early Christians testified to the resurrection of the Lord.
“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all, that there were no needy persons among them . . .”
It’s an amazing statement. “There were no needy persons among them . . .”
There are all kinds of needy people in the world. Some are financially needy, some are emotionally needy, some socially, some spiritually. As followers of Jesus, we are called to meet all kinds of needs. We are a predominantly a middle-class church. There are not many financially needy people in our midst. None of us that I know of drives a Maserati, but we are, for the most part, quite fortunate people. Every once in a while, someone might find themselves in a tight situation, and hopefully we’re there to help.
Robert Schnase in his book, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, tells a stunning story about a downtown congregation in a moderately-sized community. Occasionally transients, homeless persons, and street people would stop by this church looking for hand-outs. Often street people could be found sleeping on the front steps. The staff spent much time developing rules, guidelines, and policies for how to help these people or how to refer them to other agencies where they could be helped. For hours, they discussed such issues as whether to give these folks seeking help cash or vouchers. One day’s discussion took considerable staff time with few conclusions.
As the pastor was leaving the church later that afternoon, he noticed the part-time custodian carrying out the garbage to the large trash bin in the alley. There was a homeless person sprawled out beside the bin, looking barely conscious. As the custodian approached the trash bin, he set down the garbage bag he was carrying, reached into his pocket and removed a few dollar bills. Without having been asked, he walked over to the homeless person and gave him the money, said something, then continued his work, and returned to the church.
The pastor was amazed and humbled by this extraordinary display of generosity. The part-time janitor who earned less than anyone else on staff gave generously without even being asked, while the staff had spent several hours trying to figure out policies and procedures for doing the same thing. The pastor asked the custodian why he gave the money without even being asked. He also asked him whether he thought the homeless person might misuse the money for alcohol or drugs.
The issue didn’t seem to matter to the janitor. “I always do [what] I can,” the janitor answered. “I give them a little money and say, ‘God bless you,’ because I figure that even though they may be pretty messed up, they are some mother’s son, some father’s child, and so I give them something. What they do with the money well, they have to answer to God about that. I just have to answer to God about what I do with mine.” That janitor, although a bit naive, does have the love of Jesus in his heart and we can learn from him. God entrusts us with resources and we need to use them in the best possible way. We also need to ensure that the funds entrusted to us aren’t squandered. Anytime resources are wasted, or misused, even for good reason, than opportunities are lost. We have a responsibility to the needy in our midst whether that need be financial, emotional, social, or spiritual and we need to use the talents and resources entrusted to us to meet those needs.
Some of the neediest people are simply people who find themselves alone in the world. Loneliness is a need that we all can help meet. There are all kinds of needy people in the world. It’s not all about money, though there are times when financial generosity is certainly called for. We testify to the resurrection of Christ when we see a need of any kind and seek to meet that need. This is what the church is all about.
None of us is a grit or a single potato chip. There’s no such thing as a grit, and there’s no such thing as a follower of Jesus who only looks out for No. 1. We are a body, the body of Christ. This is how we testify to His resurrection, by showing our love for one another and for those in need. Let’s continue the good work started in us, reaching out to others, meeting their needs as we go forward to testify each day to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Amen