Sermon 23 April 2006
2 Easter, Year B
Acts 4:32 – 36

Last Monday was Tax Day. Of course, this meant that there were the standard news stories on the local stations of people still standing in line at the Post Offices and in front of computer terminals trying to e-file their returns at the last minute. As usual, there was the standard moaning and groaning as to how high their taxes were. Comments of “I give the government all this money and I don’t get anything in return� were common. The interviewees on the news expressed the general consensus that Income Taxes are a payment to the government for certain governmental goods and services which they were expecting but never received in satisfactory proportions.

When I was a small child, I asked my dad why we pay taxes. He answered that we pay taxes to pave the roads, pay the soldiers and the firemen, and keep the schools going. That answer must have satisfied me because I don’t remember ever having a conversation about taxes again until I began earning money in High School and had to file a return myself.

Many of us approach church finances in a similar way: many of us see giving in the offering as some sort of “taxes� we pay in exchange for religious goods and services. We expect that the offerings will keep the lights on at the church building, pay the pastor and support staff, hopefully cover the gas bill, and the like. We expect certain things from our money – a wedding here, a funeral there, a worship service every Sunday – made to order, and so on. Moreover, many of us expect that by giving an offering, we have a say in how things run: no taxation without representation, we say, and, like the high tax-bracket folks, those who pay more have the right to say more. We see the offering as primarily a collection to keep the internal machinery of the church, and especially the church building functioning. We run programs of most of the rest.

Alongside this viewpoint, we consistently hear about the tight church financial situation in which we find ourselves. The budget is in crisis consistently. Having looked through a representative sample of the Annual Reports of the First Baptist Church going back to 1957, it seems like this has been a consistent story for that entire period of time.

As Americans, it is said, that we think and worry about money all the time but never like to talk about it. It makes us uncomfortable. The Scriptures, on the other hand, talk about money, wealth, poverty and other financial topics regularly, but seem to think and worry very little about them. They are also remarkably consistent across the board as to how we are to approach finances and material possessions. That consistent perspective is fundamentally different from ours: fundamentally different from the “offering as taxes� perspective and fundamentally different from the “budget crunch or crisis� perspective.

When we hear that our way of doing things does not line up with the Scriptures, we sit up and take notice. It disturbs and distresses us to hear these things. Nevertheless, since, of course, we intend to use the Scriptures as our “measuring stick� for how we live out the Christian life together, and how we look more like Jesus together, let’s take a deeper look at the passage _______ read for us a few minutes ago. This passage has a lot to say about how Christians are supposed to live together and how they are to handle finances and material resources. Critically important to the passage is the fact that this “way of life� and “way of handling money� are wrapped up together inseparably in how these Christians viewed the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The passage we just heard comes just a few weeks and two chapters after the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came down in power upon the disciples, empowering them to proclaim the Good News of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in innumerable languages unknown to them. Peter and John are entering the Temple in Jerusalem to pray in the mid-afternoon some time later. A crippled panhandler asks, “Good brothers, could you spare some change for an old cripple?� Peter responds, “I don’t have any money. What I do have, I’ll give you, freely: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!�

And what do you know? Something amazing happens: the cripple is healed of his paralysis. He goes leaping and jumping and shouting into the temple. “I can walk! Yee-Hah!� Peter and John speak to the crowd that gathers about what has happened. “We don’t have this power through ourselves,� Peter says. “We did this through Jesus Christ, whom YOU crucified but GOD raised from the dead. He’s alive and we are witnesses. That’s what gives us this power to do this.� When the Chief Priests and the Temple Police – the same people who arrested Jesus and handed him over to Pilate – when they get wind of this event, they send out the Temple Police and haul Peter and John in front of the Council. They speak to the council about why they are doing what they are doing – they have witnessed the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and this is how we all receive salvation. Peter and John are released from captivity and go home tell the rest of the disciples what has just happened. After telling their story, the whole group gathers to pray about the persecution and trouble they’re up against. They pray that God will confound the work of their enemies and confirm his work among them through signs and wonders. The place they were in was shaken.

Now we get to our passage for today. The whole group was of one heart and soul/life, and no one considered anything as their own, but had everything in common. With great power the apostles continued to give witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon all of them such that there were no needy persons among them, because from time to time whoever owned fields or houses sold them, bringing the money from the sales and laying the proceeds at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to everyone who was in need. An example of this was Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles nicknamed Barnabas (that is, Encourager par excellance), who sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.

By now, somebody in here is probably muttering something about accursed idealistic nonsense. But I say, “Not so fast!� I mean, think about it: some homeless guy comes up to you and asks for money. You really don’t have any. You tell him so. But you do have the power to heal him of a lifelong illness that has impoverished him, and you do that, right there, right then. Wouldn’t that be amazing? Why couldn’t that happen today?

Then, when they are seized and threatened with imprisonment, the disciples drop everything else they are doing and pray. More than that, they pray from the Scriptures – from Psalm 2 – as the basis for what they say to God. And God responds. The whole place shakes.

And then we get to the part about the disciples being unified and sharing everything. All their needs are provided for. They sell property they own to provide for those who don’t have enough, so that there is always enough for everyone.

Now for those of you who are getting visions of people who don’t bathe and grow their beards out and live in Volkswagens and paint “Make Love, Not War� all over everything, that’s not what this is about. For those of you who are getting pictures of Lenin and Marx (Karl, not Groucho) and the Iron Curtain collectives, that’s a far cry from this passage.

The disciples were united because they gathered and interacted together with a singular purpose: to proclaim the Resurrection of Jesus Christ to bring everyone who was willing to new, Resurrection life as well. They certainly didn’t gather because it was a popular thing – they were getting threatened with imprisonment. They didn’t get together because it was a good thing for the family – like many believers in Muslim countries today, these believers were probably more or less disowned by their families. They certainly didn’t meet together because it was comfortable and familiar – Jesus had only died, risen and ascended a few weeks before. And their worship wasn’t in a comfortable sanctuary – it was held out on the front porch of the Temple, as long as the Temple Police didn’t notice.

Because they were so deeply united in this common life in Jesus Christ, and united in their common mission to proclaim the Resurrection as witnesses to the Resurrection, they were able to realize that all that they were, all that they had, everything they possessed – everything – was for the use of Jesus Christ in the common project of proclaiming the Resurrection as witnesses to the Resurrection.

Moreover, they began to do – actually do – the Law of Moses together, as interpreted and fulfilled by Jesus Christ himself. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ gave them the power not just to heal cripples, but also the radical power to care for the basic needs of the poor. They were living the life of the New Heavens and the New Earth promised in the prophets. This was the very life that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ declared powerful and active in the lives of Jesus’ disciples.

So, really, this passage wasn’t so farfetched given how seriously the disciples took Jesus’ Resurrection. It was the “main thing� or “the main event� or “the sole purpose� for their gathering and for their life together. Moreover, it was the source of power for all of life, in things both small and great. Their lifestyle was the natural outgrowth of this focus.

All of that notwithstanding, however, it is clear from this passage of Scripture that these early Christians had a very different view of money than most Americans – even most American Christians have. All of their funds and material possessions were considered potential resources for living as witnesses to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We also notice that they act in total unity with their resources – providing for the needs of the poor and destitute so that no one went hungry or was short on daily necessities. Their offerings primarily went to caring for the needs of the poor as the LIFESTYLE of those whose lives had been transformed by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. They considered everything they had to be for the use of God in one way or another to take care of the needs of God’s people. They gave with no expectation of a return. They gave out of obedience to God’s way of life. They experienced God’s power and control over them. Far from resembling taxation in the least, their offerings promoted God’s lifestyle in their midst.

And lest we forget, the Resurrection was the source of this amazing story of unity, of power and of provision. The Resurrection was the source of their unity: the unity that is the example of the life of the New Creation Jesus provided in his Resurrection. It was also the source of their power and ability to live life and to do the work of Christ together. Furthermore, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ was the source of the provision for all their needs, small and great. For when the curtain of the Temple was torn in two on Good Friday, removing the separation between God and Humanity, the provision of the New Heavens and New Earth were made available to those of us in This Present Earth. Jesus’ Resurrection was the first act to accept and take advantage of those resources.

The people of the early Church realized that God provided all of their needs and that all the material resources they had were assets of the Resurrection Life of the New Creation. All that they had and all that they were came from God. Therefore, they placed everything at God’s disposal.

But we’re still here shaking our heads in the realization that this looks entirely different from our experience. One wonders exactly how long the disciples were able to sustain this themselves. Our largest expenditure isn’t the poor, it’s the gas bill, at least in the winter. We haven’t seen a lifelong cripple get up and walk.

Ah, but we have seen people healed. We have seen demons cast out. (Just ask around!) We have seen people putting the Resurrection Life into practice here through all sorts of generosity whenever a disaster strikes – personal or international. Those are just the hints – the nudges – that God is at work, and starting to work here in a big way. And that’s Good News – in fact, that is The Good News at work among us.

Nevertheless, as a congregation, we find ourselves in need. And the profound implication of this passage is this: We, as a congregation, are in need because we do not take the Resurrection seriously. When we take the Resurrection seriously, our needs are provided for. First of all, when we take the Resurrection seriously, it is clear what our real needs are. God makes it incredibly clear what’s important and essential and what is not. God provides for whatever we need so that our needs are met. He provides for all of that which is essential. Whatever is not essential doesn’t get covered. Second, when we take the Resurrection seriously, he provides us with means and solutions that we had not thought of previously. The Christians in Acts 4 saw that all their resources were available to God for his use. They didn’t hold anything back. Through this, they, though poor themselves, though persecuted and harassed, discovered that their needs were met.

Third, when we take the Resurrection seriously, discover a unity of purpose and agenda – a Vision, Mission and basic Character – that keeps us from wasting time, energy, and resources in arguments, disputes, and mistrust. In this Early Church in Acts 4, there was one agenda – living as witnesses to the Resurrection, which we’ve been calling the life of Discipleship. Nowhere was there the kind of church politics that produce relationships that require winners and losers. And the only time anyone refused to back down was if they were asked to quit speaking of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and its impact on their lives. “We cannot quit testifying about what we have seen and heard,� Peter and John said. When they did hit bumps in the road, it was due to the rapid expansion of the church and an attempt to answer the question, “How does the Resurrection Life apply here in this new context?� And as they worked things out, the Resurrection was the lens through which they viewed all the issues they were dealing with. From what we know, no one got mad and left when they worked through their growing pains – even when they accepted people of very different cultures and ethnic backgrounds into their congregations.

When we take the Resurrection seriously, the Resurrection Life gives shape to everything we do and everything we are. This is why we have spent more than 7 months seriously seeking God’s Vision and Mission for this congregation. But God wants us to live the Resurrection life – so that we can experience its power in even greater measure so that we can be the people he has called us to be. To do that, God has to rearrange how we view and handle all of our material resources. The Resurrection Life prioritizes all of our financial and material dealings behind proclaiming the Resurrection of Jesus in our community and caring for the needs of the poor.

If we begin to prioritize caring for the needs of the poor and the destitute, if we focus our energies on the proclamation of the Resurrection as witnesses to its power, then we will find that our other needs are met. It’s simple, really: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his kind of righteousness and justice, and everything else falls into place.� (That’s Matthew 6:33.)

When we proclaim the Resurrection together then all the needs we have are provided for by God through various means – even through the body of Christ. And that’s news that should make at least Dee and Fran very excited: hopefully it will enthuse the rest of us too, eh?

What if we actually did that? What if we concentrated on providing for the needs of the poor as a congregation prior to our bills? What if we unified deeply behind the Resurrection of Jesus Christ? Don’t you think that God would start doing things in our midst – things of Scriptural intensity and power?

Are we willing to go there? Let’s think about it, at least… and pray about it after we sing this song of Unity under Christ. [In Christ Alone]