Every Good and Perfect Gift

PROPERS: 2 EASTER, YEAR B

TEXT:       ACTS 4:32-35; JOHN 20:19-31

PREACHED AT RESURRECTION, STARKVILLE, ON SUNDAY, APRIL 7, 2024 

 

ONE SENTENCE:        The message of Acts is couched in time and culture; the point is for us to return a portion of what God has given us.  

NOT PREACHED – EXTEMPORANEOUS INSTEAD

            There is an interesting contrast in choices on two lessons today – the first lesson from Acts or the gospel reading from John.

 

            We are probably much more comfortable with John.  It is a familiar story. The early Christian Pentecost, the gift of the Holy Spirit to the frightened disciples, and the story of Doubting Thomas. That is pretty familiar and comfortable stuff.

 

            On the other hand, is the lesson from Acts and the account of sharing goods and wealth.  There is no private ownership of property and wealth. To state the obvious, there are no PERS,  401(k)s, or 403(b)s.  It is all part of the community’s coffers.

 

And, seemingly worse than that is that this lesson is a precursor to the story of Ananias and Sapphira.  They were the couple who sold some property and did not give all the funds to the church. When confronted with their duplicity, they both died!

 

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            I suspect most of us get uncomfortable with the annual every member canvass. I’ve heard it called the fall begathon. I once had a stewardship chairman – not here -- who was so squeamish about it that his chosen theme for the canvass was “Pony-up for the Lord.”

 

            Giving all goods and wealth to the Christian community is a pretty radical notion. It sounds like a system that was tried half a world away between 1917 and 1989. 

 

I suspect that if I chose to preach on that lesson, some would say that I “have gone from preaching to meddling.”But preach on it I will.

 

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            I would offer a few observations.

 

            First, keep in mind the difference in cultures. We are 2,000 years removed from that community. There is no way to comprehend the difference in the culture in which we live and the culture of that time and place. And keep in mind that the church in those days – those who followed a small movement called The Way – were a tiny, threatened sect of a population of Jews oppressed by the Roman empire.

 

            The sharing of goods was for a purpose: the care of the community. Since these followers of Jesus were largely a poor minority, the community was concerned that essential needs were met.  It was not a means to garner power or wealth for a few.  That would come later, as the church became a dominant institution.  That tendency would launch the Reformation of Martin Luther 15 centuries later.

 

            As you can see, the sharing of goods and wealth was grounded in needs of a struggling community with a high calling – caring for one another. It was not a political doctrine.

 

            Yet there is a truth in this lesson from Acts which echoes down through the millennia. We express that truth when we receive the weekly offering at the altar: All things come of thee, O Lord. And of thine own have we given thee.

 

            We are recipients of divine blessings.  If we look honestly at our possessions, we can see that they originate with our maker.  We may have striven for what we have, but at the core, our ability to strive has been given to us. Everythingcomes from God.

 

            What we do on a weekly basis is to return to God and God’s work in this community a portion of those manifold blessings we have received. It is by your offerings that we seek to be God’s hands and feet in this community.

 

            Think about the many aspects of the church’s ministry that are enabled by your free gifts. Your gifts have practical, multiplying effects on our community. Our joint ministry is continuing.