We only have a few descriptions about how early Christians lived. Those descriptions often make modern Christians very anxious, particularly those of us who live in the hyper individualistic culture of the United States.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47 NRSVue
Just two chapters later, we read this.
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. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 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. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Acts 4:32-35 NRSVue
One of my seminary professors regularly told us, “If it’s repeated, it must be important.” So what is important about these verses?
Often we talk about them with reference to the church as we understand it today. Have you heard a sermon on one of these texts that emphasised the importance of attending worship and church activities and supporting the church with our time, talents, and money? Is that what this is about, Christians focused inward and taking care of ourselves?
Sometimes people are very concerned that we don’t think Jesus and the early church were “communists” or “socialists”. People can be very intentional to keep the focus on internal church giving, or perhaps particular mission efforts, rather than societal change.
But I wonder.
A plain reading of the texts suggests that people who had property or possessions, sold their property or possessions when they knew someone had a need. It is helpful to remember that the first century Roman Empire was very hierarchical and there was a strong system of patronage. If a person gave something to or did something for another person or a community ( if they built some sort of public building for example), the recipients were now indebted to them. They owed their benefactor. This didn’t necessarily mean financial repayment, however a debt of some sort had been incurred. Society consisted of layers of interlocking patronage relationships.1
The texts in Acts don’t seem to be describing a hierarchical patronage system. Certainly Jesus didn’t teach that. Jesus’ way ignored the systems of hierarchy and patronage. In the social structure of Jesus, leaders were servants. The mighty are brought down and the lowly lifted up. The greatest must become the least. The hungry were fed. The sick were healed. The poor were cared for. All with no expectation of repayment or indebtedness.
These ideas and practices were not completely new ideas from Jesus. They were part and parcel of Torah. Deuteronomy and Leviticus are filled with instructions about how to live together. They intend to structure society so that the gap between the rich and the poor never becomes too great. Financial and social equity is so important that every 50 years there is the year of Jubilee which is a great reset of land ownership, release from enslavement and debt relief.2
Jesus’ first public teaching in Luke’s gospel is from Isaiah and proclaims Jubilee values, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”3
Economic justice and care of the poor are major themes of Torah, the prophets and of Jesus.
As we think about what these passages in Acts might mean of us in our times, let’s remember that God’s call to Abraham and his descendants as well as Jesus’ call to his followers was that they and we are to be a blessing to others. The command to love our neighbors is in both testaments.4 Not only that, Jesus tells us “Love your enemies; do good to those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you…Instead, love your enemies, do God’s, and lend, expecting nothing in return.”5
All this is to say, I don’t think these verses in Acts are calling us to focus on our “church family”. I don’t think this is a call to look inward and take care of our “own”.
I think we are to set an example, to live unconventionally. To not conform to the accepted rules and behaviors of our time.
These early disciples had “the goodwill of all the people.” and “day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”
What were people being saved from or saved for? As an immediate practical matter, people were being saved from the economic and social injustices of their time. They were being saved from hunger, and illness and lack of housing. They were being saved from systems that crushed their wellbeing. They were being saved into a life where they could support each other, where they could encourage each other, where everyone could flourish. They were being saved into the kingdom of God as it appeared right then and there.
They were being saved to change the world from the bottom up. Not through coercion and oppression or force and domination. Rather they were saving the world through the power of mutual support and care- the power of God’s love expressed in real, tangible ways. The kingdom of God was indeed coming near.
That, I think, is what these verses in Acts call us to do. Not have a nice church family, but live as outward focused tangible expressions of God’s love. This is not easy, which is why, I suppose Jesus tells us that the gate is narrow.6 If I am honest, living as people in the early church did, with such generosity is unnerving, even frightening to me. It feels risky. I think, “what if…. happens”, “what if… that happens”, “what if, this doesn’t work? Who will take care of me, when I need help? ”
And still, I wonder, “what if it does work?” Can I imagine a world, even a city, where no one is in need? This is not something I can do alone. As the text in Acts tells us, it will take all of us working together. Can I, can we, imagine some steps that we can take, together, to create a more just, more equitable world?
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patronage_in_ancient_Rome ↩︎
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubilee_(biblical) ↩︎
- Luke 4:18-19 NRSVue, ↩︎
- Leviticus 19:18 and Matt 5:43-48, Matt 22:34-40 ↩︎
- Luke 6:27,28;35 NRSVue ↩︎
- Matt 7:2-14 ↩︎
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