A Presbyterian pastor challenged his congregation to do three things: One, to sell everything they had; two, to get a job at McDonalds and three, to tithe 10% of their new income. He says that if everyone in his congregation did that, the church’s income would go from $188,000 to over $293,000. That’s an increase of $105,000! That increase would mean the congregation could build two Habitat Homes rather than one. It could also increase its other outreach activities in significant ways.[1] Just imagine what we might do if we accepted this pastor’s challenge.
Accepting that kind of challenge seems to be what happened at the time the Church was newly forming. In the reading from Acts today, we are told that everyone sold everything. They gave the proceeds to the community, and no one was in need. No one was in need.
Why is it so hard for us to give up our “stuff”? Too often, we have so much stuff that we rent a storage space – and then we never go there to get that stuff out. It just sits there. Month after month after month– costing us money to store what we can’t seem to part with. But we don’t seem to need it, either. Why is that? Or how many of us have driven down a street and seen an open garage – stuffed to the gills with things. So many things that the cars don’t have enough room to park inside the garage. Why do we keep all these things?
Maybe part of what happened at the time the Church was newly forming is related to a belief that Jesus was going to come again in their own lifetime. If Jesus is coming again tomorrow, then what need do I have for a big house, big cars, fancy trips and dining out? Maybe what really matters when I believe the Second Coming just might be tomorrow is to focus on how I live my life today. I want to be ready when Jesus comes again. I want to live the life he set before us. To love my neighbor. To make sure that no one is in need.
It wasn’t necessarily easy for the people of the first century to give up their stuff, either. Think about the parable of the rich young ruler. He had followed all the teachings of the Torah. But when Jesus asked him to sell what he had in order to follow Jesus, this rich young ruler could not do it. He walked away – sad, yes- but he walked away. Stuff mattered to him more than following Jesus did. He was defined by his stuff – and not by what he believed.
This reading from Acts follows hard on the heels of Easter. What does it mean for us, as Easter people? As 21st Century Christians? Is it life “same ole, same ole” – Oh, that’s a nice story but it really doesn’t have anything to do with me.Or is our life transformed as a result of the death and resurrection of Jesus? A transformation that is soul-deep and not just skin-deep. A transformation that means we witness our faith to the world. The Gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ. The Acts of the Apostles tell us how those who lived at that time were transformed by what had happened. They lived into the good news. And sometimes living into the good news meant – and means- radical change.
The Book of Acts shows us what it means to live into God’s mission in the world. The Church is the instrument of God to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to everyone. But the Church, itself, is not the end of the story. The Church is, rather, the means to a new life, centered in the risen Lord. It is the means through which we can ensure that no one is in need. It is the means through which we can build a community which witnesses to the incarnation of Jesus Christ – the one who came that we might have life, and have it abundantly.
We do not have to do this alone. Indeed, the Holy Spirit comes precisely because we need support. We need a counselor. We need an advocate. We need to know that God is still active in our world. What do we really need besides God’s blessing? In Deuteronomy (15:4), we are told that there will be no one in need among us if we follow all that God has asked of us. That we will be blessed by God if we follow God’s commandments. We are told not to be hard hearted or tight fisted. We are to make sure that those who have a need have that need responded to. As followers of Jesus, we are the agents of change. We are the people called to witness to the good news of Jesus Christ.
We are the people responsible for living a life that evidences what can happen when we trust in God. This does not mean that we will each become wealthy, although it might. This does not mean that we will not become sick, because we might. What it does mean is that we live a life with integrity. We live a life that understands the proper place and value of our “stuff.” We live a life that has its foundation in love of neighbor so that none might be in need. We live a life that knows from whom our true value comes – from belief in Jesus, the only Son of God, our Lord and Savior.
In a few minutes, we will sing “Eternal Father, strong to save” in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Think for a moment about those on board that fateful night. Those who were saved through getting into the lifeboats and being picked up. And those who didn’t make it into the lifeboats but watched those who did. And those who were locked below- unable to even have a shot at a place in a lifeboat. What were any of them thinking that night as the Titanic broke up and sunk beneath the frigid waters? Were any of them worried about their “stuff” – or were they thinking about their loved ones they would never see again this side of the grave? Was anyone wishing that he or she had forgiven someone else- someone who would now carry that hurt with them for the rest of their life?
I imagine no one thought much about stuff. I imagine, rather, that thoughts were mostly about the ones loved and left behind. Stuff faded into insignificance in the face of losing one’s life. Stuff really didn’t matter much in the face of love and family and community. Whether the person lived or died that night, their life was changed. For those who lived, my hope is that they lived the rest of their life transformed – and understanding what is really important. Friends, family, community. I pray that those who died knew that God loved them – and that they would be reunited with God at the end of that terrible tragedy.
For us, my prayer is that we do not have to go through a Titanic-like event. That we can understand the relative place of our “stuff” and know that the truly important lesson is that God loves us and call us to love God and neighbor. Our Eternal Father is strong to save- and not just those in peril on the sea. Our Eternal Father saves each one of us – each and every day. Amen.
Share