Sell Everything and Give to the Poor!

Thems fightin words in the church today.

This morning I read an article that reminded me of what life must have been like in the early church. The early Christians faced poverty and had many unmet needs like a growing number experience today. What did they do to meet those needs? How did they handle poverty?

We are told what they did in Acts 4, but prior to that I remember hearing the preaching of John the Baptist. His preaching may have led to the radical solution they came up with.

First, look at what they did.

Acts 4:32-37 32 And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. 33 And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. 34 For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales 35 and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need. 36 Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement), 37 and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet. NASU

Consider the mindset behind “not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own”. That was radical, even anti-capitalistic thinking! A little earlier Luke reports…

Acts 2:44-46 And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; 45 and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. NASU

This was clearly a communal mindset. Where did it come from? How did it come about?

Circumstantially or maybe providentially, I listened to Bill Moyers speak with Peter Edelman last night . Peter worked with the government on behalf of the poor. Near the end of the program he said,

“We need more people who will stand up in one way or another…I just know that what we need to do is to have other people who stand up and say, “You want to call this redistribution? That’s what you call it. I call it economic justice. I call it fairness. I call it being fair to the people in this country who are being absolutely screwed by the way things are set up. And you ought to think about the fact of why it is that we have half the people who have jobs where their wages have barely moved the needle over a 40 year period.” We need people to talk back to that.”

Now this plea reminded me of what Christianity used to be like. It reminded me of what John the Baptist was doing. Years before the Body of Christ came up with this plan to sell what they had to meet the needs of the poor, John the Baptist had been running around for 6 months planting the seeds.

Luke 3:1-12 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, 2 in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. 3 And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; 4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

“THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT. 5 ‘EVERY RAVINE WILL BE FILLED, AND EVERY MOUNTAIN AND HILL WILL BE BROUGHT LOW; THE CROOKED WILL BECOME STRAIGHT, AND THE ROUGH ROADS SMOOTH; 6 AND ALL FLESH WILL SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD.'”

7 So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 “Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. 9 “Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” 10 And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “Then what shall we do?” 11 And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.” NASU

Was this Old Testament stuff? Luke (a Christian) didn’t think so.

Luke 3:18 So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people. NASU

Imagine that you were the one that asked John the question “what shall we do”. Would you have obeyed him if he told you what he did? Would you consider yourself a follower of Christ if you did not?

I think Acts 4 is proof the followers of Christ took him at his word. What has happened since then to silence him?  If the daughter of Herodias didn’t cut off John’s head, I believe today’s Corrupt Capitalism certainly has.

So, when I heard Edelman’s plea, I could not help but think it is time for John the Baptist to rise from the dead.  What better opportunity for us to dress up in camel’s hair and preach justice back into our world as we share our extra tunic.

                                               

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