The Power of a Changed Life
“The Power of Sharing”
Acts 4:32-37
A 3 year old boy had been misbehaving all day so his parents sent him to bed early as punishment. He marched off without a word but 5 minutes later he appeared in the LR, carrying his favorite toy, his piggy bank and some clothes. He came in and said that’s it I’m running away from home. He Father said well what do you plan to do when you get hungry? He says, well I’ll just come to eat. He says well what about when you run out of money? He says well I’ll come home and you can give me some more. His Father looked at his bundle of clothes and gave it one last try. He says well what will you do when your clothes get dirty? He says well I’ll bring them home for mommy to wash. The Father turned to his wife and said honey, this kid isn’t running away from home, he’s going to college.
For all of us as our children grow older one of the things we realize is that we parent our children in different ways according to their age. There are certain things we find it necessary to emphasize at certain point in their lives. And then there are those things that we must emphasize all of their lives. Whether they are young adults or whether they are preschoolers. One of those things is responsibility. From a very young age they have to learn to be responsible for the things that belong to them....to take care of them; then as they grow older and begin driving they have to be responsible on the road. We all want our kids to learn patience-honesty-fairness, to learn to treat people in the way they want to be treated.
A group of preschool teachers were asked whether they could identify those in their class who would one day become leaders. They said well of course we can. The interviewer said well tell me what you look for. What qualities? They said well the kids are self-confident...they feel good about themselves. They take initiative..they are the ones who are always first to start a project..others want o watch and follow their lead. Anything else? They said yes they are the ones who share their toys.
Here in the book of acts this morning we find a group of people in the early church who were leaders because they really knew how to share. From the very beginning we see that the church was involved in helping people. In the 2nd chapter of the book of Acts we saw the church sharing everything...they sold their possessions and goods and gave to anyone who had a need. In the scripture today we see them doing a similar thing. We will see it again in chapter 6.
We notice first of all that there is great power in a church that is united. This was God’s plan for the early church and it is God’s plan for the church of today.
Now before you and I can truly learn to give we have to learn to let go of our attachment to our possessions. John Talbot is a minster of a group called Hermitage...it is a community of Monks, nuns and others who have come together to live a very simple life of charity. When they arrive everyone in the group must get rid of all of their possessions except what is absolutely necessary. They take what is referred to as a vow of poverty. The interesting thing Talbot says is that taking a vow of poverty is in no way a cure fo materialism. It is not a cure for selfishness. He said many people come to the community and go from being selfish with thousands of dollars to now being selfish with their coffee mug. A person can be wealthy and be selfish...we can be poor and we can be selfish...the problem is not with what we have, the problem is with our attachment to what we have.
In order to become better at giving you and i have to learn to let go of our attachment to things. Some of the happiest people I know are those wh know this...they have things but they are not attached to them. Listen it is not a coincidence that the 1st 5 letters of the word misery are miser! Misers hold on to things and they end up being miserable. You and i have to learn to let go.
2. There is great power in a church that is unselfish. Vv. 34-35.
The NT church must invest in people rather than possessions. The reason the early church made such a difference in the community was because they believed that it is far better to spend your time changing lives, than to spend your time acquiring possessions. You must ask yourself this question, what is more important to me, things or people? The early church made the choice to invest in people rather than things. As a result they sold some of their possessions/things and gave the money to the apostles.
Now, a couple of quick notes about this....(1) all of this was completely voluntary. It was not required. (2) They sold things that would really make a difference. What they were doing was putting their priorities in order and simplifying their lives...it is something all of us need to do.
The result of this kind of sharing is clear. Here it is: there were no needy persons among them. These early believers knew who they were in Christ and they knew precisely what God expected of them, so they did it. Now this principle we see here not only affects the way we live our daily lives, it also impacts the way we do ministry daily in the church. Every day someone approaches me either over the phone or in person, usually both to ask for assistance. Since we moved from our previous building to here 9 months ago this number has doubled or tripled. To many of these I have to say no, we are not able to help. We have a food pantry so I can offer food to them. These are people who have lots of needs. It’s not simple. It’s complicated. Some of them have gotten to where they are through their own mistakes. Let’s face it, sin has consequences. And frankly after doing this for over 30 years I have learned to see right through many of their stories. But there are many who have a genuine need, genuine pain and they need real help.
We are situated in a community where there are many people who need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. To get that message out we need a church that is united, on the same page, headed in the same direction, we need a church that is unselfish, a church full of people who give sacrificially and we need a church that is unafraid. A church that is not timid about sharing their faith.
V. 33 Now this is a great testimony about the church. The church was united. The church was generous and the church had a powerful testimony in the community. They saturated Jerusalem with the gospel, they took it to Judea and Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the world. Here and there. In the alleys. In the byways. On the streets. In the homes wherever God leads them they are asking one another, have you heard? The tomb is empty. Jesus is alive.
In the final verse here we read about a man named Joseph...the apostles called him Barnabas which means encourager. Hey there’s the encourager. ....I knew a senior adult .. in Kentucky, in her mid 80’s... I was with her one day when one of her senior adult friends approached us. She whispered to me...well here comes the organ recital. I said what’s that? She said well she will talk forever and recite which organ is hurting. An organ recital. And she was right.
Ever wondered what do people say when they see you coming. Shhhh. Here comes the pastor. Or look here comes another recital. Negativism. Bad news. Or is it oh look here comes encouragement. A positive word. Something to look forward to. Don’t you love encouragement?
An interesting thing happens with geese as they fly south for the winter. As they flap their wings their movement creates what is called uplift for the ones behind them. As a result they are able to fly much further. When the church is united we can go much further than when we try to do it alone. Geese actually begin to feel immediately that it’s harder so they fall back in.
When the lead goose gets tired they rotate in the formation and another goose takes over and flies in the lead position. You see it’s a good thing to share leadership. Oh one more....the geese who are in formation behind the lead goose will honk from behind...you know why? To encourage those who are up front to keep moving. Is that you this morning? Are you making a difference in someone’s life? Who are you bringing encouragementto? Who are you sharing your faith with? To make a difference in anyone’s life Christ must first make a difference in ours.
