"the Spirit Of Sharing"

The Holy Spirit came upon the apostles; Peter stood up and gave the first sermon—and about three thousand people became part of the church on that first day.

Today, in our Scripture Lesson we see the church doing what they began to do on a daily basis after this.

It was what the Spirit led them to do.

It’s our first glimpse of the lifestyle of the first Christian Church and what a happy bunch they were.

All of them were looking out for the needs of others.

And as we are told further along in Acts Chapter 4, “All the believers were one in heart and mind.

No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.”

They shared meals together.

They prayed together.

They learned together.

“Every day, they met together….and ate in their homes” together.

Acts 4:33-35 tells us that this sharing, this togetherness, this helping one another, was a powerful testimony to the Resurrection the Lord Jesus.

The outside world was watching.

They were taking note of their selflessness and the love they had for others.

Historians tell us that people were saying, “Look how they love.

I want to know more about that.

I want to be a part of that.”

And the result?

“The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

These passages from Acts give us a picture of where we come from.

It gives us a glimpse of what we can be.

And that is what I’m focusing on this morning because this description of the church in Acts 2:42-47 tells us what the Holy Spirit can do.

And isn’t that exciting, especially given the despair, and violence, greed and selfish behavior that so often characterizes our human experience?

It’s been said that this Sunday’s text “describes a state of affairs that looks extremely attractive, yet utterly unrealistic or beyond our reach.”

And I agree.

It is beyond “our” reach, but it is not beyond the reach of what God is capable of doing if we are willing to allow Him to work through us.

And the reason this kind of community is often beyond our reach is that it simultaneously attracts and repels most of us.

We long for the life-giving promises of such a fellowship, but our flesh resists the demands that this kind of a community makes.

And it’s important for us to acknowledge this.

I mean, let’s be honest.

“All the believers were together and had everything in common.

They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.”

It looks great on paper, but have we ever tried to live this way?

And before we become too hard on ourselves, it’s important to note that, taken as a whole, the Book of Acts doesn’t hold this up as the overall church’s experience.

And take a look at Paul’s letters.

Most of them were written because people weren’t sharing or doing what God would have them do.

They weren’t loving their neighbors and taking care of the needy.

But that is no reason to dismiss Acts Chapter 2 and Chapter 4 because these chapters describe what the power of the Holy Spirit is capable of doing and Jesus Christ’s ultimate goal for His Church.

It is God’s gold standard, shall we say.