Friends in Christ Weekly Message
April 22, 2006

     The whole congregation of believers was united as one - one heart, one mind! They didn't even claim ownership of their own possessions. No one said, “That's mine; you can't have it.” They shared everything. The apostles gave powerful witness to the resurrection of the Master Jesus, and grace was on all of them.
     And so it turned out that not a person among them was needy. Those who owned fields or houses sold them and brought the price of the sale to the apostles and made an offering of it. The apostles then distributed it according to each person's need.
Acts 4:32-35 (Message*)

This report of the very early church indicates they “gave powerful witness” and appears to tie the power of that witness to the way they lived as a faith community. They were united and shared freely, so that everyone's needs were taken care of.

Do we sometimes wonder why the witness of our faith communities does not resonate with more power to those around us? Perhaps we should not be looking for the answer in problems with our culture, of which there were also plenty in the culture at the time this passage reports about, but how united we are in heart and mind, and the extent to which we are willing to share everything we have to meet needs in our community.

Bill Samuel

* The Message version ©2002 by Eugene H. Peterson.

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