They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers. Everyone around was in awe - all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person's need was met. They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved. (Acts 2:42-47)
How many of you are familiar with signs that say, 'Enter at your own risk' or 'Swim at your own risk' or 'Use at your own risk.' You see them, and the idea is that you're about to do something that is a little bit dangerous, so if you do it and something awful happens, you were duly warned. Don't complain about it, don't litigate. You were told you should do it at your own risk.
Someone should have put a 'Read at your own risk' on my Bible years ago because I've been reading it and trying to apply it to my life for a long time, and some awful things have happened to me as a result of it. But I would say awe-ful, A-W-E. Some awe-ful things have happened to me because of it. It was my own fault. I was told it was a risky book, but I read it anyway. It was in college and seminary that I really discovered it. It makes you do some interesting things Acts 2:42-47 talks about the very first New Testament church. It talks about what life was like in that first church that God gave birth to two thousand years ago, and it talks about what life could be like in a special kind of church today. That is what I am praying for.
The question for the day is this: What is Jesus up to these days? I mean, Jesus ascended from this earth and now he's with the Father, but what's Jesus' job description between now and when He returns?
Jesus is establishing and developing biblically functioning communities. In other words, Jesus is working on the church. He told Peter in Matthew 16 that He would build his church. And the gates of hell would not be able to defeat it. So, Jesus is still building His church. Churches that will be responsive to their communities and loving toward each other. They will be communities where amazing acts of kindness will become commonplace, where God's activity will be palpable, where lives will change, where hearts will melt, where differences will fade, where love will reign, where needs will be met, and where the unwelcome will feel welcome. Lines will be blurred, and the rich and the poor will come together. And when people experience life in one of these biblically functioning communities, they will orient their lives around participating in them. How are we going to become one of these communities? The prayer that Peter prays in Acts 4:23-31, will provide us a roadmap this coming Sunday.
23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’ 27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.