Scripture readings are Acts 4:32-35 and 1
John 1: 1-2:2
So what do you hear or think about when we look at
these scripture readings? Usually with the Acts reading, people think of
Communism, not the China/North Korea version of it. But true, real communism,
where everyone is taken care of and has what they need. Most folks don’t react
very well with this concept today, especially in Western society because we've all earned what we have and if you don’t have what you need then you’re not
trying hard enough. Let’s face it we've all had those thoughts running through
our heads when we see someone asking for change or when you get in a line
behind someone who’s using WIC to buy milk, juice, formula and other basic
items and the cashier has no idea how to ring it up in the computer system so you
have to wait a few minutes longer. Isn't it interesting how fast we jump to
assume that these people have “earned” what they have and to judgment? The fact
of the matter is that while there are is a small minority of folks who do use
and abuse the system, as there always have been, there are a lot of myths
circulating to perpetuate a system that ensures some have way more than they
need. Looking at this scripture about how one group of early Christians
gathered and attempted to live – I don’t see anywhere that says there are
qualifications or judgments to be made for someone who has a need. It just
states that what they had was “distributed to each as any had need.”
Then
we hear the words coming from 1 John, a book attributed to the author of John,
but most likely not the same person at all. The author makes a clear
theological statement about who God is: God is light. And then it goes on to
tell us how we know who really is living a Christian life: we are a people who
make mistakes but then because of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, we are
forgiven and given another chance. If someone says that they’re faultless –
well – they’re liars. Now the author uses some classic writing techniques of
the time to spell this out, but that’s the jest of this chapter of 1 John. That
kind of smacks us in the face. We can all agree that we like the idea of God as
Light – that’s why we light the Christ candles on the altar every week. It’s a
visual reminder about who we say God and Christ is and are. They’re here, now
with us. We bring God, Christ and the Holy Spirit into this place and then we
extinguish the candles and take the light of God, Christ and the Holy Spirit
out with us into the world. It makes being a Christian more than just coming
and going from this building. It means we are called to more in our living.
What
is clear about these 2 scripture readings is that they both speak to the
community of faith and address how they should be. In ancient times, everyone
was very concerned about themselves and about how through property ownership,
including people as property, arranged marriages could build their legacy. But
oh wait, aren't we concerned about that today too? What kind of legacy will we
be leaving? So maybe we don’t force people into arranged marriages but I don’t
know about you but there were certain unspoken expectations for me of who I
should or shouldn't date. And we’re still concerned
about what we own and have this day. If you watch the TV on Sunday mornings,
in-between church services there’s a lot of programming about estate planning.
Will you have enough? What will you be leaving your family? And this is all
done with pictures of cruise vacations and nice convertible cars in the
background making us think that this is what’s really important. Now don’t get
me wrong, I would like to take a cruise vacation and drive a convertible on a
nice weekend but is that really what our community should really be about?
Clearly society, our larger community, thinks so.
So
which community do we want to be most like: the community that society tells us
to be about or the one that God is asking to be a part? What does that mean for
how we conduct ourselves and “be Christians?” Think about these things as we
prepare for our board meeting today. How are we being Christian in our board
meetings – what is our main concern? Are we focused on ourselves or are we
looking out to our community? How would you, me, we be changed if we were as
concerned about the community as these early Christians were? Let us pray…
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