Stewardship
July 8, 2007
Acts 4:32-37
The most eloquent testimony to the reality of the resurrection is not an empty tomb, or a well-orchestrated pageant on Easter but rather a group of people whose life together is so radically different, so completely changed from the way the world builds a community, that there can be no explanation other than that something decisive has happened in history. The beauty of resurrection is not “How could a thing like that happen?” but “Why don’t you people look more resurrected?
One of the ways that Luke is clear we can look more resurrected is to consider our connection to this unconditionally loving, accepting, healing God. Luke wants us to take a moment and take stock…what does that do for us to feel whole, to feel loved, to feel welcomed home, to feel capable, needed and wanted. Recognizing this powerful and mighty connection to God doesn’t it feel great? Doesn’t it make you want to shout out about it? Doesn’t it turn you on to be so welcomed, invited, on, it? It creates this generosity…considering this God connection makes you want to talk about it, hear about it, share more, be more…considering this God connection opens us to a new and different kind of world possibility, Hallelujah! We can look like a resurrected people! Not night of the walking dead. Not drummed out wiped out iron caged in. We can look new, alive, refreshed, renewed, beginning again, alive with the spirit if we can just take moments to consider our connection to God.
Today’s reading says, the apostles were of one mind and spirit. We heard this about them right after Pentecost. And now again we hear it. They were together. They were making one movement. They were organized. They were strong. They were together. It was incredible and God’s grace abounded. Their generosity was opened by this connection to God and one another and they shared all that they had and held everything in common. They brought things to the apostles feet and the apostles redistributed the items to people who needed them. They were united in mind in spirit and all had what they needed, no one was left behind or left out, God’s Spirit was alive and well.
God is repeatedly trying through this metaphor of story from Genesis to Revelation to form us into a people. A people who will be a light to the whole world, a blessing to all the other peoples of the earth. God is in the business of creating a people, building a community, and calling each of us into a new community that is defined by new loyalties and a new story. A new story that begins, “They look like a resurrected people!”
They were of one mind and spirit, this would be something new, Christian unity. And for us, unity is never merely a verbal expression or heartfelt ideal it is a set of social practices that meet real needs wherever they are found. The rubber hits the road in the church community, where the ideal has practical expression and consequences. This community of Acts is characterized by having their wealth and material goods in common: Generosity is in this sharing, both of spirit and of goods. This has been a decision…these people have made a decision and a commitment to work together, to love God, to consider their connection to God and to follow the lead out of that connection. It is a weird new wonderful community, a resurrection world where all went along because no one was left behind.
However, in this Acts community the sharing of goods is not born out of a command or obligation so much as response to the great grace upon them all
This suggests that significant giving and sharing, the practice of generosity, has its roots in transformative worship, bold witness, rich sacrament, and a vital life together. This is not born of you should be generous, you should care for the sick but it flows from the indicative of what God has done and is doing. When people’s hungers are being met, then generosity overflows.naturally or at least responsively.
We already now this kind of giving and sharing which creates generosity. We already as a community share goods with ZCF. We already share goods with CFB. We already share goods with TIHAN. Now, what if we began to share things also with one another? What if we made general offers of things when we’re done with them. Or just things that we see a need for?
In Phoenix last week we arrived at First to find someone had painted the exterior of their church. They have a member who had just painted his own home. In honor of their 90th anniversary, he decided, what more would it be to have that much pride in the building at church. He gave it to the church. He painted the church in two days and it shone, the people shone, the man shone, it was an incredible and generous gift that inspired more giving. Not because he had to, just because it occurred to him and made a connection. And through that giving he felt more connected to the community, more a part of what was happening, more responsible for the physical place, more responsible for the God space, more connected to that giving voice from within.
This story made me think of Mark and Stacy Clark who this year have given our community my office furniture, the new library furniture and a beautiful new dining room set for our home. They moved into a new home and were changing things around. They could have sold these things on ebay. They could have gotten some cash for it. But, instead they offered it to our community. They looked around and thought our community had a need and they could meet it. They brought it to our feet and gave it. Not because they had to. Not because they ought to. Just because they thought we might be able to use it. And, what an incredible gift each of those things has been, it’s changing the shape and pride we have in our community facility. It’s amazing! It’s inspiring…It also got me thinking, it got me hooked. Now we have to get rid of our old dining room table. So in the spirit of Stacy and Mark, we’re going to return the gift to the church going toward renovating the Lunch room. That’s a room that is used every day at this church and it’s embarrassing to me! We had a wedding in there yesterday and babies were crawling on that dirty carpet. I know when my baby crawls on that carpet she turns filthy black from whatever has been embedded in there. What an impression to the 50 young people who had never been here before. This doesn’t feel like something we have to do or something we ought to do, it just feels like the thing to do and it excites me. So to get the project going…I’m not going to give our table…it’s broken, old, rickety it wouldn’t make it a day around here, it would be a burden not a blessing. However, I think someone is going to think it’s a 1920s art deco find of the century and give a few dollars for it. This means that I can bring the money and direct it to the Lunch Room extreme church makeover that I want to make happen before our fall kickoff. Not because I have to, not because I ought to, because it feels good, it feels whole, I felt opened through watching Stacy and Mark this year, the man who painted the church and thought I can do more of that here within our God space too. Resurrection community…
One of the great strengths of the United States is to respect the individual way and the way it encourages individuals to realize their aspirations and potential. But when pushed too single-mindedly or exclusively our aspirations and potential can also become a weakness or a vice. The weakness is the weakening of the community, undermining enduring bonds and relationships, disconnecting individuals from structures and networks of meaning, and depriving individual people of their communities of meaning and purpose. When community is diminished, there is impoverishment, if not in plain dollars and cents, than certainly in our overall sense of being secure, valued, and at peace. There is a correlation between the strength and generosity of our common life and the peace and well-being of our personal lives. We may accumulate a great deal of wealth as individuals, but a sense of impoverishment and insecurity will continue to dog us, nipping at our heels, so long as our social bonds, our communities, and our relationships are in jeopardy or at risk. Acts is informed by an understanding of this basic relationship between community and security.
This reminds me of the Bill Moyers talk at our recent national gathering of the United church of Christ. He was sharing with us about the state of America today. You can read his sermon in full online at UCC.org. Anyway, he was sharing about the gated communities crisis in our country. Do you know, I did not, that some of our gated communities have begun to refer to themselves as nations? Nations where you have to belong to get in. Nations where only some are allowed. Nations where only the affluent can be. And one such nation even has a billboard advertising their community saying “you can’t see the poor from here”.
True generosity and bold living are will not come from trying to take it all with you. And, trying to take it all with you also means attempting to leave it to your family in a will, endow a future seat in the department, put your name on a pew at church. It’s attempting to extend beyond our death our power, control and influence in this life through our money. But, this resurrection community. It names and recognizes that nagging, that crying out and says be a part of this community now and give what you have through considering your connection to the Holy. We could be of one mind and spirit. We could find Christian Unity. We could hold our stuff in common. We could take everyone along and decide no one must be left out, if we would just open ourselves to this God. When we open ourselves to this God we are inspired to be generous, vibrant, alive, connected.
The most eloquent testimony to the reality of the resurrection is not an empty tomb, or a well-orchestrated pageant on Easter but rather a group of people whose life together is so radically different, so completely changed from the way the world builds a community, that there can be no explanation other than that something decisive has happened in history. The beauty of resurrection is not “How could a thing like that happen?” but “Why don’t you people look more resurrected?