We have looked in January and February at the pattern for the church of Christ in the book of Acts. In January we observed that the church is to follow a pattern sent by the Holy Spirit and revealed to the apostles and that we see that pattern being worked out in everyday life in Acts. In February, we saw that the church of Christ is to continue the mission of Jesus of preaching and teaching the Gospel.
Today, we observe that Christianity involves sharing with others. Let’s begin in Acts 3…
HEALING THE LAME BEGGAR – Act 3:1-10:
This man had been lame from his mother’s womb (vs 2). According to the reference made in 4:22, he was over forty years old. His legs had clearly atrophied and he probably looked an unsightly mess. He begged alms from those who were entering the temple to worship.
“I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene – walk!” (vs 6).
They took him by the right hand and picked him up. Immediately, his feet and ankles were strengthened. He jumped up, stood upright, began walking, went into the temple to praise God, walking, leaping, and singing as he went.
The church of Christ shares with others. We share with others because Jesus shared with others. Peter told Cornelius that Jesus “went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him” (Acts 10:38).
Jesus told us in Luke 6:38: “give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
But the sharing with others in Acts was not limited to miraculous healings. You and I can’t do that today. But that’s not all the first century Christians did either.
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The church of Christ is still only limited to the city of Jerusalem at this particular point. But they included both wealthy Christians and poor Christians. The wealthy Christians gave generously and liberally to help the poor.
Christians give generously because Jesus gave generously. 2 Corinthians 8:9: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” Going back to the poor widow in Mark 12:41-44, Christians through the centuries have likewise given back to God, to others, and to charities in order to help our fellow man. It’s who Christians are and it’s what we do. We give. We share.
ACTS 11:27-30:
The church in Antioch was a non-Jewish church. It was not the only one but it was a significant congregation. The church in Jerusalem, which was a primarily Jewish (culturally, speaking) church, sent a prophet up to Antioch. The prophet’s name was Agabus. The Holy Spirit led Agabus to share with the Christians in Antioch that a famine would hit the area, which happened we know from secular literature during the 40s A. D.
But we are to give according to our ability. That’s what Paul says we are to do when we give on the first day of every week (1 Cor. 16:2) – give “in keeping with our income.”
When Paul traveled to Jerusalem, following his baptism into Christ, he compared the message he was preaching to the Gentiles with the message the apostles were preaching to the Jews. They were teaching the same thing. The one thing the apostles in Jerusalem encouraged Paul to do was to “remember the poor” (Galatians 2:10), something Paul said he was “eager” to do.
One last verse we’ll mention is Ephesians 4:28: “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.”
The church of Christ shares with others as Christ has shared with us.
–Paul Holland
