Birthmarks of the Church: Stories from the Book of Acts
12/04/2005 - A Devotion to the Needy
This morning we continue our series called Birthmarks of the Church with a look at the importance of caring for those in need.
In his best selling book "God's Politics" author Jim Wallis tells the story of his first encounter with God's view of the poor. He was in his first year of seminary when he and a group of his fellow students decided to look up every verse in the Bible that dealt with the poor.
And so together they scoured the Old and the New Testament to find every single reference to poor people, to wealth and poverty, to injustice and oppression, and to how God's people are to respond to these things.
He was shocked to discover that there are several thousand verses in the Bible that talk about the poor and God's response to injustice. He found out that it was the second most prominent theme in the Old Testament next to idolatry and the two were often linked together. In the New Testament he discovered that one out of every sixteen verses is about the poor or the subject of money. One out of every ten verses in the first three gospels and in the book of Luke alone it's one out every seven.
Later he and his friends sat around in a circle and talked about how those subjects were treated in the churches where they had grown up. And not one of them could remember even one sermon taught on the poor in any of their home churches. In the Bible, the poor were everywhere, but in their churches they were nowhere to be found.
Then they decided to do what became for them a famous experiment. One guy took an old Bible and a new pair of scissors and began the long process of literally cutting out every single biblical text about the poor.
It took him a very long time. He cut out almost everything that the Hebrew prophets had to say about how nations, rulers, and all of us are instructed to treat the poor. Much of the Psalms disappeared, where God is often seen as the defender and deliverer of the oppressed. All the references to the Hebrew year of Jubilee had to be cut out. The year of Jubilee was to be observed every fifty years. In that year a great "leveling" of society was to occur when slaves were set free, and debts were canceled, and land was redistributed back to its rightful owners.
When he got to the New Testament he started with Mary's Song where she says that Jesus will bring down rulers from their thrones, lift up the humble, fill the hungry with good things, and send the rich away empty. He cut out Jesus' first sermon in Luke 4 where he says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor." The Sermon on the Mount, especially the Beatitudes, got sliced and diced. The account of the early church in Acts had to go. Many of the words of Paul and the writings of the apostle John who said that we don't have the love of God in us unless we open our hearts to the needy got chopped out.
When his friend was finally done with his dissection the old Bible would hardly hold together. It was literally falling apart in his hands. They had created a Bible full of holes, a literal holy Bible. And Wallis writes, "I began taking that damaged and fragile Bible out with me whenever I preached. I'd hold it up high above American churches and say, 'Brothers and sisters, this is our American Bible. It's full of holes.'"
"I still have that old Bible full of holes. It serves as a constant reminder to me of how you can miss so much, even when it is right in front of your eyes. I learned in my little home church that people can really love the Bible, believe they are basing their lives upon it, and yet completely miss some of its most central themes."
And a devotion to the needy has always been a central theme for God's people. A devotion to the needy is a birthmark of the church.
Remember, the birthmarks of the church are the non-negoitables for God's people? They are the core values, the identifying characteristics of Christ followers. These are the things that the first church was devoted to, and these are the things that we must be devoted to at Valley View Community Church if we're going to fulfill the mission that God has given to us.
And so far we've identified six birthmarks. The gift of the Holy Spirit. A passion for Jesus Christ. A devotion to the apostle's teaching. A devotion to the breaking of bread. A devotion to community. And a devotion to prayer.
We've talked about that word "devotion." It's one of Luke's favorite words. It literally means "to be faithful to, to persevere in, to stick with something." These are the things Valley View needs to stick to. And this morning we see that the first church was committed to sticking with those in need. They had a devotion to the needy both inside and outside their church community.
If you have a Bible turn with me to Acts 2:42-45. This is a description of the first Christ centered, biblical community that we've been unpacking throughout this series. By now it should sound pretty familiar.
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone who had need.
We see the same thing in Acts 4:32-35, All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. 34There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
Notice the connection between the resurrection of Jesus and the elimination of need. The resurrection not only had a spiritual impact, but it had a real social and economic impact on people's lives.
In his book, "Velvet Elvis" author Rob Bell writes, "What was the result of the resurrection according to Luke? No needy persons among them .... To be a part of the church was to join a countercultural society that was partnering with God to create a new kind of culture, right under the nose of the Caesars. These Christians made sure everybody in their midst had enough to eat. They made sure everybody was able to pay their bills. They made sure there was enough to go around. The resurrection for them was not an abstract spiritual concept. It was a concrete social and economic reality .... To claim a resurrection had occurred was nothing new. Julius Caesar himself was reported to have ascended to the right hand of the gods after his death. To try to prove there was an empty tomb wouldn't have gotten very far with the average citizen of the Roman Empire. They had heard it all before. This is why so many passages about the early church deal with possessions and meals and generosity. They understood that people are rarely persuaded by arguments, but more often by experiences, living, breathing, flesh and blood experiences of the resurrection community. They saw it as their responsibility to put Jesus' message on display."
In this passage, I think we see the first step to being a church that is devoted to the needy. It's also the first step out of personal financial bondage. And that step is realizing that none of our possessions are our own. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.
The things that I have and that you have, the food, the clothes, the house, the car, the stuff we've worked hard to get, ultimately does not belong to us. It belongs to God. We may possess it for awhile, but ultimately he owns it all and has given it to us to manage, to steward, to use for his honor and to advance his kingdom in this world.
The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, Psalm 24:1 says, the world and all who live in it.
That may be a brand new concept for you. And I understand that. It's taken me quite awhile to wrap my arms around that truth and believe me I still struggle at times with seeing things that way. I grew up with a Bible that was full of holes. That's why I need to hear this teaching too because I can be so quick to take things back and say "it's mine!"
But what I have is not mine. It belongs to God and he has entrusted it to me to use for his glory. The difference is really in the strength of my grip. When I wrap my hand too tightly around the things I possess then I am not willing to share, I am not willing to give. Instead, I make an idol out of what was always meant to be a tool. And the joy and the gratitude that God wants me to have gets replaced with discontentment and greed and an insatiable desire for more. But when I relax my grip on the things that I possess and acknowledge that what I have is from God, then it always seems like I have enough, in fact, I have more than enough and can generously give to those in need.
The first church understood that. They were having their minds renewed and instead of thinking about how they could get more stuff, they were thinking about how they could wipe out need all to put the resurrection of Jesus on display. There were no needy persons among them.
This week I took Jim Wallis' challenge and went through the whole book of Acts searching for every reference to the poor and to the church's response to those who were struggling. I didn't do the scissors thing. I didn't shred my Bible. I didn't think that would be good stewardship. But I did find a lot of passages and want us to just look at just two. The first is Acts 6.
Listen to Acts 6:1-4, In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word."
In the days before pension plans and IRA's, social security and life insurance the church took care of widows in need. And almost every widow in that culture had need because not many women could earn a living. In fact, the need was so great that food had to be distributed every single day.
And a problem quickly arose in the church because the food wasn't being handed out fairly. The widows who spoke Hebrew got more bread than the widows who spoke Greek, perhaps because they were considered outsiders. Whatever, there was some ethnic discrimination going on.
The problem came to the attention of the apostles who quickly delegated that part of the ministry to others so that they could stay focused on what they felt called to do and that was to pray and to spread the word about Jesus.
But what impressed me this week about Acts 6 is that from the very beginning the church was committed to caring for the needy. That birthmark became such a distinctive of God's people that three hundred years later the most powerful man on earth, Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate, who was not a believer, had this to say about the church, "Atheism (which is what the Christian movement was called because Christ followers refused to acknowledge Caesar as god) has been specially advanced through the loving service rendered to strangers, and through their care for the burial of the dead. It is a scandal that there is not a single Jew who is a beggar, and that the godless Galileans care not only for their own poor but for ours as well; while those who belong to us look in vain for the help that we should render them."
The church must care for it's own as well as for others. At Valley View we've always tried to be sensitive to those in our own community who are in need and that takes many forms which include our Helping Hands ministry and our Community Care Fund. So far this year we've distributed over $7,000 to help meet the basic needs of those who are struggling financially. And the means to do that comes for you and your contributions to that fund. Some of you give regularly to Community Care.
The stated purpose of our Helping Hands ministry is to help those within our own church community who have tangible needs but who do not have the resources to meet them. Often that help takes the form of meals for new moms or those who are ill, but it includes other things as well. This week a woman told me that the first Sunday she came to Valley View she filled out a Helping Hands questionnaire that she was willing to make a meal and the very next night she got called. And she said it made her feel so good that she was needed in this community.
We don't want there to be any needy persons at Valley View. Now that doesn't mean we all have everything we want, not at all. But it does mean that we all have everything we need. And there's a big difference between the two.
Now turn with me to Acts 9 and we see another story, this time about a woman, who was devoted to the needy. Follow along as I read Acts 9:36-43, In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when translated, is Dorcas, in English the Hebrew word Tabitha and the Greek word Dorcas both mean "Gazelle"), who was always doing good and helping the poor. 37About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. 38Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, "Please come at once!" 39Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them. 40Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, "Tabitha, get up." She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. 41He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called the believers and the widows and presented her to them alive. 42This became known all over Joppa and many people believed in the Lord. 43Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.
For a long time when I read this story I focused on the miracle of how this dead woman came back to life. And no doubt that was an amazing thing and another affirmation of the power of Jesus. But this week what caught my eye is that this woman, Tabitha, "Gazelle," was always doing good and helping the poor. And it reminded me that in the community of believers there will be those, like Dorcas, who lead the way in this area by their example of compassion. This woman made clothes and robes and gave them to the poor and her ministry was so important that God brought her back from the dead. And she said, "Why!"
This week I heard about a woman named Michelle who decided to move into the roughest neighborhood in her city so that she could help people get out of the cycle of poverty and despair. When some other people in Michelle's church heard about what she was doing they asked her for lists of what exactly the families in her neighborhood needed. One family simply wrote "heat" on their list. Then they circulated the lists until they found people who could meet every one of those needs. At last count they had helped 430 families simply by saying, "Jesus lives. Here's a toaster!" Which reminded me of our own Operation Joy, those in touch with the needs are linking the rest of us to them.
I want to close by saying how grateful I am to be part of the Valley View community and to be on this journey with you. It's the most generous church I've ever been apart of and we're growing more generous all the time. And I want to encourage you with the phone conversation I had this week with Pastor Coston from Partners for Families in Norristown. She couldn't stop thanking me for the overwhelming response of Valley View to the need of serving meals to shut-ins and the homeless on Thanksgiving Day. "What a blessing! What a blessing! What a blessing you all were!" she kept saying over and over again.
Forty four volunteers from Valley View gave up a few hours of their Thanksgiving Day to help sort bags of clothes, deliver 400 turkeys to shut-ins, and to serve Thanksgiving dinners to about 75 homeless people. Forty four of you responded to one verbal announcement made the Sunday before. It blew me away too!
And what was so cool about that whole thing was that when it came time for the meal to be served we didn't even have any food to give them. Apparently, the man who provided the meals last year and who had also provided the 400 turkeys this year got sick and was unable to deliver the hot meals.
But that didn't stop these volunteers. Before you knew it people were headed out to Giant and Genuardi's and Acme and KFC and opening up their own wallets to buy all the turkey and chicken, potato salad and cranberry sauce they could find. One woman had a big garden salad that she was taking to grand mom's house for her own Thanksgiving meal, but when she saw the need she went right out to her car and brought it in to feed the homeless.
It was amazing! There was a sense of awe and wonder at what God was doing. And in those situations God shows up in different ways then he shows up in a Bible study or in a worship gathering. And we need to experience him in all those ways.
But I couldn't help but think of this birthmark of the church. They were devoted to helping the needy.
One need that became apparent when we were there was the need for underwear. Apparently, nobody donates used underwear to a mission. I can't understand why! But they don't. So that's why we'd like to take down a bunch of adult underwear to Pastor Coston and Iris as Christmas gifts to lots of people who could use a fresh pair.
For far too long I've had holes in my Bible. But I don't want to have holes anymore. I want God to put it back together again for me and for you and for all of us at Valley View.