I am looking at the passages through out the book of Acts that give us a glimpse into the life of the early church; a church that had its inception in an urban setting.  The church was birthed in the city of Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.  In the last post I looked at Acts 2:42-46.  I want to jump now to Acts 4:32-37.

Much has transpired in the text between this passage and the one we looked at earlier.  Peter and John healed the lame beggar at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple.  The man sat begging and when the two disciples approached him he ask them for some spare change.  A familiar city encounter.  Peter tells him he has no money, but in the name of Jesus he should stand up and walk which is exactly what he did.  This is one of the signs and wonders that were done through the apostles that were mentioned in our last text.

This glorious event was met with opposition by the leaders of the Jews and Peter and John were dragged before the Sanhedrin.  The two men were brought before the high priest and the elders of the people to be tried and silenced.  Peter filled with the Holy Spirit spoke up with boldness.  After some time it was recognized that these man had been with Jesus.  The question was what to do with these men.  A miracle had taken place which could not be denied.  The best they could expect was that if threatened they would keep silent.  Peter throws it back at them by declaring, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.

Peter tooka bold stand against the status quo.  Later the gathered church would pray for boldness to stand up against the world.  In organizing it is always good to recognize the common enemy.  The old saying, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend,”  has some truth to it when applied to church life.  The real enemy is not other Christians.  We will not agree on every point of doctrine nor will we always look at things through the same lenses, but other Christians are not our enemy.  The clearer we identify who really opposes the work of God the easier it well be to work with other brothers and sisters in Christ.  Our internal disagreements will be seen as in house arguments between family members.

After all that took place around the arrest of Peter and John because of the healing, and the follow up prayer meeting Luke than turns to give us a look at the church as it lived it faith in the hostile world. 

The persecution caused them to be single minded in their approach to the outside world.  Luke tells us they were of one heart and soul.  They were like minded.  Opposition has a way of uniting people of like minded faith.  When one member suffers we all suffer.  When Peter and John went to jail all of the believers in a sense went with them.  Each were equally vulnerable to arrest.  That reality caused them to come together.  It strengthened their relationship to one another.  The shared a common enemy and they drew strength for their shared faith.

Luke than goes on to say, “…no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.”  A communal lifestyle that sprang not a forced imposition for the leaders of the community, nor an ideal that everyone felt compelled to live up to, but rather their hearts were moved with compassion for the people who they were in relationship with.

As we enter into relationships with each other and beging to bear on anothers burden, thus fulfilling the law of Christ we will be inclined to share our resources as well.  The more I think about the church the greater is see the need for us to come together as brothers and sisters in Christ who share the same goal, and engage the same enemy, as we seek to draw people into the body of Christ ans spread the kingdom of God.