LIFE AMONG THE BELIEVERS

Life among the believers  

(click here for the video lesson)

The Passage: Acts 2:40-47

Structure:

a. 2:40-41, Save yourself; 3000 added

  b. 2:42, Life of the community (breaking bread)

    c. 2:43a, Awe came upon every soul.

      d. 2:43b, Signs and wonders through the apostles 

    c. 2:44-45, All who believed were together

  b’. 2:46-47a, Life of the community (breaking bread)

a’. 2:47b, LORD added to the number those who were being saved

Historical and geographical context:

We are going from the sermon of St. Peter into the life of the “Pentecostal community”. Two environments are mentioned here – homes of the believers and the Temple. We don’t know how long this period takes place but, knowing that St. Luke pays attention to liturgical features, we can contemplate two or three possibilities. One 8:27b-28 states the Ethiopian Eunuch was coming back from his pilgrimage to Jerusalem for worship. The feast of Pentecost should be celebrated for a whole week. Therefore, the Acts 2 – 8 could happen within one week! Then, the events would unfold really fast. There is a second reading – mentioning the worship at Jerusalem St. Luke directs our attention to the NEXT major festive period – the feast of Booths (7^th month days 15 to 22). It also required a pilgrimage for those who lived in the land, also pilgrimage was encouraged for those who would live outside the land (diaspora). For sure, there is a third possibility – we don’t now, which means it took very long – years or decades… Honestly, IMHO – I don’t like this answer for two reasons: first, St. Luke pays attention to the times (1:8). Second, this assumption is built on the evolutionary notion – everything takes so much time to develop.       

Theology:

Baptism and church outreach. Note that both verbs “baptized” and “added” are in passive voice. This is supported (explained) in v. 47. It is the LORD Who brings people to unity with the church. As our confession says (AC V) the Holy Spirit is the One Who works faith using the Word and the Sacraments. Here we see both – Bible-based sermon of St. Peter and the rite of the Holy Baptism. Using these two means the LORD added 3000 people to the communion of saints.

Unity among the believers. Though the idea is portrayed through the communal effort to have material possessions in common, it does not begin there. V. 43 says that “awe came upon every soul”. This “awe” follows the regular/daily godly lifestyle of the church: studying, fellowship, breaking of the bread (Holy Communion), and prayers (v. 42). That’s what first and foremost unites the church.

Signs and wonders. St. John in his Gospel begins to account for seven [miraculous] signs of Jesus at Cana of Galilee (Jn. 2:1-11). When Jesus commissions the Eleven (Mk. 16:15-18), He states that the signs will accompany their ministry. The first time we see it in the Book of Acts is here – 2:43. Yet, we don’t need to put the cart in front of the horse. Signs and wonders are not the basis for the proper spiritual assessment of someone’s ministry. Satan is very proficient in miraculous work (1 Cor. 1:22-24; 2 Cor. 12-15).           

Other themes: There are “spiritual” groups that teach that Christians should sell everything they own and bring the proceeds to the leadership of the church. They attempt to support their theology with Acts 2:44-45. However tempting this idea is, this teaching is not supported by the Scriptures. For at least two reasons. First, this is a descriptive passage in the Bible, not a prescriptive one. Second, as it could’ve been common practice for the fellowship in Jerusalem, the later development of the church show the stable congregations in Mediterranean area supporting themselves and the Jerusalem congregation by collecting their tights (10% of income).