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(Read this series from its beginning here.)
There’s a similar principle in the companion book to Luke’s gospel, the book of Acts:
“Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:41-47, emphasis added)
“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. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.“ (Acts 4:32-35)
This is the basis for the story of Ananias and Saphira (Acts 5) and the story about the Hellenistic widows in the early Jesus movement being overlooked and not receiving shared resources (Acts 6).
Most Christians exclude this practice from their Jesus-following today but early Jesus followers couldn’t exclude it. It was expected that Jesus followers would practice this principle. We don’t see Luke’s Jesus traveling around passing out tickets to heaven; instead we see him teaching a more socialized way of living here on earth that could lift up the marginalized and downtrodden from the harms their society was committing against them.
Jesus’ vision of a human community was simple: If you find yourself with more than what you need, be the one to provide for those who have less than they need, and hope that one day, if you have less than you need, we’ll have created a community where someone who has more than they need will share with you.
It’s a competing vision for organizing our world. And there are more practical applications, too. We’ll contemplate those, next.
(Read Part 3)
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