Read Acts 2:42-47 …
The end of Acts 2 shows the picture of a growing and vibrant church. Starting at v.42, one finds the early church having a couple of very prominent characteristics. These first Christians were, as one translation has it, “devoted” (ESV). Not the typical idea that we attach to being “devotional,” but as a group these new Christians were, as noted by the NKJV, “steadfast.” There was a consistency to the teaching of the Apostles that we might typify with the phrase, “they hung on every word.” Not only that, but they were devoted, steadfast, in their fellowship. There was a connectedness among them that appears to have expressed itself in praising God and prayers. Admittedly some do not, but many see in Acts 2:42 the very form of worship that is practiced by the Church today. Either way, “Worship is at the heart of expressing our commitment to the Lord, as the heart of our growing as Christians, at the heart of our remaining faithful to God.”[i] Amen to that!
Moving forward in the reading we find that “fear” came upon those that were witnessing what apparently were the continued “wonders and signs” (Acts 2:43) being performed. Not surprising – as one continues thru Acts the miraculous abilities ascribed to many of the followers of Christ are well documented, abilities that point to the power of the Holy Spirit and the authority by which these Christians brought their message. Further, these Christians were noted to “have everything in common” (2:44). Another wonderful comment on the devotion and fellowship that existed among those early Christians. As is noted here and later, whatever money brought to the Apostles was a free will offering, and those offerings were distributed to others as there was need (2:45; 4:32-35). Nothing was coerced from the group; nothing was taken by force. This was a group acting like a family taking care of one another out of love.
If what we’ve seen so far is specific, what follows is a bit more general. “Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people” (Acts 2:46-47, NASB). These early Christians were meeting together as a group in what was likely the largest area available that could hold them, and they were coming together in their homes meeting and eating in smaller groups. When we look back to the fellowship that was noted at the beginning of our reading, there was fellowship in both their collective and individual lives. There appears to be a sense of their family mentality expressed in both major activities Luke records – their coming together in the Temple grounds and their homes. Who these people were, what they were doing, how they were acting all leads up to the comment made by Luke, “… and having favor with all the people.”
What about work? Did you notice that the work habits, in fact any community interaction by the early Christians, was not highlighted in Luke’s account? But the favor extended these early believers was by “all the people,” not just other new Christians. It has been argued by some that the influx of so many people into Jerusalem created a community that needed support from their fellow Christians. Yet, certainly some of these new Christians were trying to at least get day-labor jobs. There’s no reason to think these same new Christians were not going to the marketplace or community sources for water. There still had to be some interaction with the “regular” citizens of Jerusalem. Life still had to go on. This means the behavior and attitude of those new Christians in their worship and homelife was the same behavior and attitude they exhibited in their community interactions.
That is an important consideration. These new Christians were not one way within their smaller community and another way when they interacted with those of the community outside of the Church. Jesus tells us specifically that “all people” will know us as Christians by the love we express toward one another (John 13:35). Jesus also tells us we are a “light” and a “city set on a hill,” so that when we do our “good works” others might see that and glorify our God which is in heaven (Matt. 5:14-16). The transformation that occurs within us when we become Christians is not something that only transforms us within a small community, it is a transformation that fundamentally changes how we interact with everyone we meet – saint or sinner.
[i] David L. Roper, Truth for Today Commentary: Acts 1-14 (Searcy: Resource Publications, 2001), 107.
the odd weekend preacher 