Stewardship as a way of Life

April 11, 2021 Stewardship Sunday Acts 4:32-35 Psalm 113 A Celebration of our Gifts Opening Song Lighting the Christ Candle Welcome Opening Prayer One: Welcome to this hour of worship, one week after our Easter celebration! Many: Tho’ the flowers have faded and the balloons are deflated, we’re here to rejoice, for Christ is RISEN! One: Christ is risen, indeed! Many: Together, we welcome the peace of Christ in our lives and in the world. One: May the peace of Christ be with you! Many: And with you, also Stewardship Moment The second Sunday of Easter is usually low Sunday. Usually the pastor takes off, and there is nothing happening to top the energy of Easter. But this year that is not so, this yr we will have pledge Sunday the day after Easter. And the fun continues as we do things to get in touch with our mission as a church. You can turn in your pledges in the offering plate with your offering. If you have not filled out the pledge card – there are some outside to fill out. If you are not able to turn it in today, there are envelopes in the narthex so you can send it back into the church. After the sermon we will have say a prayer over our pledges to the ministry of the church. We will talk about the mission of the church over the 50 days of Easter. Moment for Stewardship Although the emotional “high” of Easter has ebbed for many of us, the joy of being a disciple of the Resurrected One continues! Have you heard this description of joy from Katharine Hepburn, adapted from her own words? “Once when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus. There was one other family between us and the ticket counter, with eight children, all probably under the age of 12. The way they were dressed, you could tell they didn’t have a lot of money. The children were well-behaved, all of them standing in line, two-by-two behind their parents, holding hands. They were excitedly jabbering about all they would see that night. By their excitement you could sense they had never been to the circus before. Their mother was holding her husband’s hand, looking up at him as if to say, “You’re my knight in shining armor.” The ticket lady asked the man how many tickets he wanted? He proudly responded, “I’d like eight children’s tickets and two adult tickets, so I can take my family to the circus.” The ticket lady stated the price. The man’s wife let go of his hand, her head dropped, the man’s lip began to quiver. Then he leaned a little closer and asked, “How much?” The ticket lady again stated the price. The man didn’t have enough money. Seeing what was going on, my dad reached into his pocket, pulled out a $20 bill, and dropped it. (We were not wealthy in any sense of the word!) Then, he bent down, picked up the $20 bill, tapped the man on the shoulder and said, “Excuse me, sir, this fell out of your pocket.” The man understood what was going on. He looked straight into my dad’s eyes, took my dad’s hand, squeezed the $20 bill, and replied; “Thank you, sir. This really means a lot to me and my family.” The $20 my dad gave away is what we were going to buy our own tickets with. Although we didn’t get to see the circus that night, we both felt a joy inside us that was far greater than seeing the circus could ever provide. Followers of the risen Christ know a deep joy which comes from reaching out with acts of compassionate care for others. Today, with our offering, we have opportunity to tap into that joy as we not only care for the regular needs in our congregation, but as we ________________ (name what outreach, mission or special need this offering can help meet). The definition of Joy - Jesus first, others then you. Your gift may be precisely what gives others the opportunity to experience more abundant resurrection life! Prayer of Thanksgiving With hearts filled with gratitude, God, we offer these tithes and gifts. Thank you for the amazing gift you provide each of us through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. We rejoice in the ways we can make a difference in lives of those near by and those on the far side of the earth. AMEN Special music Scripture Acts 4:32-35 Sharing among the believers 32 The community of believers was one in heart and mind. None of them would say, “This is mine!” about any of their possessions, but held everything in common. 33 The apostles continued to bear powerful witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and an abundance of grace was at work among them all. 34 There were no needy persons among them. Those who owned properties or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds from the sales, 35 and place them in the care and under the authority of the apostles. Then it was distributed to anyone who was in need. Sermon Stewardship as a way of life When asked what makes your church special – most churches would respond – our church is like a family. We love each other, we stick together, we take care of one another. At our clergy meeting this week our district superintendent gave us an article to read which suggests that it is not a good idea to describe your congregation as a family. I have not had a chance to read the article yet, but I do know that families don’t choose one another, they don’t always get along, they are no always on the same page. And you can love a family member, and yet intentionally keep your distance from that person. Usually people that we call family are those who think like us, or live near us, that we get along with. We are all willing to expand our definition of family – but we all have our boundaries – there are always people who are still outside our circle that we are not willing to reach out to. Jesus came to encourage people to reach beyond their boundaries to understand, work with, to include in church. Yes, church is like a family – but it is so much more. We are not held together by blood, or commonality – but by the mission of Christ to help others. So during the Easter season, instead of looking at the Hebrew bible – we look at the book of acts. Luke wrote the book of acts as a continuation of his gospel. The gospel of Luke tells of the life of Jesus, the book of acts is the story of the disciples after the resurrections. This is the story of the birth of the church as we know it today. This is such an amazing story of the power of conviction. The disciples were able to overcome the persecution to get the message out to the public. The holy spirit was so powerful that over 3000 people joined the church in one day. The church became a community that was so united that they owned everything in common and shared everything. It is easy to read the book of Acts and to feel that our modern day church is so far behind – we are lucky if we reach 5 people in a year. There have been times when even I have been tempted to preach a bible study on acts and to say this is what we should be doing. But that does not take into account the fact that the church in our scripture today proved not to be sustainable. The scripture today talks about how the church was so united they shared everything in common. That did not last long. It is sort of like the book of Deuteronomy talks about the year of jubilee. The year of Jubilee comes every 50 years – it is a year where you let servants go, you forgive the debts of your family, and financially you start all over again. You read about it in the bible, but no one tells you that the year of jubilee has never ever ever happened in reality. The year of jubilee has never been economically feasible. A church where there is no personal property and everything belongs to the church – just was never economically feasible. The point of these stories is first – they are a model for us to strive towards in our lives, they teach us a valuable lesson in stewardship and the economic concepts are part of a bigger picture on what it means to give the Lord our whole mind, body and spirit. These stories help us to understand that stewardship involves money, but they are not about money. Stewardship is about our relationship with God, and how that relationship influences our relationship with those around us. It is a cross shapes faith – vertical with God, horizontal with others. Our story in Acts is a story of two different responses to God. In chapter 4 we hear of the story of Barnabas. Barnabas was so inspired by the mission of the disciples that he sold a field and gave all of the money to the disciples to use to help others. We don’t get into chapter 5, but it tells the story of two other followers, Ananias and Sapphira who wanted what Barnabas got by giving. They wanted the recognition and acknowledgement of their peers. They too gave money to the disciples mission – but it was obvious that they were giving, but they had also put aside some money for themselves. Soon after giving to the church half heartedly – they were killed. That is the end of their story. However, Barnabas story is told throughout the book of acts as an example. Barnabas remained just a faithful lay person all of his life. But he goes on to not only give to the mission, but he encouraged Paul to become a disciple, he took Paul to Jerusalem to meet the other disciples, he and Paul were partners in spreading the gospel, and he nurtured a young man John Mark to tell his story by writing the gospel of Mark. Barnabas was a foreigner in the Hebrew community. His real name was Jospeh, but the disciples called him Barbabas – which means son of encouragement. For barnabas, encouragement become more than a single act, it became a lifestyle. That one decision to sell his farm and give the money to the church led to stewardship as a way of life. What would happen if our economic decisions led us to a deeper place in the mission of Christ? What can we do to become sons and daughters of encouragement. A man complained to his pastor, "I've been listening to your sermons and to our leaders at church and what you are asking us to do here and in our community is getting to be just one continuous 'give, give, give.' " To which the pastor replied, "Say, that's one of the best descriptions of Christianity I've ever heard!" Giving is our response to God. As the Cadillac owner walked to his car, he saw a boy about ten years old staring intently through the windows. Wondering what he was up to, the man put his hands on the youngster's shoulders, pulled gently and asked him what he was doing. The boy said he was interested in cars and had read a lot about different models. The owner talked with the boy for a while explaining to him details about this particular model and style. After a little while, the boy asked, "Mister, how much did you pay for this car?" The man replied, "Nothing. My brother gave it to me." The boy responded, "I wish ..." but stopped without finishing. The man chuckled, "You were going to say, 'I wish I had a brother like that.'" "No, I was going to say, 'I wish I could be a brother like that.' You see, sir, I have a brother who is crippled and I'd like to do a lot of things for him." So, that leads us back to the notion of a church being a family, but a family grounded in the mission and purpose of the gospel. The scripture in acts says that the community of believers were one in heart and mind – they loved the lord with all of their mind heart and soul – and they lived together as one body. Their strength as a community deeper than family was in their unity. Perhaps you have been out to California and seen these gigantic huge redwood trees. They are some of the most amazing trees in all of the world. As a matter of fact, they are the largest living things on earth and the tallest trees on this planet. Some of them are 300 ft. high and over 2,500 years old. The inside of some of the trunks are so huge that two or three people can stand inside of them. Now you would think that trees this large must have a tremendous root system that reaches down hundreds of feet into the earth; but not so! The redwoods have a very shallow root system unlike the palm tree, whose taproot goes down into the ground as deep as the tree is tall. In other words, a 30 ft. palm tree has a 30 ft. root. The redwood has no taproot at all. That's why you will never see a redwood standing alone—never. They are always in clusters, groups, and groves. Do you know why the might of the redwood tree is not in itself? The secret of its strength is this: For every foot in height, the redwood tree sends its roots not down, but three times that distance…out! In other words, if a tree is 300 ft. tall, its roots go 900 ft. out. If you could look underground you would find all of the roots of all of those trees intertwined and intertwist so that one tree is not holding up itself, but every tree is holding up the other. These trees are literally locked to each other so there is no way that one tree can fall down; it is held up by the strength of the other trees. Psalm 133 begins by saying how good it is when families live as one. It is in our unity that we find the blessing of Eternal life. What makes the church community different from other communities? The Christian community is the place where resources and gifts are shared. "No one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common" (v. 32). Furthermore, they sold their lands and houses and "laid (the proceeds) at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need" (v. 35). Somebody said, "Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; but working together is success." Well, why should we come together? Why should we work together? How can we stay together? The community model embedded in Acts 4 stood on the two pillars of proclamation and loving one another. There is a small congregation in eastern Arizona in a mining town that saw its glory days pass about a half-century ago. The parish has about 125 members and there are usually at least 125 people at Sunday services. When the pastor announces that the choir will sing, about half of the congregation stands up and approaches the altar. When the offering looks a little meager, the president of the congregation stands up and tells the ushers to pass the plate again. Closing prayers are long and detailed and cover those facing surgery to those who are worried about the kids to those who are about to go on a trip. The "refreshments" after the service include cakes, sandwiches, hot dishes, meatballs, gelatin dishes, and several kinds of beverages. In other words, it's a Sunday lunch and it's time to visit with one another and catch up on the latest happenings within the community. If someone should mention that they resemble the community described in Acts 4, they would be embarrassed. What if a stranger would confront the people? "What is the meaning of this city? Do you huddle close together because you love each other? Or do you dwell together to make money from each other?" The people in that community would say, "There's not much money to make from each other. We just enjoy each other's company. We share our mutual woes and joys. And by the way ... we meet up there on the ridge at 5 a.m. to greet the Son on Easter morning." That community is an Easter community. It is a sharing community. Enough said. Amen. Prayer Pastoral Prayer: Lord of mercy, it has been a week since the Easter celebration. Our church was beautified with flowers, lovely decorations, banners, lots of people, beautiful music. It was the kind of Easter in which we could celebrate. But during this week we have slumped back to our old ways. The world, which seems to be too much with us, has claimed our souls. Our resurrection faith has become dim. Let the story of Thomas who wanted more than anything else to see the risen Lord, pour into our hearts, reviving our spirits, giving assurance to our souls. Let fear subside! Replace our doubts with certainty in your love and healing mercies. As we have brought names before you this day, asking for your healing touch, be with us as we also receive that same healing love. Give us joy and courage for all the times ahead; for we offer this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord. AMEN. We have been inside the sanctuary for 4 weeks now. Things are slowly returning back to normal. But we all know that this is a new normal. There are a lot of things that we lost during pandemic, there are some people who were important to our gathering who are not with us anymore. As we move forward into purpose, next week our service will be a memorial service where we take a moment to acknowledge our loss. Song for Reflection We are Called TFWS 2172 Stewardship may look a little different this year. But this is not the end of our conversation, but the beginning. Stewardship starts with us giving an offering, but it like the story of barnabas it continues and spreads to all of our life, where we are living it everyday. As you turn in our pledges this is the beginning of the story of our future as a church. Our opportunity to be in ministry to God. That opportunity is open to all of us to live our lives with the mission of Jesus at the center of all that we do. Prayer over pledges One: Creator of all, the earth is yours, the world and all who live in it. All: You have entrusted us with gifts— time, talent, energy, money— and asked us to use them to build your kingdom. With thanks and praise we respond to your call. One: We bring these gifts you have given, returning your generosity, paying it forward. All: We offer ourselves, our lives, our hopes and fears, our dollars and our hours. We commit ourselves to work for your world, to love and serve wherever you call. One: We ask your blessing on this, your church, as we seek to follow you with heart, mind, and soul. All: Bless also these gifts, our investment in your future, that they may multiply in faith, hope, and love. Amen. Announcements Benediction Lord Jesus, I give you my hands to do your work. I give you my feet to go your way. I give you my eyes to see as you see. I give you my tongue to speak your words. I give you my mind to think as you think. I give you my spirit so that you may pray in me. I give you my self so that you may grow in me. So that it is you, Lord Jesus, who lives and works and prays in me. Amen. Children’s Sermon Additional Illustrations A sermon on giving at Easter time? I thought that was an emphasis for fall. Why not now? Giving should be our response to Jesus' life, death, and life again. Not just replanting lilies in the garden, dry-cleaning your suit to store for next year, or finding places to store egg baskets and that elusive green and pink grass. The grave is open; so also are our hearts and hands! There's an old story, familiar, perhaps, but it illustrates what the church is all about. It concerns a newly ordained minister who arrived in a country parish somewhere in a mountainous state. After his first service, an older lady approached him and said, "My husband is a good man, but he refuses to attend church. Would you pay him a visit?" Now experienced pastors know how useless such an effort nearly always proves to be. But this young fellow didn't know about such failure. He agreed, and the next day drove up the mountain to a small home and knocked on the door. A middle-aged man greeted him and wordlessly invited the new pastor in. The gentleman was not much of a talker. "Sit a spell," he said, apparently knowing who his visitor was. It had all been tried before. The two of them sat staring into a blazing fire in the fireplace for some time. At last, the older man said, "Reverend, I know my wife asked you to come. But I don't need no church. I think I'm as good as most of those people who go there. I'm a Christian." Finally, the young pastor wordlessly picked up a pair of tongs and removed a blazing coal from the fire, placing it aside. After a bit, the coal grew dim, then turned to brown ash as it grew cold. Only then, the pastor picked the dead coal up and thrust it into the fire. Soon it was bright and blazing once more. With that, the pastor started for the door. The older man followed him and, as the young man headed for his car, the man called out, "I see what you mean, Reverend. I'll see you in church." This is the root of authentic Christian stewardship—to realize that I am, in fact, a "steward," a caretaker of the bounty God has entrusted to me. And in that light, "things" become more important than ever since, in fact, they come from God. 2. Barnabas found the way to generosity. You see, the problem is that troubling times, difficult economic realities, or upheavals in our industries can sometimes push us in exactly the opposite direction. Instead of teaching us new appreciation for material things, they can drive us to selfishness and greed, hoarding and holding, narrowing our lives to the point that "things" take on even less value. The antidote is a spirit of generosity. Barnabas found the way—the way to generous living. He found the way to use what he had received from God to encourage, to console, to refresh. If you track the journey of Barnabas through the book of Acts, he always shows up in the same frame: - Following the conversion of Saul into Paul, he is the one who makes the way of welcome, who introduces him to the community of the faithful. (Acts 9:26-27) - In Judea, he is the one who carries the relief offering to the suffering Christians…a symbol of the open hearts of the disciples. (Acts 11:29-30) - In Antioch he serves with Paul, assisting others in their ministry, opening minds to the Gospel. (Acts 11:22-26) - In Jerusalem, he is there at the first conference, arguing for the inclusion of the Gentiles in the community…opening the doors for the outsiders. (Acts 15:1-31) So Barnabas sells a field and brings the proceeds for the ministry of Christ. And when Ananias and Sapphira see it, they think they will try it, too. But instead, they hold something back for themselves—deceptive, greedy, clutching, lining their own pockets. Call them the Jack Abramoff of the first century church, I suppose—wanting to look good rather than do good; doing for others, but doing for themselves first. They wanted, like Barnabas, to be known for their generosity, but didn't want to pay the price. And when the truth comes out, they are so shocked, they drop down dead! Because, you see, when you grab and clutch and hold, your life shrivels and your soul dies. A bully in a small town resented the man everyone looked up to as the wisest man in town. He decided to teach the wise man a lesson. He held a chicken behind his back and asked the wise man, "Is this chicken dead or alive?" Of course, if the wise man said, "Dead" the bully would show him a live chicken. If the wise man said, "Alive" the bully would strangle the chicken and show up the wise man by producing a dead chicken. "Well," said the impatient bully, "Is the chicken dead or alive? Let's hear your answer." At a much deeper level, that same question is asked of each of us on this first Sunday after Easter. "Is Christ alive or dead? Let's hear your answer." Last Sunday, Easter Day, with an enthusiastic crowd in church, we heard a sermon about Christ's resurrection. In prayers and songs we asserted that Jesus is alive. Today, a week later, we need to ask the question, "For us, is Jesus alive or dead?" The truth, of course, is that whether we believe it or not, Jesus is alive. Whether the living Christ makes a difference to us today is the question behind the question of the truth of the resurrection. These early followers had the right idea, namely that our purpose in life is not to gain possessions for self, but to glorify Christ by giving sacrificially. The apparent failure was in fact a monumental example of one of the basic principles of the Lord to put others before ourselves. The early Christians bore witness to the principle: Jesus first; others second; and yourself third. That creed spells j-o-y. That creed means joy. A. His name was really Joseph. Barnabas was a nickname given to him by the Apostles and the Christian community. In the passage we learn that Barnabas means "Son of encouragement." He was a blessing wherever he went. And everyone recognized that. And it held true in all of his life and ministry. As we read further in Acts, we see Barnabas was the one who introduced Paul to the Apostles in Jerusalem when they didn't want to have anything to do with him. Paul was the great persecutor. But Barnabas had heard Paul preach Jesus with great power while in Damascus. Barnabas used his status and influence to tell Paul's story and tear down the walls of suspicion, so Paul could be accepted. And so the early church could hear and be touched by the power of Paul's preaching. And if any introduction ever paid off. It was this one. We all know how incredibly successful Paul was in spreading the Gospel and starting churches. Barnabas also accompanied Paul on several Missionary journeys. Acts 11 recounts how people in Antioch began to believe and Barnabas was sent to help them get a church started. Verses 23-24 read: "When he came and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast devotion; for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were brought to the Lord. B. So, what can we learn from Barnabas. We have to remember that Evangelism isn't about us. It isn't about how we feel. It isn't about our comfort. It's about Good News that God has for people who don't know God's love. It's Good News. That means it's encouraging news. And if anything, what we learn from Barnabas is that we can all be Sons and Daughters of encouragement. A. His name was really Joseph. Barnabas was a nickname given to him by the Apostles and the Christian community. In the passage we learn that Barnabas means "Son of encouragement." He was a blessing wherever he went. And everyone recognized that. And it held true in all of his life and ministry. As we read further in Acts, we see Barnabas was the one who introduced Paul to the Apostles in Jerusalem when they didn't want to have anything to do with him. Paul was the great persecutor. But Barnabas had heard Paul preach Jesus with great power while in Damascus. Barnabas used his status and influence to tell Paul's story and tear down the walls of suspicion, so Paul could be accepted. And so the early church could hear and be touched by the power of Paul's preaching. And if any introduction ever paid off. It was this one. We all know how incredibly successful Paul was in spreading the Gospel and starting churches. Barnabas also accompanied Paul on several Missionary journeys. Acts 11 recounts how people in Antioch began to believe and Barnabas was sent to help them get a church started. Verses 23-24 read: "When he came and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast devotion; for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were brought to the Lord. Being a Barnabas is also about living an inviting lifestyle. I may have already told this story before, I don't remember. But the story was told by the wife. It illustrates the spirit of being a Barnabas. That's how we're supposed to live. We're called to be like Barnabas and be Sons and Daughters of Encouragement. And that encouragement is needed. There are so many people whose outlook on life is negative. They've been wounded or alienated. There are folks who think no one cares, not even God. There are folks who are consumed with guilt and they don't know where to turn. You and I have great news. We have the Good News of a God who is loving and forgiving. We have the Good News of Savior who can give us meaning and purpose in life. We have the Good News. But how will others hear it if we don't share it and be encouragers. Be a Barnabas. Be a Son of Daughter of Encouragement. What I want to talk to you about today is something that God desperately desires for his people. It is one thing that Satan fears and works day and night to undo. It is something for which Jesus himself prayed for just before He went to the cross. It is the one thing the bible says that will convince people that the church has something the world does not. It is the one thing that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is meant to accomplish. What is it that I am talking about?—UNITY. sallust once said, "By unity the smallest states thrive; by discord the greatest are destroyed." Our national motto is e pluribus unum, which means "out of the many, one." Again, our founding fathers knew that we must forever be "The United States of America." I read about a man one time who went out on a boat deep-sea fishing who couldn't swim. He caught an enormous fish, and in his excitement to pull it into the boat, he fell overboard. He cried out, "Save me, I cannot swim!" Well, the captain of the boat very calmly reached out, grabbed the man by the arm, and gave a big pull; but he didn't know it was an artificial arm, and the arm came off! Well, the man continued to kick and splash around crying for help. The captain reached out again; this time he grabbed his leg and gave a tremendous pull, but the leg came off because it was a wooden leg. The man in the water went under again and he came up yelling for help. The captain, still calm, this time grabbed the man by the hair of his head and gave a gigantic pull. But the man was wearing a toupee and it came off. At that point the captain looked at the man in the water and said, "Mister, if you won't stick together, I can't help you!" Even God cannot help a church that is not going to stick together. I want to tell you if we are going to be victorious as a church and accomplish all that God wants us to accomplish, and be all that God wants us to be, we must come together, we must work together, we must stay together. So I want to talk to you today about the vastly important subject of unity. Somebody said, "Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; but working together is success." Well, why should we come together? Why should we work together? How can we stay together? What is the basis of unity in the church? May I suggest three things that should form the basis of our unity. That is the real secret of the strength of a country, of a state, of a community, of a church. The reason why we are to be so united is, as Jesus said in v.21, "that the world may believe that You sent Me." The greatest advertisement for the gospel of Jesus Christ is not a billboard, a newspaper advertisement, or even a television program; the greatest advertisement for the gospel of Jesus Christ is a church that is unified in the Holy Spirit. In his book Telling Secrets author Frederick Buechner tells about sharing a pleasant dinner with his mother one evening when they were interrupted by a telephone call from a friend of his. This friend’s family had been visiting another part of the country and had been in an awful accident. The friend asked Buechner if he would come wait with him at the airport where he was to catch a plane to where the accident had happened. Buechner said he would. Buechner’s mother was furious. She said Buechner was a fool to think of ruining their evening together for such a ridiculous reason. For a moment, he says, he was horrified to find himself thinking that maybe she was right. Then the next moment, says Buechner, he saw more clearly than he ever had before that it is on just such outwardly trivial decisions as this should I go or should I stay that human souls are saved or lost. He also saw for what was maybe the first time in his life that we are called to love our neighbors not just for our neighbors’ sake but for our own sake. (4) Sharing with one another was how these early Christians testified to the resurrection of the Lord. In his book Telling Secrets author Frederick Buechner tells about sharing a pleasant dinner with his mother one evening when they were interrupted by a telephone call from a friend of his. This friend’s family had been visiting another part of the country and had been in an awful accident. The friend asked Buechner if he would come wait with him at the airport where he was to catch a plane to where the accident had happened. Buechner said he would. Buechner’s mother was furious. She said Buechner was a fool to think of ruining their evening together for such a ridiculous reason. For a moment, he says, he was horrified to find himself thinking that maybe she was right. Then the next moment, says Buechner, he saw more clearly than he ever had before that it is on just such outwardly trivial decisions as this should I go or should I stay that human souls are saved or lost. He also saw for what was maybe the first time in his life that we are called to love our neighbors not just for our neighbors’ sake but for our own sake. (4) Sharing with one another was how these early Christians testified to the resurrection of the Lord. We need to be converted to the reality that we need each other. Simply because autonomy and independence rule today should not mean that these concepts are the ideal. Maybe we can learn something about teamwork from the Four Horsemen and Seven Mules, the understanding of the ancient Greeks, and especially those first followers of Jesus. The common good of all believers must be the ideal we strive to reach in our lives. Our work is the work of Christ for we are his body, as Saint Paul reminds us (1 Corinthians 12). We act most strongly as teammates when we become the Christ to others. Saint Teresa of Avila, the sixteenth century mystic and church reformer, expressed this idea powerfully in a famous prayer: "Christ has no hands but yours, no hands no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes with which Christ looks with compassion on the world. Christ has no hands but yours." My friends, may we believe, act, and profess the same! A New Testament scholar describes it in this fashion: No one before Luke and no one after him took this daring step and told the story of the church as the continuation of the story of Jesus ... we are justified in calling his work a History of Salvation, with the subtitles "From Jesus to Paul," "From Jerusalem to Rome," and "From Jews only to Gentiles Also."2 Luke is not only a physician but a historian. For him history is the story of the living God guiding the histories of all people and nations to their fulfillment in Christ. Here we have the story of a giving, sharing congregation, living under and by the power of God’s grace ... a congregation united together because God had brought them together, and because of that they had obligations toward one another. This was a radical change. In this congregation they looked at things differently. A new relationship between possessions and people developed. They saw hurting people. They saw peopie who were beaten down. They didn’t say, "that’s your tough luck!" No, they responded in love; and love says, "when you hurt, I hurt." Love shares what it has with those who have even less. Some biblical scholars see this event as an unrealistic idealized picture, or as an unsuccessful experiment in communism. We could reason that if all the houses had been sold, then the congregation would not have had any homes to meet in. It is also hard to understand how a community could live indefinitely by using up their capital. So perhaps the picture is somewhat idealized, but the challenge remains nevertheless. Christians are to look at their wealth in a new way. In 1 John we read, "Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action." In the book of James we read this stern warning: If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. (2:15-17) In the Bible there is no divorce between spirituality and social responsibility. The vertical dimension of the community of believers - that is, our prayer life, worship and study, produces a horizontal expression. This sharing is not forced, nor is it a condition of entrance into a congregation. Sharing our resources is not to be looked upon as the result of some law, but as a consequence of our faith. We Christians in our giving are not preaching a certain economic philosophy, but we are expressing our Christian love. Due to the spirit of God, a new social unity becomes visible among the members of God’s congregation.