ROOTED - Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Acts 4:32
 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions as their own, but they shared everything they had. 

 

Reflection: Sermon Thoughts: Part 2 
Written By: Pastor Jesse Caro

When we lived in California I had the privilege of meeting, and becoming friends with, some youth ministers in Vacaville. Joseph Lugo… that was the name of one of these friends. He and I would talk often of the possibility of living in a Christian commune… a place where we live in a compound with multiple families and try to live in a godly community. Of course, this was just a discussion mostly about if it would be possible to live in such a community. Do they work? Would it descend into chaos? Is it biblical? Is it what God might be asking us to do… or anybody for that matter? I enjoyed those conversations as a younger person in ministry… admittedly with a rather “pie in the sky” view of life.

Acts shows us the closest description of what a “commune” might look like… where everyone shows a generosity that leads to a common view of possessions. But I think, now in my hopefully “wiser” years, that we should be careful about making this approach a healthy aspiration for the church in the world in which we live today. The most important thing is to live with a view that it is all God’s and he has given it to us to steward. But disposing ourselves of the gifts of God (while praiseworthy) seems (today) something we should be cautious of. We do not need to sell everything to honor God. But we must be willing to do anything the Lord asks of us without possessions. That, as I see it, is the most important posture of our hearts as it relates to generous giving.

 

Prayer
Lord, help us to be good stewards of what you have given us such that we desire, first and foremost, to honor you with what you have entrusted to our care.