They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47)
This above description of the early Christian church seems fantastical. Did, they really sell all they had and hand out their money to all in need? Did they really have the goodwill of all the people? The skeptic in me thinks if this were true it did not last long. And certainly we know that not all the people had goodwill toward those early followers of Christ. Yet, I want if to be true.
In our time we see the disaster it is to have power and money controlled by the few. We see how the rich are held up as some kind of icon to goodness when their very existence is the cause of childhood hunger and the growing number of homeless. As a popular meme shows: the rich have increased their wealth 1,000 fold over the last 13 years when the minimum wage has stayed the same at $7.25. In fact this is the longest span of no increase of the minimum wage.
There is a reason Jesus spoke out against the rich. When the wealthy get richer and the poor get poorer there can be no peace, there can be no health, there can be no community. For those of us in the middle, we can feal disconnected from all of this. We have our homes, we have food, we have our toys. We do not want to loose all of this. And the idea of living like those early Christians can seem like a fanciful dream.
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| James B. Janknegt (American, 1953–), Make All Things New, 2005. Oil on canvas, 48 × 96 in. |
Yet this is the picture of the new heaven and the new earth: that gold would be seen as so worthless that the roads are paved with it, that jewels are so common that they are used as foundation stones, that food is so plentiful that all are never hungry. In this world we would be so content that all we would do is sing, write poetry, create art, and be full of love.
I want this to be true. I want there to be no crying, no pain, and no war.
Come, Lord Jesus.
