ACTS of Faith

Acts 4
As said in Zak’s earlier post on chapter four, this passage in the Bible has two highlighting themes: boldness and oneness in the Spirit.

It’s said that Acts is nicknamed “The Acts of the Holy Spirit,” and from what we’ve seen so far in this study, we know that the Spirit’s arrival literally shook up Jewish society. Upon receiving it, Jesus’ disciples spread out and declared His power through preaching and performing miracles.  While reading, I find myself pausing to fathom how a group of people who were once lowly fishermen find the audacity to be politically incorrect (in the face of theocratic Pharisees) and hold an influence that allowed “thousands [of believers] to be added to their number daily.” Acts reminds me that the courage, wisdom, and insight to challenge traditions and change lives is not mustered up through ‘believing in yourself,’ but believing in the Spirit that we receive when we become Christians.

Acts 4:12 says “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” This follows a passage where Peter and John respond to protests made against their healing of a crippled beggar, and Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, reminds the rulers that they rejected the very name that brought extraordinary healing. The “courage” that it takes to make such a remark will not stand unless it’s backed by something supernatural. The Holy Spirit’s empowerment of “unschooled, ordinary men” is evidence that

The passage also references different instances of unity among the believers, which shows us that the work of living for Christ and spreading the Good News is one that you need backup for. As someone with stubborn tendencies, I like the art of being and working on my own.  However, this passage reminds me of the many times I’ve realized that a task or goal was impossible to complete solo, and a friend was always willing to support me. Having a partner or team, I think, also humbles us, because there’s someone to point out that we don’t always have the best strategy or the most valid answer. It especially reminds us that we are here to love and serve God, and not seek to fulfill selfish ambition.

The displays of boldness and unity in the works of Peter and John are blueprints of the Holy Spirit’s empowerment. It’s freeing to know that we can accomplish a hefty task because we have supernatural backing, letting us know that God doesn’t just delegate, but provides.

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Notes:

4.1- The Sadduccees come up while Peter and John are speaking to the people, and it’s detailing here in the passage is a trend. Several times throughout the new testament, one will find that the Pharisees and elders are very keen on the opinions of the people and take note of the mob mentality before taking action against the followers of Christ. Because these elders are attached to their power and status, they can’t have valid authority without an audience.

4.12- Peter’s declaration of salvation being exclusive to life in Christ is bold. I like the fact that it’s a solid statement, because I’ve encountered strange theories of the existence of a “mother of Christ” and other weirdness. I like that this statement lays down Christianity very flatly, as in John 14 where Jesus  says “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to my father except through me.”   

Another facet of Peter’s response is a strong takeaway; his readiness to answer. 1 Peter 3:15 says “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…” This tells me that there will always be someone to challenge you for what you believe, and we should be prepared to rise to the challenge.

4.19- Peter owns the elders again :”Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than obey God.” Essentially, Acts tells the story of the disciples’ obedience to Jesus’ command to “feed [His] sheep.” Peter brings up the virtue of obedience while respectfully suggesting that the elders check themselves, and leaves them speechless. I also like that Peter adds, “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” There’s a way that this seems relatable. “What we have seen and heard.” Peter’s phrasing shows that the amazing feats they’ve accomplished are available to anyone who sees, hears and chooses to believe in Christ. Becoming a believer doesn’t require, say, all 5’s on your AP tests and a 2390 score on the SAT, just the act of faith.

4.23-“They raised their voices together in prayer or God.” Strength in numbers.

4.29- “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.” Another key to the kingdom! The believers unite to ask God for more boldness, recognizing what asset they need most to fight. I sometimes forget that God doesn’t just assign a project, but provides us with a direct line of access to Him. Prayer is more powerful than we realize.

4.30- “Through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” Here, they make Jesus more accessible by referencing Him as a servant.  

4.32- “All the believers were one in heart and mind.” This strikes me as the most extra-ordinary statement. One in heart and mind, and we’re talking thousands of people. For the body of Christ today to be one in heart and mind seems far-fetched. We’re torn apart by ideologies, judgment and shame from our struggles with sin, and this shows us that the early church learned how to put aside differences for the sake of a name infinitely larger than any of our own. With global access to each other, one would think that today’s believers could be more connected, yet we become Pharisees and critics to each other. The early church’s display of sacrificial unity is ultimately inspiring, and reminds me of Hillsong’s Hosanna.

“I see a generation rising up to take their place with selfless faith…”

One can only hope :)

-Mo

What can stand in the way of my being baptized? (Acts 8:36)

Goodness, what another loaded chapter. Honestly, this Acts study may take forever… it’s two times longer than Mark and just as filled with striking implications and stories.

1. First, the Holy Spirit. And Mo, this is for you:

The passage insinuates that for the new believers from Samaria, baptism was an act detached from the institution of baptism. Peter and John pray for the people of Samaria to “receive the Holy Spirit” as a continuation of the “belief” that Philip elicits out of the people (8:15, 8:12). As a gift from God, the arrival of the Holy Spirit almost parallels a healing, as we see the same pattern of occurrences back in Mark. There is prayer for a gift to be delivered, and in that, belief. Then, a miracle will occur at the slight gesture of “placing hands on” or speaking words (8:17, Mark 9:23-29; Mark 5:25-34).

The situation with Simon seems to echo the theme of heart condition (Mark 2:21-22). Those who are not prepared for the complete transformation of identity that is fellowship with Jesus will find it impossible to be transformed by the gospel, or here, by the Holy Spirit specifically. I feel that the transformation that Jesus alluded to many times throughout Mark, and the figurative “entering into the Kingdom of God” are directly connected to accepting the Holy Spirit in one’s heart (Mark 10:25). Here, obstructing the Holy Spirit (in an entirely figurative, or spiritual sense) is Simon’s heart “full of bitterness and [captivity] to sin” (8:23).

But in this case, Peter’s harsh remark bears strong implications for the state of the Church of the present (8:21). These days describe the people who encountered Peter and John as being wholly filled with the Spirit, a conclusion supported by the near-utopian/heavenly image of the early Church and their values (Acts 4:32-37). Peculiarly, my pastor yesterday made a similar prayer before the congregation: that our hearts would be transformed by His words through him and that we would receive the Holy Spirit. We ruminated on what the Spirit would look like as exemplified by a person, comparing the image of Jesus with the image of the heavenly “dove” (Matthew 3:16). If the early church were so close to the Spirit, and if these passages are not meant to demonstrate a perfect submission to the Spirit in the people of the early Church, then it is disappointing that the believers of the present cannot possibly compare to the believers of the early era. The battle that every Christian must face, comparatively, seems to be set against a backdrop of growing sin, and our culture makes it harder and harder for people to emerge victorious in the battle.

Or, we have come to accept much smaller victories in the face of sin as noteworthy outcomes in the Christian society. Here, Peter admonishes Simon for a simple mistake by almost admonishing him out of the welcome of the fellowship (8:21). His words nearly strike the chord of, if you are not serious about the ideas presented to us, then you have no business being here.

Of course, this remark could also be representative of the severity of the idea follied; similar to the judgment God levies upon Ananias in the previous chapter (Acts 5). Perhaps this is God being sure to cull the very best out of his early believers, and out of the readers of Acts, attempting to curate the future of the religion out of the very best the Church had to offer. The idea that Simon failed to comprehend, that it is through faith, and not worldly provision that the “power” of the Spirit comes from, is one of the more central themes of Christianity. And anyone reading the gospels that precede this would probably agree that this is a recurring theme that will continue to present an obstacle to a true understanding of God’s “power” in new believers.

2. Second, I freaking love the anecdote about the eunuch. It’s so illustrative of what God is about and how ministry works that I felt it was important to just reflect on it.

The ministry begins with a simple moment of intuition: the Holy Spirit drives Philip to “go to the chariot,” without giving him any understanding of what to expect. Therefore the call requires faith; a willingness to be “bold” knowing that something will come of the choice (Acts 4:31). How often we see these sorts of things happen in our lives! From my experience, when we act in faith with the Spirit, these sorts of blind decisions do tend to work themselves out, and they seem to be joyous for us in the process. But I think to say that we know where they’ll take us, or to expect something in particular out of it would be silly—we don’t!

Directly after, you see the resolution of the Spirit’s influence. Philip curiously realizes the eunuch reading the Bible to himself, and in Philip’s love for scripture he inquires about how the eunuch’s doing with the text (8:30). You could take this as nosy, or could even take this as presumptuous. I personally think the way that Philip worded sounds a little forward, and almost carries an air of elitism in it. But I prefer to see Philip walking up to his bro in the chariot, playfully and kindheartedly calling out Hey bud! What’re you doing over there with that book? I can imagine Philip almost laughing as he watches the eunuch so deeply in thought with the book, clearly struggling and biting his lip with apprehension at the profundity of it. And then Philip comes up and breaks the ice, bringing the man back into reality and establishing himself as someone who can empathize with the guy’s difficulties.

I think that the eunuch’s easygoing response, in that he very quickly invites Philip into the chariot with him, is also very interesting (8:31). The invitation to “sit with him” seems very intimate and trusting, especially considering the nature of the eunuch’s position as “in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake” (8:27). Either the eunuch was packing hella heat, ready to dispense with Philip at a moment’s notice, or there was something in the way that Philip approached his single line that conveyed such warmth and selflessness that he had already won over the eunuch’s trust after saying one line. I would side with the latter, because the eunuch’s tone throughout the rest of the passage is one of respect and deference, especially in the way he says, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about” (8:34).

The way this plays out has strong ramifications for our ministry. The transformation we invite the Holy Spirit to unleash upon us should be evident even at first glance, and be transmitted through our words. Something about Philip and the way he offered himself to the eunuch won over the man’s trust with only one line. So I think that there’s something to be said about both the type of people we choose to go forward and minister to, as well as the manner in which we go about it.

There aren’t many examples of people in the Bible who turned down ministry at its best (from Jesus directly). We get a little tidbit about it in the gospels, where He insinuates that we should just leave unreceptive people alone (Matthew 10:14). But along with this is the implication that the truth of the gospel is so self-evident that it takes an extremely hardened person, maybe even an undeserving person, to be unreceptive to the gospel when it is advanced with all of the wholesomeness of its purest form, Jesus himself. When you start to bring us into the equation as fallible, inaccurate witnesses,  it opens the door to more and more reasonable rejection, and calls us to delve deeper into the Spirit so that we would more accurately display Him through us and be able to have more success with those hardened by the world.

When people do accept ministry, there is almost an invitational quality to it (8:31). You offer yourself, wait to be invited in; wait to be taken up on that offer. It’s not about going and telling people things, but about one’s trust in the self-evident nature of the truth; that the people we are to minister to will understand that we may know something that they would want to hear. When we go into ministry with this sort of unassuming attitude, it really displays the service aspect of ministry that we aim to achieve. You try your best to display God in what you do, fixate on it with all your heart, and then when people don’t have ears to hear what you have to offer to the puzzle, you aid them by serving them in other ways.

But the eunuch does respond. And when he sees that Philip has something to say, he offers to listen. The passage says that Philip “began with” the passage cited, implying that the conversation turned out to be a long one (8:35). Philip likely used the passage as a starting off point to discuss greater questions, greater human needs, greater issues in society that God has an answer for. One could presume that the conversation had to be two-sided to last that long. In my experience, the process of listening has to guide spiritual conversations; you can’t funnel people into a fit-all guide to spiritual life. Jesus once compared himself to a physician (Mark 2:17). The same tenets that make for an effective physician, empathy and listening ability, should also apply to those who would care for the spiritual life (Mark 2:17).

New belief is bold, if the eunuch’s statement “What can stand in my way of being baptized?” is any indication (8:36). The eunuch’s quick choice to faith is beautiful to me, because of the very simplicity into with which he reduces the choice. The eunuch recognizes that the choice to faith is not about any sort of grandeur or celebration here on Earth, but something internally beautiful and outwardly appreciated in the eyes of our God in Heaven. He chooses a nasty pool of water in which to be baptized for the Lord, paralleling the unassuming nature of the baptism of Christ himself (Mark 1:9). And after the brief gesture to God, the joy in the eunuch comes from a wholly internal place, as Philip has left him and we are left with the image of the man “[going] on his way rejoicing” with his new life (8:39).

Oftentimes I yearn for an audience of affirmation with some of the things that I do. But while sharing my devotion to Him with others in community has its tenets, the end of this passage serves as a strong reminder that the private relationship with God is also key. It echoes the declaration that Jesus makes about prayer—that “when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen” (Matthew 6:6). The personal fellowship with God is a reason to rejoice; beholding that which is holy should be valued in and of itself. And it takes a heart turned drastically toward God to be able to see the inherent value in the time you spend with him, in the absence of the affirmations of the community around you. Challenging yourself to have a personal relationship with Him is something that IV encourages strongly, as it should, because connecting to knowledge in a personal way often reflects a stronger understanding of material. However, I feel that it represents a great show of faith to sacrifice time to Him without any community affirmation. We ought to balance the need to display spiritual leadership with our hope to truly appreciate God for what He is and not because of the chance good that comes out of it.

Zak

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:56)

This is pertaining to the story of Stephen, and how he died in persecution for speaking what he believed to be the truth about Jesus and God’s desires for us.

First off I want to say how strange it is to me that the early Church was almost a closed off community from the rest of society: it even had its own system of “daily distribution of food” (Acts 6:1). The apostles were beginning to choose Church leaders to deal with secular matters, making it an institution where worldy and godly matters were intricately intertwined. These days, where the ideal of church/state separation is the norm, communities like these are sprinkled around the globe in the form of utopian societies. A representation of such was featured in the terrible M. Night Shyamalan movie “The Village.” At some point though, the early Church must have transformed into a solely religious institution, because that is what we see today. Churches still collect tithes and invest in community and worldwide initiatives, but never take the role of holding power over essential functions like food provision or housing accommodations. I’m very curious to see when this shift happens, or if it is even depicted in the Bible.

Second, I want to ruminate on the type of person Stephen was for a bit, for comparison to our own little “Church,” that is, IVTCF. Acts calls the man “full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” and “full of God’s grace and power” (Acts 6:5, 6:8). One can infer that his ability to perform “great wonders and signs among the people” stems directly from his wholeness with the Lord, through his willingness to serve what he believes to be the source of the good that he does (Acts 6:8). The man presents with great “wisdom” to those who debate with Him about holy topics (Acts 6:10). When asked about his opinion on Moses’ customs, he utilizes his wisdom to illustrate the progression of God through Abraham to Moses and what happened afterwards, weaving the knowledge together to draw comparisons between his persecutors and the enemies of the Lord in the past (Acts 7:51-53). It seems that Stephen’s powerful faith has led him to seek a great understanding and perspective on history, making him highly cognizant of his status and function on Earth. That is, humbly imperfect, growing, and deferential to the Holy Trinity. I especially enjoyed the beautiful humility with which Stephen walks into his own death; appealing for his people (the Church and the enemies) while looking up at his “Lord Jesus,” unmistakably deferring to Jesus even with his countenance being wonderfully developed in Him (Acts 7:59).

Finally, I very much enjoyed the visual depiction of the Lord in Acts 7:55-6, where the author describes God himself as “glory” and Jesus presumably as a humanlike figure (as he was “standing,” which insinuates that what was seen has legs and is Jesus). This was particularly poignant for me because it associates God with glory, rather than needing to equate him to something more human. It differentiates him from Jesus, who was God’s will personified as a human. At least in my faith, I interpret “glory” more broadly to mean goodness or righteousness. I believe that God is all of that, and that in an object, so that when you think of what that looks like and what God looks like, you don’t have to constrain him to the image of a man, but something that transcends the flesh. He is the epitome of all that is good, and could look like anything good here on Earth or any good human all at once. For the people out there who wonder what such a heavenly being would look like, I feel that my interpretation of God opens up my mind to a much less constrained version of Him, helping to bridge the gap a little between belief and reason for me.

Zak 

Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet. Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. (Acts 5:1-5)

1. I’m not gonna lie, Acts 5:5 is one of the most troubling lines I’ve read in the Bible yet. I read this chapter last Friday but was infuriated at the way God treats Ananias.

I love reading about how all of the church is giving away their things for the aid of their brothers and sisters. I get that the apostles are acting as the intermediaries for the aid, deciding to whom and for what to apportion the funds.

But when I saw the apostles essentially damning these foolish people to death for simply failing to contribute to the community, I felt that He had gone too far. These are the sorts of things that can make you hate a God, make you want to throw out your bible, make you want to join the people who say they want nothing to do with a ridiculously arbitrary judge like He. Why this couple, over all the other imperfect sinners? Why did God choose these people to die in order to teach his people? What happened to our God of forgiveness, our God of understanding, our Lord who presides over the weakness that is us?

I went to bed very saddened on Friday, trying to wrap my head around how this could represent a loving, or even just God. I resigned to asking one of my friends in community about this, to see if they had the same aghast reaction to the sequence. So Sunday I went to church preparing for a big confrontation with one of my close friends over this passage.

But, reading through the passage again during the sermon, I was struck by a few things:

1) This is one of the most ridiculous acts of revenge by God against his people that I’ve read. So there’s got to be an equally ridiculous thing at work in these people.

2) In line 5:3, Peter says that Ananias has a Satan-filled heart. This is a pretty ridiculous accusation, which goes along with the ridiculous consequence. So how is Satan in Ananias’ heart?

3) The author uses a particular word: “lied” twice in the passage. Ananias “lied to the Holy Spirit” and not only “lied to human beings but to God” (5:3, 5:4).

What is the difference between lying to people and lying to God, or the Holy Spirit? One can assume that lying to the people would entail being untruthful about the amount that he surrendered. Everyone else was giving up everything, so one can assume that Ananias’ ploy was to do the same but in secret keep much of his possessions. He lied about the extent to which he was surrendering his possessions. And one could extrude that he made the same lie both to the people and to God.

Thinking about it this way led me to realize that making that kind of lie to the Holy Spirit would be akin to lying during repentance. We are called to bring all of ourselves to the Holy Spirit and ask for forgiveness for our weakness, with a prepared heart for the transformation He desires for us. Repentance is the kind of conversation we have with the Holy Spirit, where we truly come to terms with our shortcomings, and attempt to allow Him into those areas of our life. For Ananias to act as though he had surrendered as much as his comrades in his dialogue with the Lord, and therefore assuming he had as little room to grow as they did, would represent the lie that Peter refers to.

The Lord’s action in response to this is telling. From the Lord’s reaction (narrated by the apostles’ words) it is a serious, serious crime against Him to be consciously and schemingly jaded in one’s standing before God. It seems that we are asked to seek the ideal heart condition (as Jesus acted out for us), and be very honest to ourselves, the people around us, and to God himself about how we know we stand in comparison to the ideal. To lie, or be deceitful in discussing such a thing would run counter to our goal as a church to comprehend our dependency on Him, and to continually seek rejuvenation and growth in Him.

But more simply, lying to God and playing games with hypocrisy in one’s relationship with God is a very serious crime against him. Among all of the things that God attempts to warn us of, this is one of the most alarming warnings I can recall in the NT era. We can insinuate from this that God views honesty in repentance as one of the most core tenets of his new church, and that a failure to uphold this could lead his people into a (simply put) rough spot at judgment day.

I still feel alarmed at the idea that God can use any of us, seemingly at random, as scapegoats in death for his Heavenly plan. But, thinking about this further, I suppose God is using us for scapegoats in His plan every day, and that’s kind of what we live for as Christians. So my reaction to this came from a dark place. I have to believe that God’s plans infallibly take us into account and that he desires to bring us closer to Him through everything He does, which is a place that I truly desire and love. I have to believe that He is for us. I have to believe that He sees me as a friend in Him, an ally seeking to further His cause in the world and within myself, and that he understands my imperfections as I do through my honest repentance for them. Else, my whole faith falls apart.

2. Some reflection on how the Acts Church compares to modern socialism—

At times I’ve struggled with the idea of giving up everything, as in all of your possessions, and truly living a life completely dependent on the providence of God through people. If you really gave up everything, and trusted in God to provide for you, I get how that would be probably the greatest thing you could do to prove that the things of this world are nothing but vanity. It seems like the people here chose to live out their faith by creating a new society, one seemingly communal/socialistic in the way property was arranged.

But in contrast to the blessed society depicted in Acts, our country is founded upon the idea that socialism will fail, as the system depends too much on human nature. The leaders of the early church here were nearly wholly enveloped in God, and worked as a team so that they could pick up each other’s spiritual slack. But when this sort of society has been attempted in the modern age, it leads to despotism instead of cooperation. The greed apparent in humankind really comes to light in these situations, turning people away from the new society’s original intent and into their own selfishness.

America’s answer to the failures of socialism has been to privatize property and charity, insisting that people can accomplish these things without the government insisting upon it. But this option always runs the risk of making the charitable out to be the exception, rather than the expected. So the mindset that money in life is earned, deserved, and rightfully ours now seems to have become the standard in this country.

The early church, to me, affirms a need for a stronger community in this individualistic generation. It’s silly to spend money on things that we as individuals don’t really need while a community’s needs continue on unaddressed. If the community, or the church, is everything we stand for, then all resources should be spent in an attempt to better the community as a whole, address its shortcomings, and invest in things that will continue to bless everyone in it. Money can be spent on people, and things, but only if these things and people serve the community as a whole.

So even if we do not have a means of responsibly pooling our resources into a central source, we can each individually cater to the same principles that the early church used when apportioning its resources. We need to aim for a community purpose when spending our resources. And when thinking about what kinds of things one can invest in to shape the community as a whole, it would certainly be of help to know the people in and be acquainted with the needs of a community (but that’s another topic entirely).

Zak

Here are some thoughts for this chapter.
 

11: “the stone you builders rejected,

    which has become the cornerstone.”
 

Verse 11 likens the clergy to “builders.” This is said to be the Holy Spirit speaking through prophets of old. What does this metaphor mean to impart? The notion of builders is interesting because building is almost an act of creativity. Indeed, in this example the builders rejected one stone in favor of another; signifying a creative choice. If what they’re building is the religion of God, the builders have a decision to make when choosing what to heed in their plans. I’ve always struggled with the Jewish response to Jesus’ coming: they seem to have feared him as a rival prophet. When new, revolutionary prophets come to speak the word of God, how are we to believe these people bear truth? Is the only means of proof the miracles? Otherwise, countless other spiritual leaders could just come along and claim to know a better stone to use to build the religion. The Jewish leaders for some reason rejected Jesus’ teachings, even when accompanied by miracles. This strikes me as a peculiar and unrelatable response. Did they not believe what they had seen? If I had seen a miracle take place right before my eyes, I would find it hard to not believe in the power of Jesus. Maybe it was that the Jewish leaders didn’t see the healings firsthand that they didn’t believe.
 

12: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
 

What does it mean to be saved? Does it mean, saved from sin? Saved from the distractions of the world? Saved from a hellish fate? Saved from a life without God? Saved from the blindness of the Jewish leaders? Saved from false teachings by other prophets?
 

13: “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”
 

I find it interesting that this book draws upon the reader’s assumption that “unschooled, ordinary men” are not courageous to achieve this sentence’s full impact. Is courage the only thing that stops people from achieving? How much of a factor does courage play into performance?
 

28: “They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.”
 

I always find the fact that God has foretold his own people’s failures peculiar. Especially when you begin to draw a distinction between the “saved” and “unsaved”. The fact that God could “decide” for people to be unsaved is very strange to me.
 

32: “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.”
 

This statement is quite radical. It goes against the main tenets of our country. Our country, instead of advocating for this sort of gracefully equitable society, puts into place a system for expanding inequity in wealth and places emphasis on a personal impetus and right to fight inequity.
 

29; “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.”

31; “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”

33; “With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.”
 

One of the greatest gifts of the Holy Spirit is boldness.
 

33-35: “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.”
 

This seems to be a purposeful illustration of what a people looks like where “God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all.” The reluctance to inequity, and relying on God to distribute to those in need is key. God’s grace is re-instituted by people through the Holy Spirit in surrendering one’s possessions to the will of God (here shown in surrender to the servants of God, the Apostles) and allowing that to redistribute it where it is needed/called for.
 

Zak

From Valerie again :)

So here we have the Holy Spirit coming! SUPER EXCITING! It’s interesting the format that we see it happen. There is a big sound and rush of wind, they see tongues of fire separate and rest on each of them. THEN they begin speaking in tongues! This kind of tongues is interesting, because it’s not the kind we often think of when referring to tongues. Usually we think of when you are praying and then begin speaking in another language - or tongues. This one is different. Rather it’s people, or Galileans, speaking and all the people in the room (who are from all over) are understanding them in their own language.

This is really cool if you think about what happens in Genesis 11, with the Tower of Babel story.

| 1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. 3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” 5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” 8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel —because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth. |

In Genesis, the reason for God confusing the people’s languages is because they are trying to make a name for themselves. Thinking back to Mark, that’s a HUGE theme. The disciples are always arguing about who will be the greatest, who will sit  next to Jesus. This is obviously not what God wants for us. But then, when the Holy Spirit descends, that language confusion is gone momentarily. I think that’s really intense! 

Then after all this, there are a variety of responses. Some people are amazed and perplexed (what I think to be the appropriate response) but then others think they are just drunk. It’s seems like the kind of reactions Christians get. There are often people who are totally amazed, but you always have cynicism, yah know?

Then there is so much going on in what Peter says, but I’d like to draw attention to Peter in general. WHAT THE HECK. He is so well spoken and solid here. I mean in my manuscript, there are two full pages of his speech. Some huge transformation has to have taken place in these 40 days that Jesus spent with the disciples after His resurrection. He goes from an emotional, hot-headed disciple who always seems  to be messing up to this confident, knowledgeable and eloquent guy. He is so solid.  Like a rock.. hence, the name Jesus gave him. Peter literally means ‘rock’ and we see Simon Peter living up to that here. I mean he goes from being a fisherman and now he’s quoting the scripture in front of this huge crowd of ‘God-fearing Jews from every nation.’ I’m impressed.

I also LOVE how when Peter is standing up and speaking, the 11 are standing with him. I think that’s really important to note when we think about what kind of community we are. Do we stand with out brothers and sisters when they speak this way? I hope we will!

Speaking of brothers and sisters… I am also loving the emphasis on women! ‘sons and daughters’ and ‘brothers and sisters’ are both specifically said. Again, women are a part of it from this very first day of ministry - and even before when they prayed together constantly if you remember from chapter 1.

Another thing that sticks out to me about Peter’s speech is how he talks to the people. They truly feel convicted - ‘they were cut to heart’ - about the way they treated Jesus. 

Peter also gives all credit to God when He speaks. Just some examples: accredited by God, God did, handed over to you by God, God raised, etc. He definitely isn’t taking credit for anything or trying to make a name for himself here. Everything is about what God is doing/has done/will do. Interesting if we think about the Tower of Babel thing.

In regards to what Zak was getting at in his post. When it talks about all the ‘right hand’ stuff. In that culture, being at the right hand of someone was a huge honor. The custom is that no one would be invited to sit at the right hand of a king except someone of regal rank, authority, and power. Often the right hand position is thought of as one’s adviser. —- I’ve been watching game of thrones, and this is like the King’s hand for anyone else who watches ——

So in the Psalm 16 reference, for David, a King, to say that the Lord is at his right hand makes sense, as it was commonly used for somebody to be in that position. We see the guiding aspect later in the reference when it talks about ‘paths of life.’ The reason this is mentioned is because Peter is talking about Jesus evading death right before this, and he references David speaking about the Lord allowing him to evade death because of His position at the right hand.

Later, Peter talks about Jesus being raised to the right hand of God when he ascended before them. This is basically confirming that Jesus is God and that He is now with Him, sitting at His right hand. It insinuates His rank, authority and power as well.

Then we have another reference to Psalm 110. Here the use of logical connectors are really important. We see the word FOR in verse 34. So the only reason we are getting this reference is because of the statement before about Jesus being exalted to right hand of God. Peter is showing where David talks about God inviting Jesus to sit at His right hand. 

So although the idea of sitting at the right hand is thrown around in multiple places here, they are not conflicting. They are just serving two different purposes. Hopefully that all made sense? If not let me know, and I will try to clarify!

Last thoughts… The community described at the end of Acts 2 is legit. After 3 years in TCF, I’ve studied this passage a lot, but it never fails to wow me. I think it’s super significant the way the community really is ONE. —-‘they had everything in common’—- I think that as we go into next year, in hopes of creating a REAL spiritual community for not only ourselves but all of the black students at USC, we can use this as a ideal picture of what it should look like. Spoiler alert: we will probably come back to this passage at least once! 

Oh and don’t forget - this community had people added to their community DAILY. Isn’t this what we want and yearn for on behalf of the students at USC? What would it look like for BCM to become a place where people are being added to a community that is loving, supportive, and FUN on a daily basis? It’s not about the idea of converting people to what we like, but letting them in on what we know has been the best thing for us and what we truly believe is the best for everyone.

I think this is super encouraging and fantastic!

WOOT. Look for more of my post in the next week:) I’m realizing we have 28 chapters of Acts, so 2-3 chapters will need to get covered every week. WOOT! You guys are way ahead of me!

From Valerie!

I sincerely apologize for the huge delay. I will do my best to keep up with this from here on out :)

I think it’s really cool that we see all 3 pieces of the trinity here. Jesus is speaking about how the Father is going to send the Holy Spirit. 

We also see a parallel to the book of Mark, page one I believe. Jesus spends 40 days in the wilderness. Right after Jesus is in the wilderness, he is baptized by John the Baptist, and the Holy Spirit descends on Him sending Him into His ministry. This is what is going on for the disciples here. They spend 40 days with Jesus, and then the gift (Holy Spirit) is to come on them which will send them to be witnesses in Jerusalem … all the ends of the earth.

I think that’s pretty awesome. Jesus followers are following directly in his footsteps!

The disciples are still pretty silly though.. I mean we know how much they always mess up and get it wrong from Mark, and we still see that here! They are asking about Jesus restoring Israel right now - which is what they’ve been wanting Him to do all along - and He is talking about how THEY are going to be a part of that as they minister to the ends of the earth! Then they are staring up into the sky when He leaves, and the angels are all like “why are you doing that”? Super silly!

I like verse 14 how they all join together constantly in prayer with the women! Being a woman, I take notice of the point that is made that the women are praying with everyone else, constantly. Women are a core part of the ministry from the beginning.

To the part about replacing Judas, I like the example we see of the disciples taking the word that they know and obeying it. They see where it says someone should replace Judas. Then, they proceed to put all of their faith in the Lord and cast lots for replacement. It’s very straightforward and faithful of them.