Material Needs

March 12

Read: Acts 2:44, 4:32-35

Material Needs

“And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.” (v.44)

The Kingdom of God has always been about the intersection of the material and the spiritual… it has always been a matter of joining the two together. This is the will and mission of God. Jesus is our prime example of this; God in human flesh… God and humanity fused together for eternity from the incarnation forward. This is why Jesus tells his disciples to declare that “the Kingdom of God has come near” when they travel to a place - because the Kingdom of God travels within them and God brings his supernatural presence and infusion of the spiritual realm to the world through his sons and daughters. (cf. Luke 10:9,11 etc.) As the people of God in these “last days” we can’t lose site of this truth. The material and spiritual are woven together and there is no way to separate the two in the life of God’s children. We simply cannot pretend as though our demeanor towards and / or use of our material goods isolated from our spiritual lives and walk with the Lord. In short, what you do with your “stuff” is intensely spiritual and how you view and use your stuff is an indicator of your spiritual maturity. For example, selfishness and godliness do not co-exist. Clinging too tightly to your stuff “here” means you have lost sight of the truth of what is coming “there” on the new earth. When we forget we are in the “last days” we are tempted to double down on “things” in this world… we become greedy…jealous…covetous…stingy…and indifferent to the needs of others.

The early church saw that they were in the “last days” so holding on tightly to stuff seemed ridiculous to them. They were able to see clearly that caring for one another trumped holding on to these things any day… especially because they were looking forward to the treasures that lay ahead for them. We ought to do the same. God is a rewarder of those who seek him. (Heb. 11:6) When we “seek first the Kingdom of God” and HIS righteousness… the material things we need will be “added unto us”. (cf. Matt 6:33) What if part of “seeking first the Kingdom” is being spiritually motivated to meet others physical / material needs? What if building the Kingdom of God was as much about caring for the needs of one another within the Christian community as it was being “moral”, reading the bible, and singing songs? How seriously do we heed the call of this sort of “Kingdom building”.

The early church clearly and radically understood this. We see it laid out here in Acts 2 as well as Acts 4. It is not that people didn’t own anything of their own… quite the contrary. (This was not “communism” or “socialism” the way that some try to describe it or hijack it for their own political narrative.) This is the people of God having a healthy disposition towards their stuff and being motivated by the Spirit to liquidate and give. This was courageous generosity motivated by eyes that could see the Kingdom of God unfolding and understood what was inshore for eternity for all who are children of God. It was bringing the truth of God’s provision for eternity to life in the here and now by providing for each other within the body. This is bringing “heaven to earth” which is what God has been all about from the beginning… fusing the spiritual and created realms together to make HIS Kingdom … the “NEW heavens and earth”. They are “new” because of how radically each impacts the other and when they are brought together neither of the two remains the same!

Not many things make as big an impact on others / observers as does radical generosity and open-handed-ness with our stuff. This sort of living was used by God to draw people to himself and gain favor for his people in the midst of the community that they were in. Just look:

“And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” (v.46,47)

As the people of God, we are in the “last days” of the material realm and spiritual realm living separate from each other… we are in the last days of there being any place that does not have the truth and glory of God being displayed in it. We are in the last days of pockets of the earth not having “heaven” brought down and distributed there by God through his people. The last days are more about “heaven” / God / the Kingdom coming in and invading or disrupting our world than they are about “destroying” it. How we meet the material needs of one another will be one of the clearest indicators of our relationship with God. We need - as the people of God - to be reminded of this. How are we using our stuff? What grips us? Are we willing to “liquidate” to meet the needs of others? Are we pretending that greediness, materialism, and selfishness can cohabitate with the Spirit of God? Let’s start building the Kingdom of God in real and tangible ways. As God’s people, may we be the conduits that bring heaven to earth. Love you guys! - JDP