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.
With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. 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. Acts 4:32-35
I have a Facebook friend in Nigeria. We have never met other than on Facebook. At a glance, we couldn’t be much more unalike. He is a pastor of The Shining Destiny Church, and refers to himself and his wife in the following way: Geologist Professor Apostle Obinna Sam and his wife, the Reverend Ujunwa Pearls Izuogu. Me, Grandpa Bruce. If you were to watch their service online, it would likely be very different from what you are used to. Except for this — our commonality.
The passage I led with from Acts 4 starts with the following phrase: “All the believers were one in heart and mind.” (Acts 4:32a.)
This is Dr. Luke’s descriptor of that very first church, they were one in mind. Does that mean they all agreed about everything? And the answer is of course, probably not. My favorite color is green. Yours may be blue. Does one of us need to change? Don’t think so. So what does it mean? To answer that, let’s back up a ways in Acts 4.
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. Acts 4:13
Our passage today began with the statement that the believers were one in heart and mind. This is the heart part. The Sanhedrin realized these men had been with Jesus. Reverend Sam and I are very different. But we share this in common. We both love Jesus. Everything else in our lives grows out of that truth. Jesus is in the very center of things. He is The Hub.
As we met to discuss today’s passage, Pastor Aaron said that that first church was sort of a “Hot Mess”. The very next chapter starts with the story of Ananias and Sapphira. Yikes!! Two chapters later we see a rift beginning to develop over the giving to widows. Some were being slighted. We live in a world dominated by sin; it will be that way until Jesus returns. But we all have this in common: we love Jesus. He is at the very center of everything. We defer to Him. That is our winning formula.
“Not my will but thy will be done.” Luke 22:42b
I want to end today with the words of a wonderful Christian anthem.
We are one in the Spirit
We are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit
We are one in the Lord
And we pray that all unity
May one day be restored
And they’ll know we are Christians
By our love, By our love
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians
By our love
We will walk with each other
We will walk hand in hand
We will walk with each other
We will walk hand in hand
And together we’ll spread the news
That God is in our land
All praise to the Father
From whom all things come
And all praise to Christ Jesus His only son
And all praise to the Spirit
Who makes us one
Make us one, Lord!
Make us one, Lord!
One in Heart and Mind.
by Bruce Hanson
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