Psalm 87, 90; 1 Samuel 4:1b-11; Acts 4:32-5:11; Luke 21:20-28
Do the Israelites believe that the ark is a talisman? They were being routed on the field of battle by the Philistines so they called for the ark to be brought that it might bring them success. They were looking for a good luck charm and believed that the ark might just have been it yet there was no ark at the Red Sea or in Egypt when the people came out. The Lord is at the head of His people or He is not without an object there to signify His presence among them. Too often our worship can be superstition and based in objects that “must” be there for worship to happen and too many Christians use crosses and other religious objects as charms rather than depending on the Lord. I know that there are people who use statues of St. Joseph buried in the ground believing that this somehow helps sell houses. Does this not dishonor the Lord? The word of the Lord to Eli and Samuel concerning Hophni and Phineas is fulfilled and the ark is captured. Justice is done.
For some, Jerusalem itself and the temple in particular had become the most important things, they had become idols. After all Jesus had done and taught, all the signs they had been given, they determined that His speaking against the temple was worthy of His crucifixion. His prophecy against Jerusalem and against the temple certainly aroused the ire of the leaders as it had always done when prophets spoke words of correction to their fathers. As Stephen preached, they always resisted the Holy Spirit and persecuted the prophets. Jesus finishes this discourse on the end of things by saying to them and us that when we see these signs we are not to be dejected and hang our heads but to raise them to greet our redeemer. Do we put our trust and hope in things or in the Lord?
Ananias and Sapphira had every right to the proceeds of the sale of their land. The problem was that they lied about it in order to receive the “reward” of having given all the proceeds. After this episode we don’t read again about Christian communities having everything in common. Up to this point it seems that the community had chosen to live in truly communal fashion, sharing all things among all people. Is this the commended or commanded manner of community life? Nowhere in Scripture is this ever commanded or even suggested outside the first four chapters of Acts, so it isn’t a principle. We do, however, have an obligation to care for others in our community of faith that is clear in all the New Testament and Paul tells the Thessalonians the boundaries of this charity that those who refused to work were not to be provided for out of the community’s assets. All the writers in the New Testament, however, refer to this practice of providing for brothers and sisters in need as a tangible way of showing love. If we are unwilling to provide for one another, they would all agree that we aren’t truly loving one another. Often our failure is due to a basic distrust that the Lord will provide enough for us to share generously with one another so we hold back, trusting in things not the provider.
Finish, then, Thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see Thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee;
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.
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