Abundant grace was upon them all!

"And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles' feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.  Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement), and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet."
Acts 4:32-37 HCSB

Observations:

Who did what?

The congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul.

They did not claim ownership of anything. They had common property.

The apostles gave testimony of Jesus' resurrection.

All who owned property sold it and laid the proceeds at the disciples feet.

The disciples distributed wealth as there was need.

The followers of Jesus trusted their leaders.

Joseph, aka Barnabas, who was a Levite, aka Jewish pastor, originally from out of town, was also wealthy and sold his land and laid it at the disciples feet.

What choices could have been made?

The congregation could have questioned the disciples' testimony about the resurrection (especially the wealthy who are giving up their properties), but they didn't.

The wealthy could have given with strings attached, but they trusted the apostles judgement.

The apostles could have abused their power and hoarded the wealth, and easily justified it (they were the original followers of Jesus, after all!)

The author of Acts could have shared with us how they defined, determined, and prioritized needs.

Application:

I love the observation in the passage: "abundant grace was upon them all," and then it  goes on to explain how well they loved one another. I feel like everyone is making awesome choices in this passage! Today, do we still see the followers of Jesus loving each other awesomely? I know I have. Just earlier this week, members of my church took time out of their busy schedules to bless a whole bunch of us moms by vacuuming our cars for us for free :). I used to belong to a church that provided free breakfast every Sunday Morning for 2 services! And another church that served dinner every Friday night 😋. Now, it would be dishonest of me to pretend that any of the churches are/were perfect. They weren't by any means, but Jesus said that His followers would be known by their love for one another, and in my own limited experience, I have found truth in that statement. Unfortunately, I have also found that when we talk about churches, it's a lot easier to talk about the sin than it is to talk about the love. That's why I love the phrase "and abundant grace was upon them all." I have to wonder, what would happen if we commited to looking at our churches and our church leaders through lenses of abundant grace instead of criticism? Would they take advantage, or would they be able to act even more like the apostles? What if we viewed each other through lenses of abundant grace? Would it cultivate more generosity? Maybe more honesty about our needs? And what if I viewed myself through the lense of abundant grace? How would my perception of myself and how I relate to others change?

As always, thoughts, observations, and comments are welcome!
-Jordan