As a youth I had the opportunity to travel to Europe and work in Germany for a summer at the Torchbearer conference center called Klostermühle. On the way there, my buddy Scott Sherman and I stayed in England in Otford Kent at Hildenborough Hall, which was a Christian teen ministry in the 70’s and 80’s.
We visited in the spring when the fields were freshly plowed and, on the surface, appeared what looked like the remnants of last year’s crop of potatoes. They were not. There were nodules of obsidian, which when split would reveal their glassy interior. We were told that even after years of ploughing they would still surface.
That in mind, when describing the wonderful atmosphere of this fledgling church, Luke used a word with which translators struggle.
Acts 2:46
And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, . . .
The word “generous” is also translated “simple” or “singleness” or “sincere” or “humble”. It is aphelotēs, whose word picture is that of a stone-free well-plowed field. It is where none of the stones are present, that would normally prevent a church from thriving.
In these chapters we saw the disciples recall their task (Luke 24:44-49), be chided by angels to get going because the Son of Man was coming back (Daniel 7:13-14), replace one of their own, be equip with the Holy Spirit and present the gospel for the first time.
This fledgeling church with 120 names on the roll, met together on Pentecost, the day after the Seventh Sabbath, that is Sunday. They had already begun to meet on the first day of the week and it was their collective active passion (homothymadon). This word is almost unique to Luke. It is used three times in these two chapters (Acts 1:14; 2:1; 2:46).
