Open:

(story of no turning back, it has changed from here on out)

Point/Transition:

We have come to a major transition in the book of Acts and in our series.  When we allow the text to guide us, there is no turning back.  The next few chapters and the next few messages are centered within this new people, the Church of Jesus.  As we have seen, this has become a movement of 500o men plus the women and children.  We are getting acquainted with this new community, what we can call the creation of the Spirit-filled Community. 

Our text today is centered within this Spirit-filled Community, would you stand for the reading of God’s Word from Acts chapters 4 and 5.

Text:

Acts 4:42 through 5:11

³² 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. ³³ 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 ³⁴ 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 ³⁵ and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

³⁶ Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), ³⁷ sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.

Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. ² With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.

³ Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? ⁴ Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”

⁵ When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. ⁶ Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.

⁷ About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”

“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”

⁹ Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

¹⁰ At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

Sermon Body:

If you recall, in the first sermon of this series I spoke about the book of Acts as both descriptive and prescriptive.  I mentioned that I have chosen texts that I believe to be prescriptive – meaning, that the texts we will look at and study apply directly to us today.  Our series, This is Us, calls that out – the prompting given to me in preparation of this series and the prayer for each of us (myself included) is that as we look backwards into our history as the “church”, we can in essence get a check-up and get our prescription for how we might need to change and grow as Lake Avenue Church.

Before we look in detail at the text we have just read, let me talk for a moment about a tension that we can come t when reading the Bible.  Are we supposed to read prescriptive texts literally?  Some of you are already there and about the walk out – is Jeff going to ask us to sell our homes and bring all the money from the sale and place them at the feet of the Ministry Council?  Is Jeff going to suggest that if we do not do this, that he will call us out and we will drop dead on the spot?

Without taking away the sting that is in these verses, let me tell you I do not think what we have in front of us is literally what needs to happen for us to be more “This is Us”.  You can breathe.

But do not take too deep a breath, because the call on us from this text is just as costly. Just as radical, and frankly, just as needed for us today…

The title for the Sermon is Generosity for All – so you see where this going.  Let us jump in and start exploring what this kind of generosity is all about.  There is a lot of verses we have read, we will get through all of them, but we are going to camp out pretty deeply in the first 6 verses we read, as they at minimum help us see 5 expressions of generosity in the first Spirit-filled church.

1. Solidarity

All the believers were one in heart and mind. (4:32a)

This is a pretty heavy text as it has what can feel like an unrealistic message for us today.  Remember what has just happened prior in the book of Acts – last week Pastor Chuck taught in prayer and part of that prayer is recorded a few verses earlier in verses 29 and 30:

²⁹ Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. ³⁰ Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

Have you ever thought that part of the signs and wonders of God is the very complexion of the church?  A group of different people, from different backgrounds, cultures, families – and then rebirthed into a new family – a new community of solidarity?  Being of one heart and one mind – for me, see one of the first miracles in the book of Acts – the very creation of this new family of Jesus followers. 

Now, I used the word solidarity intentionally – you can use unity if you want, but I like solidarity because it communicates a “commonness” among this church.  The word unity right now comes with baggage, because division is the call of the day – even this week how unraveled all sides and perspectives were that George Bush and Ellen DeGeneres are friends and sat together at a football game… fixation on what they shouldn’t be or that they can’t be in relationship, the differences are too large… because our world and frankly, the church as well, is quicker to identify across differences than commonness. 

Difference is important, it is actually critical to be the church as we will see soon in Acts.  Do not think that I am saying that this group of people saw everything the same and lived in some kind of Jesus centered utopia – what is important is that this first church was identified by what they had in common first and loudest – and that the saving grace of Jesus can make a diverse and different people be able to have a new identity – and one in which they become a people in solidarity together under the name of Jesus and with the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Lake, how is our solidarity?  Is there something in here for us?  I sense that we need to grow into a people who first and loudest come together in solidarity in our commonness of children and God who are saved by Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit… we will get to the differences in coming weeks…but for today – this text – let’s see the Solidarity. 

2. Radical Attitude

No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. (4:32b)

This is a changed group of people.  They have become a new people… and their worldview has changed.  They have a new way of thinking about everything, and specifically, can we see how this radical attitude in regards to possessions?  There has been a re-ordering for them, as they no longer saw their stuff as their own, they saw them as for the community and generously shared…

I think as a follower of Jesus, there is one very difficult part of the English language: the use of the personal pronoun, especially related to our possessions. 

Me and Mine are difficult to claim when it comes to the way we think about our stuff… our homes, our money, our things… are they ours?  I think this first church communicates a radical attitude that is needed for us today… can you see your stuff as from God and although the title on your home or your car has your name, that the King of the Universe is the true owner who wants you to enjoy but to hold lightly what he has given to you – so you can share it, give it away, gift it to others?

3. Bold Witness

With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus (4:33a)

We will have a whole message on this Bold Witness coming up – but briefly for today I want you to see that this community was always proclaiming – they did not set up a separate enclave that simply lived and shared with each other…

They were always proclaiming, always evangelizing, always sharing the Gospel of Jesus.  The time they spent with one another was always connected to advancing the name of Jesus – “out there”. 

So, a group in solidarity, with radical attitudes, and with bold witness…

4. Sacrificial Actions

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… (4:33b-35b)

Now we get too difficult costs here… I do not see this as a case for communism, and let’s remember the tension with literal in these verses.  Here is what I want you to see:

• No needy persons among them
  • The experience on earth matters, human flourishing matters and is the work of the church
• From time to time… those who owned…
  • Not a rule or mandate
  • Occasionally – not an everyday thing, not a requirement of being in the community
  • Individual – if you don’t own land, you can’t participate –

So, some of you are breathing deeply – you are off the hook… but not so fast… because there is something in here for each of us – and it is simple to understand and takes a lifetime to obey.

Followers of Jesus are to give and be generous.  This is the truth, and we will see over and over again in the Bible and in the book of Acts the connection between money and faith.  This isn’t the message to get into the specifics about this – but let me be clear – if the way you view, use, and give money is not connected to your faith in Jesus – you are not living as God has called you.  Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount – that where your treasure is, is where you heart is also.

Have you trusted the Lord in this way, yet?  Do you have the practice and faith of giving regularly and generously to the Lord, to his church?

For me and Jenny, learning to give and living lightly and generously has been the fruit of our discipleship at this church.  Another time and in another sermon I am tempted to show you how much money we make a month and how we distribute it – from our bills, to how much we give back to lake, to the missionaries we support, to the other ministries’ we support – because this kind of candor and vulnerability was what was used for us to grow – and NO ONE goes there… our pronouns don’t allow for this… too private, that is personal… but let me be honest, we can grow as a church – there is room for many of us to give more than we are, to trust more than we do, and to allow for more resources to come in for ministry…

I don’t say this to cause guilt, I say this as your pastor who knows how fulfilling and joy filled life becomes when we give as the Lord teaches us too… In fact, our financial reality has changed in the past month… Jenny went back to full-time work and with the new role I ahev here, I was given a raise – THANK YOU by the way!

And with these changes, can I be honest with you as to what my first thoughts were?  I have thought about a lot, some trips we can more easily take, some things we can do at our home, and little things related like this… but honestly, the first 2 things I thought about started with the letter G.

1. Guacamole: I can get guacamole at Chipotle anytime I want now…
2. Giving: that we can hit the number we have been praying to reach in our giving to Lake, and we can begin to partner more significantly and proactively to STARS. 

Sacrificial Actions are hard at first, but sacrifice and the faithfulness of Jesus and they joy in obedience is better!

There is one final expression we need to see connected to this sacrificial actions – when we see from the first church as they were…

5. Prioritizing the Poor and Those In Need

… and it was distributed to anyone who had need. (4:35b)

Again, I will be brief here because of future messages, but notice this specific of the Christian church.  We give to God so it can be given right back out… to those in need and to reach those in need.

What follows are 2 stories to illustrate how this new Spirit-filled community lived all this out more intimately and specifically… and these 2 stories pitch Faithfulness and Foolishness alongside each other…

Example of Faithfulness in Joseph aka Barnabus (4:36)

This is a simple verse, introducing us to Baranabus (who will go on to be an important person in coming chapters and in our history as a people) – but the essence, is that he was a man who was faithful.  he followed the Lord, was obedient, and embodied the expressions we have just looked at.

Example of Foolishness in Ananias and Sapphira (5:1-11)

And then there are these 2… a startling story and one that caused fear within the community in Acts and still causes fear in us today, why?

Goes to the literal… if you do not give money than God might kill you.  And although there are sermons that have been preached along this line, let me be clear – there is more to this story and its warnings are sharp – but do not reduce this down to dollars and death.  This is a story of foolishness… for us today, there are 2 aspects of the foolishness of Ananias and Sapphira. 

Foolishness:  Deceiving the Holy Spirit

Ananias was lying to the Lord.  We can see that. The Holy Spirit directed to him to obey by giving the money and he held back and was disobedient. And, it seems that we can see that he tried to come off as faithful when he was not – thus, trying to deceive the Lord.  Lying to himself and the Lord.   

Foolishness: Dishonesty within the Community

And in Sapphira, we see this same kind of dishonesty and not only to the Lord but to the church leadership and to the community.  With an opportunity to tell the truth, she chose to lie. Holding back because of fear or mistrust? 

The sin here in this story is that they said they were doing something they did not do.  They were dishonest to God and the Church and tried to come across as faithful. 

• Traded solidarity and the radical attitude for individualism
• Traded sacrificial actions for the community and kept for themselves
• Traded distribution to those in need for hoarding and holding for themselves…

This remains a strong story not because of the money per say, but because of 2 realities each of have to deal with still today:

• We too attempt to deceive God by lying to ourselves
• We too are drawn to be dishonest in this community

There is on more aspect I want us to see here… it is an important observation:

Did you notice Satan in this story?  Do you see that from the very beginning of this Spirit-filled community, Satan found his way in? The strategy was not to stop the movement exclusively “out there” but to destroy in from “within”.  

This is still the strategy brothers and sisters. Destroy our Solidarity… make our differences and disagreements louder than our commonness found in Christ… destroy the radical reorientation of the Gospel… make what is God’s ours… sound like Eden?  Destroy the bold witness of the church by keeping the drama... the dishonesty inside the community?  Destroy being generous people to tight fisted people… and destroy our mission to the poor – and keep for ourselves…

Application:

1. Be Alert

Wake up, do not leave.  Stay. (be ready for attacks on 1-5)

2. Loosen Your Grip…. are too tight…

3. Tighten Your Grip…are too loose…