Acts 5:1-11, 6:1-7
This summer, as we study together through the book of Acts, I wish that we could talk about every single verse… but we simply don’t have time.
So I hope that you are checking out our daily video devotion – which can be found on our facebook page OR on our church website.
In fact, we made it even easier to find on our website… just go to iumc.org and scroll to the bottom and you’ll find the latest three posted right there!
Today, we are skipping over chapter three and four and diving into more of what it meant for these first faithful folks to live with one another.
Two weeks ago, our Director of Youth Ministry stood here and shared this beautiful, rosy picture of a church community that seemed perfect.
They devoted themselves to prayer and teaching and fellowship and sold everything they had and make sure everyone’s needs were met.
And, if you are anything like me, we hold our own imperfect, human community up to that standard and get a bit discouraged.
But never fear… things were not as perfect as they seemed.
This community was messy.
After all, it was full of humans, too.
Real humans with real problems.
People who are dishonest.
Others who are ignored.
There is jealousy, and complaining, and growing pains.
It is church, after all.
So let’s dive into the dirt and the muck as problems of the church appear in chapters 5 and 6.
First, we’ve got a problem that results from dishonesty and disrespect.
In our short video clip from The Bible Project, we are reminded once again of the temple.
God’s presence once led the people through the wilderness.
Then it was understood to dwell in the temple in Jerusalem… a building… and people would travel to Jerusalem to encounter God’s holiness.
But the story of Pentecost is how God’s presence now fills individuals through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Body of Christ is the temple.
I am the temple of God.
YOU are the temple of God.
And so we have these lovely, good, and holy things happening that would you would expect in God’s presence… teaching and fellowship and reaching out to the needy.
But when we say that something is holy, we also have to acknowledge the danger.
We stand in God’s presence with fear, with awe, with trembling…
There is a line I love in “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” by CS Lewis which captures this idea perfectly.
The lion, Aslan, is a Christ figure in the narrative and one of the children is apprehensive…
“Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”…
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver… “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King; I tell you.”
God isn’t safe.
But God is good.
And God calls us to a better way of living.
We don’t have to be perfect.
But we do need to bring our full selves into this community.
We can’t simply dip our toes into the water and pretend.
In fact, the story of Ananias and Sapphira is not about how this couple should have sold all they had and given it to the community.
It was about the fact that they lied.
They could have chosen NOT to sell their property.
Or they could have sold the property and chosen to be up front about keeping some of the funds.
But they wanted all of the benefits and glory without actually doing the work.
As Peter says, they lied to the community and they lied to the Holy Spirit.
They disrespected the presence of God that was dwelling in their midst and are struck dead.
I started thinking about that scene from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark when the Nazis think that they can open the Ark of the Covenant and take the power of God for themselves…
Dr. Jones and Marian know that God’s power is holy… They shut their eyes and refuse to look.
But the Nazis have no respect for God… only what God can do for them… and when they reach in to take it with fury and fire, God’s presence overwhelms them and their faces melt off.
Just like the priests in Leviticus who disrespected God in the temple.
You can’t use the presence of God for your own selfish purposes and you shouldn’t reach beyond your own limitations.
When I think about how we might apply this lesson to our relationships with one another today, I think about that idea of respecting the presence of God that dwells within each of us.
We need to respect one another enough to be honest.
If you aren’t able to say yes, then you should have the freedom and ability to say no.
We don’t have to pretend, but can simply bring ourselves and our gifts into this community without apologizing.
Whether they are gifts of finances, or time, or abilities and talents that you might offer.
You don’t have to sell everything you have to be included, or sign up to serve on every committee.
In fact, as we heard in one of our daily devotions earlier this week, you don’t even have to have a penny to your name.
Honor what you have.
Offer what you can.
God’s Spirit dwells within you and your gifts, however big or small, matter.
A flip side to this is that each one of us is called to honor and respect the gifts of others.
Sometimes we find ourselves in that ugly, jealous, comparative mode.
We think that someone is offering too little… and then rub it in or make them feel guilty.
Or we get overwhelmed by what someone else can do and become ashamed about our own value.
God’s presence is working through every person.
Be grateful and honor the faithfulness of each person you encounter in this community.
Our job is not to compare what other people can do… but to celebrate what every person offers.
The second real community problem that this early church struggles with has to do with some growing pains and, to be honest, some discriminatory behavior.
As the community kept growing, suddenly they began to notice there were differences among them.
It was all nice and good and warm and fuzzy to be able to hear in new languages on that day of Pentecost… but it’s a whole other kind of conversation to figure out how all of these different groups are actually going to live together.
And some people began to raise real and honest questions about equity in their midst.
While it might not have been intentioned, the widows who came from a more Greek, or Hellenistic cultural background, were being neglected compared to those who identified more with the Hebrew culture.
Someone stood up, and basically said, “Greek widows matter, too.”
If we are going to be a community that takes care of the needs of everyone, then we need to do what we say.
And when we aren’t living up to that value, if we are overlooking someone, then we need to address it.
What I love about this story is that there is an obvious flaw and problem in the community.
But the leadership listens and calls together the people to solve the problem.
And then they think outside the box.
They don’t just add a task to the job description of those who were already leading, but come up with a new and creative solution that actually allows more people to serve and engage in the work.
The church lifts up new leaders who can help make sure that each person is cared for in the way they deserve.
And these new deacons, servants, are blessed… commissioned… into this ministry of waiting tables.
Friends, we will encounter problems in our church and in our larger community.
There are times when we will be come aware that someone or a group of folks has not been treated fairly.
In fact, I’ve had this on my mind as we think about how this coming Saturday, our nation celebrates Juneteenth.
You know, I’ve never really thought about Juneteenth as a national holiday.
I’m going to be totally honest, I didn’t know what it was and maybe you don’t either.
Juneteenth is the day we commemorate the ending of slavery in the United States.
This date comes two and a half YEARS after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation… but remember, this was not a time of 24/7 cable news.
It wasn’t until General Lee finally surrendered in April of 1865 and Union troops landed in Texas on June 19th that the war ended and the word reached these communities that all slaves were free.
Now, every single American should claim this day as our own.
We didn’t always get it right, just as the early Christian community didn’t always get it right.
But we can do something about the harm.
We can listen to the pain and we can work for a better future.
And we can celebrate the steps we have taken, the leaders we have raised up, and claim the task that is still before us.
The early church was not perfect.
Because it was filled with imperfect people who were learning and growing and still discovering what it meant to follow Jesus.
And friends, we aren’t perfect either.
We are going to get it wrong.
We are going to make mistakes.
We are going to have days when we focus on ourselves and what we want and forget about others.
But the word I find in these chapters of Acts is this:
We are the Body of Christ, the dwelling place of God’s Spirit, and how we treat one another matters.
So we should hold one another accountable.
We should honor the presence of God that lives within us.
And we should keep working to do better every day.
May it be so.
