Day 185 - Choices - When to avoid a relationship

A devotional for the men at St. Matthew's Ministry, Chattanooga, TN.  June 13, 20123

Prologue

Ruby Payne (1) says there are four criteria or reasons that motivate people to take positive steps to climb out of poverty and homelessness. They are:

1. Life has become so objectionable and painful that the alternative to change is to stay and give up or die.

2. To have a skill or special talent.

3. To have a vision or goal.

4. To have a key relationship that provides support, advice and encouragement.

The last criterion is probably the most powerful because relationships can lift you up or tear you down. The congregation of believers offers help for all four reasons.

The lesson

2 Timothy 3:1-9 (paraphrased from the Common English Bible) (NRSV)

Understand that the last days will be dangerous times. People will be selfish and love money. They will be the kind of people who brag and are proud. They will slander others, and will be disobedient to their parents, and they will be ungrateful and unholy, unloving, contrary and critical. They will be without self-control and brutal and they will not love what is good. They will be people who are disloyal, reckless, and conceited. They will love pleasure instead of loving God. They will look like they are religious but deny God’s power.

Avoid people like this!

Some will slither into households and control immature young men and women who are burdened with sins and liable to give in to all sorts of desires. They are weak and always being told what is true but can never understand it. They are always being instructed about true and good behavior but can never arrive at knowledge of the truth. They oppose the truth like the ones who opposed Moses. They have corrupt minds and counterfeit faith. But they will not get very far because their foolishness will become obvious to everyone who sees them.

This evening I thought we might think a little about relationships. Remember I talked about how important relationships are in making a permanent change in your life. Relationships can be like trust, extremely valuable, and hard to recover once they are broken.  At the same time, a relationship that is not built on trust is a direct recipe and path to disaster.

This is a strange passage isn’t it? Christ tells us we are to love our brothers and always walk the extra mile. Aren’t we supposed to witness to these people who stray from the Good News? We can rest with assurance this is our true vocation.

So why is Paul telling us to watch out for folks who try to drag us down or have very bad habits? Paul understands that human weakness and temptation can be a big blockade to a righteous life. As we become Christians and grow stronger in faith we can start taking steps of giants. Paul is telling us that until we get to the point that we can understand our own weaknesses and take steps to avoid compromise and find strength, we ought to take avoid situations that may drag us down.

If we start off like we are Olympic marathon runners we won’t make it halfway around the track before we have to stop. When we are new and struggling to find our way to the righteous life to which we we are called, that witnesses to those very people we just read about, we need to take baby steps and get ready for the long race of life. For their sake and ours.

(1) Payne, Ruby. A Framework for Understanding Poverty. Aha Press: Highlands, TX. 1996, revised 1998, 2001, 2003, 2005, p3.

Day 181 - One Heart and Soul: Are You All In?

Scripture readings: Leviticus 19:1-2,5-15,35; Acts 4:32-5:11, 2 Corinthians 8:3-15, 9:36-38

This passage about Ananias and Sapphira is a hard one that is seldom preached. It is not used once in the three year, 156 sermon reformed lectionary series that selects representative scripture pertinent to the seasons of Christian life.

The passage begins, “³²Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.” I think part of the reason it is ignored is to avoid controversy. The passage can be used for political purposes supporting socialism or communism. That interpretation does not just diminish the message, it misses its point.

What actually happened to Ananias and Sapphira?  We have Barnabas who sold a piece of land and brought the proceeds to the congregation. On the other hand, we have Ananias and Sapphira who sold a piece of property and brought presumably a large portion, but not all of the proceeds to the congregation.

Barnabas is honored for his commitment but when Ananias is confronted with his deed and the accusation that he has lied to God by withholding part of his gift, he falls down dead. And then when Peter confronts his wife Sapphira with the same evidence and accusation she too falls dead.

We know God did not kill them.  We know that Jesus wiped the slate clean of day-to-day divine judgment - resting judgment totally on our belief in his resurrection in the time of our own death. Our faith rests on the belief that our relationship to God is subject to repair as long as we have breath in our lungs to repent. Maybe what happened to Ananias and Sapphira is about money?

We do not know much about the economic position of the Jerusalem congregation but from Paul’s writing we know it was very poor.  Many of the first converts were subsistence farmers or worked someone else’s farm out in districts such as Galilee. Sharing resources not only was expected from Christ’s teaching but was a necessity for them.

Today, money is an important reality in today’s world, it keeps the lights turned on, the heating and air conditioning blowing, bulletins printed and building painted and the staff paid. Most congregations have a traditional stewardship Sunday in which folks have the opportunity to give pledge cards defining their goal for annual giving. But our present preoccupation with money blinds us to the true meaning of stewardship.

I have made this point before; vocation is more than employment. Stewardship is living a Christian vocation. It is a calling to a new way of life. The important question Ananias and Sapphira poses to us is “What does the right way of life entail?”

The passage in Leviticus points us towards an answer. The Lord tells the Israelites through Moses, “You shall be holy for I Am holy,” and then gives them the commandments for living.   ⁵When you offer a sacrifice of well-being to the Lord, offer it in such a way that it is acceptable on your behalf.’ Remember we are talking about the age before Christ completed with the ultimate sacrifice so by God’s own command what is important to us is that what ever we give to the Lord and to our neighbor ought to be acceptable on your behalf.

What does that mean, “acceptable on your behalf?” It means your gift reflects your true level of commitment to the Lord and his people whether money or a personal activity. If it is not good the Lord says, “it is an abomination and you have profaned what is holy to the Lord; and any such person shall be cut off from the people.” An unacceptable gift fails the first commandment (Remember I read to the children two Sundays ago from the Shema, “You shall love the Lord with all your heart, with all your might and all your soul.”

Since we are all God’s children, less than acceptable gifts abuse or devalue God by abusing or devaluing his children and damage the second greatest command to love our neighbor. That applies to slander, cheating, fraud, withholding food, holding grudges, showing partiality to one and not another, and anything else we can think of that diminishes our respect for God and his children, and….our own self.

Paul puts acceptable gifts in a Christian context for the Corinthians when he talked about the collection of offering for the Jerusalem congregation. (2 Cor. 8:9-15), 9:6-8:⁹For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.  ¹⁰A year ago you were the first ones to give, and you gave because you wanted to. So listen to my advice. ¹¹I think you should finish what you started. If you give according to what you have, you will prove that you are as eager to give as you were to think about giving. ¹²It does not matter how much you have. What matters is how much you are willing to give from what you have. ¹³I am not trying to make life easier for others by making life harder for you. But it is only fair ¹⁴for you to share with them when you have so much and they so little. Later when they have more than enough, and you are in need, they can share with you. Then everyone will have a fair share. ¹⁵Just as the scripture says, “The one who had gathered too much had nothing left, and the one who had gathered little had all they needed.” (Ex. 16:18) (See the CEV for a different reading.)

2 Cor.9:⁶ The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷Each of you must make up your own mind about how much to give and not feel you are forced to give, for God loves the person who loves to give. ⁸And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work for others. In other words,  If the eagerness to give is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has to give...”

Paul is talking about money here but he really intends his guidance to go far beyond money to include everything we do with what we have, money, character, compassion, committee and the like. He quotes Exodus 16:18 about manna from heaven. No matter how much manna you gathered, that which you did not need and tried to save for tomorrow rotted or worms fouled it. The message is God provides us with every blessing in abundance that we may use in every good work we do.

So why did this catastrophe befall Ananias and Sapphira?  As I said earlier, the first congregation of believers in Jerusalem found themselves in a fix. We are pretty certain most members of this early congregation were in a dire economic position oppressed and disliked by the religious authorities. The Romans viewed them with suspicion.  Yet the whole future of Christianity depended on the commitment of these first believers to Jesus’ command to proclaim the Good News in word and deed. Everyone took that charge seriously enough to promise to pool his or her resources in order to further the mission of Christ’s church.

Paul and this first Jerusalem congregation interpret Jewish Christian stewardship through the lens of their covenant history. A poor gift profanes the Lord.

As a Christian, when we say “I believe” and proclaim it publically, we have entered into just as serious a covenant with God to embrace the greatest two commandments to Love the Lord with all your heart, soul and might, and to love your neighbor as yourself; AND to follow Jesus’ direct commandment in Matthew to spread the word to the world.  Those commands apply not just to our monetary resources but also to every element of our way of living because our Christian vocation is our testimony about Jesus.

And so as Christians, we can use the words of Leviticus to measure the quality of our own gifts. You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. ⁵When you offer a sacrifice of well-being to the Lord, offer it in such a way that it is acceptable on your behalf. else ^6… it is an abomination; …that profanes what is holy to the Lord and any such person shall be cut off from the people.

Or we can use Paul’s words, “ they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, as Jesus did, ⁸And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.”

I believe Ananias and Sapphira eyes were opened to their profanity of breaking their promises to the congregation and the Lord. Then the burden of their shame over the gravity of their action was too great to bear. The tragedy of Ananias and Sapphira is their self-judgment cut them off from God and blinded them to understand that forgiveness always lies ahead of the grief of repentance.

Cheating God is a great burden. We all know we have cheated with our own stewardship at one time or another, profaning God by refusing to be “all in.”  We deceive ourselves if we deny it. Is it any wonder that great fear seized the congregation and all who learned the fate of Ananias and Sapphira?  They knew in their own hearts that they had acted the same way.

As the congregation of believers let us not forget our baptismal vows to the Lord. Every day we should measure our self against our actions, “Am I being true to my promise to the Lord and to this congregation? Am I sharing my gifts abundantly or letting the world distract me into holding back?” Am I all in? Don’t be like Ananias and Sapphira, it’s not too late brothers and sisters, thanks Be to God that forgiveness always lies beyond repentance. AMEN.

Day 177 - Are you all in?

Problems of Possessions in the New Church  Acts 4:31-5:11

I committed to preaching through the text of Acts for several Sundays. I've gotten to a text that is mostly ignored in lectionary selections. It is a difficult passage, or a "hard reading." The passage in Acts describes two different instances of supporting the church, one with positive consequences involving Barnabas, and the other with with very dire consequences involving the husband/wife Ananias and Sapphira. This is a “difficult” passage probably because people tend to read into it political overtones or advocacy such as for socialism or communism and or choose to overlook an underlying message that this passage may not be  about money itself but of giving and personal commitment to the mission of the congregation of believers.

Read Acts 4:31-5:11

Questions

1. What do you think of the difference between the action of Barnabas and Ananias & Sapphira (in Greek this word is the gem sapphire, but it hints to my English ear of the sound of sapros – putrid, of bad quality”)?

 2. What does this say about money and the church?” Is there more to the passage?

Read Leviticus 19:2 -15, 35 

key phrases:

19:2  You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

19:5  When you offer a sacrifice of well-being to the Lord, offer it in such a way that it is acceptable on your behalf.

19:8 ...they have profaned what is holy to the Lord; and any such person shall be cut off from the people.

19:35  You shall not cheat in measuring length, weight, or quantity.

3. Do these prohibitions relate to the actions of Ananias and Sapphira? That is, did they die of fear for cheating God against their promises, or not giving an acceptable offering? Does God punish us now after the ultimate action of atonement/forgiveness, or was this a self-inflicted wound?

Read 2 Cor. 8:1-15, 9:6-8  (You may want to read the whole chapter 8 and through 9:8.)

key phrases:

8:3 they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us, 

8:9 our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.  (Reminiscent of Philippians 2:6-8)

8:13 I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between 14 your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance.  15 As it is written,  “The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.”

9:8 And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.
Notice that Paul, in 8:15 has to add a verb to the text as does a reader of LXX or the Hebrew Bible. The more accurate sense of translation based on the Exodus 16:18 text is not "had much" but "gathered much" or "collected much" referring to the manna only good for the day. (By the way, I apologize for using a single verse, I'm not trying to "proof text" even if Paul may be doing that.)

4. How do you interpret this passage from Acts in the context of the Leviticus and 2 Corinthians passages? Do you think it is speaking more towards the mindset of serious commitment behind one's choice of action where a flippant attitude that "holds back" disrespects both the Lord and the congregation of believers.

(Notice that I am avoiding using the word "Church," rather using "congregation of believers." There is an interesting reflection on this issue in the current (Spring 2013) Austin Seminary magazine, Windows. I particularly liked Ted Wardlaw's reflection on the Church (p8) and was intrigued by the more denominationally protective (orthodox?) position of Joseph Small (p10).  I discussed this idea a few sermons back; however, this is going to be the subject of a following post. 

Peace be with you. We are all God's children.)