When Christians Disappoint Us
July 11, 2010 New Liberty Christian Church with Rich McQuinn, Minister
TEXT: ACTS 5:1-11
Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostle’s feet. 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 from the land? 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 to men, but to God. When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body and carried him out and buried him. About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, tell me is this the price you and Ananias got for the land? Yes, she replied, this is the price. Peter said to her, how could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also. 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. Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
INTRODUCTION: I want you to get a good look as to who is sitting around you. Look at the ones in front, behind and beside you. Chances are they are going to disappoint you sometime in your life. Those Christians that you pal around with, or do business with, those you trust, even your Elders, Deacons, Sunday School teachers and the Preachers. Disappointment is bound to happen. We are all human.
Christians are folks who follow the teaching of their Lord. They pledge their life, heart, money to the cause of Christ. Most are sincere. Most are truthful. Most try not to sin. There are a few who mismanage their bond, their word as a man or woman, or they just plain lie about it. Jesus says, by watching people and listening to them, by the fruit they bare, you will know what they are like.
Our text this morning is about two people who suffered from that nasty sin called greed. This is what happens when greed enters a picture. Remember that the love of money is the root of all evil.
There are folks who are members of all churches who have money. Lots of money, but they think at times that their money can run the church. They are like a spoiled brat who may not get his way and takes his marbles and goes home. In this case too much, those who want to rule their church by the ransom of their money turns out to be nothing more than the power of greed.
If you do not do what I say, then we will stop giving to the church and the church will fold because you will not have enough to run the budget. For heavens sake! This is God’s church. God does the leading. Amen. We are His servants. He does not need us, we need Him!
I know that we are all human and we all have our own weakness. Even satan knows all too well what it is. He uses that weakness against us. Satan wants to use us against each other, to destroy our witness, to say to the world that there is nothing real here with this Christian religion.
What happens when you get hurt? When the people that you look up to disappoint you, tell stories about you, or even lie to you or about you? It hurts all of us when this happens. We expect to be able to trust each other and speak the truth in love. When that breaks down, we have trouble, and despair. Who can we trust anymore? You know that answer right away. The Lord, the Almighty Lord!
Of course I have had many disappointments with people I have loved, honored, and had faith in, even business partners. It was a form of Greed that caused them to do what they did. I did not stop loving them in the Lord, but I received a different picture of them. Some I still have friendships with, others I keep in a distance.
It is not easy for any of us to try to go through each day without sinning. In other words trying to be perfect. Sin we have to live with. We have to live with our own failures let alone others we have to deal with. That is why we have to keep on our knees in prayer for ourselves and for each other.
In the time we have this morning, I would like to give you three things about this real story. I want to show you how greed is very deadly, how it cost you friends, family and life.
I. BEING POUNDED ON
Something is pounding on you every day. Pound, pound, pound. There are times when you can not get off of the anvil. It is constant. What is pounding you each day that you can not escape?
We have in our congregation a black smith. He was able to make Sandy and me a Shepherds hook for our back porch to help feed the hummingbirds. He had to fire up his black smith furnace until it gets really red and hot. Raw steel is then placed in the fire until it seems it is almost white in color. It is taken out placed on an anvil and pounded the daylights out of it until it is formed into the right shape. It is cooled, fired, pounded and reshaped to the proper image of the maker.
God may have you go through a tornado at age 30, just to prepare you for the hurricane in your life at age 60. All of us say at times, why is this happening to me? What am I suppose to learn from this. Years pass and the answers are right under our nose. It is preparation.
Being on the anvil is a reshaping of our life. It may be a death of a loved one, or the loss of a job, or having to file for divorce or bankruptcy. It is all devastating. How do we ever get through it?
God, I don’t want this to be happening to me. I don’t want to go through this. It is going to happen. Right now, today, you must know that things will change in your life. You take it and deal with it or you cave and it deals with you.
If you are a greedy person, you will only be thinking of yourself. You then will not be able to open up to God’s blessings. You will be so self centered that you will never see the blessings coming to you.
Hard times, the pounding, reshaping, make us appreciate the good times, the mature times, the times when God can and does really use us. It takes that pounding in our life to shape us for emergencies or for openness to what God wants to fill us with.
Our two subjects in our Bible text failed not only the test, but they lost their lives because of it.
II. LYING IS NEVER GOOD
For those of you who are trying to fake your way to Heaven, it is a death sentence to you. Be real! You can never fake your way with God knowing everything about you even before you think about it.
I know you can fake your way at your job, in your marriage, with your friends, even through your schooling, but sooner or later it will catch up with you and you will be discovered as a hollow person. A fake! Oh yes, fakers are in the church as well. There are times when we sit right next to them and not even know it, until they are put on the anvil and their true character pops out of the stress.
Our story tells us of two very nice people. They were well thought of in the community and they had some “extra” money to be used by the church for the cause of God. Great! Pat them on the back.
They were even led to give.
Many of us are moved to give. We are moved to give some times by fakers who only pretend to be our friends to get from us what they want or think they need. We are moved to give money to sponsor a starving child in a foreign country, or an orphan in Haiti or to help build a Crystal Cathedral somewhere. Only then do we find out that they use our money to build air conditioned dog houses on their property. Or as we have found out, to use the God given contributions to build a theme park or use on prostitutions. We get disappointed and taken by “Christians”.
Our couple did a great thing in selling their land and giving the money to the church to be used for God’s glory. But don’t lie about it. Keep part of the money for your vacation, etc, but don’t go telling the church that you are giving every penny you sold it for. That is not for the glory of God and that is pure greed. You will get your just reward then and there. In this case it was instant death because they were lying to the Holy Spirit.
No matter how hard you try to fake your veneer, the Holy Spirit knows your good points and those ugly things that need purified yet. Our couple was doing something great and good. The church will benefit from their gift. Please always remember this. Every good intended act, satan is around the corner waiting to pounce on the opportunity and spoil the goodness or damage a witness. Satan won this round, but so did the Holy Spirit in teaching us all the consequences of lying, cheating, faking, and sinning.
The Holy Spirit is our silent partner that lives in all of us who have accepted The Almighty Lord as our Saviour. It is given to us from God as a special gift to us for our own protection and guidance. Don’t try to fake your way around spiritual things. Satan will expose you and the Holy Spirit will deal with you.
I told you there were three things that I wanted you to get out of this message and the third one is very important as well.
III. DO NOT WORSHIP OTHER CHRISTIANS
Where does it say in the Bible that we are supposed to worship our spiritual leaders? Making them more than we really should.
It is easy to do. We place them on a high stand and point to them for example. We trust them fully and even think that if we really get close to them we can get to heaven by just being around them. You begin expecting more out of them than yourself.
On the biblical side, we are told that as leaders we are to expect more out of ourselves. We are to give account of our actions. We will stand before God and answer for our sermons, lessons, faking or leading others to sin. Our feet are held to the fire. But congregations should not be expecting a perfect person in those roles. They are human just like we are.
Our spiritual leaders hurt like we do, stumble like we do, repent as we do, make fools out of themselves as we do. In other words they can not be to all people what we demand them to be. Thus, when something happens in their personal life, they sin, and we get disappointed.
Far too many leave the church because their leader sinned. They will say that if Christianity is that hard, then I do not have a chance. If he can not live it, then I as a common church member will never make it. Phooey! That is only an excuse. If anything, you should meet with your spiritual leader, pray with them and for them, help them through the situation. Tell them that you may be disappointed in them but God will see US through it. Honestly forgive them.
You see, satan wants you to put on their feet crystal shoes when their feet are only made of clay. Do not think more highly of those whom you work with lest they stumble and bring you with them in their fall? Don’t expect more out of them than you do yourself.
Do not let anything or anyone get in the way of your worship of The Lord Jesus Christ. Not even evangelist or your preachers. They will sin and fall. You may not know it, but they will. Just as all of us know when we sin and fall from the ranks of the Lord.
When you feel the fire leaving you do something about it. Don’t let the hunger, the thirsting for the Word of God leave you or even get weaker.
You are following in the footprints of Jesus the Christ. Many will slip away, many will return. Just beware that our spiritual lives need to be fed for us to grow in the Lord. Don’t sit around waiting for it to come to you. If you are hungry or thirst then go to the source.
In our story after two deaths because of greed and lying, the whole area and especially the church were united to even be better in soul winning. Great fear came over the whole church because of this.
I want to leave you with this. Pray for those whom you are sitting next to today. Pray for their strength and witness. Pray for the fallen, in fact seek them out. Love them; accept them as one who Jesus died for. Do not judge them as to their destination in heaven. Please do not laugh at them. Your time may be next if satan has his way. Find the lost sheep and bring them back to the fire, warmth and acceptance.
AMEN and AMEN
