Action – A Generous heart
Acts is a book where one of the underlying questions is what is this new community, this new nation, on about?
What kind of community is God wanting to create?
Do you guys remember a few years ago, the world news was focused on modern day piracy? It was off the coast of Somalia, and it continues to this day, where as of last December, they held over 35 ships and 650 crew. For those of you a little shaky on the geography, Somalia is on the East side of Africa, just south of the Arabian Peninsula.
If you are like me, when you did see pictures or stories about this the first thought going through your mind was, why don’t they look like Johnny Depp, or Keith Richards?
But after you got over that, you might be wondering why this is going on now, why we could not stop it...isn’t there a missile, or a tank or something that can stop this, why can’t we do anything about these pirates?
Somalia, average lifespan 42 years, infant mortality 1/10, average income 1 American dollar a day, thousands starving. And billions of dollars floats by, and we wonder why they grab it...and so when they grab it, they become the new heroes, as one mother was interviewed after said: we are not worried about feeding our families now (referring to the pirates)...celebrated for what they have done as the world looks on trying to stop them
In the last passage we dealt with, in Acts 2:42-43, they talk about a community where they broke bread together, and a part of that was community, but the next verses showed that it was also about generosity, and giving, and who has the bread and who does not. We live in a world where the ones celebrated are those that take, that get their share, that push others out of the way to get what they want, what they need.
There is a huge part of life today, not just two thousand years ago, and not just in war torn countries in Africa. The question of how we see the world, how we see possessions, what is our calling as the community when it relates to money is a big deal, and I think too often we don’t talk about it because it gets kind of weird, but it is a hot button for a reason, because when we look at how we spend our money, we see what we value.
Have you ever noticed that generosity is something that is very much in relation to how people see the world?
There is an interesting repeating theme in Acts, first in Acts 2:42-47
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
And then again just two chapters later in Acts 4:32-5:11
32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. 34 There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he 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.
5 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 to men 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 the 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 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.”
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.
Did you see how God is drawing out this point with clarity, and why Luke is making such an issue of it, because it is showing something that is going contrary to the impulses of everyone, and it at the heart of seeing the world, our calling and life and everything else through a whole new perspective?
The people are gathered as their fellowship (review),
The Power of their testimony is emphasized in two portions, the fellowship and the giving...two things that this world doesn’t see. Two things that point to a difference and a life beyond what is common and accepted, the spectacular, more than just miraculous events, this is what this group is looking like. Last week we looked at the fellowship, this week we are going to look at giving.
A heart that gives:
Money is the area that we get least comfortable with, and I think, the area that we are most likely in our society (and most others throughout history) of making a God out of, or at least sectioning that off from the rest of our life in Christ.
Interestingly enough, since long before Mt. Sinai, there has been this habit of making God’s out of things that promise control. Even as this God, who brought people out of Egypt, whose name was basically unpronounceable (basically breathing sounds) actually came down in fire and thunder, as this was happening, the people became too afraid and they didn’t know what to do. So at Mt. Sinai, the people of God exchanged this true God that was uncontrollable and frightening, for an idol of more manageable dimensions: a golden calf (Exodus 32:1-6). Similarly, we today worship money, which promises to give us power over our own lives, guaranteeing our future, opening up options and possibilities and telling us that we are safe, rather than submitting to a God beyond our control.
The God of exodus, the same God that came in Jesus and the same God that came down onto the people in Acts is wanting us to push past the desire to control and take on a view that is not controlled by fear, that does not see the world as a place of scarcity and lack, but one where we can be generous and not stingy.
Have you noticed; when we live a life of stinginess in one thing, it flows out to others.
When we are tight fisted with compliments, that is an indication of something bigger.
Or in the same way, when we are tight fisted with money, that is a part of something larger in our life.
When we do not trust God, we do not give, when we are unwilling to put our money where our mouth is, that is a frightening place to be, because it is saying that it is unimportant.
You look to anyone`s life, and it isn`t hard to see what they find important if you look at where they put their money. For some, it is holidays, for others, investments, for others, convenience, and none of these things are inherently bad, what is bad is when we have God so far down the priority line that there is none left. God is asking first place, and one of the reasons he is calling for us to give is to teach us and remind us that money is not where security lies, nor investments, and money is not what will fill up any hole in our lives, it just makes it bigger. Part of what we are doing in giving is letting God rewire what we do to be motivated out of his power and not our own.
Giving is also a part of what defines the reach of ministry; how far we reach shows how much we expect God to do. This is a challenge to both us as a congregation, but also those in leadership, to not be content with the status quo, but to be ready for those big asks, that say, we believe God is calling us past what is now our church, to reach others.
The passage outlines to approaches to the same calling. One from Barnabas, the other from Ananias and Sapphira.
In the area of offerings, He is more concerned about the heart of the giver than the size of the gift. 2 Corinthians 9:5-7 teaches the principle of planned giving: We must plan our gifts prior to the assembly of worship in order that our gifts might be cheerfully offered. Yet planned giving raises the question of tithing: Is tithing or percentage giving, the proper way to execute planned giving? The important principle to remember is that one must examine the state of the heart. For example, Jesus always discussed tithing in a negative light, not because tithing itself is wrong, but because the Pharisees were using scrupulous tithing as an excuse to neglect heart issues of justice and mercy (Matthew 23:23). If a man gives his wife a dozen roses out of obligation, she will not appreciate them. Rather, she desires the giver’s heart along with the actual gift. Similarly, God desires a cheerful giver while despising a begrudged gift. Indeed, any kind of gift must be offered in cheerfulness, whether the gift is worship, singing, prayer or finances.
There is a tension that is held within the book of Acts, between outside opposition, and outward growth, and inside opposition and inward development. In both the outward and the inward, there is the clear indication within the book of Acts that neither outside opposition nor inside opposition is able to stop the growth of the word of God. Notice that I do not say the individual success of the people, but the overall success of the word of God, the work of the kingdom, God’s program is unstoppable. This is shown in this passage by the corruption and possible derailment of the power of generosity and care within the early church, and this action of Ananias and Sapphira, who are pretending to give all of the proceeds
The problem was not that they did not give everything, because it was not enforced giving, but that a showing of giving without honesty and for pour motives that was the problem. It was a power move, a way to present themselves as something they were not.
In the passage, Peter imagines that this might be the way you would act if there were some external constraint on you, if this were not a matter of freedom. So he tells Ananias that there is no such constraint in the generosity Ananias sees all about him in the church. These people are acting out of freedom. That's what true faith means—an authentic change of where your heart is, so that your acts of love are free—they are what you want to do, not what you feel coerced to do
No one coerced them to give, there was no obligation. Luke is showing the radically freeing effect of true faith. Barnabas and Ananias/Sapphira. Both do the same action, but the issue is how they are motivated and where there attachment is. Is it to the community and the action and needs of that group, or is it the position
The reason they drop dead is not because this happens to all hypocrites. For example, it doesn't happen to Simon the Magician in Acts 8:20–24. The reason they drop dead is to give a stunning warning to the whole church that playing at following Christ will always end up this way, sooner or later.
He means for us to be afraid of treating the Holy Spirit with contempt. Notice at the end of verse 5, after Ananias had died: "And great fear came upon all who heard of it." Then again in verse 11 after Sapphira died, "And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things." This is the lesson Luke wants us to get: faking faith in the presence of God is a fearful thing.
What was wrong with what Ananias and Sapphira did?
• They loved their money. They made the sale, they looked at all that cash, and they couldn't bear the thought of giving it all away. So they kept some back (v. 2).
• They wanted to look more generous than they really were. They wanted the apostles to think that they were like Barnabas perhaps. They wanted external religious approval. They not only loved money, they loved the praise of men—the two almost always go together (Luke 16:14–15).
• They lied (vv. 3–4). To cover their covetousness, and to give the impression of generosity, they lied. If you love possessions and you love the praise of men, your love for truth will dissolve into deception and fraud. That's the meaning of hypocrisy.
• And this always comes with hypocrisy—they discredited the Holy Spirit. Verse 3 says they lied to the Holy Spirit. Verse 4 says they lied not to man but to God. Verse 9 says they tempted the Lord.
We discredit the word of God, the Holy Spirit and the God we profess to serve when we operate in falseness, and when we operate in our own strength and views.
This is often done as a part of how we so often split our lives into categories, with things that are spiritual on one side and things that are ``secular`` on the other. We can trust in God in certain things, when the matter is ``spiritual``, we pray for wisdom and seek how God would have us do things, but in other areas, We can keep God out, because that is not a part of our spiritual life...we can even use tithing as a means to do this, as was one of the reasons Jesus called out the Pharisees on, using tithing as a mask for a corrupt and closed heart.
We are not called to a secular/spiritual divide, but to a holistic, everything is spiritual understanding. That is one of the things that makes true Christianity stand out amongst the “religions” of the world. God is not just interested in some of life, but the whole of creation is spiritual, there is no decisions we face that are not spiritual...some just don`t realize it.
Two things that should happen as we develop in our relationship to Christ is that we the heart is loosened in relationship to things and tightened in its relationship to people.
Now if you will read Luke's gospel, you will see that this is one of his main burdens: he wants us Christians to be FREE from the love of things! And he wants us FIRM in our love for people. And he does not believe that you can have both at the same time. Because if your heart is united in love to people, then your heart will be set loose from the things, because those things (money, property, possessions) will have value only as means of loving people.
