November 5 Unleash the Surrender (Acts 5:1-11)
In 2005, Grammy Winning rapper Lil Kim was arrested and sent to prison for lying about what happened in a gunfight outside a night club. She lied to protect a friend. She was fined $50k and sent to prison. Before the sentence was handed down, Lil’ Kim spoke briefly, her voice breaking. She admitted to lying to the grand jury and at her trial. “At the time I thought it was the right thing to do but I now know it was wrong,” she said.
Turn to Acts 5:1-11 Now, to be honest, I wasn’t sure I wanted to preach this text. But the Holy Spirit kept directing Pastors Marty, Scott, Jared and myself to it. If you’re not familiar with the story, you’ll see why I was hesitant when you hear it.
Let me give you the background. During Unleashed we’ve been talking about the very 1st church. One of the most striking characteristics was how how generous they were. Acts 2:44-45 (on screen) Acts 4:32-37 (on screen)
So you get the picture, right? So now let’s read the story Acts 5:1-11 (on screen)
So what’s the moral of the story? If you don’t give all you have God will strike you dead, right? No. Not even close. Here’s the teaching point for the morning: God demands that we be honest about financial matters.
This cuts at the core of most of us. Most of us have a problem with honesty. It’s a part of our fallen human nature to shade the truth. We tell white lies all the time, right? Why do we call it a white lie? We think that it doesn’t do any harm. My grandmother used to say, “Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.”
It’s not easy to be honest. Abraham Lincoln was known for his honesty; Honest Abe they called him. I love that Geico commercial that used to run (play the commercial from the beginning and cut out the Geico part at the end; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dtp_mq2fO24)
The problem with our dishonesty is that it keeps us from being all-in in our walk with Jesus. And because Ananias and Sapphira were not honest, that kept them from being all in. It’s not what Ananias and Sapphira gave that was the problem…(build) it was what they kept back.
There is an undeniable link between telling the truth and being all-in; between honesty and surrender. Let’s talk a little bit about that.
Being fully surrendered means:
1. We are honest with God
Notice v.4 “Then Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the proceeds from the field?”
Who did they lie to? God. Who was the source of the lie? Satan. It doesn’t say that Satan filled Ananias’ heart; just that he deceived Ananias to allow him to fill his heart with lies. Jesus called Satan the Father of Lies. Just the opposite of Satan is God in whom there is no shadow or deception or anything but pure truth. He is truth personified.
And God knows truth from lies; He knows we’re going to tell a lie before we even speak it; He knows we’re going to live a lie before we even do it.
Are you being honest with God about your life? Not just being honest about your finances, but every area? We can’t keep anything from Him; He knows everything. And God knows this morning whether your fully surrendered or not. Are you all-in? And if not, why not? Are you holding back? Holding back in in your commitment to Him to love Him with all your heart, soul, might and strength? Holding back in your commitment to be a fully engaged believer here at Rush Creek? Holding back in your generosity?
Get honest with God. He knows it already. Tell Him you’re fearful of being all in. Fearful of being 100% engaged. Fearful that if you’re fully surrendered He will ask you to do something you don’t want to do, go where you don’t want to go, give what you don’t want to give.
“The only time I find my dealings with God less than clear-cut is when I’m not being honest with Him. The fuzziness is always on my side, not His.” Catherine Marshall
We are honest with ourselves
Our deceptive couple had to lie to themselves for this tragedy to take place.
They were co-conspirators.
In our personal lives, identifying the truth and accepting the truth is the first step in progress, right? If someone won’t accept the fact that they struggle with pornography, guess what, they’ll stay in their addiction, If someone won’t accept the fact that they worry, they’ll stay stuck in that bondage.
We deceive ourselves to avoid guilt or shame. I remember in college I dated a freshman girl and the longer the relationship went I noticed she was getting kind of a pouch in her tummy. It continued to get bigger, tho she didn’t appear to becoming overweight. Turned out she and her boyfriend had sex on prom night and she was so ashamed of it, she kept lying to herself and denying that she was pregnant until it was in her 7th month!
We also deceive ourselves to avoid difficult situations. If we’re overweight, we’ll lie to ourselves and say this milk shake or this burger isn’t really going to make that much difference. You know I’m fasting from solids for 30 days during Unleashed and you can’t imagine how many times I’ve started lying to myself that eating that pizza or that burger or that bbq is not going to make a difference. This is why we don’t witness. We want to avoid the difficult, sometimes awkward situation so we tell ourselves that it doesn’t matter or they won’t listen anyway or that they may already know.
What lies are you telling yourself about Unleashed? That it’s not that important? That it’s someone else’s role, not yours? That you don’t have enough? That you won’t be able to enjoy what money can bring you if you give sacrificially?
Get honest with God and get honest with yourself about your values and your priorities. It can only bring you freedom and sweet, sweet surrender.
We are honest with others
Maybe you’ve heard the joke about the church secretary that would tell a white lie when anyone called looking for the pastor on his study day. People tend to think that preparing for a sermon for 100s of people isn’t real work and their problem is more important and get offended if she didn’t interrupt him. So rather than say “He’s studying; can he call you back later today”, she’d say, “The pastor’s not here.”
Well, one day she got a phone call from a guy who said, “I’d like to speak with the head hog at the trough.” The admin said, “Sir, you can call him Pastor Jones, you can call him Brother Jones, you can call him Dr. Jones, but head hog at the trough will not do.”
The man said, “Well, Ok, I was going to give $100,000 to the church but I guess I won’t.” And the lady said, “Wait just a minute; I think the Big Pig just walked in.”
Ananias and Sapphira lied to their brothers and sisters in Christ. Sadly, being dishonest with God and with ourselves always ends up with us being dishonest with others. They wanted to appear to be all-in, but they weren’t.
This gets at the center of why we do what we do. Do we come to church for the sole purpose of worshipping God, or do we feel we must play the part? Do we sing the words because they’re on the screen or because you have this deep gratitude to God for what He has done for your life and you want to give voice to that in your singing?
And giving, why do you? The last reason on the face of the earth is to give because I ask you to. My role is to challenge you. As we are now one week away from Commitment Sunday, I want you to remember we have crafted these messages to motivate you to GET WITH GOD! To go on a prayer journey. To ask what role does He have for you in Unleashed. I’ll never know what your commitment is, but God will. More than that, He’ll know whether you genuinely and honestly sought His heart on the matter…and whether you are truly surrendered to Him.
This week we need to: (Build)
Pray about it
With spouse, family, etc.
Prayer vigil details on screen (Slide)
Talk about it
With spouse, family, etc.
(Pic) of commitment card….side they fill out.
few details
Commit to it
Come next week ready to put your “yes” on the altar.
Surrender
Faith
Generosity
When we put everything in God’s hand, we experience God’s hand in everything
I don’t know about you, but I want God’s hand in every part of my life. It begins with surrender.
Surrender is not just about releasing, but also about redeeming all that we have for the glory of God.
