When Jesus walked the earth—teaching, and preaching, and healing—-strange things happened. Not strange as in Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. More like strange as in counter-intuitive. Strange as in turning upside-down what everyone knew to be true about how the world worked—what was important and what was not, who was important and who was not, what made for success and what did not.
Otherwise responsible men picked up and left home—-left behind jobs and families, all that was familiar-—and followed him. Fishermen became evangelists. Tax collectors became teachers. Zealots became servants.
Lepers were cleansed. Paralytics were healed. Sinners were welcomed. Storms were quieted at the sound of his voice. Demons fled. Dead boys and girls were raised to life.
The greatest became servants. The proud were humbled. The outcast were welcomed. The conventionally powerful found themselves on the fringe. The last became first.
Wherever Jesus went, life happened. Real life. Abundant life.
Even when Jesus walked no more, and his body was laid in the tomb, life happened. On the third day he rose again from the dead.
Some six weeks later, on Pentecost, the church was born.
According to the Book of Acts, everywhere the church went, strange things happened. Or maybe I should say, wherever the Holy Spirit led the church, strange things happened. Strange as in turning upside-down what everyone knew to be true about how the world worked—-what was important and what was not, who was important and who was not, what made for success and what did not.
An uneducated fisherman from the boonies preached in the capital city, and thousands repented and were baptized.
A man who had not walked, ever, danced on the temple steps and praised God.
The chief persecutor of the church became its greatest missionary. Prison doors did not stay locked. Threats to personal safety did not intimidate people.
Wherever the Holy Spirit led the church, life happened. Real life. Abundant life.
The Book of Acts is the longest book in the New Testament.
Reading the Book of Acts yields all sorts of wonderful insights…about prayer, about missions and evangelism, about church history and church government, about leadership development, about cross-cultural interactions, about stewardship, about perseverance, about preaching, about deacons, about challenging the powerful, about reaching out to the weak, and more.
It can be a lot to keep track of. It can be almost overwhelming. Sometimes it can even be distracting. Have you ever wanted someone just to come out and tell you what the main idea is? You know-—not so you could skip reading the Book, of course, but just to help keep you focused while you read the Book.
When I was in 8th grade, I took confirmation class at my church—every Wednesday evening for months. For several of those Wednesdays, we traced the travels of Paul, largely by reading the accounts in the Book of Acts. It was quite interesting. It was informative. It was worthwhile. It was also really easy to get lost in the details.
What I needed was a card to paste to the front page of my notes…a card that contained a simple summary of the main idea…something I could have re-read every time I was about to enter into the next leg of Paul’s journeys…something that would have given me focus even as I readied my pen to draw a line from Antioch to Laodicea to Ephesus.
It took me a few decades, but I finally have that card. And I’m going to share it with you. Not so you can skip reading the Book, of course, but just to help keep you focused when you do. Not so I can skip preaching on the Book, either, but just to help keep me focused when I do.
It’s a two-part message.
First, Jesus is alive. Really alive. Abundantly alive.
Second, because Jesus is alive, a new community of people is formed-—people who demonstrate the reality and power of the risen Christ in their life together. Real life. Abundant life.
This isn’t all that the Book of Acts has to say, but all that the Book of Acts has to say is said in light of these truths. Whatever insights the Book of Acts gives on prayer or missions or leadership development or anything else, these insights are best understood in light of and as a consequence of these two truths.
Jesus is alive. Really alive. Abundantly alive.
Because Jesus is alive, a new community of people is formed-—people who demonstrate the reality and power of the risen Christ in their life together. Real life. Abundant life.
Sometimes, when I look around the church…all the people I have worshiped with over the years, all the people I went to seminary with, my own less than perfect Christian walk, the debates and arguments in our denomination and in others, the maneuvering for power and influence… Sometimes, when I look around the church, it’s harder to believe the second truth than it is the first.
It’s been that way from the beginning. The church is full of sinners. (Where else should they be?) And sin distorts.
Sometimes it’s really easy to see what is broken in the church, and a lot harder to see what is pure. It’s easy to notice the brokenness that remains. It’s easy to take for granted what (or who) once was broken but has been made whole.
Luke includes it all in the Book of Acts. He paints a painfully honest picture of the brokenness…first made apparent in the church by the self-serving deception of Ananias and Sapphira. He also points again and again to what is good and pure and holy, what once was broken but has been made whole…an example of which is the generosity of Barnabas.
Jesus is alive. Really alive. Abundantly alive.
Because Jesus is alive, a new community of people is formed—-people who demonstrate the reality and power of the risen Christ in their life together. Real life. Abundant life.
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.
One of the most powerful demonstrations of the church’s new life together is the way that concerns and priorities about possessions and money are re-ordered. It’s not the re-ordering of money issues that makes for new life. It’s new life in Christ that makes for re-ordering of money issues.
Those who were greedy are now generous.
Those who coveted wealth as a hedge against insecurity are now secure in Christ.
Those who desired the power money grants now desire to serve without power.
Those who were seeking “eternal life” based on a financial legacy in their children or their property holdings or their philanthropic name-planting, now are confident in eternal life in Christ.
Those who used to view financial gain as a mark of God’s favor upon them individually, now view wealth as a gift from God for the benefit of the body.
Those who were held in bondage to their wealth are now free.
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 and put it at the apostles’ feet, ant it was distributed to anyone as he had need.
Those who were hungry are now fed.
Those who were homeless are now housed.
Those who were held in bondage to their poverty are now free.
When worldly values measure nearly everything according to money—-as the world does now and as the world did in the time of the early church—-how better to point to the new and abundant life demonstrated in the life of believers together than by pointing out that the role of money has been turned upside-down!
When Barnabas, and others like him, sold off pieces of property that they owned and gave the proceeds to the church, they were not buying a brick with their name on it. They were not getting a plaque on the side of a pew. They were not ensuring a place on the church council. They were not angling for applause. They were not competing to see who could give most. They were not even earning their place in heaven. They were simply allowing gifts God had given them to be used for the care of all God’s people. They were demonstrating the presence of the risen Christ in the new life of the church. And they were doing it because much grace was upon them all.
Jesus is alive. Really alive. Abundantly alive.
Because Jesus is alive, a new community of people is formed-—people who demonstrate the reality and power of the risen Christ in their life together. Real life. Abundant life.
When Ananias and Sapphira held back a portion of the proceeds from their land sale, they were not breaking a rule. It was their land. They could do with the proceeds what they would.
However, when Ananias and Sapphira pretended that they really were giving the entire proceeds, they didn’t just do something personally dishonest, they did something that was dishonoring God and destructive to the church.
They were turning their backs on the presence of the risen Christ, and they were demonstrating the broken life of the world. They were delivering the first hammer-blow to the integrity of the early church…and they were delivering it from the inside.
Luke writes that they both fell down dead immediately.
In some circumstances it might be tempting to interpret this as a not-so-subtle threat so that people will squirm until their wallets come loose…but I don’t think that would be faithful to the text. It’s about money, but it isn’t just about money.
In some circumstances it might be tempting to explain this away so that we can all breathe a sigh of relief…but I don’t think that would be faithful to the text. It’s about grace, but the One who mediates that grace is known as the Lion of Judah, not the teddy bear.
So I think I’ll just let it stand. That’s what Luke does.
Our loving, gracious, forgiving Lord is also a holy Lord, and the church is his bride.
Jesus is alive. Really alive. Abundantly alive.
Because Jesus is alive, a new community of people is formed—people who demonstrate the reality and power of the risen Christ in their life together. Real life. Abundant life.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
