Have you ever wondered why sometimes God does a miraculous deliverance and other times God seems to be nowhere to be found and you feel like you plod through adversity alone?

One of my favorite Facebook posts of all time was a cartoon that was Jesus answering the question, “Where were you?” to a guy who saw one set of footprints in the sand.  This guy felt like he was walking through life alone and Jesus said, “The one set of footprints was when I carried you.”  And then Jesus, in this cartoon, points off to the side and said, “And that long groove over there is when I dragged you for a while.”  This notion of kicking and screaming is familiar to me.

Can anyone (other than me) relate to that one?

So today’ we’ll look at 3 ways God is there to deal with opposition for us: Carry Us, Dragging Us Through, and Miraculous Deliverance, today’s “jailbreak”.

Well, there’s no kicking and screaming done by Peter and John in today’s passage and yet God carries them.  He does it through a miraculous delivery—a jailbreak.  The scene from Acts 5 begins in the public square where the apostles are doing all kinds of miraculous demonstrations of power as a Pure Church, Powerful Church and they become a Growing Church.  What we saw last week.

All that growth gets noticed…and it makes the religious leaders—the high priest, his coworkers, and all the Sadducees—really jealous.  You may remember the pattern from last week Pure Church, Powerful Church, and Growing Church…leading to the Persecuted Church.  And this week we see it.

Jealousy is but one reason that opposition happens.  

I’ve been thinking this week about opposition that is rising around the globe against Christians and against Jews because of our mutual belief that the Messiah is a Jewish one. 

Opposition to us arises out of jealousy, yes, but also out of hatred, pride—small but evil gods of self–as well as a whole-hearted devotion to the wrong god. 

Maybe you’ve wondered some of the same things I have regarding the fanatical fringe of Islam doing all the recent atrocities.  What must they believe?

• What kind of god of Islam would demand that people convert or be murdered in all kinds of atrocious ways?
• What kind of god of Islam would command his followers to gain converts or adherents by intimidation…or if they won’t behave, kill them?   That’s like from Star Wars where Governor Tarkin answers the question of how to maintain control without the bureaucracy by saying, “Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battle station!” Or like Darth Vader after that strangulation move, “Apology accepted, Captain Needa.”
• What kind of god of Islam would be honored at his followers purging the world of infidels instead of trying to share good news that might save them?
• Why would anyone worship a god that is primarily a spiritual bully, a gang enforcer, or serial killer?  For that is clearly what the fanatical fringe believes.

I don’t get it.  In today’s passage, however, the opposition is rooted in jealousy.  It’s powerful motivator, appealing to human desires of pride and selfishness.  Jealousy makes people do bad things.  Even the Jewish spiritual leaders of the day.  They see the Growing and Powerful Church, and what does opposition do?  They counter the spiritual power of the Growing Church with human power in persecuting which takes the form of jail, and increasing as beatings, financial punishment, threats and intimidation, up to killing, just as it did with Christ.

Acts 5:17 Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18 They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.

So the disciples are in prison.  The last time that they were imprisoned, they got chewed out and told not to do it anymore.  The consequences are worse this time, as that cycle of persecution intensifies.  This time they were going to be officially charged in front of the Sanhedrin,

… but God had something else in mind.

19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out.

It reminds me of that scene in the movie The Santa Clause in which the ELFS (Effective Liberating Flight Squad) uses curling ribbon to tie up the guard and then uses tinsel to cut through the hinges in order to liberate Santa.  “Tinsel.  Not just for decoration.” they said.

There’s no evidence that the angel used tinsel.  There’s no evidence that the angel used anything at all.  It was just God’s power to deliver these disciples out of prison—a jailbreak.  Which is pretty incredible when you think about it.

Actually the whole scene is pretty interesting.  There are a lot of jailbreaks/prison escapes we see on TV, books, and in the movies.  Santa.  Movies like, The Fugitive, Shawshank Redemption, Escape from Alcatraz, The Great Escape, Cool Hand Luke, Count of Monte Cristo, etc, but it’s not always good guys getting out, or those unjustly imprisoned.  Sometimes it’s bad guys trying to break out of prison.  Bad guys, like that with the guy in Paris who radicalized at least one of the Charlie Hedbo killers.

But in our case today, it’s two good guys that God wanted back on duty.  He was setting them free so they would get back to work.  The angel gives Peter and John instructions:

20 “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people the full message of this new life.”

Don’t hide.  Stand in the most public place you can find.  Don’t compromise.  Don’t short cut.  Don’t whitewash or gloss over anything.  Don’t do it in secret.  Don’t do it in a whisper. Proclaim it!  Publically!

Bold witness is something we’ve seen in Acts before and it was a characteristic of the early Church and how God grew it from a tiny band of rag tag unschooled, ordinary men into an international phenomenon that has been growing for almost 2000 years.  It started with a couple of guys telling the people the full message…of this new life.

Now is a good time for us to pause and make something clear: God didn’t gift us all to be evangelists like Billy Graham.  God does ask us to share the Good News when opportunities arise, but He doesn’t command that we drive the full Gospel dump truck up to unsuspecting people and dump the whole thing on them.  One of the reasons I bring up contemporary issues or news stories in my message each week is to model for us all… how approaching the Gospel or talking about God… can be as normal as talking about the news.  This broken world is the perfect context in which the Good News is genuinely good.

20 “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people the full message of this new life.”21 At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.

Obedience to God characterizes these disciples.  They didn’t hem and haw.  They didn’t delay.  They didn’t debate with the angel for a while about whether it was going to work.  They didn’t offer alternatives the angel needed to consider, reminding him and God about how the last time this got them in jail.  No equivocation even as these fugitives probably feared for their lives under opposition from the religious leaders.

No messing around when it comes to obeying God.

This is the power of teaching spiritual truths.  It arouses the jealously of those who don’t like God or His truth.  Simple obedience to God can result in unjust hatred by the world!  Jesus told us this would happen.  But we shouldn’t fear His instructions because it’s not like we’re serving some god who tells us to convert people at the point of the sword, the barrel of the gun, or the slice of a knife.  We aren’t armed like that.

Our God is not a serial killer.

What are we armed with?  The Word.  The Truth and good news of God’s great love.  We armed with God’s power in His truth and His Gospel of good news.

So back to our story, the apostles have gone at daybreak into a public place and are doing what they’ve been told by the religious leaders not to do.  It’s civil disobedience, not by chanting words of violence or hatred, not by organizing marches, not by torching local businesses, and not by intimidating power in numbers staging die-ins during Christmas at innocent retailers.

This civil disobedience is as simple as two men obeying God by standing for something positive:

Good News of Great Joy.  The Gospel of Salvation!

When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin– the full assembly of the elders of Israel– and sent to the jail for the apostles.

(They were ready to pressure the disciples as a full crowd of people with political power!   Go get them and we’ll apply collective pressure and intimidate them to make them stop!)

22 But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, 23 “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.”

Isn’t that interesting?  The angel opened the door and let the disciples out.  I don’t know how or when he locked it back up and yet the guards never even saw them leave.  I have no idea how that happens other than it’s a miraculous deliverance.  Sometimes that’s what God does.  More than just one set of footprints carrying us over the worst of it.

Other times He carries us in other ways or holds our hand as we walk through it together.

And true, sometimes He drags us through it if we’re unwilling to or simply cannot do it of our own strength or will…out of necessity…because there is no other way.

Has God ever dragged you kicking and screaming?

God with His full knowledge may drag us because He knows we’d do what we’re told…if we knew what He knows.  Like when He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because it was beyond redemption, so thoroughly evil!  Genesis 19:10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door. 12 The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here– sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.” 14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. 15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.” 16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them.

(They flee to a neighboring town and Lot’s wife can’t keep herself from looking back and becomes a pillar of salt.)

27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD [pleading for saving Lot’s life]. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace. 29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.

God is gracious to deliver us out of evil.  To deliver us from evil, as we pray in “The Lord’s Prayer”.  God knows the tipping point of no return for the hearts of those who hate Him and who will always hate Him.  He knows the point of required deliverance for those who love Him…which is what He did here with Peter and John.  They’re out of prison and preaching the Good News, the full message of new life in the public square.  A miraculous deliverance from prison.

24 On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were puzzled, wondering what would come of this.

Sometimes God delivers us through a miraculous means.  If you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you’ve already been delivered once through a miraculous means.  Let me say that again:

If you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you’ve already been delivered once through a miraculous means.  The blood of Christ!

And on top of that, as a normal course of daily life, He delivers us through average means:

• Medical treatments that eradicate the cancer or dietary choices that will keep us from diabetes or heart attacks.
• Maybe a series of events that cause the loss of one job where your work for Him is done so He can deliver you into the next place of fruitful service.
• Maybe a relocation that takes you out of a place of no return into a new place of promise—a Promised Land, of sorts—where He intends to bless you and others.
• Maybe a long stoplight or freight train that you’re frustrated about…is the time delay that keeps you from being hit by the drunk driver.  Because God’s not done with you yet!

Peter and John were delivered out of prison so they could get back to work for Jesus.

That said, sometimes we aren’t delivered out of… but are made stronger through the difficulties.  Maybe some are in bad marriages, have prodigal children who break their hearts, or jobs that just seem to go from bad to worse.  Why doesn’t God do something?

The denomination that trained me, the Evangelical Free Church of America, went through a bit of a doctrinal change a few years back on a somewhat obscure plank of their statement of faith (at least from an average pew-sitter’s perspective).  They revisited their position on “premillennialism” which is big word regarding the end times.  All wrapped up in that idea is something like in the Left Behind movie “In one chaotic moment, millions people around the world suddenly disappear leaving their clothes, wedding rings, eye glasses and shoes in crumpled piles.”  The people are raptured.  They disappear.  Their clothes are left behind.  A bunch of naked people showing up in heaven.  And it’s before worse things than naked people happen on earth in something called the great tribulation.  The people are saved up and out of…and before anything worse starts happening.

This view of the rapture of believers, rapture of the church before the bad stuff, is commonly believed throughout the church worldwide, even lauded by some.  But, I think it is wishful thinking to hold a view of the church that exempts us from bad stuff.  Personally, I do not see it fitting the biblical pattern….of delivering people through:

• Through the famine in Egypt by sending the Hebrew Joseph to manage the years of plenty in preparation for enduring the years of famine.
• Through the slavery by the bricks without straw, the plagues, until the Exodus.
• Through the Red Sea on dry land, even while being chased by chariots and armies.
• Through the wilderness with manna and quail.
• Through the Crucifixion of Christ who did not avoid, but endured the Cross and death and rose victorious.

Peter and John were delivered out of prison only to find themselves back there before we know it, proving the point C.S. Lewis makes:

“Hardship often prepares an ordinary person for an extraordinary destiny.”

When we’re not being delivered miraculously, or even by average means, our prayer should be that God will deliver us through it, that long groove where He drags us for a while, even kicking and screaming as we don’t understand the why’s.  Our prayer should be that we’ll trust Him with our lives, knowing that we’ve already experienced one miraculous deliverance from sin to saved.  Our prayer should be focused on being obedient and faithful and willing to let the hardships we face prepare us in our heavenward calling.

As believers who have been miraculously delivered once, we can trust Him with the smaller deliverances, the footprints of His carrying us over the difficulties, the average means of medicine or technology, even our kicking and screaming with His hand forcibly leading us to safety because He is merciful.

Today’s jailbreak is a reminder that where God calls, He also provides in whatever way is required, even as He propels us back to our post, to do our duty as our obedience to Him.  Sometimes He carries, sometimes He drags us, and sometimes He does it through a miraculous jailbreak.

Let’s pray.

This sermon entitled Jailbreak (based on Acts 5:17-24) was first preached on January 18, 2015 at Plymouth Congregational Church of Racine, WI.  Today’s jailbreak is a reminder that where God calls, He also provides in whatever way is required, even as He propels us back to our post, to do our duty as our obedience to Him.  Sometimes He carries, sometimes He drags us, and sometimes He does it through a miraculous jailbreak.  Click on this link to listen to the audio version on YouTube.

I like patterns.  Maybe it’s that some of us never outgrow Sesame Street or mind-puzzlers, but I always liked those assignments in school where we had to figure out what comes next in the sequence by figuring out the pattern.

Well, in the book of Acts that we’ve been studying, we can now see a pattern emerging.  It goes like this: A Pure Church.  A Powerful Church.  A Growing Church.  A Persecuted Church.

Now we’re seeing it again in today’s passage.  But it began last week with purity.  As the cycle continues, the growing Church will become increasingly persecuted.  It follows:

Purity + Power + Growth = Persecution.

Each time the pure, powerful, and growing Church encounters the wider culture of governing socialites, intellectuals, and religious hoity-toities, the persecution will get kicked up a notch.  The Church’s increasing power is a threat to all other powers.

We’re mid-pattern this week since last week we saw purity matters to God and He rooted out Ananias’ and Sapphira’s deception before it could take hold in the Church and become an invasive cancer.  Great fear of the holiness of God filled the Church, just like fear of the Lord filled Jericho and was felt by Rahab in our OT reading (Joshua 2:8-3:5) this morning.

God wants a pure Church.  But He also one that is a complete Church, one that is increasingly holy, powerful, and growing…and visible to the watching world.

A pure Church in hiding… is an enclave.  A light under a bowl, soon to run out of oxygen and be snuffed out.

• To be fair, in some areas of the world where persecution is the worst, the Church hides from some (to avoid being beheaded for example) while reaching out carefully to others.  Oxygen comes in, but cautiously.  It’s an underground Church that has power beneath the surface.  It’s a pure Church, but not in total hiding.  It’s just underground, but the root is good and very much alive and growing.
• But in other areas, a Church in hiding becomes an exclusive club.  New club members aren’t allowed in unless they pass the litmus test of intellect, music preference, or doctrinal views on abortion, gay marriage and ordination, etc..  These churches slowly die out for lack of purity, light, oxygen, and power.

A pure Church displaying God’s power is a light on a stand for all to see.  This is what God wants:

A Pure Church.  A Powerful Church.  A Growing Church.  This is what changes lives as God does what only God can do….which is to save people.  The ultimate healing. It’s a picture of Revival that we’re praying for.

Some of you may recall my saying in conversation going way back to my first days here that God wants

Purity before numbers.”

Today’s passage in last week’s context is actually the root of that thought. 

It is not beyond God to grow this—or any—church! It’s not beyond Him to do it in a dying community.  Even in an neighborhood or town where people’s souls might be the sickest in all kinds of cultural ills, it’s a harvest waiting to happen!  That’s what God sees!

But God always starts from a place of purity and grows us from there.  God will not revive any church that doesn’t start with pure worship, for that is the source of the Church’s power. Pure Church Powerful Church, the power flowing from God being glorified!  A light in darkness!

We hear a lot of reasons why people go to church.  Why they make decisions to show up on a Sunday morning.  Why they will show up in inclement weather or in the face of persecution.  Why they will show up even if there’s a good game on TV.

Why do people bother to come to church?  Well,

• Some people view church as a town hall.  The church being a place of gathering, to gain encouragement from others who are also believers.  To know we’re not alone in our Christian walk.
• Some people view church primarily as a place of prayer where gathering together in prayer causes God to hear us differently than when you or I pray alone in our separate homes.  God hears us better because of our unity, praying with one voice as many people.
• Some people view church as a university—a place of higher learning.  Feeding on the Word of God.  To learn what the Word says and have it explained so that each of us may grow in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus.
• Some people view church as a gas station—a place of equipping.  To be spiritually filled, replacing what spiritual resources we’ve expended during the week in our Christian lives.
• Some people view church as a place of healing…like a hospital.  There is recovery for the sick and the injured, the emotionally weary, the depressed, those whose flesh is weak and whose spirit is exhausted.
• Some people view church as a place of safety.  There is protection and a time away—a vacation of sorts—escaping the stresses of life.  A place to forget about our problems for a little while.

While all of these have some truth in them, together they paint a picture of a powerful church because of the big distinction in a Pure Church Powerful Church:

• After all, what sets apart the church gathering from a city council meeting?
• What distinguishes a church of prayer from a mosque of prayer?
• What’s the difference between the church and a religious studies program at a university?
• Why would one need to come to church to be filled if they could be filled elsewhere, like the self-help section of the bookstore, or the personal Bible study at the coffee shop?
• Why come to church for emotional or physical ministry when there are therapists of every shape and size, VA hospitals, even Christian ones, and insurance covers the cost?

What is the big distinction of the Pure Church Powerful Church? 

Worship of the One True God.

It’s not happening at the city council meeting, the local mosque or New Age temple, it’s not happening in a religious studies course.  It’s not happening in the self-help section or even in the fullest sense while studying your Bible alone in the coffee shop. It’s not happening in the counselor’s office or even the pastor’s office.

Why?  Because the focus in all of those instances is on me, on you.  And on what you or I are getting out of it.  The focus is not on Him, the One True God.

Worship of the Almighty God in the Pure Church is what makes the Church a powerful one.

With that in mind, let’s look at Acts 5:12-16 and see this in action:  A Pure Church.  A Powerful Church.  A Growing Church.

God has just finished purifying the Church by rooting out deceivers like Ananias and Sapphira, great fear seizes the people and now

Acts 5:12 The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people.

That’s power.  A Pure Church is a Powerful Church.  Now this doesn’t mean we’re suddenly going to be a place for faith healings, but salvation is the ultimate healing and if we’re preaching the Gospel, salvation will be happening.  Eternal healing is happening.  There’s power in the Pure Church–verse 12 continues…

And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.

They gathered, but it wasn’t a social club.  They met together in a public place to worship the One and Only True God at great personal risk.  Their light of Christ was on a lamp stand, not hidden under a bowl.  That’s why next week the persecution follows in our pattern.

It’s often said that the Church has grown the most during times of persecution.

How many “causes” still exist for which people will willingly die for that cause?

Over the past few days, we’ve seen a terrorist attack at Charlie Hedbo in Paris.  The publication, which ridicules religion (period), was targeted by Islamic militants because of Charlie’s cartoons of their prophet Mohammed.  The editor who lost his life at the hands of the gunmen was previously quoted as saying, “I’d rather die standing than live my life on my knees.”  Ironically, this same quote was from Emiliano Zapata, a charismatic revolutionary in the Mexican Revolution.  It has been said about Zapata, “in the long run, he has done more for his ideals in death than he did in life.”  It is said that he died a martyr and his beliefs lived on in the hearts of Mexicans.  He revolted.  How could he be a martyr?  A casualty, yes. But a martyr?  Hold that thought.

Centered in Paris, the world’s backlash against the terrorists shows that there is courage in numbers as people gather in public…raising pens in solidarity and holding signs that say “Je Suis Charlie” (translated, “I am Charlie”).

I find myself rather struck by the notion that people will gather courageously in solidarity with a newspaper’s right to ridicule religion and it reverberates around the globe, making headlines…and yet far more than 12 Christians are dying every day simply for being Christian and it barely merits notice in most media outlets.  While Charlie was going on, no one blinked at the story last week of Boko Haram killing thousands, obliterating whole towns in Nigeria, and reported as “too many to count.” 

Christians aren’t dying for the right to ridicule, for freedom of speech, or for freedom of religion.  Christians aren’t dying for public attention or world accolades as charismatic revolutionaries.  Christians aren’t putting up a military defense.  Or even dying for something like New Hampshire’s motto “Live Free or Die!” as General John Stark said in 1809 “Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils.”  Christians aren’t dying as Patrick Henry’s rallying cry :

 “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains or slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take but as for me; give me liberty or give me death!”

It’s not about freedom—per se—to the Christians who are dying for their faith.  It’s about who they worship freely.   At Solomon’s Colonnade on the east side of the Temple complex, the believers gathered to worship Jesus at great personal peril then and Christians face persecution for the same faith in Christ now.  The Nazarenes in Iraq are still dying for Christ even if it’s not making headlines!  They are the true martyrs.

And yet, Christian martyrdom preaches in a quiet way. 

A profound, yet subtle way.  Person to person.  Face to face.  Not as crowds united, lifting the Cross of Christ high in a show of solidarity.  One by one.  Individual by individual.  People trusting God with their lives so much that they’re willing to die for their faith.  John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends,” as Jesus once said.

OK, so what’s the difference between an Islamic “martyr” who kills 12 people and then dies in an exchange of gunfire with police…and what we see here in Acts?

These believers gathered in Acts 5 are committing no acts of violence or anarchy.  They didn’t draw first.  They’re simply gathering as Christians and doing so at the risk of their own lives, never once threatening someone else’s.  The terrorists in Paris are killers, not martyrs.  They are casualties of a war they are waging against others.

So these believers met in Solomon’s Colonnade, right there outside the Temple in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem! 

Where Jesus was sentenced and crucified only a few short weeks ago. This is why those who watched from a distance had this reaction:

13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.

* * *

Onlookers were witnessing faith in Christ.  Yet, fear of man overshadowed it for the moment.  They saw the pattern.  Purity.  Power.  Growth…uh-oh: Persecution.  Respect for the Church and the believers was clearly apparent.  The light shines best in the darkest place.  Light penetrates darkness, not the other way around.  A powerful church witnesses.

14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.

Though Persecution comes next, we still see a Growing Church. A Pure Church is a Powerful Church and becomes a Growing Church.  One that shines in dark places and stands firm in public witness!

15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.

The altar call, if you will, maybe didn’t happen with crowds rushing forward to be baptized in Solomon’s Colonnade, but despite the risk, the Church grew.  In a few weeks, we’ll see our first view of the Apostle Paul…back when he better known as Saul, archenemy and persecutor of the Church.  The Pure Church, the Powerful Church, the Growing Church penetrates the darkness of the darkest hearts and even in the midst of persecution, it can change people.  Saul the persecutor extraordinaire of Christians becomes changed to Paul the powerful Christian evangelist.  Live free in Christ or die trying would be his motto.

Sometimes this change of heart happens as an overnight, lightning bolt Eureka moment, but often it is as the quiet accumulation of many points of light until onlookers have light enough to see.

16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.

People see a Pure Church worshiping God alone! 

A Powerful Church standing firm. 

And a Growing Church and people know this is where healing occurs. 

So what’s our take home lesson from all of this?

1. Pure Church!  First, we need to constantly assess our purity as a church.  Is there anything in our church closet, in the drawer, on the computer, under the table, on the wall, in our history, or in our pews that is keeping us from being pure?  If so, we need to deal with that because it’s keeping us from growing.  Jesus said,  Mark 9:43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 44  45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 46  47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,
2. Powerful Church!  Second, since the power flows from God we need to see the Church as being primarily about Him.  Let’s ask ourselves why we come to church and each of us ask, “Do I come to church primarily to worship Christ?”  Yes, the church fills many other needs and heals in many ways, but keeping in mind that we worship Him, we will embrace the changes necessary to bring others to worship Christ in purity and in power.  John 4: 21 Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”  It doesn’t say attenders, observers, club members, or even family members.  The dominant word in this is worship.  That’s what believers were doing in Solomon’s Colonnade and what we need to do here.
3. Growing Church!  Third, we want to be a growing church.  If we are church that worships Christ in purity and in power, crowds will gather.  But it won’t happen without two things:  (1) asking God to grow us.  We need to pray for revival and then act upon it. And (2) our risking something like the believers were doing in Solomon’s Colonnade. Is there anything that keeps you from inviting people to come?  Maybe you not know any people who are not already church goers and you need to come out of your shell or from under your bowl to meet some.  Maybe you need to get a case of courage and ask one person to come.  Is there anything that you find embarrassing about Plymouth that keeps you from inviting your friends out of fear they will judge you?  Share that at GROW Plymouth and let’s change that.  From God’s perspective, the harvest is always plentiful.  The workers are always too few for what God is willing to do with people sold out for Him.  So let’s pray and ask for more people to join us.  Bold people!  Luke 10:1 “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.” So where is the Lord about to go in Racine?  Where is He sending you?  What risks are we willing to take?
4. And for those of you seeing the pattern, you know what comes next.  Persecution.  Are you willing to be challenged as a believer, to be embarrassed, ridiculed, or even benched by your family and friends for asking them to come some Sunday?  This is how the Kingdom grows.

So let’s be A Pure Church.  A Powerful Church.  A Growing Church.  That is the picture of Revival in Racine that we’re praying for.

This sermon entitled Pure Church. Powerful Church. Growing Church (based on Acts 5:12-16) was first preached on January 11, 2015 at Plymouth Congregational Church of Racine, WI.  Click on this link to listen to the audio version on YouTube.

There’s nothing like a New Year.  All kinds of hopes and dreams and diets are reborn.  All kinds of plans are made that will soon be forgotten, lost in the shuffle, or stripped of every ornament and left out at the curb. 

But still, we love the idea of a New Year.  There’s something happy about it: the dawn of a New Year always brings with it the idea of a clean slate—a new beginning.

Even if it’s just an accounting gimmick since really it’s that one day flows to the next.

Our Christian lives, however, are no mere gimmick.  When we become Christians, we are not gently tweaked versions of what we were before.  We are not slight improvements. We are not last year’s model polished up for eBay or a garage sale.  We are not the same person only thinner, thanks to Nutrisystem.

We are reborn into an entirely new life, a new start, a new attitude, a clean slate, new manner of living, and we are born into a whole new thing: the Church.  This is one new thing that God cares VERY deeply about.

And this new thing called the Church demands our most careful attention to keeping the good thing going and not allowing it to become polluted.  As believers in our day, we’re not too good at keeping it from being polluted.  When you think of the Church these days, you see probably see headlines of scandals and abuses and all kinds of pollution that grieve the heart of God.  Pollution takes what Jesus died to give us and turns it into hypocrisy at best and fraudulent, self-aggrandizing ineffectiveness that defames the Name of Christ on the other.  How God must weep over what we have done… with what His Son… did!

Have you ever noticed that pollution is a one-way street?

Put clean clothes accidently on the dirty laundry and it’s all dirty.  It never miraculously makes the dirty laundry clean.  When we go to the mall and we put our clean hand on the railing of the escalator, we don’t make the escalator suddenly free of flu germs, we catch the flu if we’re not careful.

Which brings us to the passage of Scripture that I referred to last week.  You may remember that last week we talked about how Christians are supposed to share and share alike.  That a really good guy named Barnabas, the Son of Encouragement, was a role model, an encourager, who sold some property, brought the money to the disciples for it to be distributed to the needy.  In the Church at Jerusalem, there were many needs since it was a poor place with many elderly Jews coming to Jerusalem to die in the Holy City and be buried there.  There was an abundance of widows and not enough money to go around…if it weren’t for people like Barnabas.

No doubt people saw what Barnabas did and wanted to be like him.  They wanted the recognition that Barnabas received, the favor of all the people…to be known as a good person, an encourager!

Let’s look at Acts 5:1-11 and learn 7 principles regarding the early Church and for our lives today as a New Year Holiness Challenge.

But first, let’s backtrack a bit to the prior verses to put today’s passage in its proper context and then explore these principles.  Acts 4:34 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

Acts 5:1 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.

Principle 1:  Encouragement is contagious.

Barnabas didn’t have to parade what he did.  He just had to do what he did and it encouraged others to want to do likewise.  Others wanted to imitate, emulate his behavior because they saw the favor he received from doing the right thing.

Encouragement is contagious!  But it’s not a one way street or unidirectional.  You see, we often view encouragement as being something good, but things like “peer pressure” and bullying are nothing more than encouragement to conform to someone else’s standards or expectations.  So for example, three-quarters of the Florida State Seminoles in a show of poor sportsmanship followed the leader—whoever the first one was–into the locker room instead of crossing the field to shake hands with the team from Oregon that defeated them in the Rose Bowl.

You may have heard the quote “Imitation is the sincerest [form of] flattery”.  But what you may not know is the author Charles Caleb Colton was an English cleric whose curacy was the vicarage of Kew and Petersham.  Colton’s job performance was profoundly erratic, described as “at times conscientious and brilliant while at other times cursory and indulgent.”  Eventually, he fell away.  He left formal church employment, fled from his creditors, invested money he owed others in an art gallery and fine wines in France where he took up residence.  He gambled his life away in the gaming salons of the “Palais Royal” –at first being quite successful, but eventually he became destitute, living off of family members until he died.  Not a life worth imitating.

Colton obviously didn’t imitate the right things.  He must have been sleeping in his theological education when they covered Ephesians 5:1 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.

In our passage today, you know what?  Ananias and Sapphira were little different.  They didn’t choose to imitate the good.  Acts 5:1 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.

“Why is this bad?,” you might wonder.  After all, it was their property.  It was their money!  Didn’t we talk about this last week that property rights are A-OK? Yes we did.  Now we will see what makes Ananias and Sapphira’s actions bad.

Principle 2: Deception is contagious and dangerous.

Ananias and Sapphira wanted the full recognition for doing what Barnabas had done, but as a show for their own glory and accolades and not at all as sincerity.  They decided to deceive the Church, letting the other believers think that Ananias and Sapphira were doing exactly what Barnabas had done…while not being completely forthright about the truth of what they were doing.

Is this really that bad?

Yes it actually is.

Pure hearts and holy people are what God wants, not a culture of deception.  But, in our present-day culture, deception is the name of the game.  Lies are thought to be fine so long as you get away with it.

It hasn’t always been like this.

When Richard Nixon lied to the American people, it was a headline.  His name became synonymous with “I am not a crook!” even as he lied to the American people.  Nixon is probably best remembered for lying to the nation he swore to uphold and protect, ending with his resignation and receiving a Presidential pardon.

* * *

Back then, lying was a huge deal.

* * *

Today, however, we still don’t know the truth about any of the present-day “phony” scandals, we cannot keep our doctor or our insurance as we were promised, and Chicago probably runs a close second to Washington, DC in numbers of lies told per political official.  OK, well, maybe New York City and Detroit are in there, too…because you see, unchecked– deception is contagious and dangerous!  It’s like invasive cancer and people get hurt.

So Principle 3: Purity matters.  Encouragement is contagious, Deception is contagious and dangerous.  And Purity matters.

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.”

Was Peter being greedy as the overseer in charge of the finances of the Church?

Did he just want more money than they were giving him?  No.  He pointed out that it belonged to Ananias both before and after he sold it.  What Ananias and his wife did, however, was to deceive others intentionally, to pretend to do exactly what Barnabas had done as the full amount…and get equal accolades for doing it…all the while keeping some for themselves in a secret way.  Deception.

One way that we can tell that Peter wasn’t being greedy is that he didn’t have x-ray vision to see in Ananias’ heart.  He had no way of knowing what we know thanks to the narration in the verses.  Rather, it was God was speaking through Peter.  Ananias didn’t lie to Peter.  He lied to God.  And God was watching.

God doesn’t want money.  He wants pure hearts and pure lives…and a pure Church!

Principle 4: Accountability prevents contamination.  Encouragement is contagious, so is deception.  Purity matters so God demands accountability.

I don’t particularly like this section of the story.  It seems to me rather harsh.  No second chances, no explanations, no nothin’.  Peter recounts what God thinks and then boom,

5 When Ananias heard this [You have not lied to men but to God] he fell down and died.

That’s a pretty instantaneous consequence.  No elongated Pinocchio nose to let everyone know he’d been caught. No 3 strikes and you’re out.  No warning this time before a ticket.  No excuse even allowed to be offered.  Why?  Because the same God who knew about the property, who knew about the sale, who knew about the money and the decision to deceive…also knew the heart of Ananias –a heart that would choose to lie to God in the first place.  God doesn’t need to be further insulted by having some deceiver offer a flimsy excuse…which Pastor Greg Laurie says and excuse is a “skin of a reason stuffed with a lie.”

Ananias died.  Why did God take such drastic action?  Well, first, one thing’s for sure, Ananias is never going to do that again.  The death penalty guarantees it.  But look what else happened:

And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.

Principle 5: God doesn’t mess around when it comes to holiness.  His Church will be pure if people must be destroyed to make that happen.

I know that doesn’t sound like the God of love we all know and love.  But we must understand the intricate balance of love and wrath in the Godhead–love for God’s image bearers but wrath against sin.  If the God of love wants His pure gospel and His pure Church to reach people to communicate His love, He can’t have an impure gospel or an impure Church doing it.  Our actions have consequences.  Just like cancer requires drastic measures to get rid of it, deception in the church must be dealt with.

Sometimes destroying people or letting them destroy themselves will happen gradually as those who contaminate the Church fall away.  Maybe they leave the church and move to France like Charles Caleb Colton of Imitation and flattery fame, to gamble and drink their lives away.  Maybe those people move to another church that will catch them in what they’ve been doing all along which is what we see in the headlines of sex abuse scandals. Maybe it will involve getting caught and going to jail for a little while.  But maybe it will be redemptive because the heart of the person is willingly changed and takes a Holiness Challenge.

And one thing we can say about God is He knows what’s going on, what’s required, and what it will take to keep the Church alive and holy.

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.

God doesn’t mess around when it comes to holiness in His Church which brings us to a 6^th principle:

Principle 6: If Holiness is important to God it should be important to us.

11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

Great fear seized people after Ananias died. 

Great fear seized people after Sapphira died. 

God intended that it would be this way so that the cancer of deception would be cut out before it spread.

Chances are really good that the same encouragement to share and share alike that Barnabas and his actions showed in the positive, was displayed in the negative by the case in point of Ananias and Sapphira—also recorded for all history as deceivers.  Everyone noticed the good and the encouragement of Barnabas.  Everyone was scared to death to follow the examples of deceivers.

God doesn’t tolerate sin in His Church.  His Son Jesus died for the Church and will be the bridegroom in the last day, marrying His Bride (the Church).  The purity of this Bride is paramount!  We need to take God’s holiness seriously!

Which brings us to the final principle for today:

Principle 7:  Live Pure or Die.

That’s the principle for the Church.  The Wall Street Journal just had an article yesterday about all the big empty church buildings in Europe.  Big buildings.  Lights are on.  Nobody’s home.  Young people don’t go to church.  They close the doors and die out.  Nothing left behind but a big, empty building.

In the US, we don’t have to look too far to find a lot of mainline church denominations in decline.

Live Pure or Die. 

Harsh words, but if Ananias and Sapphira’s example teaches us anything, it’s that God has absolutely no problem—whatsoever—with letting pretenders die.  And frankly, there are a lot of churches out there with fancy robes and large crowds and dark, deceptive hearts.  They aren’t preaching Jesus at all.  Pretenders.  Deceivers.  God is not impressed.  He wants pure hearts, not crowds.  They’re dying from the inside out.

Live Pure or Die. 

Consider the holiness of the One we’re coming to worship.  If He were to walk through that back door right now and walk up here to the microphone, I dare say we’d all be scared to death.  We don’t know what holiness is truly like.  We don’t see purity very often in our lives.  We’re so accustomed to pollution in our world, in our lives, in our governments, and in our churches, that we don’t even know what holiness is anymore.  We don’t expect it of our churches, ourselves, or others from the federal government on down to our kitchen table.

Live Pure or Die. 

God doesn’t want any of us to play church. 

To show up when we feel like it and to treat it as just another day-planner item, something to fill up a Sunday morning slot between the newspaper and the football game.

On this Communion Sunday, let’s remember that Christ died for this church.  So, let’s get rid of anything impure.

Live Pure or Die.  Each of us, in the silence of our hearts would be wise to bring our failings and deceptions before God and ask His forgiveness.  Each of us should look at our lives at the start of this New Year and see where we can take the New Year Holiness Challenge to Live Pure.  As individuals.

But also to look around this church and ask whether we’re a church that honors Christ and whether we’re displaying the name Christian with the beauty and purity that He gave His life to create.  He paid for our sin so we’d be pure.  New life.  New Beginning. The Church universal matters deeply to God.  This church matters to God.  And as uncomfortable as these 7 principles are—from the examples of Barnabas (positive) and Ananias and Sapphira (negative)—we’d be wise to remember:

1. Encouragement is contagious,
2. Deception is contagious and dangerous. 
3. Purity matters.
4. Accountability prevents contamination. 
5. God doesn’t mess around when it comes to holiness.
6. If Holiness is important to God it should be important to us.
7. With the result that we’d choose to Live Pure, rather than die.

This sermon entitled “The New Year Holiness Challenge” (based on Acts 5:1-11) was first preached on January 4, 2015 at Plymouth Congregational Church of Racine, WI.  Click on this link to listen to the audio version on YouTube.

I suppose most of my recurring nightmares are school-related:

• Skipping Class All Semester Nightmare in which I find I don’t know any of the subject matter–even where the final exam is being held, which in my nightmare is always RIGHT NOW.
• Then there’s the Procrastination Nightmare with a whole bunch of assignments announced the first day of class on a clearly written syllabus…assignments which I didn’t end up starting until 15 minutes before the assignment is due.
• The Passing Note Nightmare which involves my getting caught by the teacher who reads some content in my note that is totally tabloid in nature and humiliating in every way known to man, and then says, “Should we share this with the rest of the class?”
• And finally The Chewing a Piece of Gum in Class Nightmare and having the teacher ask if I’d brought enough to share and then being chewed out publically for disobeying school rules which always seemed to be “Bring enough gum for everyone!”  Humiliating to show up in class with a single pack of Wrigley’s and being more than a dozen sticks short.

Given these recurring nightmares, you’d think that I was probably a really poor student.  Given these nightmares still occurring decades after the fact, you’d think it had really happened and I was traumatized by it.  But no.  I always liked school.

And what you’re probably really wondering about right now is what on earth it has to do with Acts 4:32-37.  I’d say, “Nothing, just a cheap attention getting ploy,” except that it ironically applies.  The applications are parallel:

1. Don’t skip the education.
2. Don’t procrastinate thinking there’s always time later to do things.
3. Share only what is good.
4. And follow the rules for sharing:  Share and Share alike!

In the book of Acts today, we see a church actively engaged in the fellowship of believers as a function of their Christian education.  It means these believers know what the Word says, they act on it, they share what they’ve learned, and they share in actions, too.  They do it willingly. Share and Share alike!

We’re ust coming off Christmas and all the gift giving.  Heading to the year-end close for tax donations.  And I didn’t want to close the year with what we’re talking about next week, a counterexample to this week’s sharing and giving.  Although next week, it will be “Happy New Year, Ananias and Sapphira are dead.”

Many preachers hate talking about money, but Jesus talked about it a lot…and not just on some “Stewardship Sunday.”

Stewardship is more than just money.  It’s a whole life deal and foundational to the early church.  As the church is getting launched, there are rules of the road and principles to live by.  In our passage today, we see the idea presented, reiterated, and displayed in a personal example of a man named Barnabas.  It isn’t the first time we’ve seen it.  Bill Slater preached on it as New Life Leads to New Living.  And if Luke points it out a second time, we’re wise to pay attention.

Let’s recap where we are:  The believers had just seen Peter and John and maybe even the formerly crippled guy who used to beg at the gate called Beautiful be thrown in jail.  They got scolded, prohibited from evangelizing, and were released with the idea they should never do that again.  Their worst nightmare.

So they get out, they pray, they praise God, and then ask Him to empower them do it some more…even more boldly next time.  The persecution of the church begins and it’s going to be very important during the infancy of the church that people understand how the church works.  It works by share and share alike.

That’s a summary of the Great Commission:

Matthew 28:18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Jesus gets all authority in heaven and shares it with believers in the form of His teachings and His commission to spread His good news!  The Father shared with Jesus.  Jesus shared with us.  Our job is to share alike.  To pass it along to others.

As I read these verses from our passage today, beginning in Acts 4:32, I want for you to listen to the unity going on.  The sharing. The commonality.

Acts 4:32 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.

All the believers, one heart, one mind.  No one claimed possession as greed, but as something worth sharing with everyone.  Share and Share alike!

What we’re about to delve into is one of the most misunderstood passages of Scripture, a conservative theologian’s nightmare, and it’s where my school examples will help inform the distinction between social engineering and Christian living.  This passage has sometimes been called “Christian communism,” but it’s totally different!  It’s not social engineering.  It’s Christian living.  And they are as different as night and day.

In our passage, v 32 is a first description showing that people learned what Jesus said and they put it into practice.  Every moment was a time to learn and apply.  They didn’t skip class, they didn’t procrastinate.  They learned and applied it NOW.  They understood that every moment is exam time.  Every moment will be a test of what you’ve learned and who you love.  What’s the result?

33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.

New Life Leads to New Living.  It witnesses!  When we do what Jesus says, His grace will flow from Him, to us, and out to others.  These disciples in the early church knew it all began with witness and it flowed as grace from Jesus to us to others.  Share and share alike.  It witnesses more and there’s power for the church in that.

The other bookend description in v 34 says basically the same thing as v 32, both of which serve to highlight the stuff in the middle.  Kind of like an Oreo.  The cookies are there to support the filling.  Not the other way around.  What’s the good stuff in the middle?  It’s verse 33.  Acts 4:33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.

Here begins the other cookie: 34 There were no needy persons among them.

When we know and we share, no one is need.  Not all of us are in the giving category.  God has made some of us in the dependent-upon-others category so that grace might be upon all of us.  If we get plugged up by someone not sharing what God gave them specifically to share, it becomes an abscess in the church and the infection takes hold and robs us of power.   We’ll see next week what God thinks of that.  Verse 34 continues

For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them,

It’s important to take a bit of a time out to mention that we do not see a problem with ownership or ownership rights.  It says from time to time, no indication of by compulsion.  Ownership was viewed with a clear understanding of where belongings come from in the first place.   Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”  When we view all belongings as originating with God, by His grace, we will be more likely to hold them loosely.

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.

Isn’t this beautiful?!  People, totally free to own and sell, they were totally free to give away as well.

It was an outflow of being of one heart and one mind.  The Church is one body.  No stomach would withhold nourishment from the arms, eyes, and lungs.  One body! So people brought money that they didn’t worship… to the One True God whom they did worship.  Not worshiping money.  Worshiping God.  Of course, God puts people in positions of authority to be able to act on His behalf.  That’s what pastors and stewards are supposed to do.  The apostles too.  The Bible calls them Overseers because God is a God of order.

In God’s economy, we learn to be charitable by having someone to be charitable toward.  Let me say that again.

We learn to be charitable by having someone to be charitable toward.  If there is no recipient, there is no giving.

And by seeing someone’s needs being met, it reinforces the desire to do what one can.  That’s why some receive God’s grace directly in the form of ownership and material blessing, and others receive God’s grace indirectly as those who have learned what it means to be Christian live out the Great Commission and share everything with others.  Share and share alike!

I have had instances in my life in which a need comes to my attention, maybe even a Christian friend is in need.  (Like in our passage, which importantly refers to people in the Church!)  Maybe I could make a car payment for someone so their car didn’t get repossessed or help with a mortgage payment or bring someone’s account from below zero to help them survive until the next paycheck without a bank overdraft charge.  I say I…but truly I can only be a time steward.  Financially, in our family, it’s we.  Warren is our check-writer and oversees the whole gamut of stewardship even back at our church in IL.  Seeing how help—in a very tangible and clear way—meets a specific need–makes the act of helping even more rewarding.  It doesn’t go into a black hole somewhere.  Rather, it is visible in the life of someone in the Church.  It produces fruit.  It produces grace.

Charity has, in our modern age, received a bad name.  As we’ve shifted from the Church and their ministries doing redistribution of God’s grace (share and share alike)…to a current system of various entities with political priorities doing the redistribution, God’s economy has become profoundly warped.

1. Ownership gets replaced with greed on one hand, and adverse possession on the other where belongings get taken from one and given to another without the consent, will, or joy of the one whose property rights were violated.  God gets completely removed from this whole equation!  And you know what?  All the joy of personally, materially helping someone and being encouraged by it… gets diluted until it’s really not visible at all.
2. God’s economy also gets warped when selling freely gets replaced by compulsory taxation.  By ripping the freedom out of the giving, you know what?  All that’s left quite often is a bitter resentment of someone else deciding for you when you want to do what you are called by God to do.
3. God’s economy gets warped when charity and sharing that once characterized the early church got stripped of its grace and now receiving charity is considered to be bad.  Too insulting, embarrassing, or humiliating.  So we’ve replaced “the needy” with “the entitled.”  We’ve swapped the word charity for someone else telling us what is “doing our fair share.”  We call grace recipients, otherwise known as the needy, “clients” as if what’s important is the transaction, not the grace!  We’ve replaced gift and giving, with obligation and expectation.  We’ve replaced alms with taxes.  It’s all in the same category: graceless giving, graceless receiving.  But what did our passage say happens in the important middle of the cookie?  33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.

Charity witnesses.

Charity is the Church’s powerful testimony.

Charity brings about grace and more grace.  Share and Share alike!

But today, what do many people see?  A Church that has either dropped the ball on charity, or a Church that has willingly forsaken its witness by giving their God-given function over to the government.

People ought to see what is happening inside the Church –a whole lotta grace goin’ on— so that they will want to be part of the learning, the sharing, and the grace that form God’s economy.  But if they don’t see grace as share and share alike, we lose our witness and we miss the important stuff at the center of our scripture, witness and grace!

It’s a lesson we don’t want to skip.  We’ve heard it in principle.  God shows it to us in action.  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.

Do you see how we’ve moved from a principle to an example?  From time to time, some people did sell what they owned and they brought the proceeds to the Church to minister to the needy…and one of those people was Encouragement’s son, named Barnabas (Son of Encouragement).  He did exactly what some others did, too…from time to time…as God blessed and inspired them to do.

We all need encouragers and living examples in our lives.  Barnabas was a great one.  He helps us to see the joys and encouragement of such living so that we might share and share alike.  Barnabas was a Levite (part of the religious order) and he was from Cyprus which will become important as the missionary journeys outlined in Acts unfold.  But for now, the best thing to note about Barnabas was that he was an encourager, a role model, and people noticed his setting an example for others and the positive recognition he likely received—Scripture even remembers Barnabas by name.  As a good and faithful steward of God’s material blessings.

Let’s take a time out to revisit my school nightmares and tie it to the outcome of stripping the grace out of charity.  I wanted to apply it to something about which many of us can relate because money is a really uncomfortable subject for many people.  Jesus, however, talked about money even more than He talked about hell, the devil, or sex.  Money was a big deal to Jesus because it has the terrible potential to confuse the gift with the Giver, the blessing with the Blesser, and money forms even today the most seductive and insidious idol of this world’s economy.  It sneaks up on us and draws us away from worshiping the One True God whose economy runs–not on money–but on grace.

So my nightmares show that we cannot skip classes on Christian living, avoid the final exam, and still get a passing grade in the class.  We’ll know the material if we learn it and apply it day by day, and from time to time.  Charity is something we need to always be on the lookout to provide as God enables us…and not always in the form of money.  It can be acts of service or a million other things.  But the bottom line is that the answer to the Skipping Class Nightmare is to learn the material.

Second, we cannot procrastinate to the very last moment before our death before deciding to be charitably minded and still experience the fullness of Grace.  Share and share alike needs to be now, not later.  It needs to be a reflection of unity.

Third, share and share alike doesn’t look like my Passing Note Nightmare of a teacher grabbing a note I’m passing in private and the teacher sharing the contents with the entire class.  Wrong as passing a note was, yet, it wouldn’t have been the teacher’s news to share.  Possessions that God has shared with you aren’t someone else’s to share with anyone.  We do not take and redistribute.  We are to share and share alike as God leads us.

Which brings me to the fourth, Not Enough Gum for Everyone Nightmare.  This Scripture doesn’t say that Barnabas sold all of his fields and became one of the needy dependent upon others.  Dependency is not the goal!  Grace is!  Not one of us has the resources to meet every need that exists.  God, instead, gives both blessing and responsibility to share His grace with others…in the perfect amounts as a body of believers.  Grace doesn’t always take the form of money.  Knowledge and witness never get exhausted.  Possessions, on the other hand, require stewardship.  God can always outdo us in giving, but He also wants us to be wise and to use resources where they will do the most good, exactly as He calls us to use them.  What matters is that we’re of one heart and one mind of honoring God.  Our hearts and motivations need to be right.  That’s where a third party can never discern for you or me where we ought to give…what is our fair share.  We don’t give to placate others and cannot judge them.  We give to bless others with the grace of God.  Share and share alike!

In God’s economy, the time is NOW to know and learn what it means to live as one heart and one mind.  There’s time NOW to do acts of charity for the blessing of others.  We share with others flowing out of Christian unity …all the while remembering that we are only redistributing God’s grace as share and share alike!

Acts 4:33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.

This message entitled Share and Share Alike–on the beauty of charity in God’s economy of grace–was first preached at Plymouth Congregational Church of Racine on 12.28.2014 by Barbara Shafer.  Click this link to enjoy the audio version of Share and Share Alike on YouTube.  Let’s be the Church by learning to share and share alike.

The message Because He Came was first preached by Barbara Shafer at Plymouth Congregational Church of Racine on December 21, 2014.  You can read the text version already posted or listen to this message now on YouTube by clicking this link.

It is appropriate on this 4^th Sunday of Advent to take a bird’s eye view of why Jesus came.  It is hinted at in the final verses of the prayer in our Acts passage (Acts 4:27-30) and therefore, I thought it was fitting that today we pause to see the bigger picture.

How often do we rush through Christmas without truly taking time to ponder the incredible difference His birth made?

I spend a lot of time driving to the airport.  There’s a billboard that always catches my attention.  It says “Become a Difference-Maker.”  On my drive up here each week, I pass a billboard that says, “Because the world needs more strong women.”  Both are from educational institutions.  While both catch my attention, neither one points to the education we really need!

That’s the role of the Church: to teach Who is the real Difference-Maker…the One that the world really needed then and still needs today.

Because the truth is that—on our own as humanity—we’re just a mist, vapor in the air that sunlight diminishes to nothing.  Absorbed into the atmosphere.  Here one minute.  Gone the next.

Or as the punishment in Genesis outlined, we’re dust to dust.  To the serpent (the architect of evil) God says,

Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” [This is called the protoevangelion, the first mention of the Christ, the Messiah, the Redeemer, the Savior…even as God continues to outline the punishment!]  16 To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” 17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”

In our Advent reading, we saw this Seed as Immanuel, “God with us.”

Matthew 1:20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”–which means, “God with us.”

He will save his people from their sins.”

Jesus is the Difference-Maker.  He makes an eternal difference!

In today’s passage of Acts we see this Seed of woman as the holy servant Jesus.  But as a world of evil would do,

Acts 4:27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus,

The Whole World was Against Him.

4:27 (cont) whom you anointed.

But God was For Him.

Acts 4: 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.

They crucified Him.

But God raised Him from the dead.

29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”  

The World Still Hates Him.  But God still loves us and reaches out to save us.  He is God with us, Immanuel!

Let’s recap our situation:

• The Whole World was Against Him.  But God was For Him.
• The Whole World crucified Him.  But God raised Him from the dead.
• The World Still Hates Him.  But God still loves us and reaches out to us continually….to save us.  He is God with us, Immanuel!

Take a look at this Difference-Maker, the One the world truly needs! 

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

What an amazing statement!  It ought to give us pause, like it did the Grinch:

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

Here’s what Christmas means:  Jesus was born as our Difference Maker.  Because the world needed Him! 

Because He came, dust to dust doesn’t need to be our final and only destiny.

Because He came, sin’s perpetual curse doesn’t need to be our lot.

Because He came, we can be forgiven, once for all time!

Because He came, humanity’s attempts at saving ourselves never need to be our only resource.

Because He came, the True Light penetrated the darkness and the darkness will never overcome Him.

Because He came,, God demonstrated that His love is so magnificent it would show supremely in the ultimate sacrifice.  And it’s while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!

Because He came, the death the world conspired to achieve would be the very means by which God desired to save us.

Because He came, there is a tomorrow. Of hope.  Of peace.  Of joy.  Of love.  Of everlasting life.

Because He came, sin no longer rules over us.

Because He came, death has been defeated.

Because He came, the gates of hell will not overcome us.

Because He came, the gates of heaven are open wide!  And the angels sing each time someone who has been lost is found!

Because He came, the good news is really, really Good!  It’s good for you.  And it’s good for me.

Because He came, we have seen the Father!

Because He came, we know the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Because He came,, we can know, enjoy, and take part in the Resurrection!

Because He came, we can find the narrow door and have access to the very throne room of God in prayer.

Because He came, the Holy Spirit can dwell in our hearts and remind us of everything Jesus taught in His lifetime.

Because He came, we know what Love looks like.

Because He came,  our lives have purpose and meaning!

Because He came, we can wrestle through the splendid mystery of how the Almighty God—the very One who created the entire universe– fit in such a tiny package as this Infant Holy, Infant Lowly, lying in a manger.

Because He came, God’s angels sing, God’s people rejoice, and demons tremble with fear.

Because He came, Christmas means far more than what money can buy or what comes from a store.  Jesus is the Difference Maker!

Because He came, our greatest joy on Christmas morning can be found in a manger, and not under a tree.

Because He came, we know the very meaning of Merry Christmas!

Let’s pray.

====this message was first preached by Barbara Shafer at Plymouth Congregational Church of Racine, WI on Sunday, December 21, 2014.