Based around Acts 5: Ananias and Sapphira.
The challenge we face in this world is commitment. Previous generations perhaps understood commitment in a way that younger generations don’t. Commitment in the old days meant hanging in there for good or ill. It meant jobs for life and staying with the same employer from school leaving to death. It meant staying with the same partner, which at times was surely miserable for all concerned because divorce just wasn’t done.
Nowadays commitment is less focussed on social norms of right and wrong, but rather personal happiness. If marriage doesn’t work out we can just get divorced was the theory my generation grew up with as quick divorces came in. My husband constantly moans about fair weather football supporters - the ones who only support a team when they are doing well, not like him who has gone through all the ups and downs of his team. We jump on and off bandwagons or get so fed up with it all we ignore it all. We blend religions or philosophical thoughts as if covering all our bases.
Discipleship can not be half-hearted. Discipleship with Jesus has always been all or nothing. That is not to say that we understand everything or get it right or have days when we feel more like a failure than a follower. In the early days of the Christian Church people were known as followers of the Way. It is a way of life that calls us to commit. When you consider your commitment to discipleship, to following the way, would you say that your commitment is high? Or are you easily distracted by the concerns of this life?
57 As Jesus and his disciples were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
59 He said to another man, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”
62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Take the passage we read from Acts earlier - it is brutal isn’t it? What are we supposed to take from that given it goes against all we believe about a compassionate and loving God. It would have certainly sent shock waves through the community, not just the early Church. Fear and awe of the apostles was an outcome, and by extension of God.
Now, we weren’t there and so we have to take the text as it is given. If we take our 5Rs for a moment...
Relationship - Ananias and Sapphira had a stronger relationship with money than with God. Jesus said you can’t serve God and money. The previous chapter speaks of the Christian Church pooling their resources so that nobody went without. Ananias and Sapphira cook up a plan to be seen as giving everything and getting the kudos that comes with that, but making sure they didn’t go without. They might have been like the Israelites in the desert collecting more manna than they needed and finding it rotted the next day. It’s a human condition.
When you look at your relationship with money, and its companions of status and comfort, where does your heart lie? The couple could have been honest and kept money for themselves and given the rest. But instead they lied to their community and to God. There is a reason why one of the ten commandments is do not lie. Another way of looking at your relationship with money is where does it go? If you let the minister analyse your bank accounts what would they tell me about your relationship with money or with God?
Another saying - put your money where your mouth is...
God knows when our relationship is not a committed relationship. Could you do an Abraham and put Isaac on the altar? Could you do a Jesus and sacrifice your life for another? Could you do a Mary and accept the reputational damage for God? Could you sell all you have and give your money to the poor?
And that leads into that next R for Readiness. When we commit to the life of a disciple it means we are ready for anything. For example, from a new start to losing it all, to calling out bad behaviour or standing up against unjust systems. Peter had to step up and call out their bad behaviour, because he knew it was of the devil. If he can’t thwart from the outside he will plant deceit and unrest from within. Jesus himself once said to Peter - Get behind me Satan. If there is one thing the church is particularly poor at is dealing with bad behaviour. Allowing people to undermine and thwart the mission of God by planting unrest, conflict and upset. If we are distracted trying to appease and mollycoddle, we can’t focus on actually building faith, healing the sick, restoring the broken and sharing faith, hope and love. We have to be ready to root out that which Satan plants in our midst - not all of the threats against the church come from outwith.
Peter responds immediately to the prompting of the Spirit, and the Spirit responds promptly by taking the lives of Ananias and Sapphira. There are no second chances here. May I gently remind you that yes you can declare Jesus is Lord with your dying breath and you will be with him in heaven, like the criminal on the cross. But this wee story also reminds us that we might not know our last breath. Respond, even if your faith is the size of a mustard seed. The disciples didn’t know what they were getting into when they responded to Jesus inviting them to follow him.
Responsibility - your level of commitment is your responsibility. Ananias and Sapphira chose their level of commitment. They chose to lie about it. They paid the price for that. You are responsible for your level of commitment and your level of honesty. But as my Gran used to say - be sure your sins will find you out which is actually a verse from the book of Numbers. James challenges us to commit fully that we won’t be blown about like waves with our doubts. Commitment is not the same as perfection. I am committed in my relationship with Stuart - that doesn’t make me a perfect wife or an easy companion, but through thick and thin I am committed. Jesus calls us to abide in him, like branches in the vine. God will still prune. All we have to do is abide - commit - if we don’t we will be cut off and thrown into the fire. Just ask Ananias and Sapphira.
The whole sad story reveals the power of God - something that is not to be taken lightly. Often we make God less than God. He becomes constantly some kind of loving grandfather figure in a rocking chair, holding us on his knee, stroking our hair and telling us everything will be ok. Of course, at times that is true. He is our refuge. But he is also the almighty God - the terrifying visions in Revelation should terrify us. We should be in fear of God in terms of great awe, aware that he can do anything at any time. We trust in his innate goodness, his promise to be faithful to us, to forgive us through Christ his Son, to welcome us as prodigal children.
Who is this man that even the wind and the waves obey him?
Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events. The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.
Your calling is to be a disciple. Where that journey of discipleship might take you - God only knows. But primarily whether you are called to preach or serve, to teach or heal, to pray or comfort - you are called firstly to be a disciple of the Way, a disciple of Christ.
The calling is yours. The decision to leave your nets and follow him is yours. Jesus tells us that we have to carry our own cross.
Remember God doesn’t want you to be extra-ordinary before you answer the call. He wants your very ordinary self to answer the call, and let him add the ‘extra’.
As we head into Lent and consider developing discipleship, how might you commit to God in this season. How might your faith story be represented in the 5Rs...? Try using them on your life and faith story and allow the reflection to guide you into Lent and Holy Week. Trust God to honour your commitment even if you are uncertain about where it might take you.
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