April 17, 2005

Girls Rule

Generous to a Fault

Acts 5:1-11

Opening Words: Last week we began an eight part sermon series I have called “Girl’s Rule.” We are going to look at eight different women in the Bible. Sometimes their model is quite outstanding. Sometimes their model is not. Today, we will look at Sipphira. She lived a good life with one little indiscretion. It was an indiscretion that cost her her life.

I love the story of Oliver Cromwell. He once had a portrait made of himself. Warts on his face disfigured Cromwell. The painter, trying to please the great man, omitted the warts. When Cromwell saw the painting and said, “Take it away and paint me warts and all.” That is the story of this Bible lesson this morning. The story of Sapphira is more than a little disturbing. It is shocking but Luke included this story for a reason. It reminds us that someday God will be our final judge. Let us call this message “Generous to a Fault.” We are in the first eleven verses of the fifth chapter of Acts.

Introduction

Let me ask you two questions today. This is the first question. What is the greatest challenge the church faces today? Perhaps, the second question is the better question. What does God see as the greatest challenge in the church today?

In Greenfield Village, Detroit, Michigan, there is a large impressive locomotive on display. There is a small sign next to that piece of machinery containing some amazing facts. It tells us the size and number of the wheels. It tells us the horsepower, weight and height. The last line on that sign says that 96% of the energy produced is used to move the massive locomotive. It takes only 4% to move the load. How many churches do the same thing?

The church was created to make disciples for Jesus Christ. We are in the disciple making business. It is the only reason that we exist! How many disciples have we made here at Western Reserve? Why are we not making more? What changes need to happen here to help us maximize our efficiency? Let me ask you the question again. What is the greatest challenge the church faces today?

In this room today we could generate many answers to that question. Many would say the greatest challenged facing the church today is aging congregations. Many mainline Protestant congregations have more people dieing than they do joining. Many people would say the great challenge facing the church today is money. Everything seems to be getting more expensive. Some would say that the greatest challenge facing the church today is the world. We live in a fast paced society where church is not the only show on Sunday morning. Some would say that the greatest challenge facing the United Methodist Church is that there are so many United Methodist congregations. How many local congregations do you need to serve one area? What is the greatest challenge the church faces today? What does God see as the greatest challenge in the church today?

Body

This morning we are introduced to a woman by the name of Sapphira. She is married to a man by the name of Ananias. They are members of the early church, yet they are the church members that no one wants. The reason is quite simple. They embody the two greatest challenges facing any church. Through the eyes of God the greatest challenge facing the church is not aging congregations or our fast pace society. The gospel speaks to every generation. The greatest challenge facing the church is not organizational structure or a better accounting method. The greatest challenge facing the church is not financial. God does not need money to win the world. However, we need to give money to grow spiritually. The greatest challenge facing the church today is the members of the church. We have too many church members who are just like Ananias and Sapphira. With their minds they understood that Jesus died for their sins. They knew they were going to heaven. Yet, that Good News never traveled from their brains to their hearts. For eternity Ananias and Sapphira have been remembered as the worst church members possible. They are symbols of hypocrisy and half-heartedness. Those two things are the greatest challenges facing the church today.

Today, we are going to look at the two antidotes to hypocrisy and half-heartedness. We are going to look at two expectations that God has for our church. They may be the same expectations that you have for this church. Ananias and Sapphira will be our negative examples. Both expectations begin with the letter G! So if you are ready to look at God’s expectations for this church then say, “Amen!”  

God expects the church to be Genuine. Ananias and Sapphira were not genuine. They were just the opposite. They were hypocrites. Let us look at the story together. The church is short on funds. Some things don’t change. People are giving generously to the church. Ananias and Sapphira don’t want to look cheap so they give. To generate some extra money they sell a piece of land. Together they decide to keep part of the profit and give the church the balance. They present the money to the apostles in front of the crowd. The assumption is they are giving all the money to the church but it is a lie. They are pretending to do one thing but they are really doing something else. It was that deception that was the sin. Someone once said they wanted the benefit of giving without any of the inconvenience. God expects the church to be Genuine. I hate to say it about church members but Ananias and Sapphira were hypocrites. Our society tolerates nearly everything but we will not tolerate hypocrites.

Think of the people that we despise in our society. They are the people who say one thing and do something completely different. They are the hypocrites. What emotions do you feel when I say Scott Peterson or O.J. Simpson? They said they loved their wives but many believe they killed them. Hypocrites! How about Susan Smith, the woman who reported his children kidnapped. Later we discovered she drowned them in the family car. Hypocrite!

In the history of the church we have many who have said one thing and done something completely different. On June 3, 1989, Today in the Word wrote, “He made free use of Christian vocabulary. He talked about the blessing of the Almighty and the Christian confessions that he would use as the pillars to build the new government. He talked about his historic responsibilities and handed out pious stories. He loved to show his tattered Bible. Indeed, Adolph Hitler was the master of outward religiosity, with no inward reality.”

We do not have to be so dramatic. There are countless stories of local church people who said one thing and did something completely different. There have been preachers who stand up on Sunday morning and speak of God’s love and fail to keep their hands off the church money and secretary the rest of the week. There have been lay people who go to Sunday School and learn about God’s love. It is those same people, who demand their way and love selectively. God expects the church to be Genuine. The problem is we have too many people like Ananias and Sapphira, hypocrites! If you think you could be a little more genuine then say, “Amen!”

God expects the church to be Generous. Ananias and Sapphira were not generous. They were just the opposite. They were half-hearted. Let us look at the story one more time. The church is short on funds. Some things don’t change. People are giving generously to the church. Ananias and Sapphira only gave partially. They only gave half-heartedly. God expects the church to be Generous. Psalm 112:5 says, “Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely.” I don’t just mean with our money. I mean with our lives, our time, our talents and our financial resources. Former Chaplin of the United States Congress Lloyd Ogilvie said, “To withhold any portion of ourselves from the people around us is to deny the gift given to us for them.” We are to live generously.

I appreciate many things about this church. I appreciate this building. I appreciate this choir. I appreciate the fact that we have an attitude to try anything. I appreciate our beautiful outdoor chapel, Woodland Haven. I appreciate the fact that we do contemporary and traditional worship. I appreciate the fact that I get to live and work in this area because the weather is so nice! But what I really appreciate about this church is our spirit of generosity. You are generous people! You are generous with your time, talents and your money.

Friday morning I was looking back over the past ten years. We have come a long way and we have developed into something truly unique. We have started three new worship services, including Saturday nights. We have seen the rebirth of our children’s Sunday School program. We have seen our choir become the best in this area. We have become the home of Great Expectations Day Care. We are the only United Methodist Church in this area to offer afternoon worship on Christmas Eve and every night of Holy Week. We are one of the few growing United Methodist Churches in this Annual Conference. Why? I suppose we could come up with a list of reasons but on that list is your spirit of generosity. I cannot tell you how many people have come to this church and said, “There is something different about this church.” It is your spirit of generosity. We need to cultivate you even more. God expects the church to be Generous.

Ananias and Sapphira gave half-heartedly. They were not generous and they died. Churches that are not generous will die too. If you think you can continue to be generous then say, “Amen!”

Conclusion

A friend went to visit W C Fields shortly before his death in the hospital. He was surprised to find Fields sitting in his bed reading the Bible. The friend asked him, “What are you doing?” The comedian responded, “I am looking for loopholes.”

Here is the Good News! We in the church have found the loophole! The loophole is simply accepting Jesus Christ! We are saved by grace and by grace alone. That is some Good News! You should spend the rest of your life thanking God for his great gift to you. If you want to thank God for your salvation then you should live a genuine life, don’t be hypocrite! If you want to thank God for your salvation then you should live a generous life, don’t live half-heartedly. You should expect to be part of a church that is both generous and genuine. It is the same thing that God expects from you! And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”