We have some catching up to do before we dive into our text this morning because we are jumping ahead several chapters in the Book of Acts. Last week with the pouring out of the Holy Spirit a new community was formed and Pastor Joel mentioned that such an event would have signaled to first century Jews the beginning of the Last Days, but not last days as they wait to get to heaven, rather last days as they live as the very body of Christ on earth bringing about a new world. A world without empire, political manipulation, and economic devastation.

Historian and theologian Dianna Butler Bass puts it like this, "Pentecost was far more than a supernatural event, a conversion sermon, and a mass baptism. It was a political dagger aimed at the Roman Empire, threatening a new provincial rebellion and uprising empowered by the risen Jesus, and fueled with spiritual fire. […] It was a clarion call for empires to repent, the colonized to rise up, and for both to forge a new community in the fire and wind of the Spirit.”

Intense, radical, a little scary.

Please pray with me: God of Creation, there is much in the world today that is not as it should be. As we gather together in this space to read this sacred text seeking wisdom from it and from you, may we hear in our time together what it is you would have us do to bring about a world as you would have it. In Christ we pray, Amen.

As intense, radical and scary as it may be, the Holy fire has been lit, and it is spreading; by the time we get to Chapter 5 of Acts, thousands of people have joined this new way, they are all living together, learning and worshipping together, eating together. The apostles are performing miracles and gathering large crowds of people, leading to a couple of them getting arrested. And by the end of Chapter 4, they are all sharing everything with each other, one individual even sells his land and puts all the proceeds into the community pot.

Picking up in chapter 5 the story continues…

5 However, a man named Ananias, along with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property. 2 With his wife’s knowledge, he withheld some of the proceeds from the sale. He brought the rest and placed it in the care and under the authority of the apostles. 3 Peter asked, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has influenced you to lie to the Holy Spirit by withholding some of the proceeds from the sale of your land? 4 Wasn’t that property yours to keep? After you sold it, wasn’t the money yours to do with whatever you wanted? What made you think of such a thing? You haven’t lied to other people but to God!” 5 When Ananias heard these words, he dropped dead. Everyone who heard this conversation was terrified. 6 Some young men stood up, wrapped up his body, carried him out, and buried him. 7 About three hours later, his wife entered, but she didn’t know what had happened to her husband. 8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, did you and your husband receive this price for the field?” She responded, “Yes, that’s the amount.” 9 He replied, “How could you scheme with each other to challenge the Lord’s Spirit? Look! The feet of those who buried your husband are at the door. They will carry you out too.” 10 At that very moment, she dropped dead at his feet. When the young men entered and found her dead, they carried her out and buried her with her husband. 11 Trepidation and dread seized the whole church and all who heard what had happened.

The Word of the Lord…Thanks be to God.

How interesting - I mentioned fables earlier, because this story is understood as being less historical and more folklore - it’s a literary tool - used by the author to make a point. Now parents, or adults in the room, when in your experience have you felt compelled to tell someone, perhaps a younger family member the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf? Right, when you suspect they aren’t being truthful, but are rather seeking attention. Which could lead to help not coming when it is actually needed.

With this in mind, I’m thinking the author knew some things about this new community that he thought needed to be brought to light, and so he used this story to do just that. To make a point about some of the concerns he had for the community. And so, if this is a literary tool, then we are going to have to go digging for deeper meaning than what we find on the surface. Which begs the question is this really a story about the extreme punishment of a couple that refuses to get in line with the program? Ehh. Or is this a story about the inherent struggle of trying to live out ones faith in a way that is so counter cultural to everything that the world around them continues to insist on?

When we read between the lines there is a lot more fear in this story than is overtly named. There is the fear that comes with doing something different, with needing to trust and rely on others, and with being vulnerable, all of which are inherent in this new community.

A community that lives together - not because it’s fun - but maybe because if offers physical protection from people in power.

A community that shares meals together - not because there is an abundance of food - but because they have been priced out of the market place.

A community that worships together and studies together - not because they feel obligated to - but because political manipulation is constantly distorting the truth.

I think it is safe to assume that Ananians and Sapphira are just has inspired and committed as the next couple to be part of such a powerful movement, but they have spent their lives looking out for themselves, hoarding their food to last the winter, and have grown accustomed to the consequences of empire. So when they sell their land and they hold that money in their purse all the worldly ways of thinking creep in. And before they know it they are filled with fear; fear that they will not be safe, that they will not have enough, that they cannot rely on their new community. So, out of fear they keep just a little bit of the money from the sale - just enough to have a little emergency fund. Just incase.

But remember the money is the surface problem, and it’s not stewardship season, so we’re going deeper. I don’t know, maybe…maybe not giving the money expected of them caused them to drop dead, probably not. But I do know this - isolating ourselves in fear, convincing ourselves that we are alone in the world, trying to process everything that this going on around us by ourselves - THAT - that will kill a community.

Our world is not that different today from the world of the first apostles - sure we don’t live under Roman occupation, but empires, caesars, and hierarchies of power still exist today. Now we just called them White Supremacy Culture and Christian Nationalism. Systems that prioritize individualism, perfectionism and urgency enforcing a culture that isolates people and punishes vulnerability, all which diminish our capacity for deep, authentic, human connection. And we as Christians, and further more as a community of Christians, are called to live in direct opposition to all of it.

Ananias and Sapphira fatal flaw was not that they kept some of the money from the sale of their land. It was that when they found themselves to be filled with fear carrying the burdens of a corrupt culture on their backs - a culture that taught them to avoid discomfort and vulnerability - instead of leaning on their community they white knuckled through it alone. And by doing so they harmed not only themselves, but the entire community, as those around them either watched them struggle - not knowing what to do, or just found it easier to pretend that everything was fine - until it wasn’t.

That’s heavy. Most fables are - we often forget that the versions of fables we are most familiar with are the ones that have been sanitized for children. But there is a benefit to fables - they aren’t true stories - they are just meant to teach a lesson - which means - we can change them… so what if they story went like this…

There was a couple called Ananias and Sapphira who were part of a community of Jesus followers who were living communally and caring for each other. A little while after joining the community Ananias and Sapphira decided to sell a piece of their property since they were no longer living on it. The property produced a decent sum of money - and while the custom of the new community was to share everything - the couple decided to keep some of the money for themselves out of fear for their future.

Eventually, word got out about that they had done, and the Elders of the community confronted the couple. They questioned Ananias and Sapphira about the sale and the sum they had brought to the community. Immediate the couple became embarrassed and ashamed; they looked at each other for they had planned that if what they did ever came to light they would stick to the original story.

They were silent for a moment, and began to look around at the people surrounding them and they were moved. They decided to tell the truth about what had happened - they told the Elders how fear had crept in after selling their property. How they worried that this community wouldn’t always keep them safe and provided for and how they were uncomfortable with the feeling of having to trust and depend on others. As they shared this their friends surrounded them, and began to share their own fears and concerns, about things they worried about.

Everyone felt better after this time of honest sharing and the Elders realized how much people were struggling - so they began to meet, drink coffee, eat donuts and have open conversation about that things that mattered most, about the struggle of trying to live out ones faith and how they could show up for each other.

And the community continued to grow.

Nothing outside the community really changed, but they did. And that made all the difference.

Friends, life is hard, the world is pretty scary these days, the cost of living is going up, our ability to communicate with one another is going down, and so many of us feel constantly overwhelmed and exhausted, by our responsibility and the general state of the world.

These questions in your bulletin are an attempt by me and Joel - to offer an opportunity for you too write down some of the things that you carry with you from the rest of the week into this sacred space into this community - so that we can try to faithfully address them together this summer.

We as your pastors - we feel it too - you’re not alone in this. With all that we are doing as a church - our relationships with each other, are more important than ever. So, we’re trying to do that a bit more intentionally this summer by preparing our sermons with input from you, because the better we are at being this community right here - the better our witness to the Love of God will be out there.

So as you decide, if, or what you would like to share with us… May God bless our courage and vulnerability,

May the Spirit move us to honesty and trust, and may we know that even nothing outside theses walls or this campus changes, we will be changed, and that will make all the difference. Amen