Sunday
04/11/21 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “Acts 4:32-35, Then and Today”
Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 133
New Testament Scripture: Acts 4:32-35
Gospel Lesson: John 20:19-31
So, I remember when I was a little boy
in the mid-1980’s, and I saw a commercial on television for the first time. I
found out later that this commercial came out in 1971. It was a Coke Commercial,
or Coca-Cola. This commercial was called, “I’d like to buy the world a Coke”.
As I watched this commercial, I saw a
beautiful summer day, and saw all manner of people. I saw people of all
different races, nationalities, and probably even different religions, standing
on a hill, each holding a bottle of Coke. This commercial was released during
the challenging years of the Vietnam War, and it seemed to portray this almost
Utopian, perfect, and united world. Apparently, the marketing behind this commercial
assumed that if we all had a Coke, world peace and harmony would ensure. I am guessing
their sales went up. Or at least, it was a very feel-good message.
When I went off to SUNY Potsdam in
1999, commercials like “I’d like to buy the world a Coke” seemed to me at 17
years old to be a good ideal for the type of world we all should aspire to
build. I mean would it not be great to have world peace, a perfect society, no
crime, no suffering, and no problems?
As I completed my studies and as I began
working different jobs, I began to see a world that was quite different than
the 1971 Coke commercial “I’d like to buy the world a Coke”. It seemed like while
this commercial and other things like this were aspirational, but not built on
facts or real life. As a result of this, I want to challenge this morning the
idea of building a perfect flawless society here on earth.
Do not get me wrong, it is not that I do
not want this, I just do not think it is possible. Humanity, all of us, are broken,
and we have tendency towards sin. If this is true, how can we ever build a
perfect world devoid of the reality of our human nature? From 1917-1991, the
Soviet Union, attempted to build a massive communist society, devoid of God,
built on human reason, that would be perfect and flawless. Yet, this society
was far from perfect or flawless. Would I like to live in an “I’d like to buy
the world a Coke” world? Sure, who wouldn’t? Yet, we are far from this ideal,
and while we can come much closer to this, do we really believe that we can
build a perfect world?
I say all of this, and give these
examples, as I will be discussing in part our reading from Acts 4 for this
morning. Before getting into this reading, let us look once again at our
reading for this morning from Psalm 133. Once again it says in 133:1:
1 How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live
together in unity! (Ps. 133:1, NRSV).
So, the “I’d like to buy the world a Coke” world can definitely be seen as a
Biblical ideal, but will we ever achieve this ideal here on this earth? I do
not think we will until the Lord Jesus Christ returns fully heals this world.
We can come closer, but we are sinful by nature. How can we a society that is completely,
100% perfect then? I do not think that we can.
Before jumping into our Book of Acts
reading, just to give some preliminary information, we have a scene in our Book
of Acts reading for this morning from the early church in Jerusalem. In this
scene, the very first Christian Church, lead by the Apostles is growing like
wildfire. Perhaps by Acts 4, we are looking at 10,000-20,000 Christians. People
that have given their lives to Christ and have been baptized. This was a new
and very infantile Christian Community. The Book of Acts 4:32-35 says once
again of the first Christian Church in Jerusalem:
32 Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. 33 With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. 35 They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need (Acts 4:32-35, NRSV).
This a beautiful snapshot of the earliest days of the first
Christian Church in Jerusalem. People were coming to Christ, the Apostles were
preaching and bearing witness to resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. So
devoted were these first converts to the Christian faith, that there were united
doctrinally, spiritually, and in heart and soul. Everyone sold their property,
and all possessions and wealth were held in common. During this snapshot of the
early church there were no needy people, everyone was cared for, and all wealth
was laid at Jesus’ original disciples or
Apostle’s feet.
So, all was sold and shared, people came to Christ in droves,
people were baptized in droves, and everything was shared and owned by all. Given
this early snapshot in the life of the Christian Church, is it possible to
build a world like this? First off by the way, this scene in Acts 4:32-35 was not
all of Jerusalem, or even all of Israel, it was just the 10,000-20,000
Christians. Can we build a world like this? If we all sold everything we had and
gave it away, would this solve the world’s problems? What would happen when
everything that was sold or given away was used or consumed? Presumably, we would
have to work, produce, manufacturer, and build?
In this beautiful scene in Acts 4 we have a spiritual
awakening as people come to Christ. Everything is shared, everyone is united,
and everything seems perfect and almost heavenly. It does not last though. Why
is this? Well let us look at what Acts 5 says, starting in verse 1:
5 But a man named Ananias, with the consent of his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property; 2 with his wife’s knowledge, he kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 “Ananias,” Peter asked, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, were not the proceeds at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to us but to God!” 5 Now when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard of it. 6 The young men came and wrapped up his body, then carried him out and buried him (Acts 5:1-6, NRSV).
Sin then enters the first very infantile church, as Ananias
wanted to keep some of his money for himself. He did not want to give it all.
The reality of this, and the grief of this causes Ananias to literally fall
down dead. Within no time then, sin enters the church, as it entered the Garden
of Eden with Adam and Eve.
Some people, in this time that we are living in, want to
attempt to rebuild the scene we have this morning from Acts 4:32-35. I wonder
though, if we all here sold everything that we had and gave it all to the
church, and trusted the leaders of this church to ensure that everyone would have
everything they need through the church, would it work? I would hope so, but I also
think that sin would find its way in, as it always does. We then can make the
world so much better, but there will always be sin.
Is it possible then to have a world with no sin? If
everyone in the United States sold and cashed in everything they had, and we
put it in one big pot of money, could we be trusted to all share everything? Or
would someone lie, cheat, steal, etc.? I think we know the answer to this.
What we do have though, is the opportunity to build a great,
loving, and authentic, Christian Community. A community of broken people, saved
by the grace of God in Jesus Christ. None of us are perfect, as we all make
mistakes, but together we can seek Christ, love each other, and make Sidney and
the world better. Will we fix it all? No, we will not, but we can make it much better.
We cannot make it perfect, but we can shine the light of Christ into darkness.
This is what we are called to do, as we have been saved the grace of Jesus Christ.
In looking at our gospel of John reading again for this
morning we are given two of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances. In fact, it
says once again:
19 When it was evening on that day, the
first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met
were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said,
“Peace be with you.” 20 After
he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples
rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As
the Father has sent me, so I send you” (Jn. 20:19-21, NRSV).
Jesus appears to his disciples, offers
them his peace, or the peace of Christ, shows them his hands and his side, and
then tells them to go forth doing everything that he had taught them to do. Jesus
will then breathe the Holy Spirit on them and tells them take upon the mantle
and the authority that he gives them to lead the church. These Apostles will
not be perfect, but Christ will be with them, and as they walk with Christ they
will become more like Christ.
The
Apostle Thomas however does not believe that Jesus appeared to the disciples, as
he was not present for this post-resurrection appearance from Jesus. Jesus then
appears to Thomas and shows him his hands and his side. Jesus tells him to
believe, and the Apostle Thomas does. Jesus then goes on to show Thomas and others
signs, and he tells Thomas that those who have not seen him, but believe in him,
will be blessed.
I
have always found it interesting that Jesus appeared to his disciples and
hundreds of people after his resurrection. Why would he do this? I think
because Jesus knows who we are. We are people that long for God but are still
broken and sinful by nature. As result, Jesus came back to encourage them, and
the let them know that his gospel was the hope of the world.
On
the day of his crucifixion, Peter denied Jesus three times, and all but the
Apostle John fled. We as humans have such potential, but we are all broken, but
can be made whole through Jesus Christ. While I do not think that we can ever
build a perfect world, I believe that we can work to make the world much
better. While Jesus will not physically appear to us again until he returns, he
is with us.
Every
day when we wake up, we have the choice to trust Christ, to serve him, and to
live like him. Or we can do the opposite. This world will never perfect until
Christ returns, but we can make it much better. This church, I believe, is a
gift to this community and the world. Together, we can do great things through
Jesus Christ, even though we are not perfect. Every day we can strive after the
one who is perfect, as we become more like him, we will continue to be changed,
as God uses us to continue to change Sidney and change the world. Amen.
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