Ruth #1 - How God Fills the Empty

READ – Ruth 1

The story of Ruth takes places “in the days when the judges ruled” (v1). These were dark days in Israel. Judges tells us how the people of Israel continually spiraled away from God further into the emptiness of idolatry.  Not only was it a time of spiritual emptiness, it was also a time of agricultural emptiness - “there was a famine in the land”. Ruth tells us the story of one family’s response to living in these empty times and how God met two women in this family to fill their emptiness in the most surprising of ways. But Ruth is more than the story of just one family or two women. It’s the story of how God filled the emptiness of all His people by paving the way for a King who would lead them out of the dark and difficult days of Judges into a time of rest and blessing (see Judges 21:25 and Ruth 4:17). This is why Ruth is a “Christmas story” – it’s the story of how God raised up a faithful king to lead His people back to Him through a miraculous birth by the most unlikely of mothers in the city of Bethlehem.

1. HE DRAWS THE DRIFTING

Ruth is a story about a family that drifted far away from God. Because of the famine, Elimelech led his family out of the promised land into the land of Moab. Though we can’t blame a man for trying to keep his family alive, in the OT leaving the promised land behind was the same thing as leaving God behind. On top of this, Moab was a place of spiritual emptiness. Moab had repeatedly sought to undermine Israel’s faith in God. It was supposed to only be a short stay (a “sojourn” v1) for the family but it turned into a place to remain (v2), find wives for their sons and settle in. Before they knew it, 10 years went by… and God was all but forgotten to them.

This family’s drifting away from God was subtle and gradual. This is how almost all spiritual drift works. We distance ourselves subtly and gradually away from God, his people (the church) and practices that keep us connected to God. Pretty soon we wonder if God is necessary at all. The men in the story end up dying but Naomi and her daughters-in-law are left alone. Three widows in the ancient land of Moab would be so easily forgotten in the annuals of history. But God had not forgotten them. In the fields of Moab with no husband, no sons-in-law, no grandsons and barren daughters-in-law, Naomi is empty. She represents someone completely emptied in life. It’s here she begins to realize also how far she has drifted from God. Here God begins to draw her back.

2. HE MEETS THE HURTING

Though our times of emptiness are often the times when God gets our attention, it doesn’t mean they are easy. They are often very painful. God knows this. Notice how he meets Naomi in her hurt:

·         He hears the hurting – Read verses 13 and 20-21 again. Naomi is talking about God again (maybe for the first time in 10 years) but it’s in a way that would make most of us uncomfortable. In her pain, she uses the language of lament. She laments that God’s hand is against her, he has emptied her, made her life bitter and brought calamity on her. By the end of the story we realize that, in fact, God’s hand is for her, he will fill her, make her life sweet and bring her more good than she ever imagined. God knew where the story was headed but Naomi didn’t. When Naomi lamented in pain, God didn’t correct her or rebuke her, he heard her. Lament is the language we need to find our way from emptiness and pain and back to God.

·         He uses the hurting – Amazingly, God uses Naomi in a powerful way despite her weak faith and hurt. When Naomi blesses her daughters-in-law to return home, Orpah takes her up on the offer and goes back to Moab. But Ruth, in some of the most beautiful words in all of Scripture, pledges herself to stay with Naomi and her God. On the road to Bethlehem, Ruth decisively converts to faith in Israel’s God. Why? It’s because she knew what Naomi was doing in releasing her to go home. Naomi was giving up all prospect of hope and security (ie in her daughters-in-law remarrying). Naomi was emptying her life of hope, to fill Ruth. This was all Ruth needed to see. This self emptying love drew her to Naomi and Naomi’s God for good. God uses us even when our faith is weak.   

·         He comforts the hurting – Though Naomi’s life was emptied, it was in the emptying that God was filling her with something better than she ever had – the covenant friendship with Ruth. Through Ruth’s pledge of friendship God comforted Naomi. God often comforts the hurting through people. This is the power of friendship – the kind of friendship that sticks with us when we feel empty and aren’t very pleasant to be around.

3. HE WELCOMES THE RETURNING

The story of Ruth chapter 1 is a story of return. In fact, the Hebrew word for return is the most repeated word in the chapter (8X). Naomi’s return is a case study in repentance. Our understanding (and experience of) repentance reveals whether we understand the gospel, the very heart of the message of Scripture. Our understanding of Christianity boils down to our response to these questions -  How does God treat us when we return from drifting away from Him into sin? How does he treat us when we return hurting with weak and fragile faith?

How did Naomi return? She came blaming God. She came unable to see how God had given her Ruth; how God had brought her home right at the beginning of the harvest. She was so focused on herself – her pain, her mistakes, her circumstances. She barely returned, but she did return. How did God welcome her? The rest of the story tells us: He welcomed her back to the land, her hometown, to a great harvest, right into the life of her nearest relative (Boaz), and into the lineage of Israel’s greatest king – David.

This is how God always welcomes the returning. No matter how far we drift or how empty we feel. How can we be sure of this? We can be sure of this because of the good news of the self-emptying love of God for us in Jesus. At his birth, Jesus entered into the bitterness and brokenness of our human experience. He emptied himself of his Kingly honor, glory and eternal comfort. He became the One who God testified against and took the calamity of judgment upon himself.  Why? To take away our sin, to bear the cost of our drifting so we could be welcomed into his family. So we would always be welcomed home anytime we return.

To those who return barely clinging to faith in Jesus, God says - whenever you are emptied, it is only that I might fill you with something better. Whenever you return, you return as one welcomed home - for you are in the family of the King.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1.       What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2.      Do you agree that most spiritual drift is subtle and gradual? Have you experienced this in your own life? How might we counteract this drift from happening? What role does connection to our church community play in this?

3.       Times of emptiness can also be times when God gets our attention. They can be times when we realize how we’ve been looking to fill ourselves. Has God used times of emptiness in your life to get your attention or draw you closer to Himself?

4.      Lament is the language we need to find our way from emptiness and pain and back to God. Is lament a part of your spiritual experience? If so, how does this look? If not, why not?

5.      In the sermon it was said that God can use those with weak faith, those whose lives are marked by a mix of unbelief and belief. He used Naomi to bring Ruth to faith. How does this encourage you?

6.      The role of friendship is a major theme in Ruth. Ruth’s self-emptying friendship became Naomi’s salvation. What can we learn from Ruth about what kind of friends we need and what kind of friends we need to become? 

7.       Why is our attitude and experience of returning (or repentance) so vital for our understanding of the core message of Christianity? What do you tend to feel in times of repentance? Guilt? Shame? Regret? Remorse? What does God feel in times of our repentance? (See Luke 15 for help).

8.      Namoi was written into the family of the King (David) by grace through (weak, stumbling) faith. What difference does it make to know that – even when we barely come in weak and imperfect faith, God welcomes us because of Jesus?

Blueprint #10 - A Church for Outsiders

READ – Acts 8:1b-25

 Along with being the longest sermon in the Bible, Acts 7 laid the theological  visionary groundwork for the church to move beyond the city of Jerusalem. Stephen’s main point was that God is on the move. This claim was both radically subversive to the religious elite, but inspiring to the early Christians. We see that in Acts 8 as Philip and the scattered Christians begin implementing the vision of Stephen’s teaching by crossing boundaries to reach people who both rejected the temple (Samaritans) and could not access the temple (Ethiopian eunuch). Essentially, the question for us is how does a church become a place for outsiders? We can get some clues by looking at the followers of Jesus in Acts 8.

1. The FRUIT OF THEIR SUFFERING

Acts 8:1 tells us that Stephen’s death sparked a large scale persecution of early Christians that leads to hundreds and maybe thousands fleeing as refugees. Humanly speaking, this was an organizational and personal disaster. The church had lost one of its most dynamic, gifted leaders. Even greater, people were being actively hunted down and imprisoned for their faith, while others were fleeing homes, families, jobs, and neighborhoods to preserve their life. Ordinarily, setbacks and personal disasters move us to look inward, but these early disciples saw it as an opportunity to face outward.

It’s important to see a couple things about Acts 8:4. First, the scattered Christians weren’t the apostles. They were ordinary men and women. They weren’t trained professionals, but everyday followers of Jesus sharing Jesus with others in their ordinary lives. Second, most translations aren’t particularly helpful. These believers weren’t “preaching” the gospel in the traditional sense. Rather, they were “sharing the good news.” Or as one writer puts it: “gossiping the gospel.” This was, in fact, one of the primary ways that God turned the Roman Empire upside down: ordinary Christians sharing Jesus with their neighbors.

What was the result, fruit of this scattering? Joy. The suburbs and cities of Samaria experienced joy. These Christians were living examples of Jesus’ teaching in John 12: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Disciples of Jesus get the pattern: something needs to die, seed needs to be scattered for there to be a harvest of joy.

2. THE CHARACTER OF THEIR WITNESS

The scattered disciples moved from being ministry consumers to ministry providers. They no longer had the luxury of sitting back and listening to the apostles’ preaching, now they were forced to go out. So what characterized their witness? We can observe that their evangelism was marked by truth and grace.

Their evangelism was marked by truth. The first-century was highly pluralistic. While Roman society was mostly tolerant of various faiths and religions, they were intolerant of narrow or exclusive religions, like Christianity. Christianity’s claim was that Jesus was the way, the truth, and the life – and that there was no other name through which you can receive salvation, other than Jesus. Right at the point in which it would have been easy and prudent to water down Christian truth, and soften its hard edge to make it adaptable to another culture, Luke says that Philip was showing them “the Christ” (v. 5) and preaching “the name of Jesus Christ” (v. 12).

But their evangelism was also marked by grace. We see this from Philip’s example. Philip is in Samaria (a city that Jews typically avoided). He’s interacting and socializing with Samaritans (Jews traditionally avoided Samaritans). And he’s close to – maybe even touching – Samaritan paralytics and the disabled which would have been both culturally and cultically taboo. Philip understood that he was just as religiously unclean as everyone else. Yes, the gospel is radically exclusive – Jesus is the only way. But the gospel is radically inclusive – the good news is for everyone, Jew or Samaritan.

3. THE GREATNESS OF THEIR GIFT

How was it that these disciples could be scattered and die so that others could have joy and live? How were they able to approach people with both conviction about the truth, but be compassionate in their engagement? It was because of the core element of the gospel: salvation is a free gift of grace. That’s what we learn through the bizarre encounter between Simon the sorcerer and the apostle Peter. Luke says that Simon both believed and was baptized and yet Peter refers to him basically as an unbeliever. He’s still in the “gall of bitterness” and the “bond of iniquity,” which was covenantal language for saying, ‘you are under God’s curse.” Why? Because even though Simon was intellectually convinced of the truth of Jesus, he was still confusing Christianity with religion.

All religions basically tell you there’s something you must do, achieve, or give. Christianity is unique because only in it will you discover something that’s been done for you, something to receive, a gift freely given.

How can salvation be free? The answer comes by considering the “gall of bitterness” in which Simon is cursed. Gall was essentially a bitter, sometimes poisonous, liquid that tasted horrible. While some scholars think the “gall of bitterness” refers to an emotional state, it’s more likely that Peter is referencing Old Testament covenantal language to describe a cursed condition. The irony is this wasn’t because Simon practiced sorcery (a lifestyle that would have resulted in capital punishment), but because he thought he could buy grace. Several years earlier, Jesus had encountered a Samaritan woman (whose lifestyle also would have been punishable by death). He crossed the social, cultural, gender, and religious barrier to meet her where she was. In that conversation – recorded in John 4 – Jesus offers this Samaritan a drink of living water resulting in eternal life and joy. The reason he could offer that drink freely to Samaritans and to us is that on the cross Jesus experienced the bitter curse of God’s wrath against sin. He was thirsty and his executioners offered him wine mixed with gall, yet he did not drink. He refused because all the wages of sin were being credited to his account. The bitter cup of God’s justice against evil was being drained. Why? So that salvation could be free, a gift, undeserved, unearned grace.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1.       What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2.      Is there a particular setback in your life right now? A place you are feeling scattered? What might it look like to move beyond your own suffering to bring others joy through your suffering?

3.       What are the obstacles to sharing the good news of Jesus with your friends and neighbors? When was the last time you tried to intentionally move someone toward Jesus?

4.      Our witness, both individually and corporately, should be marked by truth and grace. Explain. Where do you tend to be lop-sided? Why is that?   

5.      Who is an ‘outsider’ in your circles right now? Maybe it’s someone who is culturally or religiously other? Maybe it’s just someone who is weird and awkward. What might it look like to move toward them this week?  

Blueprint #9 - The God Who Goes Out

READ – Acts 6:8-7:60

The first section of the book of Acts (Chapters 1-12) can be divided into two parts: Part one (Chapters 1-5) is mainly about the gospel going deep into the growing church in Jerusalem. Part two (Chapters 6-12) is mainly about the gospel going out to new places and people. Chapter 7 – the sermon and martyrdom of Stephen – provides both the theology and the impetus that moved the church outward with the gospel. Stephen recounts the story of the Old Testament (the story of “our ancestors” ) to answer accusations that he was against Judaism’s most important institutions - the temple and the law.  He explains that he isn’t against either but is for the God of glory and the Righteous One that they reveal.

1. THE SEARCH FOR GOD

Stephen begins his sermon by reminding his audience what they were really talking about, or more accurately, who they were talking about. He is “the God of glory”. Those who search for and seek this God need to remember what He has said about his own glorious presence.

·         God cannot be confined – The bible’s story shows God meeting his people in Mesopotamia, Haran, the land of the Chaldeans, Egypt, the land of Midian and Mount Sinai. What do all these places have in common? None of them are the temple. The lesson? God cannot be contained. The story of the Old Testament is clear - God’s glory was never meant to be confined to one place and people. The ultimate purpose of the temple was that it was to be a starting point for God’s people to show and to take God’s glory to all the earth and to all peoples.

·         God cannot be predicted – God is not found where we think we will find Him or expect Him to be. He is definitely never found where we demand Him to be. Stephen appeals to his hearers, “Remember our story brothers! God was not with the powerful, the mighty and those who thought they had him figured out. God was with the wanderer (Abraham), with the sufferer (Joseph), with the rejected (Moses)”

·         God cannot be manufactured – Shockingly, Stephen’s sermon implies that the temple of God had become idolatrous. The God whose hand made everything (v50) “does not dwell in sanctuaries made with hands” (v48). This phrase, “made with hands”, is the same phrase used throughout the bible for idolatry (see v41, 48). The God who manufactured all things, says to us, “You can’t manufacture my presence.” In the temple of Jesus’ day, we see how something God-made can turn into something man-made. Instead of searching for and seeking God in the temple, the Jewish leaders of the day were confining and predicting God - which meant they weren’t really seeking the God of glory but manufacturing a god of their own hands.

The story of the bible reveals that the great search in everyone’s story is to see the glory of God. Yet, in our search for God’s glory, we all end up choosing a god we can confine, predict and manufacture. Why?

2. THE FLIGHT FROM GOD

The bible’s story teaches that every person’s story is shaped by a paradox - though we all long to see the God of glory, when given glimpses of His glory, we all run from Him. We all flee. Stephen explains how his ancestors always fled from God in one of two directions (and sometimes both!):

·         The irreligious flight from God – Stephen was charged with being against the Torah – God’s law that reveals his loving will for humanity. In verses 38-43, he responds to this charge by asking his accusers what happened when the law was first given to Israel. When Moses received these “living oracles”, the people were unwilling to obey and pushed him aside, turning their hearts back to Egypt. They made up their own gods. They made gods to match their own values and their own rules. A god whose law matched their own desires and beliefs. Though “making an idol” sounds very religious to us, it’s the same thing as saying, “I don’t want a God who tells me what to do! I will make my own rules and values”. This is the heart of the irreligious flight from God.

·         The religious flight from God – Stephen’s sermon shows us another way we flee from God – not away from religion but right into it. The zeal for the temple, the fanatic obsession with the law of God, the ardor against law-breakers – Stephen says all it was a sham. Outward religion was hiding the lack of inward reality (“uncircumcised hearts”). The obsession with other people’s law breaking (sin) was just a way to deflect attention away from their own sin and inability to keep the law (7:51). Stephen is trying to say, “All our religious effort has done nothing to change us to be able to keep the law! All the religious fervour surrounding the temple isn’t about running to God, it’s actually enabling people to hide from and run away from God.” The more religious people use religion to run from God, the angrier they get when their façade is exposed.

3. THE GOD WHO GOES OUT

As Stephen reaches his conclusion he says, “For all the ways you think you are defending God and his word, you have missed the very heart of the story.  It makes all the difference - Is God a God that stays in and says “come to me” or is He a God who goes out and says “I am coming to you”? Which one is it? This sermon shows us how the story of the bible is the story of God’s search for and flight to us. He is a God who goes out. Abraham, Joseph, Moses – did not come looking for God – He came looking for them.

But what happens when a fleeing person meets the God of glory? It’s what happened to Moses. He “trembled and dared not to look” (v32). When confronted with God’s glory, we want to run! Even a glimpse of his glory reveals our sin, our brokenness, our guilt and our shame. How does the story resolve this tension?

Stephen (v52) says God has made a way for us to come back to Him by coming out to us as the Righteous One. Stephen is using a title for the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53:11. There we learn a Righteous One will come so unrighteous people could be counted righteous and welcomed into God’s glorious presence. How? The Righteous One will bear our sins by  pouring out his soul in the death we deserve; by being numbered as a rebel (as one who flees), by standing for us in God’s glorious presence (interceding for us).

Stephen is saying the Righteous One has come.  In Jesus the search for God is over, the flight from God is over. Out of his glory, He came to bear our sin and to make us righteous so we could see the God of glory and enjoy Him forever.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1.       What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions? Do you agree that every person’s story is – at its root – a search for God’s glory?  How have you seen this in your story?

2.      Why is it important to remind ourselves in our thinking or conversations (or debates) about God that we are talking about “the God of glory”?

3.       How do you tend to confine God? Control (or predict) God? Have you had moments in your life when you realized you had manufactured a god of your own making? How has God revealed to you that you have had a diminished view of Him?

4.      In what ways do you tend to flee from God? Is it more of a flight into irreligion or religion? What does this look in your story?  

5.      Which of the following signs of the religious flight from God do you most exhibit? How might the gospel help you change in this area? What would it look like for these things to change?

a.       More focused on others “breaking the law” than your own failure to keep it.

b.      A focus on external behavior and rule keeping rather than inward love for God and what he loves.

c.       Anger when others point out your inconsistencies

6.      Read Isaiah 53:11-12 (or the whole chapter).  How does Jesus, the Righteous One, resolve the tension between our search for God and our flight from God? Read the excerpt below on the implications of Isaiah 53:11-12 for us. How would believing this change our relationship to God? How would it help in our struggles to keep his law (ie, his loving will for us)?

When our faith is in Jesus, where He is, we are. Where He is is where we belong and where we are welcomed. He covers our sins, He bore our sins, He poured himself out for all our law breaking (sin) and feeling, and he makes us righteous like He is, we can not only come into God’s presence & glory but we are invited to his very right hand (the closest and most intimate place).

7.       If everyone is searching for God but can’t find Him, if everyone is fleeing from God and is afraid to find Him, how can we show and speak the gospel as good news?

Blueprint #8 - How a Church Learns to Go Out

READ – Acts 5:42-6:7

The first section of the book of Acts (Chapters 1-12) can be divided into two parts: Part one (Chapters 1-5) is mainly about the gospel going deep into the growing church in Jerusalem. In this first ever church there was a focus on learning, teaching and community life. They were all of “one heart and mind” and there wasn’t a needy person in the whole church. This is what it looks like when the gospel goes deep into a church. Part two (Chapters 6-12) is mainly about the gospel going out. The gospel begins to move out from this one church in Jerusalem into new places. This passage (Acts 5:42-6:1-7) is the transition story – it tells us how God kept the church from becoming ingrown. It shows us the kind of lessons a church needs to learn to keep from becoming ingrown and to go out with the gospel to the world.

1. THE PROBLEM

In addition to the external opposition facing the church from the Jewish religious leaders, the church now faced internal opposition. A “complaint arose” from the Greek speaking Jewish believers that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. This was a very sensitive matter since it involved a difference in both language and culture.

Here is where we are shown lesson #1 – Complaints and conflict can make a church stronger. It’s true that complaints and conflict can greatly weaken and distract a church, but this story shows us this isn’t how it has to be. God can use complaints to strengthen a church and prepare a church for greater impact beyond itself. That’s what happened here.

The 12 apostles recognized (by God’s grace) an opportunity for the whole church to become stronger. The church learned to work ALL together through conflict - everyone was involved (see 6:2). Trust was deepened. The issue wasn’t avoided or ignored by the church or its leadership. Instead, overlooked people felt valued. The way the church handled internal conflict actually convinced their external opposition (the priests) to believe (6:7)!

This compliant/conflict was God’s way of preparing and training the church to go out – to become more uncomfortable, to reach across greater cultural divides to people who cared nothing and knew nothing about Judaism or Jesus. How would  they love and serve people so different than them if they can’t love their own widows?

2. THE SOLUTION

To understand the urgency and sensitivity of finding a solution to this problem, we need to remember that Hellenistic Jewish widows in the first century were socially vulnerable and they were also a cultural and numeric minority in this young Aramaic speaking church community. This meant that they could be easily overlooked. But the apostles took this very seriously. The vulnerable and the overlooked in the world were NOT to be overlooked by the church or in the church. When it came down to prayer and the teaching of word and taking care of the needs of the vulnerable, especially the cultural and numeric minorities in the community, it was not an either-or. In fact, if they took the word of God and prayer seriously they had to take care for the vulnerable seriously (see Exodus 22:22-23, Dt 10:17, 18, 27:19 and Isa. 1:15). But they also realized they couldn’t do it all. They were called to prioritize the ministry of the word and prayer. Their solution was to share ministry with others.

Here is where God was teaching the church Lesson #2 – Ministry is not for the professional few.  A healthy church inside - with more leaders, with more ownership, more teams and more people serving as ministers - will have greater impact outside. In context of the greater narrative in Acts – it’s only when the ministry of the word and prayer are not neglected, AND more people are serving-leading in the church, does the gospel go out from Jerusalem. It’s only when ministry isn’t seen as the calling of the few that a church is ready to go out.

3. THE RESULT

What was the result of the sharing of ministry, of a focus on the word and prayer and compassion and care? 6:7 tells us – the gospel went out. Many of those who were most opposed to the gospel became Christians! ”A large group of priests became obedient to the faith”. Why?

The priests were supposed to be the servant community. Their main roles were to serve people through sacrifices, teaching, prayer and care of the poor. They were called to bring the people in to God and bring God out to the people. They looked at the church and thought, “How is it that they are doing our job way better than us?”

The church could’ve become ingrown (like most of the religious leaders of Judaism had), but instead the spirit of service and ministry grew instead of a spirit of selfishness. Somehow the church had a whole culture from its leaders down to everyone, “Here’s what we do – we wait on tables! We are all ministers!” How did the church get this spirit of service?

Here’s Lesson #3 – To look outside of ourselves to serve, we must (continually) look to Jesus the Servant. Acts 5:42 says “every day” the church rehearsed the gospel (the good news) of who Jesus is. It was continually looking to the good news of who Jesus is that changed selfish hearts into servant hearts. In Luke 22:27, Jesus said, “For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.” In other words, Jesus said here’s how you are to think of God, “as one who waits on tables”. Jesus said this while he was reclining at the table with his disciples eating his last meal with them. It was his way of showing them what he was about to do - to serve them by his death in their place, so they could have a place at his table (Luke 22:29). Jesus, the One who deserves to recline, who deserves all our service, is the One who serves us.

This is what changes the heart of selfishness into a heart of service. It’s the astounding realization that God does not say to us, “Serve ME! Wait on me and I will bless you and only then will I let you sit at the table with me”. Instead, the gospel tells us, that although no one can earn or deserve a seat at his table, God becomes a servant to us in Jesus, so we can sit at the table with him.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1.       What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2.      Why is it so hard to see complaints and conflict as opportunities to become stronger (as churches and as people)? What can we learn from how the apostles/church handled this complaint? How can dealing with complaints and conflict be God’s way of helping us learn to serve people who are not like us?

3.       When you are feeling overlooked (in a relationship, at work or at church) what might it look like to handle this in a way that serves the relationship, the company or the church as a whole?

4.      The word used for “wait on tables” and the “ministry” of the word share the same root (the word where we get the word “deacon”). Both are equally “ministry”. How do you understand your own part and contribution to ministry in the church? What kinds of things do you think stand in the way for more people to be active in service at Trinity?

5.      In the sermon it was mentioned that this passage challenges both consumerism and “celebrity-ism” in the church. How have you seen one or both of at work in the church or in your life? How does this passage address these things?

6.      How does the gospel (the good news that Jesus is the Messiah) address our all too often selfish hearts? How does knowing God waits on us change us and empower us to wait on others (even when they are selfish and complain)?

Blueprint #7 - Church at Its Best and Worst

READ – Acts 4:32-5:11

Many Christians read the book of Acts with all its incredible stories of God’s undeniable work and power in people’s lives and say, “We need to go back to days of the book of Acts! The church today is weak and ineffective, the early church was so powerful and impactful!” Then we read stories about people selling property and giving all the money to the church. We read about people lying and dropping dead on the spot. Then we think, “Ok… everything except that. That’s too much”. What can we learn from stories of such radical (reckless?) generosity and such seemingly unpredictable judgment?

This passage is a study in contrasts. It’s like two ends of the spectrum – at one end we see what God wants to build into churches and lives and, on the other, what he wants people and churches to avoid at all costs. They are glimpses of church at its best and the church at its worst.

1. THE CHURCH AT ITS BEST

In addition to the narrative that makes up most of the book of Acts, Luke (the author) regularly pauses to summarize so we don’t miss what is happening. The first of these narrative “pauses” is Acts 2:42-47. There Luke describes the first church in action. The next pause is here in Acts 4:32-37. When we read these summaries side by side we note 2 things they share in common – there is a focus on doctrine and there is a focus on the poor. The gospel is being preached and radical generosity is meeting needs. This is church at its best according to Acts.

Sometimes we talk about church as if we have to choose between a strong focus on doctrine and a strong focus on helping the needy. Acts tells us both are needed. The best churches are marked by gospel truth + gospel generosity. Notice that this wasn’t communism – nothing was forced; it wasn’t communal ownership. But also notice this wasn’t capitalism. Though everything was voluntary, it wasn’t about private ownership either. In this church, “no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own”. Everything was God’s. It was about God’s ownership of all. Since the church was God’s family, when needs arose, people joyfully used what God had given them to help.

2. THE CHURCH AT ITS WORST

Joseph (4:36-37) was a member of the Jewish priestly class who owned property. This meant he was wealthy man of social standing. Acts tells us Joseph was one of the people who sold land to help the needy in the church. He was a man of generosity and encouragement. So much so, he got a nickname from the apostles. They said, “There are too many Josephs out there – we are going to call you Barnabas! (which means Son of Encouragement). He’s an example of church at its best.

When we are introduced to Ananias and Sapphira the parallels are eerily similar (Acts 5:1-2). But something’s off. They wanted the recognition and honor of Barnabas without the heart of Barnabas. So they lied. They acted like they were doing the same thing he did but they kept back some of the money for themselves. One at a time they “dropped dead”.

Wow. Why did God judge them so immediately and – to our mind – so harshly? Peter is clear. They didn’t have to sell their property. When they decided to sell it, they didn’t have to give any of it to the church. So why were they judged? Their judgment was for lying – for hypocrisy (5:3,4). Hypocrisy is wearing a mask; pretending to be one thing while you are another.

Why does God see this as the worst thing that can happen in the church? Think about this - what happens when God allows hypocrisy to happen in the church unchecked and unaddressed? It means the death of the church. It means the church is a lie; a pretend church. God means to build a real church -  where real sinful, broken people don’t have to hide or pretend but can come take the masks off and come to Him. So, God chose this one incident at the church’s beginning to show us the one thing that will kill the church, the worst sin in the church—hypocrisy.

3. JESUS FOR PEOPLE AND CHURCHES AT THEIR WORST

This story teaches that the worst thing we can do is try to hide who we are and where we are at from God. But the truth is at one level or another, we all do this. We are all hypocrites. We all pretend and wear masks. Why? It’s because we are afraid to take the mask off. We are afraid to be seen at our worst.

Here’s where the gospel can cure us of hypocrisy. Jesus brings two things together that we never thought could go together = great grace and great fear. Acts 4:33 says “great grace was on all of them” and 5:11 says “great fear came on the whole church”. We might wonder how can these two things co-exist? But its when great fear and great grace come together in Jesus that we can be free of hypocrisy. How does this work?

1) We need to face the worst about us. This is a fearful thing. We need to be shown our sin, the mask needs to be taken off. The only way it comes off is if something is greater than our fear of being seen at worst; greater than our fear of what people think about us. This is the great fear of God - awe and reverence in light of His holiness.

2) We need to feel the full force of God’s grace for us. We need to be loved when our sin is revealed, even at its worst. When the mask comes off we need to be embraced, approved and accepted. This is the great grace of God in Christ.

At the cross, we see sin unmasked for what it is - deserving of the full judgment and wrath of God. At the cross, we see God’s great grace and love for sinners revealed for what it is - unstoppable, unfazed at our sin at the worst, willing to bear, to take it, to “become” it (Gal. 3:13, 2 Cor. 5:21) for us so we’d be set free from its shame and come out of hiding.

When am I really at my worst? Christianity’s answer is so surprising. It’s misunderstood by those who are not Christians and it should never get old for Christians. When am I really at my worst? Not when I’m a sinner sinning. I’m at my worst when I’m a sinner pretending and hiding. There’s nothing more transformative to the human heart than being seen at our worst and still being loved. That’s what God does for us in Jesus.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1.       What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2.      One commentator says Acts 4:33 could be translated, “No one staked a claim on his possessions.” The gospel meant a new stake was put down on each person’s life and all they owned.   Which of your God-given resource(s) do you most stake a claim on in your life? Why do you think this is? What would it look like to put a new stake in it – “God’s”?

3.       What difference would it make if we believed we have greater security and greater status in Jesus than we could ever have in what we own?

4.      Why do you think people and churches feel we need to choose between a focus on teaching and a focus on helping the poor? Why are both important? What might it look like for our church to focus on both?

5.      Do you agree that hypocrisy is the worst sin in the church? Why or why not?

6.      How would you answer someone who said, “I don’t believe in Christianity and I’m not interested in church because the church is full of hypocrites.”? How would this passage help you respond?

7.       How does the gospel address our deep fear of taking our masks off and being seen at our worst? How has this happened (or how is it happening in your life)?

8.      When am I really at my worst? Not when I’m a sinner sinning. I’m at my worst when I’m a sinner pretending and hiding. What difference would it make if you believed this? What difference would it make in a church if the whole church lived like this?