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Think for a moment about how you
would define a team. You may think of it
in different terms—be it your child’s soccer team, a team of employees focused
around a project at work, a medical team or even the US Olympic team, but all
teams have the same purpose. They are
gathered around a common activity and striving together to achieve a common
goal, one which is supposed to be made easier by the fact that there are
multiple people working together. A team
should function better at an activity than an individual.
Speaking of the US Olympic team,
they are a group focused around the common goal of winning medals. They are striving to win more medals than any
other country, and they could not win nearly as many medals if there was only
one person competing in all the separate events. Within the Olympic team, there are many
separate teams with their own goal. The
bobsled team has a goal of winning gold in the bobsled, and they cannot win
unless each member is fully committed to their cause and functions well
together. If one member of the team
performs poorly, the entire team will suffer.
This was evident in a recent book I read about the 1936 men’s Olympic
rowing team, when 9 men had to work in perfect unison in order to win the
gold. Each one had to bring their
separate best effort and contribute to the team, working in synchrony, to
achieve a higher purpose than they could have on their own. They could only excel when they worked
together.
Now, I think we’d all agree that
the task of winning a gold medal in the bobsled, while perhaps important in the
moment and important to those competing, isn’t that notable in the grand scheme
of things. Even the team that wins the
overall medal count isn’t that important.
The team that wins your child’s soccer game is not necessarily destined
for success for the rest of their life on account of the victory, despite the
way that some parents may act, and if the team at work does not succeed to the
highest degree possible, things will probably be ok. In most cases, it’s ok if the team struggles. The world isn’t going to end because of it.
However, when we talk about the
church, we’re talking about the most important organization in the world. If you believe this is an overstatement, let
me say this: In a few million years, after the sun expands and devours the
earth, how many organizations on earth will not only still be functioning, but
also they will be functioning better than they are now? That’s right—the church is the only team that
will still be around, and the message of salvation that has been entrusted to
the church is the one that is absolutely vital for people to hear if they, too,
still want to be around after the earth passes away. The Gospel message of the church is the Good
News to all the people, and it is vital that this message be heard.
If the team of the church doesn’t
function well, the message of the Gospel doesn’t spread, and lives are forever
affected by this.
With that in mind, let us turn to the 5th
chapter of Acts and read Acts 5:1-11.
But
a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and
with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and
brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. 3 But Peter said,
“Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep
back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold,
did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal?
Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to
man but to God.” 5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed
his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. 6 The young men rose
and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.
7
After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had
happened. 8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you[a] sold the land for so
much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 But Peter said to her, “How is it
that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet
of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you
out.” 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the
young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her
beside her husband. 11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all
who heard of these things.
It’s a curious story; one that
still, today, leaves us wondering exactly what to make of it. Our first reaction is that it must have been
a great encouragement to give more in the early church. It’s not too hard to motivate people when you
can end your pitch with, ‘otherwise, God might kill you.’ Imagine how much shorter the NPR pledge
drives might be if they wrapped up each segment with those words.
Our second thought is to wonder
why. Why did they have to die? Why did God kill them? Why is this offense taken so seriously when
so many other sins in the Gospel are met with much less severe immediate
reactions?
The answer gets back to the idea of
being on a team. For a team to work
together well, each person must be willing to commit fully to the team. They must bring their best efforts and
support one another so that the whole team can strive towards its goal. If any one person is in it selfishly, the
whole team suffers.
To understand better what is going
on here, it helps to flip back a chapter and read the end of chapter 4. There, Barnabas has just sold a field and
given the money to the apostles to use for the good of the church. All of those who are in the church are fully
committed to the organization, and they’re willing to sell their goods so that
the church has resources to look forward into the future, and also to meet the
needs of their fellow church members.
The members recognize that each person is worthy of care. Each person needs to be at their best so that
the entire organization can thrive. If
any one person among them is suffering, they will do whatever they can to
alleviate those sufferings. A church
that fully lived out this teaching would surely have a sparkling reputation as
a place people wanted to join even today.
Ananias and Sapphira saw Barnabas
give this gift, and they probably saw the gratitude that was poured out to him
in response. They wanted people to think
they, too, were fully committed. They
wanted the honor of being seen as generous people. They wanted others to be proud they were in
the community.
But it was all about them. It was selfish, and they were willing to use
the church to have their need for adoration met. To that end, they sold this field, but they
planned to keep some of the money back.
The church didn’t need to know that, though, so they lied to the
church. They intentionally deceived the
community so that they would still receive the honor of having given everything
to the church while still selfishly holding on to their own portion of the
proceeds that would serve as a backup in case the church fell through. They weren’t going to commit fully to the
community because they didn’t trust the community to meet their needs, either.
You can see how severe the offense
is. They don’t trust the community, and
they’re not honest with the community, and they’re not fully committed. A community, a team like this will fracture
when storms come. A team made up of
people who put themselves first will never thrive. They wouldn’t have what it takes to spread
the Gospel message to the known world.
And so when Ananias and Sapphira
lie to the church, the body of Christ, they immediately suffer the
punishment. They die. Not just because they told a lie, but because
they refused to trust Christ’s church and they refused to commit fully to the
body of Christ. They wanted to use the
church to be given honor, and I don’t think God likes it when people use the
church.
So what does this mean for us
today?
I believe we need to examine our
own commitment to the church, the body of Christ. Are we, as it says in 4:32, of one heart and
soul? Are we fully invested in the
team? Or do we come because it’s a nice
place to be, but we’re really looking out for ourselves? Do we depend on the church, and are we fully
invested in the lives of our fellow members?
I’ve been reading Stephen Ambrose’s
book on Easy Company, a team of paratroopers from WWII. Now, this company is completely dedicated to
each other, because they know that their lives depend on one another. It absolutely matters that each and every one
of them trusts each other. The bond they
form in combat is tighter than almost any band possible. They are so close that one of them said, much
later, “There is not a day that has passed since that I do not thank Adolf
Hitler for allowing me to be associated with the most talented and inspiring
group of men that I have ever known.”
This individual was drawn so close and was so committed to his team that
he was grateful for the war that made it possible.
When we think about Christ’s
church, how committed are we to the lives of those around us? Do we trust one another fully, and are we
willing to do whatever it takes for those with whom we are joined to thrive, so
that the church as a whole can thrive, so that the Gospel message of God’s
amazing grace can go forward and transform lives? Are we fully committed?
What does it mean to be of one heart
and soul in today’s culture? I think it
means this—that we celebrate with one another, we mourn and weep with one
another, and that when folks go missing, we reach out to them. Look around you—who isn’t here that usually
is here? Who haven’t you seen in a while
that you’re curious about? Who do you
miss?
I’d invite you to go home and reach
out to them. Make a phone call. Send a card.
Show them you care.
In the meantime, reach out to others
that are here, too. Have lunch or dinner
with someone. Invite them into your
house, into your life. Share your heart,
your joys and concerns, and through it all the Holy Spirit will bind us together
so that we care deeply for one another, never forgetting that we are the body
of Christ, and our team goal is so much more important than anything else can
ever do in our lives. When we are of one
heart and soul, when we care deeply for one another, we witness to the world
that the body of Christ is a place of welcoming, a place of grace, and others are
drawn toward this type of selfless community.
Let us pray
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