Shocked

June 30th, 2009

The world has been shocked at the sudden death of Michael Jackson. Some of you, I know, have tickets for his London gigs scheduled for the end of next month.  

The early church community was shocked at the sudden death of two of its members, Ananaias and Sapphira. The believers were experiencing an amazing time. There was a tremendous sense of unity, with great generosity and sharing, wonderful healings and miracles.  

They were fulfilling the prayer of Jesus that his followers should be one. His desire was that others would know that they were his disciples, not by the fish on the back of their cars, the cross around their neck or even their disappearance to the Sports Hall on Sunday mornings.  No, it was to be by their love for each other. Here, no one even claimed that any of their possessions were their own.  

In the midst of this blessing, a couple made a generous gift, but it was lacking in integrity. There were alarming consequences.  What a wake-up call!  Are expenses fiddles limited to MPs and BBC executives? And is the desire to gain the admiration and approval of fellow believers limited to Ananaias and Sapphira?  Jesus is calling us his followers to lives of harmony and generosity, but also to complete honesty and integrity.  Let’s do a health check.  Let’s be even more generous, and encourage our children to be generous givers too, but let us also be careful of the danger of subtly promoting ourselves.  

David Thatcher
 

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