Jarrett McLaughlin
Grounded: “You’re Grounded”
September 29, 2024
Acts 4:32, 34-37, 5:1-11
Cold Open:
Well, I preached a sermon on Moses and the burning bush and we had to literally vacate the building for a fire alarm. You can see why I step into the pulpit this day with fear and trembling – especially because this is my text. A reading from Acts, chapter 5
Scripture:
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.
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. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. There was a Levite, a native of Cyprus, Joseph, to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas (which means ‘son of encouragement’). He sold a field that belonged to him, then brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
But a man named Ananias, with the consent of his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property…kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet.‘
‘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? 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!’
Now when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard of it. The young men came and wrapped up his body, then carried him out and buried him.
After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.
Peter said to her, ‘Tell me whether you and your husband sold the land for such and such a price.’ And she said, ‘Yes, that was the price.’
Then Peter said to her, ‘How is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.’
Immediately she fell down at his feet and died. When the young men came in they found her dead, so they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
And great fear seized the whole church and all who heard of these things.
The word of the Lord…?
Thanks be to God.
Sermon:
\Yeah, I don’t love this story. But at least we’re preaching it before Stewardship season kicks off……right before Stewardship!
I know how much you like to hear about the saga with our dog – so I would like to begin this morning with another episode of the Desmond Chronicles.
When we were discerning whether or not to acquire a dog, I secured one key concession.
The rest of you dog-lovers out there may not agree, but it was important to me that we have a strict “No-Dog-On-Furniture” policy. That was a non-negotiable for me.
Now, have I walked down the hallway to hear the pads of feet hitting the ground – yes I have. And have I walked into a room and put my hand on a disheveled blanket only to feel a warm spot? For sure!
But over time, those experiences have become fewer, so I got to thinking that Desmond had really acclimated to this rule.
I have even witnessed some members of my family encouraging him to get on the sofa – a bold violation of the aforementioned policy – but even in those moments I can see the wheels turning in that little brain of his, saying “Wait, my master does not like it when I get on the furniture – I will stay on the ground.”
“He’s a Good boy!”
So yes, I was feeling pretty good about his compliance – but then, just last week, we had an incident with a house fly.
Desmond has seen flies before – but for whatever reason, this fly sent him into full hunt mode. He was determined to snap that thing in his jaws – running first this way, and then that way through the kitchen – chasing it every which way.
I knew his chances of success were slim, so I got out the fly swatter. Have you ever tried to wait patiently for a fly to land with a dog going completely bananas all around you?
After some time, I saw the fly land on the kitchen table.
I started to creep over that way, fly swatter raised.
But then Desmond saw the fly – and that dummy jumped not just onto the bench where we sit at the table. He jumped on top of the table itself.
The place where we eat! When I invoked the no-dogs-on-furniture policy, I really had beds and sofas in mind, but in case it wasn’t clear – the kitchen table is DEFINITELY off limits.
I looked at that dog and said “DESMOND! Have you lost your ever-loving mind? Get.Down.Now.” He did that thing that dogs do where he turns his head to the side, as if he were saying “My goodness – how did I get on top of the kitchen table?”
I guess house flies will make you do some crazy things.
As will some other things – like, perhaps, money.
And yet even as I say that – it’s not about money, is it?
I for one don’t feel like I walk through life driven by greed.
Nor do I survey my neighbors and think “What a bunch of misers.”
It’s less about the money and more what it represents……Security.
That’s what we tell ourselves, I think.
If I have enough money then I’ll have security,
or at least the illusion of security.
Meg and I got married in late May of 2024. After the wedding, we loaded up our car with the wedding gifts and immediately moved into 211 E. Rosemary Street. We were summer interns here at UPC and Gloria Blythe let us live in the little cottage she owned – it’s still over there, just across from our parking lot.
We settled in and unpacked some of the new kitchen gadgets we received as gifts – among them a brand new crockpot that came with a cookbook. Meg thumbed through the book and settled on a recipe she wanted to try. I volunteered to head over to Harris Teeter with the handwritten grocery list in hand.
1 package boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 lemons
3 sprigs of thyme
3-5 cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves
16 ounces chicken stock…Etc, etc.
I came back home, grocery sacks in hand and she helped me unpack them.
As she unloaded the bags this perplexed expression unfurled across her brow.
“Where’s the chicken?” she asked
“Oh, I didn’t buy it” I said.
“Uh…it was on the list, right?”
“Yeah it was on there.”
“So…why didn’t you buy it?”
“It wasn’t on sale.”
“But I need chicken to make this recipe work….so we can eat dinner…..tonight!”
“It was like, $4.99 a lb. We can’t afford that! Besides, I bet it’ll be on sale by Wednesday.”
Thus began the first ‘spirited disagreement’ of our marriage.
Money – the fear of running out; the fear of not having enough – whether real or imagined – can make you do some crazy things.
Our reading from Acts this morning begins with a rather sweeping and some may say romanticized statement about the early church: “Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions.”
Acts makes this claim and then proceeds to tell us two very different stories.
On the one hand, Barnabas embodies that selfless generosity. He sells a field and brings all the proceeds to the Apostles – Not a tithe, mind you, not ten percent, or even some other meaningful calculation; Barnabas didn’t say “hey, I’ll give what I spend on travel this year, or my kids camps” – he gives every, single penny.
But then there’s Ananias and Sapphira. They sell some property, but bring only a portion of the proceeds to the Apostles, squirreling away some of the money for themselves. Of course it seems the real problem is that they then lied about it when confronted by Peter.
There’s no way around it – the death of Ananias and Sapphira is… disturbing. And it raises all manner of questions.
Is God killing them for being stingy?
In this fledgling Church, will God coerce generosity by threat of death?
Is this how the Church will make the budget – through fear and intimidation?
That certainly could be our takeaway from such a text, but I want to encourage us to dig deeper.
After I re-read this text for the 10th time or so, I was struck by how many times the word “feet” appears – 5 times in 16 verses.
The author says that people sold their property and laid the proceeds at the Apostle’s feet.
Barnabas lays his gift at the Apostle’s feet.
Ananias brings his partial offering and lays it at the Apostle’s feet.
And finally, when Sapphira arrives, an accomplice in her husband’s deceit, she falls down and dies…at the Apostle’s feet.
I might be making more out of that detail than it warrants, but we’ve been doing this sermon series called Grounded. We’ve been wondering together how can we stay grounded in these coming weeks and months amidst so much turmoil.
With that lens on, it seems significant to me that every offering made in this text is placed at the Apostle’s feet – which is to say, every offering is literally placed on the ground.
I wonder if this troubling story about two very different givers is less about the Church’s bottom-line and more about what is good and grounding for our souls.
Giving is supposed to ground us.
Giving releases us from fear – the fear of running out or not having enough.
Giving can dispel the kind of fear that makes us jumpy, grumpy, reactive and quick to argue.
Giving reminds us that it’s impossible to be generous and anxious at the same time.
If you have enough to share – you have enough.
It would seem that Ananias and Sapphira struggled to trust that truth.
And so they made partial offerings, which in turn means they never experienced the gift of being grounded.
The sermon title today is “You’re Grounded.”
For many of us – that phrase instantly makes you think about discipline – we were grounded by a parent or authority figure after doing something that was hurtful or careless or wrong.
As such, you might be thinking “This story is harsh – Ananias and Sapphira make one mistake and they were, like, literally grounded…six feet under, grounded!”
But turn the phrase on its head and consider it from the other direction.
You are grounded.
No matter what else is going on in the world;
When the voice of scarcity is screaming inside your spirit;
You have two feet on the ground.
You can lay that anxious burden down.
Acts presents us with two paths.
We can be all-in like Barnabas,
Or we can half-step like Ananias and Sapphira.
One path leads to fulfillment and abundant life.
The other path may not literally kill you like Ananias and Sapphira, but it’s not living either – not really.
Money can make you do some crazy things – but we don’t have to chase it this way and that.
With God’s help, we can remain grounded.