Intro/Outro: You're listening to the Garden Church podcast. We're in a series called church on fire, a journey through the book of acts. This is a story of ordinary people filled with the spirit, carrying the presence of Jesus into every corner of
The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is alive and in us today. Join us as we step into the call to be people set on fire for his mission.
Darren Rouanzoin: This is one that you're the Lord is definitely already moving at the nine and the 10:00, and and I know he's here. 11:11 fifteen, how are doing? You guys good? Good. You you introduced Caleb.
Faith, that was good. Yep. Good. I miss anything else? Any heresy while I was gone?
You can tell me later, elders. Grab your Bibles, go to Acts five. Acts chapter five. If you don't have a Can we raise them up? I just thought you'd You knew what that meant, grab your Bibles.
Was that an unexpected, unspoken, unrealistic expectation that I had presented to you? Now you know. Grab your Bibles means put it over your head. Acts five, we are looking at a beautiful thing that takes place in the story of the early church. Are you You read your bible.
When I I studied theater my whole life, did you know that? Like I knew what I was gonna be my whole life. I wanna be an actor. I studied method acting. Like in ninth grade, was reading Stanislavsky's Method Acting.
He's the Russian inventor of method acting. And so I you know, I was I would study movies to get like train. I I auditioned for Juilliard, NYU. I I was all in. I went to Vanguard as a theater major and then someone's like, what?
I see your face. And converted to religion and studying theology because it was a call on the Lord, a call on my life from the Lord. But one of my favorite characters I ever got to play was Iago from Othello. And he's probably the most psychologically honest villain ever written into human history. Have you have you guys know who Shakespeare is?
Just like And don't say I saw the movie. Let me see your hands. Shakespeare, you guys Okay. Othello is not necessarily about jealousy as much as it is about deceit and wounding. And what I loved about Iago is he wasn't a monster but he was this character who you find out later on as he's got this resentment and bitterness and anger and he starts conspiring behind the scenes against his friend Othello and his lover Ophelia.
And what you find out is that at one point in Iago's life, it says, Shakespeare wrote, his love was betrayed. And you don't know what happened. But you see this like slow compounding journey which films today and and kind of the anti hero story, they'll kind of show you how bad things really get. Right? And Iago at one point, this is what's so great is you're you're watching this unfold as an audience.
But he breaks the fourth wall and he says, I am not what I am. And if anyone's read Exodus chapter three, this is Shakespeare's nod to Yahweh speaking to Moses as he reveals his name. He says, I am who I am. And it's almost as if something going on in Iago, Shakespeare says, is the antithesis of God. And I think today, to be honest, what I love about the story of Iago is it shows the dramatic way evil reveals itself.
Evil rarely shows up announcing itself. It usually presents itself as wisdom, as concern, care, as discernment. And what you see with Iago's journey which I think Luke is gonna kind of reveal the Iago of the early church story. Is that Iago survived through his reputation. So navigated life with this love that was betrayed by proclaiming a public identity, but having a private life of manipulation.
His nickname was in Shakespeare's play Othello, Honest Iago. But he was the one that would tell enough truth to share lies and sell them. He gains he gained trust not through transparency but through performance. And he doesn't win or destroy Othello through force. Doesn't lie loudly, he whispers, he nudges.
And I think that's what Jesus wants to expose within the church today. Is how many of us are dealing with the Iago complex. So with that introduction can I pray? Would you open your hands? And not as a moment in the service but as an honest invitation.
Would you present your close your eyes and present yourself to the Lord. And I can already tell you that the work he's doing today is surgical and it's so tender because it's the closest things to our heart that he's gonna convict us and draw out of us. And so I ask now, Holy Spirit, you are our comforter and our counselor. Would you do the work of inner healing? Do the work of repair.
The the usher a spirit of courage that we would come out of hiding and present our real self today to you and to our friends and community. Lord, where we've been hiding and where we've are gonna get convicted today, I pray that we would be met by you Jesus as you describe yourself in Matthew 11 as gentle and humble. May your tenderness lead us to wholeness. May your kindness lead us to repentance. And may your church be holy again.
In Jesus name, Amen. Alright, Acts five. So the church in the story line right now is church is born. Acts chapter two. We get this beautiful story of the church living out this way of life together.
Devotion to one another, to the word of God, to meals, to prayer. And then in Acts four the Holy Spirit falls again and we get another snapshot of the early church of God moving powerfully. Where the church is the grace of God is so powerfully at work in all of them that there are no needs among them. And that we see this pattern which isn't a law but it's like this new reflex where people with stuff begin to bring their stuff because there's all these needs and they put it at the apostles feet and then the apostles will distribute to anyone who had need. So the last story we read was this guy who gets a new name.
His name now is Barnabas. He is the son of encouragement because that, we're bringing that back. Yeah, nicknames are coming back. Anyone get a nickname this week? Just curious.
No, I'm just kidding. I can give you one. Randomly. I remember I was I was baptizing folks in India. On one of our trips to India, we did this big outreach and we baptized hundreds of people in this river for hours.
It was insane. And because their names were usually dedicated to false deities and gods of the Hindu religion or their parents named them terrible names like like like absolutely terrible names as a way to keep the gods from cursing their family. We would baptize them and give them new names. So I baptized like 30 Johns and 27 Lydia's and I just I didn't I was like, oh yeah, the name thing. Oh, your name John.
Okay. Theophilus. I don't know. Like it was so funny. Alright.
Acts five verse one. Here's the thing. I'm kinda delaying this not because I just know where we're going. You know, so buckle up. Acts five.
Let's go. Now a man named Ananias, his name literally means Yahweh is generous. Together with his wife Sapphira, beautiful. Also sold a piece of property with his wife's full knowledge. He kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostle's feet.
Couple of things. We've already heard the apostle's feet twice now. This is the third time. So, brings, it sells the property and and then there's this line like with his wife's full knowledge kept some for himself and presents the whole property to the apostles. That is what is going on.
But, in Luke's kind of writing narrative, remember Luke has cultural commentary in mind, so he is very aware of pagan and Greek philosophy and narratives. But also, he has the Old Testament in mind. So if you are reading this as a Jewish person who was immersed in the Old Testament narrative, two stories immediately pop up with just these two verses. Ananias and Sapphira, it's a husband and wife. Do you remember a husband and wife sitting in the very beginning?
I quit. I'm done. No. I'm out. Adam and Eve, anyone?
Oh, Lord Jesus Christ. Help me right now. You are Lord. You are King. This is your church.
Don't judge me for them. Just kidding. He will though, that's the thing. He's gonna judge me according to how I shepherd. Do you Isn't that crazy?
We'll get there in a second. I got too early. That's Wait till like thirty five minutes from now. So you have the Adam and Eve narrative that really is is wanting you They're wanting Like Luke wants you to have Adam and Eve in your mind. That this husband and wife together are are doing this act of sin which brings about the destruction of Eden.
Right? The narrative like the rebellion against God's way brings about the corruption, I'm sorry, the corruption and the vandalization of Shalom. Right? That's Genesis one, two and three. But it's not just that, there's also this other thing in the story that ties to Joshua seven.
Joshua seven is a significant moment in Israel's history where there's this man named Achan who disobeys God. Now, what you have to know is Joshua is this crazy story of the Israelites entering into the promised land. They, it's a new generation of people of God. And, Moses writes Deuteronomy as a way to get them to be covenantly faithful to God. They're gonna go into the land flowing with milk and honey.
They had in the wilderness been led by God day and night. Literally, manna was being provided. And when they complained, they gave them quails and like, they just had this dependence. But now, they're going and they're gonna be into in independent. They're gonna they're gonna plant vineyards and gardens and have homes and and settle in.
But the key the key for covenant faithfulness was obedience. If you obey me fully, then you will be my treasure possession. So there was this expectation that the way you survive as hear me. The way you survive as the people of God is your individual radical obedience to the Word of God. Amen?
Amen. So what happens in Joshua is they they they destroy Jericho. God destroys Jericho and then the next story is Achan takes some stuff for himself. He sees all the shiny stuff, gold and silver and devoted things. And he he takes it for himself and God's anger and wrath burns against Achan?
No. All of Israel. Because there's there's a witness at in jeopardy. This holy nation, this kingdom of priests, this treasure possession is designed to reveal Yahweh to the Gentile world and they're living in disobedience. One person's sin is affecting the whole community.
So, Achan gets judged decisively and it brought fear upon the fellow Israelites. That, those story lines are happening in the book of Acts. It's almost like Luke is saying, pay attention to the inception of the early church. God's gonna act decisively. He's gonna move.
Things are gonna happen and there's something else. There's an there's a And let's keep going. Got too much on this one. Here we go. Acts Acts five.
You good? Those are two verses. So pay attention. This is this greater storyline. Now we get into the conversation that Peter has.
He says this, then Peter said, Ananias. So, he lays it at the apostles' feet. Let me just say context, churches in revival. Thousands and thousands and thousands of people are coming to know Jesus, are becoming Christian priests, are leaving their their work in the temple to become followers of of this new way. And so, there people are selling possessions and giving like it's just it's absolute chaos.
People are laying things at the apostles' feet. In this moment, it says, then Peter said, Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you've lied to lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing?
You have not lied just to human beings but to God. So many questions here, would you agree? First of all, you can be in the House of God and we are introduced to this idea which terrifies me. You can be in the House of God and be filled with a counter indwelling. You could be part of a revival in a local church and you can be filled with Satan.
How how are you doing with that one? That you can be around the things of God and be filled with something else other than God. That you can be part of this move of God and bring a generous gift. But it's actually actually something that you've conspired against God with. And it's not seen as generosity.
It's seen as theater. How are we doing church? You want me to keep going? We can stop. Am good if you want.
There is more. It gets a little deeper than this. But this this one really hits. I think this one is up for this cultural moment. Here's the thing about this.
The question, know, Ananias and Sapphira, they're not judged for giving. They're judged for pretending. Their sin is not generosity, it's theater. They're lying about the amount. They want to be seen as more generous than they really are.
They are pretending to do something and be something they aren't. This is called hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is not the same thing as weakness. Weakness is honest. Hypocrisy is curated.
A struggling saint who confesses is not Ananias. Ananias is a person who manages appearances to secure applause. Hypocrisy is what happens when the approval becomes a God. And the question that I ask in this text is how did Peter discern this? Yeah.
How did he discern this? And the Holy Spirit, so like the charismatic world would be like prophetic, spirit, word of knowledge. Like, I'm just imagining the chaotic growth of the early church. We're gonna look at the complaints of the Hebraic widows versus the Greek widows and just this growth that's happening, persecution, all this stuff, suffering. In the midst, literally, people are bringing like one Sunday when we had there was like in the third service, like people just brought everything like there It looked like a second hand store up here.
Like there was like shirts and clothes and jackets and purses and like gift cards and old phones. I was like, man, this looks It's chaos. And like all these things are happening and people over and over again are are laying things at the apostles feet. What empowered Peter to have that prophetic discernment? Was it the spirit?
Maybe. Can I suggest my pastoral reflection on this what it is? He says, Satan has filled your heart. I think the reason Peter can discern that is because he was a leader who walked with a limp. He had been sifted by Satan.
That discernment is not illuminated by the presence of God. It's a familiarity to the counter indwelling that almost had him. You guys cool to explore this for one second? Can I just take you down this rabbit trail that I've walked through as a leader? What's that?
Yeah. Great. You wanna understand? Yeah, we'll see. Let me keep going on this one.
So, Luke chapter 22 tells a story of the time that Satan tried to sift, did sift Peter. Go to Luke 22 real quick. Verse 31, let's hear those passages just fly in the wind. Luke chapter 22. Jesus is at the table with His disciples and He says this, Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat but I have prayed for you.
That's my Jesus. Can we read that again? This is gonna trip you up but listen this is your savior. Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat but I have prayed for you. Simon that your faith may not fail and when you have turned back strengthen your brothers.
Simon's like, me? Man, I'm gonna go to prison and die with you. Jesus said, I tell you before tell you Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny you will deny me three times that you know me. Peter denied Jesus three times out of fear. Ananias and Sapphira deceived the church out of ambition.
Peter's sin was weakness. The the sin of Ananias and Sapphire was duplicity. Peter failed under the pressure and the lie and lied about who he was when he was exposed by the servant outside the Pharisees house warming himself up by the fire. Ananias and Sapphira planned their lie in advance and maintained it when confronted. That's the distinction.
Peter did not deny Jesus to look righteous. He denied Jesus because he was afraid to suffer what his boy was suffering. What his Messiah was suffering. He was confused. This isn't how the kingdom's supposed to come.
Not through death. Not through sacrificial love. Not through a cross. But through conquering. And he went all the way to the end.
He got so close that they're like, you're with him. No, I'm not. Peter takes that wound and it says in the scriptures, after he hears the crow, the prophecy of his Messiah fulfilled three times. He wept bitterly. He takes those wounds.
He doesn't run away. He stays with community. In the shame and guilt of failing his Messiah in the moment his Messiah needed a friend. He fell asleep in Gethsemane. He denied him then and he goes away with a shattered reality.
He stumbled and lost but he stayed in community. This is so important right now in this moment of church context where everything has a scandal. Everything has, is being exposed. You just need a Twitter account and a YouTube and and you just need to lead anything meaningful to be called out as spiritually abusive. Spiritual abuse is a real thing.
Spiritual abuse is a real thing. Church abuse is a real thing. But we are living in a time where you can't do any meaningful without having some type of scandal. And the church on top of that, does not have a grace for restoration when leaders are willing to repent and say, sorry I did mess it up. And if anyone here thinks that you're gonna be here because of holiness, your own strength holiness, you won't make it very long at all.
You'll become Iago. And we need to call this out now, right now because we're living in a time where the church needs to follow leaders who have a limp. Where the church stops worshiping celebrities. You can never be a celebrity except by coincidence accident and virality. We need to follow saints, men and women who have been tested over a long period of time.
We need to make sure that the leaders we follow know their limbs. Because this is Peter. Jesus, he hears his gone from the tomb and he takes off running. He denied his messiah through 10. He takes off, he goes right to the tomb.
He's there. It says John gets there first but Peter went in first because he was tired. And Peter just goes right in, sees the linen folded. And then another story in John's account, they're fishing. And you could just imagine the conversation he has to have.
Because he said it. He was sifted. And how does the resurrected Messiah meet Peter and his failure? Do you love me? Do you love me?
Do you love me? Three times to restore the three denials. And then who is it in the power of the Holy Spirit that will stand up on that first day of Pentecost and tell the confused crowd, we are not drunk off wine. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. You crucified my Messiah, but he reigns and he's raised from the dead.
Who will stand before the Sanhedrin court, the supreme court justices and never once again deny Jesus ever again? Who will go to his death as he dies says, I don't have the honor to die in the same way as my Messiah so flip the cross upside down because I'm not worthy of a death like him. Peter. You see brothers and sisters, what I would like to suggest is what what we need to understand is you don't get to Ananias overnight. It's a one degree shift.
It's a one degree shift where you slowly move towards things that are not for you. And I get it. It starts with the family brokenness that you grew up with. It starts with wounds that have been hurt. You got injured.
Somebody did something. There's a past trauma. There's a a brokenness in the relationship. So you you you you callous your heart and you start moving away and you start justifying the behaviors because of the wounds. You see Peter reveals to us what to do when we are wounded.
We don't run to the gossip channel. We run to Jesus with the wounds. When we feel betrayed, we don't collect an army against the betrayer. We run to Jesus with the betrayal as someone who knows what it's like to be betrayed. When we feel outrage and anger, we don't voice it online.
We voice it to the Messiah because the Psalm has taught us that that's the only appropriate place for unprocessed anger. We go to Jesus with our stuff and that will bring about the healing we long for, the wholeness we're longing for, the freedom. It will it will redeem what becomes bitterness. It will release the things that lead to unforgiveness. And that's how we get there.
The problem is, over a long period of time, the wounds that you have, that you've collected since childhood become a source that the say that Satan begins to twist and manipulate and lead you down a path to where you become like Iago. You become like Ananias. And it's easier to pretend to be someone you're not than to say I am not who I say I am. And this has to stop now. The church cannot be a place that confesses the Holy Spirit is here while we say one thing and do another.
That's how serious this story is that we have to move forward. Now let me just give you some insight from my own experience. Iago's love was betrayed. And that unprocessed wound, that betrayal, that disappointment, that relational strife, that being not being promoted and his friend gets promoted. That pain, that grief did something inside of him that led him down this really dark twisted path.
But it didn't start there. It started with a wound. And here's what I've seen in the church. Our unprocessed wounds lead to self justification. This is something I see in the pattern of life together as the church.
Our unprocessed wounds lead to self justification. We explain ourselves, oh well, I got hurt by that community. So now I'm not a part of a church. Well that that person said that thing and that hurt really bad so now I'm not in a relationship. And actually what now I just don't feel comfortable being honest with everyone.
You just pull back. Unprocessed wounds, I'm exhausted and tired from all of the work in this season of my life. How many dads out there with new new little love little babies out there and you're working hard, you're trying to become a, you're trying to be a good dad, trying to be a good husband, you're exhausted. So you start justifying behaviors. That second glass of wine.
And then it becomes moves from self justification to entitlement. I deserve this. I've been a great mom all week. I deserve to check out and numb myself for the next six hours. To buy this thing mindlessly because it's got it's the only place I can fill my cup.
That entitlement leads to complacency. And this is the cycle, right? It's a cycle like this, it's a cycle this way. Where the complacency are simply unchecked habits. Wild, you know, spend all this money on things that are good for your family.
Hey, I've been serving the Lord. I'm doing this. I'm gonna cut this out. I'm not gonna give as much as I wanted to give or how much I used to give. And it slowly becomes the cycle where you're burdened and trapped.
Self justification leads to entitlement. Entitlement leads to complacency. Complacency unchecked habits leads to compromise. And when we live in compromise, we hide. And that's when we don't have a safe place to say, I'm pretending.
Hey, can I bring something to you? You don't know this but I've been hiding the money. We're in crisis. Hey, can I tell you something? I've had an inappropriate relationship with someone in the workplace.
Will you walk me through this? Hey, can I tell you something? I told you I've not been struggling with pornography but I've been struggling for six months. I just haven't wanted to tell you. We hide.
And if you don't know this, this community of the Church of God is the bulwark of truth in the world. He is the spirit of truth. How can the spirit of truth live in a place that pretends? That says one thing and does another. Are you with me on this?
Can I just keep going a couple more thoughts on this? You see, this pretending is called hypocrisy and it's the opposite of congruence. The hypocrisy is the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform to. It's saying one thing and doing another. And Jesus is really harsh about this in Matthew 23.
Says, woe to you teachers of the law and pharisees you hypocrites. You clean the outside of the cup and dish but inside are full of greed and self indulgence. Blind Pharisees, first clean the inside of the cup and dish then the outside will be clean. Perhaps a word for the church today. So concerned about the outward appearance.
Where we stand on issues here but are corrupt here. I mean I've seen it for the last several years like a version of the church is like, let's talk about sexuality. I'm like, let's talk about greed. When was the last time I have never heard up here a confession from anyone about how greedy they are. How much jealousy is in their heart and envy.
I've never heard someone confess here gossip. Here's here's what's so profound about this story of Ananias and Sapphira. If perhaps, my pastoral deduction is that the reason Peter is discerning this in the spirit is also personal experience with being sifted. Then I wanna suggest this, and this is true in Peter's life. That our unprocessed wounds, unprocessed, unconfessed weaknesses or sins, and our denied limitations become our greatest threat to ministry.
They become the greatest threat to living a life of congruence and holiness with the Lord. But on the flip side, our processed wounds, our confessed sins and weaknesses and our embraced limitations can become our greatest areas of ministry for others. Peter had gone through it and he was broken in sin, bitter, filled with shame and guilt but he had stayed in community. He had probably confessed. He worked through his weakness.
He was restored by Jesus and then he had an opportunity to proclaim the resurrected Messiah. And we will see to the point where he is flogged and then eventually killed. You see for many of us, the the wounds you are carrying, the weaknesses, the sins that you are struggling with, when you experience freedom to confess them and you get breakthrough, those things become a platform for others to stand on and get healed in. Like some wounds heal, this is from pastor Bill. Some wounds will leave scars and some wounds will stay open so that others can experience healing through them like Jesus' crucifixion scars.
Little did you know that that trauma that defined your life until you got healing would become the very thing that you are now giving away as a gift for others to be healed from. How many of you know this? You don't get there by starting in ministry. You get there by bringing those wounds to Jesus. By staying faithful to community.
By embracing them and then being showing up when others need it. You see the the thing we need right now is congruence which is living in agreement. I think this would save the church a lot of struggles. This idea of congruence comes from Eugene Peterson and he puts it poetically in his book, The Jesus Way. He, I'm gonna read this quote.
The Jesus Way wedded to Jesus Truth brings about the Jesus life. Amen? We can't proclaim the Jesus truth but then do it any old way we like. Nor can we follow the Jesus way without speaking the Jesus truth. We can't gather a God fearing, God worshiping congregation.
I'm sorry, lost my place. Congregate by cultivating consumer pleasing commodity oriented congregation. When we do, the wheels start falling off the wagon and they are falling off the wagon. We can't suppress the Jesus way in order to sell the Jesus truth. The Jesus way and the Jesus truth must be congruent.
Only when the Jesus way is organically joined with the Jesus truth do we get the Jesus life. This is such an important invitation that we as a church, as a whole across The US have justified the means to get to the ends. We've allowed leaders to behave a certain way because people are getting saved. Meanwhile, there's no their lifestyle does not reflect the truth they proclaim. We can no longer justify the means to get to the ends.
Do you know what I'm talking about? We have to become the kind of community that expects holiness and congruence from leaders and from each other. And we have to stop pretending. Are you guys receiving this? Otherwise verse five.
I just want to put a disclaimer up. This is the New Testament. Okay. When Ananias heard this, he fell down dead and great fear seized all who heard what had happened. So Ananias hears that you've lied to God and humans, and then he dies.
Then some young men, the ushers, wrapped up his body and carried him out and buried him. About three hours later, his wife came in knowing, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land? Yes, she said. That is the price.
Peter said to her, how could you conspire to test the spirit of the Lord? Listen, the feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out also. At that moment, she fell down dead at his feet and died. Then the young man came back from burying Ananias, finding her dead, said, this is what we do now and carried, no, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
So the theology behind this, every scholar would agree that what's happening in this moment, in the inception of the church, is very specific to the early days of the church. That God is clearly present in the church. This spirit is clearly moving in the church. But this is a sovereign act of judgment. Much like what happened in Genesis three, what happens in Exodus, what happens in Joshua chapter seven.
God sovereignly acts to not have any misunderstanding that this is a critical moment in the early church life. That God is present. And in Revelation, it's very clear that Jesus will judge. He comes back as a judge. Right?
I love like Paul will say in Romans that we will give an account for our words as Christians and our deeds. It says that leaders of the church will be judged for how they teach, for how they manage the flock of God. This is not something you consume. The church is not something you yelp or opt in and out of. This is a divine covenant community where the presence of God is here.
In Revelation it says that there are angels over local churches. This is spiritual activity. How many of you know that the enemy has a war room against you? The idea of you being isolated and not doing church, this is a house of God. There's a strength in being in the in the house of God.
It says in Revelation, well, says in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John that Jesus comes in on a donkey. Yes, he does. He comes to bring bring peace. But in Revelation, he comes in on a horse. And he will bring judgment.
Not Romans judgment. Not Romans one where God in his judgment right now is handing people over to their desires of sin. Handing them over to their ideologies. Letting the the natural outflow of wrath which is you were designed for wholeness and if you want anything else other than that, you're gonna get what you want. You'll be eaten alive by the ideology.
You'll eaten alive by your lust that's become an addiction. You'll be eaten alive by the consumerism. You will live by those things. In Revelation, it says that Jesus comes back and he defeats all of the evil works out there. He becomes not just a judge for Satan and those who have done in in the demonic realm.
But, he will judge everyone who's destroying God's good and beautiful creation. Only those who have the mark of Jesus will be saved. Only those who have submitted to his lordship. We don't talk about this because we love mercy and grace. But, this is true.
And I wanna just say what I'm getting at in the early church. What what's so clear is that there's this great fear that sees the church. What I wanna say, what we need today is holy fear. We need congruence and we need reverence. Because this generation, our generation has just diminished the sacredness of what we do.
That we think we can just do church anywhere. There's something about the ordination of what God set in advance in Old Testament to New Testament that we see what were designed as saints to be a part of a worshiping gathering. The early church, the Orthodox church, they organized the very structures of the buildings they meet in based on revelations, revelation of heaven. We have to get back to the sacredness of what we're a part of. What it means to have reverence.
And I think that's the problem is we love God but we don't, we lack reverence. John Brevere tells a story in the eighties, a famous, the most famous Christian was taken down through scandal. He had an affair and he he did mail fraud. And he had the largest TV network at the time. And, John wrote a book and and this this book inspired this man who was imprisoned for what he did and he asked to come visit him and John Brevere talks about this.
He went to go visit this famous Christian, this famous pastor and he was asking him about what what happened in his life and why he did what he did. And and he kept asking these questions and he said, when did you fall out of love for Jesus? And this famous pastor said, I didn't. And Jean Bavier is so confused, he's like, you committed adultery, you had mail fraud and you're in prison. And he responded, I love Jesus all the way through it.
I love Jesus but I didn't fear God. See, healthy fear is knowing you don't stick a knife in a light socket. Healthy fear is knowing that you don't go up to pet a wild bear. We need to rekindle in this church, in this moment, holy fear. A congruent life.
Not one of religion. Not one of of forced practices, but one that's holy. And the word holy is really hard because you hear it and you get really religious with it. You immediately think, okay, I need to consecrate, I need to get holy. And you start thinking about the things that you need to give up.
Is that not right? But that's a terrible definition of holy. Yes, it means set apart from, to be set apart for. But the Hebrew word for holy, the best definition scholars say, is that the word holy means to be dedicated to. So in Leviticus and in first Peter, when first, when Peter writes to his churches in first Peter, can you go to that passage?
Chapter one. I think it's verse 13. He says, therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed that it's coming. So set your mind on the future reality Jesus is coming back. Listen to what he says next.
As obedient children, do not conform to evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance but just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do. For it is written, be holy because I am holy. That passage in the Old Testament is not, okay, stop doing all this stuff because I stopped doing all this stuff. It's be as dedicated to me as I am to you. See holiness is not about what you don't do.
It is about who you desire. So what do we do church? If you feel like me where I did not spend my morning reading over my sermon instead I spent the entire morning morning confessing my sins. I went to John Wesley's 22 Questions of Accountability and then I wrote 34 questions of my own because those weren't enough because I like to hide. I'm an actor after all.
My favorite character was Iago for the for the complexity of the character just so you know. So not likeness. What do we do? Well, how did you become Ananias and Sapphira? It doesn't happen overnight.
Hypocrisy doesn't happen overnight. It's one tiny step at a time. Yeah? There's this passage in second Corinthians. I think it's chapter three verse 15 in the ESV.
It says, yes, to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Go to the next one. And we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.
For this comes from the Lord who is spirit. Brothers and sisters, may I invite you to repent. May I invite you to repent. And what I want, I want one degree of glory. You were moving this way in your journey of lust.
Let's just shift it a little bit towards God's Christ likeness. You are moving this way with your fantasy life. You are moving this way with your finances. Just one degree towards Christ likeness. You have been hiding this much.
Could you bring one person into the things that you are terrified of being exposed of? Could you just lift, lift, open up the heart a little bit towards Christ and see what he does? One degree of glory at a time. And I will leave you with these questions. You can take a picture of this and then we will pray.
Questions and then three practices. I want you to reflect on this. Where are you managing an image instead of nurturing an inner life? What part of your story are you refusing to bring into the light? Where are you exaggerating, polishing, curating and performing?
What are you protecting with secrecy, comfort, control and reputation, money or lust? And who knows the real you, not the public you? And these are the three practices I want you to embrace. We've talked about these before but just take a picture and go to the scriptures to read through these. These will help kill hypocrisy in our church and grow incongruence.
Number one is confession. I love seeing all the phones out for the first time. This is great. You should do this. But you gotta confess your sin.
Name it. Stop negotiating with it. Stop negotiating with it. You know what I'm talking about. You have created this world where it's like just a little bit and then you create like a penance with God.
And then you go back to the thing that you know he's asking you to give up. Anyone know what I'm talking? I know you know. You're not gonna say it. I'm not gonna You know what I'm talking about.
Confess it as sin. How much poison do you want to drink? You are like, Oh, it's just a little bit. That's what you are doing. Second.
You got to bring it in community. Gotta have community and if you don't have a place that's safe where you can say anything and they're not gonna judge you. Then then the next thing, number three before four is pray for one friend. That will be that space for you to be the iron where you can bring the worst thing they've ever heard and they'll say, I got you. Let's pray.
Well, they'll reflect Jesus' words to you, Go and sin no more. You've been forgiven. Grace and peace. And the third is consecration. This is about your desires.
Reorder your life around the presence on a pause. Let's get back to desiring God. To hungering for him versus all the things. I don't know what it looks like for you but for me, this is gonna be a long journey. I wanna invite you for the first time.
Well, I wanna invite you right now to embrace reverence for the Lord. Can we stand together?
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