Gucci
New. There. I said it. New year. New resolutions. New Bible reading plan for some.** I find saying the word “new” during the first week of January is about as appealing and valorous as all the new clients in the gym. (Don’t take offense to this if you started the gym this month…) I think my definition of this word is bathed in skepticism toward others and optimism for myself. Personal vendettas aside, new things are great. The Lord loves new things. Lamentations 3 says that his steadfast love and mercies are new every morning!
“In the sense of the Lord, having new mercies is not a shallow receiving of the same daily mercy again; it is—for the believer—a compounded mercy”
An aspect of making something new is that it is different than what it was the day before. The previous day of wear and tear gives new meaning to an object. In the sense of the Lord, having new mercies is not a shallow receiving of the same daily mercy again; it is—for the believer—a compounded mercy, compounded in that it has increased unto us, but also displays an increase of the depth in which we delight in the Lord. If new mercy in the morning doesn’t excite us and inspire passion for the Lord, that mercy we went to bed with is stale…like old cheese. The mercy we received yesterday is not molded and shaped for today, not because it is bad (for the Lord only gives good, lasting things) but because it means we are stagnant.
Hebrews, Ephesians, Revelation, and Isaiah all speak to the Lord’s plan to make things fresh. Even in how we are created as organisms it is in our DNA to be new—shedding of dead skin, new hair, new taste buds, new cells. At it’s base we resonate with new, because we are constantly being renewed (2 Cor. 4:16).
Freshness has great street appeal too. Glade, Clorox, and Orbit have figured it out. Barbers have got it figured out. But you know who the “Vogue” is of new stuff in the tangible world? Socks and underwear. Like…there’s nothing comparable to the personal and firm embrace of a new 95% cotton /5% elastic blend above your thighs. Nor is there anything superior to the slip-on-softness of no-show virgin foot tubes. For Christmas my sister got me boxers with cartwheeling pandas patterning its comfortable vibe and…though I don’t even like boxers…they rock! Why? Because New. Because Panda.
A few posts ago I did a different blog on new beginnings, diving into the world pre-fall and how it points to Christ in the sanctification of a believer. This post I’d like to dig into a mirrored or paralleled story of Eden and the fall in the New Testament.
In the fourth and fifth chapters of Acts, Luke paints a picture for us of the beginnings of the new church. Let’s set up the parallel with Genesis then jump into the passage. Adam is made and brought forth from dirt; Christ is brought forth from the earth after three days. Both an Adam, both perfect in a garden (Adam in The Garden, Christ in Golgotha’s Garden [John 19:41]). Eventually they both leave the gardens—Adam because he is sinful, Christ because he is sinless. With Christ’s going out we pick up our story. In the early church everyone shared everything—had everything in common. Families were selling heirlooms, couples selling properties, farmers giving what they had grown, potters passing out handmade bowls… “There was not a needy person among them…” In a sense, Christ had multiplied the Kingdom of God in the hearts of the apostles and other men, and the Kingdom had established itself on earth in the form of a New Testament “Eden” church of sorts.
“we see that because of sin, new today will always be inferior to tomorrow.”
Now let’s take a moment here and visualize this. Neighbors taking care of neighbors, previous enemies now loving one another, peace among people, an atmosphere of care and adoration toward everyone. Everyone is investing on everyone 100 percent, 100 percent of the time. This. Is. Attractive. Like…new underwear attractive. I would want to be a part of this. All the kids are now the cool kids. Sign me up! But, even with the presence of the apostles, we see that because of sin, new today will always be inferior to tomorrow.
Usher in: Ananias and Sapphira (the crowd in my head “boo’s” at this point.) Here’s a couple…we don’t know how old they are, but I imagine them as a young couple carrying a Jersey Shore vibe…where Ananias is really big into the stock market and Sapphira into the Etsy/pinterest market. Maybe marked by some young, adventurous gamble toward the view of an ideal village, these two set out to be part of the Church crew, selling their land and passing it on to the apostles. Just like Eve with Adam standing there, Ananias and Sapphira plot out their greed and grievous action. Namely, to sell the land, pocket part of the money, give the rest to the apostles, then join the church. Long story short, Peter calls out Ananias and he dies; followed by Sapphira later—walk in, talk to Peter, die.
Plainly in the text, they die because they contrived this deed in their heart and grieve the Holy Spirit. Free lesson of the story: Don’t lie to God. He knows how much you make and how much you take.
“Don’t lie to God. He knows how much you make and how much you take. ”
One thing we learn from Peter is that when God has called us to reveal truth, lies die. One hundred percent of the time. Take that to the bank. The example of the church shows that when we live in truth we spiritually thrive, but when we live in lies we spiritually die.
But. Not only was their action out of a lie, it was done out of an unwillingness. An unwilling heart is always marked by death.*** You refuse to forgive-and-love that neighbor who plays the music too loud but then talk about how you have no one to forgive when the preacher asks. Spiritual death. Someone discredits or demeans you with their sarcastic tone and you hold on to an unwillingness to not dwell in their wrong doing? Spiritual death.
Death of a different type must be a part of the Christian walk though. As Christians, if we fail to die to ourselves daily we will die spiritually, and spiritual death always leads to physical death. Ananias and Sapphira were asking God to give life only on the portions they choose. If the blessings of God are not given or received in whole they are condemning and deadly.
“Though they sold everything, they were not sold out. ”
Of the things I saw in this passage in this most recent reading, one aspect stood out. I believe whole heartedly that Ananias and Sapphira did what they did so that they could look like the other church people, but live like they want. They had some reserves and pocketed some money as a contingency plan. Two things from this. 1) God does not accept or work with those who work with a plan B. For a Christian to live such is an insult to the character of God. 2) They had the image of being “sold out.” Today, that tends to look like skinny jeans with holey knees, big shirts, big worship, big glasses, big mission trips, big bibles with big notes and lots of hilighters, and big plans. …to have the appearance of godliness but deny its power. Though they sold everything, they were not sold out. The pride of life crawled into their hearts and left them shells—cold, barren, and dead. They wanted to reap of the church’s love in fields where they had sown weeds.
May we be a people who are opposite of Ananias and Sapphira, may we give more than we say we do, may we give everything so that when we fall down and breathe our last it is done un-grieved and purposefully.
Here’s to weeding our motives, to planting good seed, and to seeing new fruit.
**If you don’t have a reading plan, here’s a link to a pretty great one!
***For the Christian I am not talking about an eternal death, I am speaking fo this in regards to a momentary, or on earth death. Nothing permanent about it, but still severe, though it be short lived.