“Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise up against me. ² Deliver me from those who work evil; from the bloodthirsty save me. ³ Even now they lie in wait for my life; the mighty stir up strife against me.
For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord, ⁴ for no fault of mine, they run and make ready. Rouse yourself, come to my help and see! ⁵You, Lord God of hosts, are God of Israel. Awake to punish all the nations; spare none of those who treacherously plot evil.” Psalm 59:1-5

Verses 4b and 5 of Psalm 59 read, “Rouse yourself, come to my help and see! You, Lord G-d of hosts, are G-d of Israel.  Awake to punish all the nations; spare none of those who treacherously plot evil.”  In this text we have a disturbing image of a G-d who is asleep – who is distracted – who is not paying attention. It is a disturbing image. We do not like to think that G-d is not attentive to our needs, our concerns, and our prayers. And yet, the Psalms are filled with such laments. Even the Israelites, while on their forty year journey in the wilderness complain that G-d has forgotten them.

Are their times in your life where you have felt that way about G-d, that G-d needed to “remember” that you were here? Have there been times in the life of this country that you have felt that G-d was asleep, or needed arousing to remember us? Do you think that G-d forgets about us, or removes (himself) for periods of time? Of course, how do you think G-d feels when we forget G-d – forget to pray, forget to worship, forget to say thanks?

Pastor Dave

“But a man named Ananias, with the consent of his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property; ² with his wife’s knowledge, he kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. ³ “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? ⁴ 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!” ⁵ Now when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard of it. ⁶ The young men came and wrapped up his body, then carried him out and buried him.

⁷ After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ 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.” ⁹ 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.” ¹⁰ 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. ¹¹ And great fear seized the whole church and all who heard of these things.” Acts 5:1-11

When we read the story of Ananias and Sapphira, it makes us uncomfortable – or at least it should make us uncomfortable. Well, I have a few thoughts. First, this passage reminds us of the pitfalls of wealth – how money can get a hold on us so much that it separates us from a relationship with G-d. We hear the teaching from 1 Timothy 6:10 that it is the “love of money that is the root of all evil.” When Moses is delayed from coming down the mountain, and the people want Aaron to make a god for them, he tells them to give him their gold so he can forge the “Golden Calf”. Money and the insatiable urge to collect possessions   is a long–standing barrier between G-d and us.

Texts like this challenge us – as we seek relationships with friends or spouses and a relationship with G-d.  But, is there any grace in this text? It seems that Sapphira has an opportunity to be honest and to come clean – but would that have changed the outcome of the story? Sometimes we must live with a text and the difficult message that it speaks, knowing of course that each day, each minute, each second that we live gives us another opportunity to experience G-d’s grace and forgiveness as we live in relationship with G-d – a relationship of repentance and forgiveness.

Pastor Dave