SUNDAY MORNING SERVICE 3rd May.

‘Imitations are inferior and do not satisfy as much as the original’ Slogan of Hadji Bey, famed Cork Turkish Delight maker. Manufacturers still anxious that we are not deceived by imitations: ‘If it isn’t Kellogg’s on the box, it isn’t Kellogg’s in the box’ What makes a genuine Christian different from an imitation one? What made Barnabas different from Ananias & Sapphira? B exemplified the much grace that was on the early church 4:32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own but they shared everything they had. Poverty was unknown. People like B were glad to give. The word ‘mine’ was unknown. Nobody said ‘Hands off’ They said ‘Please have!’ Here were people who took seriously the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ They didn’t just say it or sing it, they showed in their actions. An open handed glad generosity which contrasts so vividly with our habitual careful tight fisted holding on to what we have. ‘Through the generosity of God we first came into the Kingdom and generosity remains the fundamental law of Christian behaviour. A tight fisted hard hearted Christian is a monstrous contradiction in terms’ D Lennon. The best indication of the real spiritual effect of a service or special meeting is the size of the offering! a small offering, not much impact, a large offering -- God did indeed speak. B and other Christians unself-consciously showed they had received the love and generous grace of God really in their lives they themselves gave and gave and gave.

If that is genuine Christianity what about the imitations?

The story of A & S reminds us that we can fake it in front of people but God’s Spirit is not deceived and will not tolerate a fraud. What was wrong with this couple was not that they were mean but that they tried to hide their meanness. They tried not so much to be like B as to look like him. So when they sold their property they kept back part of the proceeds making out that they more generous than they really were. Not that they were forced to sell anything or to give anything to the poor. Christians are called to freedom in Christ where we do not have to be generous or caring but in the freedom of Christ generosity and caring just flows out. 5:4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold and after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? A & S chose deliberately to do one thing and pretend another whether they didn’t want to lose face with the others or simply because of greed they thought they could have it both ways a good opinion before others and enough money to keep themselves comfortable. That is hypocrisy plain and simple and what happened to this couple shows us how God hates hypocrisy.

Some people of course accuse all of us in church that we are all hypocrites, all pretending, all putting on an act. We are indeed all sinful but we are not all hypocrites. Just because you are a Christian and have some weakness you are mean, you lose your temper, you have an addiction ... does not mean that you are a hypocrite. Every Christian has some weakness, the apostles, Peter himself were not perfect -- they lost their tempers, they could be swayed by fear, they could take their eyes off Jesus as we do. Every minister has some weakness: those who live with me can tell you just how ungenerous and grumpy and unChristlike I can be. and I am sure many of you struggle with that in your own lives each day But because we fail to be like Christ does not mean that we are hypocrites -- unless we try to cover up and pretend that we have achieved perfection when of course we haven’t Hypocrisy comes in when we do one thing and pretend to do another, when we cover up our sin and say there’s no problem. That’s what God hates Yes, God is grieved with our sins but he still loves us and where we are open before him and (in measure) before others there is no hypocrisy and we can change. But the sudden deaths of A & S remind us that one thing that God will not tolerate is pretence. (No doubt those sudden deaths raise other questions which I try to answer in the printed notes. Let’s resolve today to be genuine Christians as the Moderator Dr Dixon has said ‘redeemed by grace to relate with grace’ Responding to God’s generosity with generous gifts of money & time and a generous approach to others. because we know how patient and forgiving God is to us. and even when we fail in any of this not trying to hide it

When next we are asked to contribute to a good cause; let’s not look round at others to see how little we have to give, let’s ask God how much we can give, freely, joyfully. And let’s look at not just money but all the stuff we have in our homes. How much of it do we really need? Clothes, books, ornaments, records, tapes, plants, toys, games we hang on to so much, because ‘it might come in useful some day’. Let’s be honest: are we being thrifty or are we scared deep down that disaster will strike and we won’t have enough. Are we really saying we don’t trust God, we need all this stuff just in case. Coffee morning planned in T for St Luke’s Home on Saturday 12 Sept Sale in Oct. for Aghada Let’s give away, let go of, not jumble, but some good quality stuff which might help someone worse off than ourselves. Are we genuine Christians? Are we generous? Or is it only on the surface?

Lord, we wonder at Barnabas’s generosity and we tremble at the folly of Ananias & Sapphira. Perhaps we are somewhere in the middle: we wouldn’t pretend to be what we are not but we don’t really have that glad generosity that just gives. May your great grace so come on us that in our personal lives and in our homes and in this congregation having received so much from you we shall be glad to give and give and give. Help us to apply this in everyday things: remind us to get a big black bag and go round our homes and fill it not with rubbish but with things that are doing us no use but will do good for others and glorify your name

Additional notes: The sudden deaths of Ananias and Sapphira * are a solemn marker to warn us not to fake it with God * are not to be taken as meaning that every sudden death results from hidden sin in people's lives. The story of Job warns against such slick generalisations. * do not necessarily mean that they were condemned to hell: Paul makes the distinction in 1 Corinthians 11.32 between being 'judged and disciplined'by the Lord instead of being 'condemned with the world' A & S may be among those who will be saved but only as one escaping through the flames (I Corinthians 3.10-15). * Remember, God judges everyone justly. We are not to judge, but to recognise that we too come under his judgement and need the cleansing of Christ.