Dishonesty

This morning, at 3:35 a.m., I received another text from LinkedIn about paying an overdue toll.

Yesterday, it was a text from the post office about a failed delivery, and last week it was a call from someone, I don't remember who, about an iPhone I had apparently bought for $1,500.

The ATO have told me that they will issue an arrest warrant if I don't provide certain details, but separately, they've also partially prepared my current tax return.

All I have to do to respond to any of these is just click the link provided, provide some details and the requests, the demands will be acted on.

Dishonesty is alive and well.

Dishonesty means a lack of integrity.

It includes lying, admitting the truth, telling only part of the truth, tricking or manipulating someone into doing something that's not in their best interests.

It involves deceiving others, making people believe something that is untrue.

I think the most powerful and cautionary stories though, are those that when examined, reveal beliefs and behaviour not unlike our own.

In the Bible, the story of Ananias and Sapphira, must be the most well-known case of identity.

So, let me read from Acts.

We're told that all the believers after Pentecost were in one heart and mind.

No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.

With great power, the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

And God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all, that there were no needy persons among them.

For from time to time, those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet.

And it was distributed to anyone who had need.

Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles named Barnabas, meaning son of encouragement, sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet.

Now, a man named Ananias, together with his wife, Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.

With his wife's full knowledge, he kept that part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet.

Then Peter said, Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have 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.

When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died, and great fear seized all who heard what had happened.

Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.

About three hours later, his wife came in, 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 at his feet and died.

Then the young men came in, and finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

Great fear sees the whole church and all who heard about these events.

It's a confronting ending.

Peter's words powerfully remind us that dishonesty is about what's in our heart and its effect on our relationship with God.

In Mark 7, Jesus says to his disciples, what comes out of a person is what defiles them, for it is from within, out of a person's heart that evil thoughts come.

Sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.

All these evils come from inside and defile a person.

So while many of the Bible references talk about what's on our lips that is problematic, Jesus and Peter locate the source of sin as our heart.

In Luke 6, Jesus says, A good man brings good things out of the goods stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart, for it is the mouth that speaks what the heart is full of.

In Ananias and Sapphira's story, their dishonesty is contrasted to Joseph, son of encouragement he's known as.

Barnabas is a good man who brings good things out of the goods stored up in his heart, he saw the need and sold a field he had and laid the money at the disciples, at the apostles' feet.

I think it's fair to assume that Ananias and Sapphira saw Barnabas sell his field.

They knew he was known as son of encouragement.

I'm imagining that their hearts longed to be accepted and valued like Barnabas was.

They wanted to belong, to be one of the believers, to be of one heart and mind, but they weren't of the same heart and mind.

They didn't love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind and strength.

It turns out their hearts were evil.

Only evil things could come out of the evil stored up in their hearts.

They thought they could imitate Barnabas and be appreciated as he was and belong as he did, but their motivation was wrong.

They were not doing it for the Lord.

They were doing it for themselves, for their reputation, and even then they lied.

They didn't trust God, so they couldn't give the full amount of the sale of their land as they had claimed.

Sacrificial love like Barnabas comes from a heart full of the love of God.

indeed, all the believers were putting their own needs aside for the group and for the cause, the gospel.

They were generous and selfless.

Jesus taught in Mark 8, whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.

The believers were walking and living in that truth.

That makes the rest easy.

The good stored up in their hearts was God's love, seen by them in Jesus' life, giving death on the cross and resurrection.

Ananias and Sapphira had not received that truth.

They wanted to be valued, accepted and to belong by being perceived as freely giving.

But in fact, they were holding back.

The story, of course, is nothing to do with money or giving up possessions.

There was no demand by the apostles, the believers to sell their belongings, no expectation that they give all the money.

In fact, it's a story about hearts.

It's clear that Ananias and Sapphira harboured beliefs in their hearts that produced evil.

What beliefs were acting as barriers to their hearts understanding this?

Maybe they think they're not good enough for God's love.

Maybe they need to be in control to be okay.

Maybe they think they can only rely on themselves.

These beliefs are personal truths, familiar maybe to some of us.

Personal truths are lies we tell ourselves that we believe to be true.

We described dishonesty earlier as making people believe something that's untrue.

Personal truths are about making ourselves believe something that is untrue.

Personal truths have a powerful hold on us.

They're often rooted in childhood, so they can be hard to recognise.

Personal truths separate us from God because they're mostly based on our performance.

If I do X, Y, Z, people will like me.

If I'm in control, I can get through.

I have to be on top.

I am my reputation.

I have to keep the peace, so I'll be loved, and so on.

God's love recognises that will never be enough.

It's only through Jesus that we are made right or righteous in his eyes.

We don't have to be good enough.

We don't have to be accepted by Jesus.

Personal truths begin as thoughts, but become beliefs, and beliefs shape our behaviour.

When we act out of personal truths, out of these lies, we stuff things up.

Evil might sound harsh, but good things can't come out of damaged hearts.

We can't live out of the fullness of God's love for us.

We sell fields and are dishonest about our giving to make ourselves look good.

Do any of these sound familiar?

Others let me down, I don't let anyone in.

My reputation is important, and I step over others to make myself look good.

I'm afraid of not having enough money.

I'm always stingy.

Personal truths are about holding back, living out of fear, relying on my own actions.

Like all sin, being dishonest with myself, behaving from personal truths is a sin that distances us from God.

Do you recognize Ananias and Sapphira's hearts in yourself?

Do you have personal truths that stop you from receiving the full power of God's love for you?

Lies that damage your heart and keep you living out of fear, not freedom?

Do you know this story of wanting and trying hard to be the person God called you to be, but being caught over and over again by the lies, the personal truths, that keep us from living out of his love, his grace and his freedom?

The good news is that God's grace is sufficient to overcome these lies that we've lived by as truths.

We can overcome and be overcomers whose hearts are restored and who are then changed from the inside out.

When the beliefs of our heart are right, our behaviour follows.

So, how do we get this good life?

It's the question which Jesus answers.

I am the way, the truth and the life.

No one comes to the father except through me.

Salvation comes through Jesus.

If I recognize that through his death on the cross, Jesus died for my sins and I ask him to forgive me, I'm set free.

Set free through God's grace.

Nothing I've done from death to live forever.

Reunited to God, the father by Jesus and given the Holy Spirit to live in me and make me more like Jesus.

Praise God that many of us here have found this answer.

If you haven't, I pray that in being here with us today, that you're on the journey to this life-changing answer, and you will find people here to help and encourage you.

But for many of us who have received this good news, we're still living with personal truths that stop us from living the kingdom life Jesus promises we can have now.

So what's going on?

Answers to these questions are explored by Dallas Willard in two of his books, The Divine Conspiracy and Renovation of the Heart.

Willard says there are three things we need to do in response to Jesus' gift of salvation, vision, intention and process.

First is vision.

Have a vision of the goodness that God is calling us to.

Jesus' words sum it up, repent and believe the good news.

In other words, stop doing your thing, come and do the Lord's thing.

Second is intention.

If you have that vision, Willard says, then you can make a clear decision, intention, that yes, I'm going to learn what it's like to love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, and love my neighbour as myself, which is a practical expression of that vision.

Third is process.

You have a process to follow.

Practices that help you love God and love others.

That's the spiritual disciplines.

solitude, silence, fasting, reading the word, praying, and more.

Willard sums it all up saying, none of it will work unless you have the three of them.

Vision, intention, process.

Normally we have the means, the process, but we haven't formed the intention, and we haven't formed the intention because we don't have a vision.

Vision, intention, and process is how our hearts and everything else about us are transformed.

We make a decision to submit our kingdom to his, and we begin to do the things that help that, the spiritual disciplines or habits.

Of course, we're still imperfect and we get it wrong, but the Lord meets us with his grace, and there's a gradual transformation from the inside out.

Instead of trying to imitate Jesus and how he will behave in certain circumstances, we become permeated by his love and our actions become the natural expression of who we are in him.

It's agape love, the God love that is at work here.

I think Ananias and Sapphira were trying to do process, the spiritual practice of giving, but without the vision or the intention, so it was a big fail.

They didn't believe that God could provide all things, that he's the creator and controller of the entire universe.

They were wanting to hang on to their kingdom.

They believed a personal truth, that they needed some control, and so when they kept some of the money back, they were, as Peter said, testing the Holy Spirit, and the response was death.

And it's a reminder for us, that sin and death are connected.

It's sobering, isn't it?

The punishment was swift and severe.

But if we think about it, we know that this sin, having a heart full of personal truths that separate us from God, is death.

Last term, Raylene and I ran a Life Keys course called Search for Life with a small group from our church.

They graciously participated as a pilot group.

We hope to have more courses next year.

Personal truths is a key concept in this course.

I think for me, it was very helpful to have some teaching around this idea.

As I reflect on the past and I ask God to heal me in certain areas, this has been helpful.

If this concept of personal truths has got you thinking, I hope you'll bring it to the Lord in prayer and ask for clarity and discernment.

And I pray that you'll know that His Grace is sufficient to overcome sin.

His Grace empowers and equips us to overcome dishonesty, untruths, that we believe about ourselves and ultimately about the Lord.

He asks us to be an active participant in His good vision and to follow it through with practices that enable Him to transform us.

Hearts change and then behaviours follow, and we find the Lord providing new opportunities to use who we are in our time and place, to partner with Him, to be active players in His eternal story, all for His glory.

Thank you, Lord.

Amen.

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