Sacrifice – A Supernatural Act of God

Are we willing to sacrifice for the sake of the Good News?

Here is today’s text   (Acts 4:32-37)

³² All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. ³³ The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. ³⁴ There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them ³⁵ and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.

³⁶ For instance, there was Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas (which means “Son of Encouragement”). He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus. ³⁷ He sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles.

When it comes to giving – what can we learn from the church in ACTS?

They were united in heart and mind.  They were focused on one thing – to use their resources to advance the message of Jesus Christ.

The sharing of their resources allowed the apostles to “testify powerfully to the resurrection  of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all.” They all agreed that this was the most important thing they could be doing right now. They were selling  their houses, their lands, their fields to not only care for each other but to make sure that the message of Jesus’ death and resurrection was getting out.

What caused them  to make such a huge sacrifice?

They understood completely the sacrifice Jesus made for them

• Jesus didn’t have any tangible resources to give them – in fact Jesus was dependant  on many people to support his ministry. Many sacrificed so that Jesus could eat and sleep. He sacrificed his home, his family, and His life to convince the world that God loves them.

They understood completely  that God sacrificed his only Son.

• They understood that God willingly gave up his son – and for a moment – God turned his back on his son – and then He watched him die for the sins of the world.

Jesus taught time and time again that sacrifice was a part of the walk of faith.

• He taught it.
• He modeled it.
• He lived it out.

They understood that sacrifice  was a priveldge and not a duty.

Look at Mark 12: 41-42  (click on verse to read it) – He used the example of the widow giving her last two mites to the temple treasury for what it means to really sacrifice.

Look at Matthew 26:6-7  (click on it to read it) – He used the example of the woman who poured out an alabaster jar of expensive perfume over his head. His disciples were appalled that she could such a thing. She recognized who he was and could nothing else.

In Acts 4 (our passage today) – people willingly gave up their resources.  They understood (by Jesus example) that sacrifice was part of the walk of faith. They understood that in order for the message to continue to get out that everyone had to sacrifice.

In 2 Corinthians 8:3-4 – Paul continues to encourage the followers of Christ to give sacrificially.

Each of these examples speaks not only to the willingness to give but also to make a sacrifice.

To sacrifice something means that one is willing to give something up for the benefit of another. In sacrifice there is no personal gain.

When you examine all of these stories you learn that sacrifice is not a natural thing to do. All you have to do is watch a bunch of toddlers playing together and they all want the same toy. They will do anything to get it. They will throw a fit, cry, jump up and down, and scream at the top of their lungs.

Willingly sacrificing is a supernatural act of God. God is the one who puts the willingness in our heart to sacrifice. In each of the stories that we glanced at today,  people willingly sacrificed because they had been broken.

• Being broken turned their selfishness into selflessness.
• Being broken turned their greed into generosity.
• Being broken turned their  self-centeredness into  other-centeredness.

Something happened in their life that caused them to think beyond themselves. Something happened in their life that caused them to do something beyond themselves.

That something was an encounter with Jesus.

• Paul had his experience on the road to Damascus.
• The prostitute who poured the oil on his head was a forgiven prostitute.
• The “church” in the book Acts watch Jesus die. They understood the sacrifice He made.

Because of their brokeness- they willingly gave of themselves to God by sacrificing time, resources and in some cases,  lives.

If you look at 21st century Christianity you would discover that we have created a comfortable Christianity. Worse yet, a spoiled Christianity.

• My brother and sister claim that I was the spoiled one in my family. I always got what I wanted. I always had more freedom that everybody else when they were my age. I always got my way. I “guess” you could say I was the spoiled one.

21st Century Christianity is the same way. We get what we want. When we want it. We have the freedom to do whatever we want. We always get our way. As long as we have Christianity the way we want it then we are okay.

• We enjoy our religious comforts. I am not talking about pews, air conditioning, and all the creature comforts we have to help our worship experience more comfortable. I am talking about our own comfortable Christianity. We create our own Christianity that makes us feel comfortable. We do just enough (we think) to please God, please others, and to make ourselves look good.
• As long as I am comfortable in my faith.
• As long as I don’t have to sacrifice a way of life.
• As long as I can do Christianity the way I believe it needs to be done.
• As long as I can change my belief to fit my behavior instead of changing my behavior to reflect what I say I really believe.
• As long as God doesn’t ask me to give up too much.

Let’s be honest – we’re spoiled. 21st century Christianity  in America has made is so easy to follow Christ.

• In today’s Christianity  there is no sacrifice needed
• There is no change necessary.
• As long as I get what I want – I will follow Christ.

Christianity has made sacrifice inconvenient.

Going the extra mile has become inconsistent (we do it when we feel like it).

Loving our enemy is no longer necessary.

Generosity toward each other and to our community is the exception instead of the rule.

It is because the 21st century approach to following Christ that our hearts are no longer  broken. In other words, we would rather our hearts  be warmed by God instead of broken by God.

I know we can’t go back to the way things were in the 1st century church.

• We can pray for a willing heart.
• We can remember God’s generosity towards us.
• We can confess there is much more to following Christ than what we have made it.

Are we willing to sacrifice to adance the message of Jesus Christ?