Often it is the smallest act that has the power to reach where it is most needed and most appreciated where it can ripple the most into more small acts of kindness and love.
- Holly Fair: November 28th from 9-1 (Santa Arrives at 10am).
- Death Cafe: November 21st at 4pm.
- INC Thanksgiving Services on November 22nd at The Central Congregational church at 10:15am (no services at CCNOT).
- Holiday Tea to Support North Quabbin Citizen Advocacy on December 5th at noon (RSVP soon).
- Tree Lighting on Goddard Park on December 6th at 5pm.
- Christmas Eve Services at 7pm.
- Christmas Day (mini) Service and Quiet at 9am. Feel Welcome to quietly come and go anytime between 9-10am.
Visit our Calendar of Events to explore our upcoming dates and times
All are Welcome. If you are uncomfortable with the word God, please feel welcome to insert your own word for the divine or Mystery in your life (Universe/Grace/Spirit/Divine).
These Reflections are written to be read aloud, please forgive any writing errors.
SUNDAY REFLECTION:
We have been working our way through some leaders of the early church, particularly women. It’s a question that’s often asked: where are the women?
This passage is early in the formation of the church and not necessarily a flattering portrait, but it does ask us some deep questions. Question about the traditional roles of women and what this new church expected of women.
It is also a story of community building. Questions quite relevant for today. What kind of community are we building? How do we build community? How do we behave as individuals within that community?
This is not an easy passage to read. It’s early in Acts (chpt 5). So early, that this is the first time Luke calls the community the “church”.
There are a lot of ways to look at this story and it leaves us with a lot of questions. Questions are foundation stones of seeking and questing. They are good things. We might ask:
Is this actually God punishing Ananias and Sapphira?
Is Ananias so frightened by Peter’s words that he has a heart attack? Is Sapphira so shocked by her husband’s death that she dies of shock?
Is it because they held the money back or because they lied about it…or both?
Is Sapphira obliged by the laws to do as her husband told her to? Or is she acting of her own accord? What agency does she have? What agency of women does this community need?
Is it a story that guides leaders of the church?
A story for members of the church?
A story for the community as a whole?
Maybe it shows us how difficult it is to be wealthy in a shared community? The destructive power of choosing money and stuff over community? Maybe it is asking those with wealth to show a more meaningful wealth?
What is going on here?
Is it a metaphorical story around how lies and greed destroy community? Or did they quite literally die?
There’s a lot to keep us busy here.
We like to analyze things. Especially the things that make us uncomfortable. It gives us something to do, to figure out. We do this a lot when we start to feel…feelings are often uncomfortable.
Fear. There’s definitely fear, that is written right into the passage. PAUSE. There may also be sadness and grief. PAUSE. Confusion, PAUSE. Anger. PAUSE.
When emotions come up, we tend to get heady. We are probably feeling some of these emotions as we read this passage together. We like to get out of those uncomfortable feelings. We start to analyze the story. We start to label and cast blame…outward.
But what if these stories ask us to look within?
It’s much more comforting to say “that’s not relevant to me” and move on to the next story. But what if we look at how we, as individuals, are like Ananias and Sapphira?
Uncomfortable, right?
This is what makes these stories so relevant. They are people being people. Imperfect and messy. Then…and now.
We can label Ananias and Sapphira as greedy, lying cheaters. They are bad people and deserve to be cast out. They must be awful people for this to happen to them. They are not like us…we are the good, deserving people.
But what if we meet them with some generosity and compassion? What if we see the ways we are like Ananias and Sapphira? What if we confess the parts in us that echo them.
What if they are just being practical? They are rich, so even if they only share a portion of what they have, they are still giving far more than any of the others are.
This is a new community and we like the idea of it, but what if it falls apart? Let’s give a little now, see how it goes, and we can give more later if it works out. They don’t seem to need all our money. It’s safer and smarter for us to have an “out” if we need it.
And we have other responsibilities. We have parents to take care of, children to support, and these other things that need our resources. We should save back enough to take care of ourselves so we don’t become a burden on the rest of society.
It feels a little more generous when put that way, huh?
So what’s going on here?
What do we have to learn here?
Maybe that we are all complicated and imperfect. The issues and concerns of this new church are, in a lot of ways, the same issues and concerns of the present day church.
This story tells us something about individuals and community. What kind of members do we need to be to build the kind of community we’d like to see. In order to build the community we want, we have to be the individuals that the community needs. We, each of us.
What can we tolerate and still be in community with one another? What tears us apart and destroys community? What won’t be tolerated? What can’t be tolerated?
Maybe this is what the story is about. It is very early in the building of the new church. This is all just the beginning.
Maybe it is a story that tells us to be full in on what is most important to us. That we will get hurt, and lose out, if we only half leap. A full leap of faith means letting go of the bar and flinging one’s self out into the unknown. Without a full leap, we fall. Sure, we might have a safety net beneath us, but we still fall.
Who are we as individuals in a community? Are we all in with our hands and our hearts or are we holding back out of fear? Are we comparing ourselves to others and offering just enough in comparison? Accepting “good enough”?
Good community must be built on trust (maybe it’s the lie that’s most troublesome). Good community is built on giving fully so that everyone has the safety net (maybe it’s the not sharing that is the most troublesome).
Let’s take a moment to think about that society.
What happens in a society, a community, without trust?
What happens in a society, a community, built on greed?
What happens in a society, a community, where the members have one foot out the door (just in case)?
Communities are built with individuals. Beautifully, imperfect individuals. Each bringing their talents and gifts together. As messy and complicated as that can be.
What does a community built on truth look like?
A community built on trust in one another?
A community built on gathering together what we have to offer without judging who has less, who has more, who is more deserving, who is less deserving?
What does a community without lies look like?
A community without greed look like?
What does a community where everyone is “all in” look like?
What does a community of absolute faith look like?
It’s beautiful. It looks connected and whole. It looks like Love.
It looks like something filled with Grace..
