Last night we had a dedication service for our newest arrival, Rebekah. Such services provide memorable moments for every family and the church has always acknowledged these moments in life (often known colloquially as ‘hatching, matching and despatching’ services!) Rebekah’s parents have always tried to hold such services on memorable dates and their two children both have memorable birthdays (Christmas Eve and April Fool’s Day!)

Memorable moments can be planned (and often the planning is part of the fun), but can also arrive unexpectedly; many memorable moments are wonderful (including holidays, meetings with friends, the awe we feel at times when faced with God’s wonderful creation), but some are painful and tragic (the loss of a loved one, the break-up of a relationship, the loss of a job.) In all of life, however, there is one memorable moment which is totally life-changing: this is the moment when a person is born again.

Jesus spoke about this experience in John 3:1-21, and Nicodemus was confused about this whole concept. A baby is born; how can an adult be born again? Jesus was referring not to natural birth but to spiritual birth which reconnects us to God. This second birth is the only way we can see and enter the kingdom of God. (John 3:3, 5). A child has no say into which family it’s born, but God gives us the right to become children of God if we choose life (see John 1:12, Deut 30:19-20).

This choice has an impact on our children too; Moses says, ‘Choose life, so that you and your children may live.’ (Deut 30:19) At a dedication service, parents give thanks to God for the gift of new life, but also vow to bring this new child up in the Christian faith. We have a duty and responsibility to talk about the memorable things God has done in our lives so that our children may hear and know who God is and what He is like (see Josh 4:21-24). All of us have the responsibility to tell us the story of what God has done (see Ps 107:2).

Secondly, Moses said, ‘Choose life, so that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice and hold fast to Him.’ (Deut 30:20) When we choose God, we have access to His unfailing love, to His guidance throughout our lives and can live in the knowledge that He is working for our good in all circumstances. We have a hope that lasts beyond our years on earth, for ‘whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’ (John 3:16) Jesus went on to say, ‘Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.’ (John 3:36) Our choices now affect not only our everyday lives here on earth but our eternal futures.

Rebekah is too young to remember the dedication service, but we believe it’s a memorable moment in her life. Dedication does not make a person a Christian, but acts as a service of thanksgiving and an opportunity for a family to make promises before God. When a person chooses life, however, and responds to God’s offer of salvation, that becomes the most memorable moment of all. (2 Cor 6:2)

Stephen asked us the very important question ‘Where Is God?’ yesterday morning. Like many people, he has a tendency of putting objects ‘in a safe place’, only to forget where that safe place is. Sometimes we can be like that with God, keeping Him ‘in a safe place’ for special occasions and then not remembering where He is.

Elijah, in a time of difficulty and trial, must have wonedered where God was. (1 Kings 19:9-18) God was not in the great wind or the earthquake or the fire, but came to Elijah in a gentle whisper, Often, we may find God in unexpected places.

Some answer the question ‘Where is God’ by answering ‘God is in heaven.’ Mankind was created in God’s image, in the image of God’s triune glory, but in rebelling against God and seeking a life of independence, found a ‘God-hole’ in life which can only be filled by a relationship with God through His only Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus may physically be in heaven now, but has sent His Spirit to dwell within us.

Others may say, ‘God’s in church’, which leaves us confused at times (if a church closes, does that mean God has moved somewhere else?) God does indeed dwell within His church (the people of God), but it’s best if we don’t limit God’s presence in this way. In English, there is a clue to where God is in the word ‘where’ itself; if we remove the ‘w’, we are left with the word ‘here’, and that is such a wonderful truth. God is here, with us, wherever we are (a fact we are reminded of as we think of the name ‘Immanuel’ – ‘God with us’.) As we share in Holy Communion, we are reminded of this truth; God is here with us.

God is also ‘there’, wherever ‘there’ is, because ultimately He is everywhere. God’s omnipresence is one of the characteristics which makes Him God. We can be reassured by the fact that God is here, there and everywhere! We can’t hide from His presence (Ps 139) and His presence is not limited to set places (church meetings, for example). We can experience the presence of God wherever we are.

We had three more birthdays to celebrate tonight.

Honesty, they say, is the best policy, a statement with which the Bible is in agreement. Giving false testimony is condemned (Ex 20:16); Prov 24:26 tells us, ‘an honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.’ When we live honestly and with integrity, we can be trusted and relationships can flourish. Where deceit and dishonesty rule, there is strife and doubt. The book of Proverbs has much to say about truth and lies: ‘An honest witness does not deceive, but a false witness pours out lies,’ for example. (Prov 14:5)

Our society is sometimes called a ‘post-truth’ society, with the OED defining ‘post-truth’ as ‘relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.’ This kind of society is dangerous, because people’s personal beliefs and emotions can vary so greatly; we need objective truth to guide us or we can be at the whim of every passing fancy.

Ananias and Sapphira faced God’s judgment because they decided their own rules and lied about what they had done, pretending the amount they had given for the sale of their property was the whole amount, when in actual fact they had kept some of the money back for themselves. They were not honest with Peter and the apostles and were certainly not honest with God, even though He sees the heart (1 Sam 16:7) and nothing is hidden from Him. (Luke 8:17) God desires inward truth (Ps 51:6); honesty will always be the best policy, not only with God, but also with people.

There seems to be a prevailing attitude in our modern society that ethics are purely situational; in other words, it is necessary to take into account the particular context of an act when evaluating it ethically, rather than judging it according to absolute moral standards. Whilst the motivation behind actions can be really helpful in understanding a person, we have to acknowledge also that God gives us absolute moral standards and we do well to focus our attention on obedience to these, rather than offering excuses for our sin in the guise of rationalisations or ‘reasons.’ God’s grace, as Paul vividly expounds to the Romans, is not a reason to sin! (Rom 5:20-6:14) Rather, His grace and mercy are the motivators to holiness we desperately need.

The account of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11 does not dwell on the motivation behind their actions. We don’t know what made them decide to withhold part of the proceeds from the sale of their property from the apostles or to lie about this. Our text seems to say that whatever our motive might be, if the act is a violation of God’s Word, then the act is sin. Peter’s emphasis is that Ananias and Sapphira lied, not only to men, but to God. (Acts 5:3-4) Regardless of why they lied, they lied, and that was a sin worthy of death. From a Christian point of view, one may do “the right thing” for the wrong motive and thereby sin, but one can never do the wrong thing for the right motive and do that which is pleasing to God. Machiavelli taught that ‘the end justifies the means’, but this is no Christian doctrine.

One of the ways we sift our motivation and seek to obey God in every aspect of our lives is by regularly praying David’s prayer: ‘Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.’ (Ps 139:23-24) Jeremiah warned us of the deceitfulness of the heart (Jer 17:9) and we need God’s help if we are to avoid situational ethics, chameleon-like tendencies rather than the distinctively different lifestyles God longs to grow within us. Paul, when discussing Holy Communion with the Corinthians, warned that some had died because of their failure to discern the body of Christ (1 Cor 11:29-30) and went on to say, ‘if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment.’ (1 Cor 11:31) Earlier, he had urged the Corinthians to ‘build with care’ so that they would build something of lasting value (1 Cor 3:10-15). We can rely on God’s grace and help to sustain us, but we also do bear responsibility for how we live and this is best done in prayerful response to God’s word.

The Bible tells us that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6) and that God’s word is truth. (John 17:17) Jesus is described as being ‘full of grace and truth’ (John 1:14) and promised He would send the Spirit of truth to His disciples (John 15:26). Truth is of paramount importance to God, as John makes clear in his letters; John’s greatest pastoral joy was when he heard of people ‘walking in the truth.’ (3 John 1:4)

The opposite of truth is a lie. Jesus described Satan as the ‘father of lies’ (John 8:44) whose native language was lies. Elsewhere, Satan is described as a deceiver (2 Corinthians 11:3; Revelation 12:9-10). Clearly, truth over lies matters enormously to God, and it was this act of lying through pretence for which Ananias and Sapphira were judged. (Acts 5:1-11)

Peter accused Ananias of ‘lying to the Holy Spirit’ (Acts 5:3) and lying to God (Acts 5:4, thereby equating the Holy Spirit with God.) It’s easy to be distracted by the details of the story, wondering if this means private ownership of property is automatically condemned by God, but Peter makes it clear that the property was theirs to do with as they wished. What was so abhorrent were their lies and pretence, trying to appear holier and more virtuous than they actually were. They were effectively putting God to the test (Acts 5:9), as the Israelites so often did in the wilderness (see Ex 16 as one example of this.) When we doubt God’s ability to provide for us and wander from the paths of truth, we are on dangerous ground.

Some may ask why this kind of judgment is not seen so frequently nowadays, given that we are just as prone to sin, lying and hypocrisy as Ananias and Sapphira were. In all honesty, I do not know, but I do know this story has a preventative twist to it. God’s reasons for bringing about the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira involve His abhorrence of sin, the hypocrisy of the couple, and the lesson for the rest of the church, both then and now. It can be easy today to gloss over the holiness of God, to forget that He is righteous and pure and that He hates sin wholeheartedly. This particular sin of hypocrisy in the church was dealt with swiftly and decisively at the time and the sudden, dramatic deaths of Ananias and Sapphira served to purify and warn the church. (Acts 5:11) May they continue to do the same for us today, reminding us to ‘worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”’ (Heb 12:28-29)