Fear-Based Religion?

Acts 4:32 – 5:16
32 Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. 33 With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. 35 They laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. 36 There was a Levite, a native of Cyprus, Joseph, to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas (which means "son of encouragement"). 37 He sold a field that belonged to him, then brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet.
1 But a man named Ananias, with the consent of his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property; 2 with his wife's knowledge, he kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles' feet. 3 "Ananias," Peter asked, "why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, were not the proceeds at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to us but to God!"

5 Now when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard of it. 6 The young men came and wrapped up his body, then carried him out and buried him. 7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter said to her, "Tell me whether you and your husband sold the land for such and such a price." And she said, "Yes, that was the price." 9 Then Peter said to her, "How is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out." 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and died. When the young men came in they found her dead, so they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear seized the whole church and all who heard of these things.

12 Now many signs and wonders were done among the people through the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon's Portico. 13 None of the rest dared to join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 Yet more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he came by. 16 A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.

Fear-Based Religion?

We are community of faith. We are a community of sacred intentions, divine dreams, holy hopes, and enduring love. We use this book to guide us, inspire us, and correct us. Some of us, me included, even call this book "sacred." And yet, sometimes I find myself disappointed, disillusioned, and disrespected by this collection of written works. I think sometimes this book fails us. We have to figure out how to separate what is written in here – the words that make up the stories – from what is sacred. If we don't, then stories like the one we just heard might damage us. I don't believe The Holy wants us damaged.

The story of Ananias and Sapphira gets used by religious leaders over and over again to scare followers into heeding their bidding … their rules. When I think of the foundational teaching of Jesus, I am amazed that this story, and so many others like it, made it into the canon.
There are two rules of which Jesus said the rest of the rules revolve around. The first is, you should love God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second, Jesus said, is like the first. It is, to love your neighbor like you love yourself.

The punishment meted out to Ananias and Sapphira under the leadership of Peter is as severe as the punishment Saul had been doling out to those in Peter's group. That punishment is death and both believed it was God's judgment for those who were sinning. Granted, Saul's method of death is more painful, so it has been said that God is more merciful. But really the bottom line is that according to this story, when you mess up God kills you. Conversely, when you do right, God heals you.

The section of the story that we heard today starts out with an affirmation of the community. Everyone has enough to eat, a place to sleep, and no one was selfish. That sounds like a pretty good way to live. It sounds like the kind of thing that Jesus would feel good about. Next we are told about Barnabas who sold a field that he owned and gave the money to the community and Ananias and Sapphira who sold their property but lied about how much they received. Okay, so maybe there was a little selfishness. The consequence of their actions was death. There was no opportunity for repentance, no questions asked, just judgment.

After their death, the story moves swiftly to the signs and wonders that were being performed – much like sudden death due to telling a lie there were sudden healings. But people were afraid. It says that fear seized the whole community. In verse 13 it says a curious thing – "None of the rest dared to join them, but the people held them in high esteem." Who are "the rest" in this sentence and who are "the people?" Did the people who held them in high esteem not join them because they were afraid of them? If it wasn't for the previous statements about the church folk being seized with great fear I would interpret "the rest" as being the religious authorities. We hear a little of their story just past what we read earlier. The sect of the Sadducees were jealous of the apostles and imprisoned them. That's in keeping with the gospels – followers of Jesus making the authorities angry and getting into trouble. But that the community of believers were seized with fear because of a threat of punishment really bothers me.

The story continues with "a great number of people being added to the Lord." They are desperate to be healed. Just as the woman with the issue of blood in the gospel account just wanted to touch the hem of Jesus' robe, these people want Peter's shadow to fall on them for their healing. It sounds powerful and desirable – but I have a problem with it.
The desperation of the people in the gospel accounts and the desperation of these people feel different to me. Both kinds of desperation seem like they are born of a need to feel the power of God. Jesus, however, when he encounters this desperation tends to turn the power back toward the one who is seeking to receive. We can see this in the story of the woman who was bleeding. The story is all 3 synoptic gospels. I'll read from Mark, the 5th chapter.

28 for she said, "If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well." 29 Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?" 31 And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, 'Who touched me?'" 32 Jesus looked all around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."

This woman was fearful and trembling and Jesus says to her … it wasn't me, it was you. It was your faith that made you well. Be at peace, daughter. Be healed.

The Acts story doesn't give us the same analysis. Folks come from all around to get close enough to Peter that his shadow will fall on them, just like the crowd pressed in against Jesus. People who are sick and tormented come to Peter. Friends bring their loved ones on cots because they are desperate for the power of God. But this power of God has shifted, I think. It is no longer Jesus releasing people to have their own faith and to be empowered by it for their own healing. Now it is Peter doing the healing and administering the power of God. It is also Peter administering the judgment of God. The community is seized with fear. And no one is saying that there is anything wrong with this. Well, I'm saying that there is.

The woman with the issue of blood lived in a fear-based society and in a fear-based religion. Jesus offered her her own power back and gave her peace. Ananias and Sapphira lived in a fear-based society, but their religion was supposed to be peace-based. True that they lied. They should have been called out on that, no question. But instant death with the result of fear seizing the community of believers feels like an undesirable shift to me. This is the kind of power that results in all kinds of oppressive evil.

By fear-based religion and fear-based society I am talking about authorities using fear to rule people. And I believe that fear-based religion fuels a fear-based society.
Last week our United Methodist siblings had their General Conference. During this event they go over their laws … their rules. It was affirmed at this conference that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. It is a fear-based system that tries to keep people who are different than the majority in their place.

A little over a week ago there was a ruling of the officers who killed Sean Bell. They were acquitted. Sean was a young black man who lived in Queens. He was shot at 50 times by 3 police officers in November of 2006. Sean was unarmed and not committing any crime.

On the website, justiceforsean.net, there is the following entry:
Friday, May 2, 2008:
Protestors held a rally outside the 103rd Precinct in Queens where the three acquitted detectives worked.
"The cops have to realize that they can't just go around shooting people and asking questions afterwards," said one protester. "They have to realize that we are human beings and they have to treat us like human beings."
"We're out here today because a week ago today, a judge let go the police who murdered Sean Bell in cold blood," added another. "They sent a message last Friday that the lives of black and brown youth in this country are worth nothing, and we're out here today to say that we're drawing the line."

Sylvia Rivera was a Puerto Rican drag queen and a leader of those being barraged with fear and physical violence at the Stonewall Riots in 1969.

Here is an excerpt from villagevoice.com
When genderqueers rioted at the Stonewall Inn on June 28, 1969, it wasn't because the last jitney had just left for Fire Island. They took on the cops because their sanctuary had been invaded once too often, and, unwelcome at the city's tonier gay bars, they had few other places to call their own. Sylvia immediately understood the significance of their rebellion. She called Stonewall "the turning point," and she threw one of the first bottles at the cops.
I could go on by talking about the Jena six or the Memphis 3. We could talk about what is happening in Burma and Tibet. All of this is fear-based … authorities telling people to act right or else.

Jesus was hard on people, sometimes downright rude, and maybe I still have too romantic notion about him, but I don't think he would have brought down the wrath of God on Ananias and Sapphira. Here is an example of the followers of Jesus seeking power and authority and Jesus' response to them.

This is from Luke 9:46 – 56
46 An argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest. 47 But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took a little child and put it by his side, 48 and said to them, "Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest." 49 John answered, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us." 50 But Jesus said to him, "Do not stop him; for whoever is not against you is for you."
51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; 53 but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 56 Then they went on to another village.

Three times in a row we see the disciples trying to attain power for themselves and twice to enact judgment. Finally it says that Jesus rebukes his disciples for wanting to command fire from heaven to consume those from whom they received an inhospitable welcome. The first thing I want to point out is that Jesus rebukes them, he doesn't kill them. And second, Jesus has mercy on those doing wrong to him. These examples may be more of a parallel to the stories of Ananias and Sapphira. We have folks doing wrong all over the place … some are not followers of Jesus and some are. Jesus does call out his followers, but no one is threatened or killed.
We're not always going to do it right. Sometimes we will be selfish, much like Ananias and Sapphira. But God help us if we become like Peter! His ability to heal does not give him the authority to enact judgment.

Our society is in the habit of ruling through fear and intimidation and being ruled by fear and intimidation. We need to stop this cycle. It isn't what our teacher taught us. I believe that we need to resist this kind of leadership, but not by using the same tactics. Audrey Lord said, "The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house." We need to resist in love and in non-violence. It is not futile to march or write petitions or vote. It is not futile to speak up in the office or at a party when we hear a racist, ablest, or heterosexist remark. It is not futile to forgive our friends, our enemies, or our siblings in the faith. And it is not futile to take your own power of faith for your own healing. I am not advocating a name it/claim it gospel, but I do believe in a gospel of empowerment. Sick people heard about Jesus and went to him to be healed. That act was an act of faith and Jesus proclaimed that it was this that made them well. Then he sent them off in peace. I am suggesting that we do the same thing.

Don't let the Peter's of the world control you and your faith. I think this kind of power should be cyclical, not linear. With Jesus it was cyclical. A person went to him for a healing and he gave them affirmation of their faith and their power. This kind of faith can then flow continuously. Peter, on the other hand, has people come to him for a healing and he heals them. It stops there. This is a linear progression. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. A progression where one person has power and another person doesn't. I believe in a cyclical progression, one with no beginning, middle, or end. There is sacred power and it is shared and multiplied.

Share your power and don't take away anyone else's power. Know your own power and don't let anyone take that from you. Work on behalf of those whose power is being stripped from them. This is violence – this stripping away of a person's power. Fight on behalf of the Sean Bell's and the Sylvia Rivera's. Fight on behalf of yourself when a legislative body or anyone determines that who you are isn't legal or holy or human enough. And if someone walks under your shadow for a healing, pick them up and tell them that it was their faith that released the power of The Holy.