Acts 5:1-11
Acts 5:1-11
But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” 5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. 6 The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.
7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, 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 breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things. 1
Have you ever heard a great story on the news, something that is inspiring and hopeful, something that may even bring a tear to your eye as you think of the people involved?
1 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ac 5:1–11). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. 1
A few weeks ago, John Krasinksi, of “The Office” and “Jack Ryan” fame, started a news cast in his home called SGN for “Some Good News.” The stories are on YouTube and they’re fun. They are good. His daughters made the logo. His wife, actress Emily Blunt shows up at times. It’s a welcome respite in the days of updated coronavirus updates.
By the way – I have nothing really negative to say about the “Some Good News” clips. I enjoy them and we’ve watched them as a family for a bit of laughter and encouragement.
On the other hand, and not on Krasinski’s show...
There are, at times stories that get shared, go viral (can we still say that) and trend online that are also great yet end up being less than what they appear.
I saw a news update on a YouTube clip last week about a wounded veteran now living in Texas with his wife. These stories of communities coming around and providing for our men and women who have suffered great injuries in battle are always good. These folks are deserving and I love to see these stories.
A few years back former Army specialist Justin Perez-Gorda and his wife were awarded a new house built to his specifications and needs in Dripping Springs, Texas by a veterans’ organization called “Homes for Our Troops.” The story was covered on local media and promoted on the charity’s sites. The specifications for the veteran included easy entryways, wide hallways, and lower countertops than standard. This is because Army special Perez-Gorda suffered from a traumatic brain injury while serving in Afghanistan in 2011. This resulted in him being paralyzed from the waist down. Therefore, the house was built to accommodate his wheelchair and special needs.
It’s a great story.
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Until some things were revealed that troubled neighbors and even local news agencies who covered the original gifting of the house.
It seems that many people saw Perez-Gorda walking around his yard and the news crew even videoed him unloading some wood from his pickup truck for some building projects he was beginning.
When confronted, he did not respond well. He kicked the reporters off his property and representatives from the charity who came to talk with his wife, were not greeted too well and went home with no answers.
It seems that this soldier really did face a traumatic injury. Yet, it also appears that he may have faked the severity of his injury to garner a free home.
I don’t know the veracity of the accusations, but suffice to say, it does not look good and other veterans and community members are not voting him head of the HOA or awarding his house the “yard of the month.”
A great story that becomes a terrible story because the people involved are frauds, seeking something undeserved.
That’s what is happening here in Acts 5. Last week our associate pastor Brian Hoffman brought a powerful message from Acts 4 about the generosity and the giving of the people in God’s church. They brought their resources as offerings – laying them before the apostles and trusting them to distribute these goods to the brothers and sisters in great need. We even see a man named Joseph – nicknamed Barnabas “Son of Encouragement” selling some property he had and giving the total amount to the church for the blessing of others in need.
This is Some Good News, right? Yes!
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But then we get to chapter five. And oh man, the situation turns. All the goodwill and living as true believers we see in the previous chapter is clouded by a couple in the church who ... well ... just do not get it. Seriously. They should. They could. They just don’t.
And it ends tragically for them and somberly for the church.
Look again at verse 1
But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property,
All good! This is just like what others had done, specifically Barnabas. They sold a piece of property. As we read this, it is natural to begin thinking “They’re going to donate the money to the needs of the church members, too.” Yes! This is how revival starts and continues, right?
All good until the second verse.
2 and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
What? They didn’t give it all? Were they expected to? Not really, but the issue is that they pretended to give it all. Just a little white lie, right? No big deal, right?
Well, you know it’s a big deal. I already read the rest of the passage. They’re struck dead and their bodies are dragged out for a non-respectful burial.
First the husband comes in alone. He lies. Boom. He’s dead. And a group of men wrap his body up and bury him outside.
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Then his wife comes in. She’s asked the same question and goes with the rehearsed story. Lies. Boom. Dead. Same.
This is a passage that really, really troubles some people. Some who want their God to be loving, but loving only from a human perspective, with no righteousness and holiness. Just “loving” as in “I love you. You can do whatever you want.” It’s like the permissive parent who just cannot bring themselves to discipline their disobedient children and believe it’s the best way to show them love. Here’s a hint – it’s not. In fact, love without discipline is not love at all. And, on the flipside, discipline without love is not love – it’s just punishment, and there’s a huge difference there.
Nevertheless, this passage troubles many. But why, really?
Because, perhaps we just want Some Good News and refuse to hear THE Good News?
Look here as we consider Ananias and Sapphira. They were many things.
They were married to each other and apparently committed to one another, so that’s good.
They were prominent in their faith community. At least we can infer this by their names being mentioned here.
They were pretty well off financially it seems. They owned land. They sold it and made money.
They were members of this church, as far as you count church membership in this new church in Acts. They were part of the covenant
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membership who came together for the teachings of the apostles and worship of God.
They had so much good going for them.
Oh, and they were hypocritical, greedy, self-serving, position-craving, envious, jealous, conspiring, wrongly-motivated, liars.
Among other things, I’m sure.
So, here is this troubling story for many Christians, and especially non- believers and the more culturally-inclined self-proclaimed believers. They wonder, and you have heard it “How can a loving God do this?”
Why would this happen?
Why would this story be one the Holy Spirit led Luke to write so we could recount it today and be frustrated, confused, and maybe even wondering?
GREAT GENEROSITY
We have already covered in the previous chapter the great generosity of the believers, especially Barnabas. The words used and the tone given reveal the humility of the givers despite the size of the gifts. The church was caring for its members, as expected. There was no set amount presented that they were to offer.
Some would say “Yeah, but they gave their tithe.” We don’t know that. We can easily fall into a legalistic argument that ends up nowhere regarding the tithe and the requirements in the Old Testament verses the principles in the New. Personally, I believe the tithe of ten percent was so ingrained in the Jewish believers by their culture that it was not even something to discuss. Of course, those tithes were for the temple and what is elevated in Acts 4 is not the tithe, not a ten percent gift, but the clear generosity of the church as they served the needs of each other.
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Some people today tip their church, and do so as poorly as they do their waiters. Some give reluctantly. Some just go online and do a $20 a week gift. I guess that’s a start. Yet, without a heart of generosity, a feeling of community and an overwhelming refusal to be stingy (I spoke of this last Wednesday) Christian, the gifts are little more than money in a plate (or an online gift option) and not worship.
How we give reveals our heart. I believe this is what Christ spoke regarding our treasures and our motives in his Sermon on the Mount and it applies to how we serve the Lord by serving each other.
Nevertheless, this early church was generous. They gave more than a tithe. They gave as needed. They ensured their brothers and sisters were covered. It was not communism or even a version of a kibbutz. It was the fellowship of believers, the brothers and sisters, the children of God and followers of Christ being the family God called and created them to be.
This concept has not expired.
This great generosity was contagious. It always is.
GREAT BATTLES
The overt, outward expression of God’s. grace and salvation through the generosity of his children was contagious and drew the ire of some. The church has been in a battle since the outset. It’s not a battle simply with a government, or another religious sect, or a people group alone. It’s not just a battle with those on the outside of the church.
This story reveals that the battle is on the inside as well.
Church splits, church fights, fired pastors, angry deacons, misappropriated ministry funds, sexual abuse in the church, and more. Oh, the list goes on and on regarding the brokenness within the walls of
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the churches throughout history. The battles facing the church come from the enemy of God and infiltration is a strategy. It always has been.
This attack of the enemy in Acts wasn’t with the Pharisees and scribes – you know, the ones Jesus called hypocrites, but with Ananias and Sapphira, church members – who proved to be hypocrites.
GREAT DECEPTION
When Ananias stated that he sold a piece of land and was giving the total amount of the sale to the apostles to use for the needy in the church, Peter asked if this was accurate. Ananias stated it was, but Peter knew something that Ananias didn’t. Peter knew this man was lying.
“It’s not that big deal!”
We hear this all the time with things that we just don’t want to categorize as severe. Why? Because once we categorize something as severely wrong, we judge ourselves when we do these things.
This is the little white lies argument. This is the “no one got hurt” argument.
And this argument is empty for the believer who knows that when Jesus stated “I am the way, the truth, and the life” he wasn’t just giving characteristics of his personality.
Jesus is the truth.
God is true.
God cannot lie. God will not lie. God is not a lie.
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Titus 1:1-2
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began2
A symptom of one’s sin is lying.
Romans 3:13
13 “Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.” 3
You know, I think people want to be shocked at what happened to these two by writing narratives that are not in the Bible. They think “Well, maybe they didn’t understand,” or “What’s the big deal, they still gave an offering.”
Hey – just because someone gives an offering does not mean it’s a godly, righteous, acceptable gift.
Peter makes it clear that God did not require this gift of money from this couple. He says so in verse 4. He said “Hey it was your land. Your money. You didn’t have to lie about the amount and hold back some secret portion of it. You could have even said, ‘I’ve kept this amount and giving that amount,’ but you didn’t. You lied.”
That’s the problem. Why lie? To get a cool nickname like Barnabas? To look good in the eyes of their neighbors, their peers, their fellow church members? What is this guy a 12-year-old girl trying to get more likes on the Instagram selfie than some other kid in school in order to feel better about himself?
2 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Tt 1:1–2). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. 3 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ro 3:13). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
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Human nature.
He lied to the Holy Spirit and God, not Peter, strikes him dead. And...this led to
GREAT FEAR
When the man died.
5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it.
When his wife (co-conspirator and partner in lie) died.
11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.
The word for fear used here is phobos. It refers to both a reverent awe of God and a healthy fear of God’s displeasure and discipline.
There is no love without discipline. There is no discipline apart from love.
CONCLUSION
The early church had a great story. God was doing some amazing things in the midst of a community that didn’t necessarily desire to see their numbers grow.
There was opposition from the outside through persecution. There was opposition from the inside from sinful church members. All opposition came from the enemy himself, in an attempt to thwart the movement of God’s church and the message of the gospel.
To no avail.
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What Ananias and Sapphira needed is what I needed.
1. A GREAT AND HEALTHY FEAR OF GOD. God demands and deserves respect like no other. I must read this passage and never think “God would never do that to me.” We could look at the biblical stories of Uzzah, Nadab, Abihu, Uzziah, the entire people of Israel in the Exodus generation, as well as those referenced in Revelation. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 1:7)
To not fear and hold him in awe is not only unwise, but tragically deadly.
2. THE GOOD NEWS APPLIED. The gospel is THE good news, not just “some good news.” The gospel is two-fold good news. It is the news of the substitionary death of Christ on the cross for those who would become beleivers and children of God. It is also the news of God’s purpose of renewing the world through Jesus Christ (e.g. the already and coming kingdom of God.)
Ananias and Sapphira either didn’t understand the gospel or had not allowed it work into the depths of their hearts. In other words, when led by the Spirit of God through the gospel, you do not lie to the Spirit of God. Their actions deceived them.
3. REPENTANCE. When sin is clear, repentance is the answer. When sin is revealed if the heart of man leads one to continue lying, covering up, ignoring God...then judgment is the only response.
They did not repent when confronted. They did not repent when sin was revealed.
And, as has been the case since the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, “the wages of sin is death” and this day for this couple was the day they received their full wages.
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It’s a harsh story and with our postmodern view of fairness, even some Christians struggle with the reality of this teaching.
We would be wise to remember that the holiness of God is not just an attribute, but a descriptor of the nature of God. The deaths of these two spiritual posers frightened the church members, but led to great things in the body to come.
This story is given to call us to repentance.
The church needs the Good News. The Real Good News.
May we be a God-honoring holy people known for our devotion to God, love for others, and great generosity...and not for our hypocrisy.
There’s a reason people name their children names like Peter, Paul, Andrew, Joseph, Mary, and Lydia and not Ananias and Sapphira.
Footnotes
