Q1: Describe the mentality of Ananias and Sapphira. Why did they do what they did? What were they hoping to gain? What is their practical theology?
Q2: How are you like Ananias and Sapphira?
Q3: Why doesn’t God strike people dead in modern times like he did to A/S?
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Part 1 of 2
Welcome back. Hope everyone had a good break. We are resuming our study from the book of Acts.
Summarize Acts 1-4. Today, we are picking up at a very critical juncture in the history of the early church in Acts 5. Amidst the persecution that the early Christians endured from the Roman Empire and the religious leaders, as miraculous healings were occuring and thousands of people were being saved, at the height of the Holy Spirit being poured out in power upon these first century Christians, there is this chilling account of two church members, who happened to be a couple, Ananias and Sapphira, caught telling a lie and God strikes them dead on the spot.
First lesson – watch out who you marry. Brothers, don’t be an Ananias to your future wife and sisters, don’t be a Sapphira to your future husband. This is very good passage to meditate upon before you think about whom you will marry, but I digress. That’s not what I want to talk about.
Q1: Why did A/S commit this sin?
To answer that, we need to first set the scene. The early church was a happening place. After the crucifixion, all the disciples had scattered. Their leader, their rabbi, their friend Jesus had been nailed to a cross. It seemed like a tragic end to a promising movement.
Then 3 days later, everything changed. Jesus had resurrected from the dead to validate the claims that he was the Son of God. Anyone can claim that they are divine, or they are God or the Messiah, but this is the first and only time recorded in history that someone was dead and raised to life 3 days later. The Christians who witnessed this miracle were unstoppable — they kept proclaiming that what Jesus said during his 3 year ministry was true. He was and is the Son of God. He is the way, the truth, the life. And by his blood, sinners like us can be forgiven and reconciled to God.
The Romans denied the resurrection. They tried to cover it up. They tried to forcibly quiet these Christians by throwing their leaders into prison and torturing them. But they could not be silenced. That is how confident these early Christians were about what they had witnessed. They were willing to die for their new found faith in the risen Jesus.
This band of recent converts had gained quite a reputation. It says in Acts ??? that people dared not join their ranks and yet God added to their number daily those who were saved. To an outsider, there must have been something strikingly different yet attractive about this group. They welcomed people of all ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. While the sick, the lepers were discarded outside the city gates by their own countrymen and families, Christians would historically risk dying of disease to take them in. These kinds of acts of radical generosity and total self-disregard are recorded by secular historians like Josephus.
These Christians were not mere talkers. They walked the walk. When a Christian brother or sister didn’t have enough money for food, another church member would provide for their lack. This early faith community, as we studied Acts 2 shared everything and thus no one was in desperate financial need.
People were truly freed of materialism and physical possessions because through Jesus’ resurrection, God had opened their eyes to see a greater reality, a spiritual reality. At the end of Acts 4, this remarkable generosity was on display as Barnabas sold a field and donated the money to the community so that those who needed financial assistance could benefit. It truly is a beautiful foretaste of what life in the kingdom of God is like.
It was a faith community that had made quite a reputation for itself in their society.
Acts 5:13-16.
13No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil[a] spirits, and all of them were healed.
No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Sounds like the Christian special forces. And yet the Lord added to their number continously.
And into this kind of scene, we have Acts 5. It really is a jarring juxtaposition — on the one hand, you have the amazing work of God and incredible acts of selflessness and generosity and on the other hand, you have the tragic sin of Ananias and Sapphira who were part of that same community and experienced the same God and amazing work.
So this begs the question, why did they commit this sin? The answer is pretty obvious I think. They wanted to look good. Good old Barnabas had sold his field and donated the proceeds to the church and I assume Peter or James must have made a big deal about it because it is a big deal. How many of us can sell our car and donated $15-20,000 to met the meets of others? Barnabas’s act of generosity is of that magnitude.
I can imagine the church members talking, can you believe what Barnabas did? I know, wow, that’s amazing, God is real. Apostle Peter can finally buy a new fishing pole. No. One person’s sacrifice I am sure supplied the needs of many in that community.
So of course Ananias and Sapphira got wind of what Barnabas had done. There goes that Son of Encouragement. No wonder people gave him that nickname. Looking at this kind of reaction from the people, Ananias and Sapphira must have thought, what about us? How come no one is talking about us? How come Peter and James and Barnabas get all the attention?
Then probably over a harmless dinner of manna and lentil stew, they hatch their deception and decide to sell a piece of property just like Barnabas and give the proceeds just like Barnabas. But there is one key difference – they held back some of the money but they told everyone that they had given the full amount.
This may be an obvious statement, but I want to clarify that the amount of the sacrifice is not the problem. God wants a cheerful giver and we all give according to our faith and our financial means. For some, giving a tenth of their income is tough. If you are rich, maybe you are able to give 50% of your income and still live comfortably.
If you are a poor widow in Mark 12, we read —
41Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins,[j]worth only a fraction of a penny.[k]
43Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
So it depends on our measure of faith and our financial capacity. What this couple did was above and beyond the norm of even the most committed members. No one asked them to sell their property. And if they sold their property and gave only 10%, that still would be a lot of money. What’s equivalent to a field in modern times? 1 acre in LA could go for $100,000 to several hundred thousand depending on the location. So 10% is $10k — not a small chunk of change.
The Bible doesn’t record the amount that was held back because the amount is not the important detail here. It is the fact that they lied and held back some portion but told everyone that they had given the entire amount.
We can only surmise but I think it is safe to assume that by appearing extremely generous, on par with Barnabas, they would be on the fast track to spiritual prominence. Maybe given a leadership position and instant respect from others in the community. They were people more of external appearances than true inner integrity and substance. I call them practical atheists because in this type of human calculation, God was not in the picture at all. They worshped God. They prayed to God, but when it came down to real life, they choose themselves and people over God. They were the center of attention and their chief audience was people. God was not a major player here at all.
This provides a nice lead in to our second question.
Q2: How are you like Ananias and Sapphira?
This world is all about looks. That’s how the world works, but the tragedy begins when that same world mentality enters the sanctity of the church.
I tell that to Jackie everyday. You don’t need to step on the scale. I love you the way you are.
Same goes in reverse. I was trim and healthy when I was single. Now, I am married so I am home free. Love me or leave me. I’m set. That’s why I put on a few pounds.
Our church – not a meat market. Discourage flirting.
Physical looks. Hollywood – movies – no celebrity looks nasty, unless you are a comedian or you are wearing a zombie mask.
Climbing up the corporate ladder. Work – all about looks – I have some news for all your engineer/science and math types.
the ones who rise to the top know how to look good, you have to schmooze, how to present yourself and sell your ideas, fake your feelings, bad temper toward expendable people, super nice to valuable people, it’s all people management skills
Because this is the kind of world we live in, it is no wonder that this “it’s all about looks” mentality creeps into our spiritual lives and our church.
Subtle shift – all about God in the beginning moves to become more about people.
Symptoms that we are people-conscious:
– Church back at home in Philly – leaders at the church were leaders in the world.
– when I am alone, I am not motivated to seek God. take this past winter break – how did you do when you were alone? when you didn’t have small groups
to encourage you, or other xian bros and sis in the dorm to keep you in check. myers/briggs – extrovert vs. introvert – where people derive energy. Christians need to have a certain streak of introvertedness.
– my best spiritual days are always on sundays because that’s when I need to put my best foot forward.
– we pray for something and then after the event passes, we don’t thank God
– Ministry results
– People’s reactions dictate how you feel about your spiritual life
– You do something – no one says anything, no thank you, how do you respond?
– Leader vs. member – deflated when you are not leading or you are not the center of attention.
Q3: Why doesn’t God strike people dead in modern times like he did to A/S?
Special time in history of the church – God had to maintain the purity of this community so that it started the right way.
Same thing visibly does not happen but spiritually the same principle applies. All about looks leads to certain spiritual death.