Slices
Prepare
‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’ (Revelation 4:8).
Bible passage
Ananias and Sapphira
5 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.
3 Then Peter said, ‘Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.’
5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6 Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, ‘Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?’
‘Yes,’ she said, ‘that is the price.’
9 Peter said to her, ‘How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.’
10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
Explore
It’s moments like these when something of God’s holiness breaks into circumstances in an extraordinary way that remind us of how awesome and righteous God is. We may cut corners and compromise, but there is no shadow of turning in him (James 1:17). We don’t exactly know what Ananias and Sapphira’s motivation was for lying (vs 3,9), but it is possible that it was to look as if they were fully devoted and generous in front of other believers. They had forgotten the One who sees and knows the secrets of our hearts (1 Samuel 16:7).
When we seek the praise and approval of people before or above God’s, all kinds of hangups, difficulty and sin follow. Proverbs 29:25 reminds us, ‘Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe’. The antidote to fearing what others think about us is the fear of the Lord – something that swept through the whole church following these sobering events (vs 5,11). The fear of the Lord is a healthy fear, preserving our life and giving us wisdom (Proverbs 9:10; 10:27), rather than the debilitating fear of people and what they think of us which entraps and binds us.
Respond
Jesus wants you to be free (John 8:36). In what areas of your life do you fear people more than God? Take some time to repent and place your trust in Jesus alone.
Deeper Bible study
‘Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.’1
Today’s passage unnerves many: we are all sinners, so does this story teach that God might punish us this way too? To balance this story, it’s important to remember that Christians are recorded doing wrong elsewhere in the Bible without the same judgement. As Gerhard Krodel points out in his commentary,2 even within Acts itself we read of Christians stirring up trouble in young churches,3 and of arguments between Greek and Hebrew Christians4 – and those involved are not struck down.
So why was Ananias and Sapphira’s sin taken so seriously? Their failure to offer up all the proceeds from the sale of their property was not the problem here. It was the fact that they pretended they had given everything. It was their deception that was so grievous. In these early years of the church there were not vast numbers of Christians and every believer was new to the faith. The church was vulnerable. Imagine, then, the havoc that could have occurred if someone whose faith was not genuine got into an influential position, misleading believers and damaging the church’s witness. If Peter had been duped by Ananias and Sapphira’s offering, this is exactly what could have happened.
This passage, then, shows us the role of wisdom and discernment in protecting the church. Christians can find it hard to challenge others because we do not want to appear negative or judgemental, and it is always difficult to go against the crowd. How can we make it easier, then, for people to express hard truths in our churches? Do we know who among us has gifts of discernment and wisdom5 – and are they given a voice? As we are in a spiritual battle, can we really afford to be lacking such a vital part of our defence?
Christians are sometimes called to challenge. What is our role in this? How can we speak out with love and humility?
1 Eph 6:11 2 Gerhard A Krodel, Acts, Augsburg Publishing House, 1986, p122 3 Acts 15:24 4 Acts 6:1 5 1 Cor 12:8,10
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: 1 Chronicles 15,16; Malachi 3,4
Pray for Scripture Union
Trevor Ranger, of local mission partner Synergy, is currently preparing to record an online video assembly for the 15 schools that he normally visits in Wiltshire. At least ten of the schools used last month’s video to send home, and to watch in school with the children who were present. He is also preparing 'The Big Story Club', which will be an online version of the holiday clubs that he was invited to lead this summer but which have had to be cancelled. Please pray, as they explore the big story of the Bible and God’s plan for the world.
