Ananias and Sapphire

06/25/2009

Been reading through Acts lately. On the iPhone of course.

Up through Acts 4, the congregation of believers were united as one. They were experiencing miracles, seeing large numbers of people give their lives to Christ and shared all of their possessions with each other. Those who owned fields or houses would sell them and bring any proceeds to the apostles and made an offering of it. The apostles then distributed that money according to each person’s need.

Then comes Acts 5. Ananias and Sapphire were husband and wife. They sold a piece of land but secretly kept part of the price for themselves while bringing the rest of it as an offering. Peter confronted Ananias first. And it went a little something like this…

3 Peter said, “Ananias, how did Satan get you to lie to the Holy Spirit and secretly keep back part of the price of the field? 4 Before you sold it, it was all yours, and after you sold it, the money was yours to do with as you wised. So what got into you to pull a trick like this? You didn’t lie to men but to God.” 5 Ananias, when he heard those words, fell down dead. That put the fear of God into everyone who heard it.

6 The younger men went right to work and wrapped him up, then carried him out and buried him. 7 Not more than three hours later, his wife, knowing nothing of what had happened, came in. 8 Peter said, “Tell me, were you given this price for your field?”

“Yes,” she said, “that price.”

9 Peter responded, “What’s going on here that you connived to conspire against the Spirit of the Master? The men who buried your husband are at the door, and you’re next.” 10 No sooner were the words out of his mouth than she also fell down, dead.

Translation: The Message

This passage is troubling. It sounds like something out of the Old Testament. But yet, it was only a few moments earlier that Christ died on the cross for the sins of Ananias and Sapphire. I thought this was a new era of grace, love and mercy. But the fact remains that God is still just and holy.

The story here is not so much about the money…after all, Peter told Ananias after he sold the land, “the money was yours to do with as you wished.” But Ananias and Sapphire lied to the Holy Spirit. It’s really our response to the Holy Spirit that gets us in trouble.

We often end up trying to make deals with God. We say things like, “Lord, if I get this pay raise, I’ll be sure to drop a little extra in the offering plate each month.”

God believes in us and loves us. He blesses us with that pay raise, despite of our sin. And then we turn around and lie to the Holy Spirit, choosing to use that money that would’ve gone in the offering plate on clothes, cars, electronics, you name it.

All of us should really be dead right now like Ananias and Sapphire. By God’s grace we’ve been chosen to live another day. God is good, holy and just. But next time you attempt to make a deal with God or ignore the Holy Spirit, remember the story of Ananias and Sapphire.

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