More than just a slap on the wrist

Acts 5 

Ananias and Sapphira

 ¹ 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 those 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.


I think this needs to be addressed a bit, don't you??
So upon first reading this it might seem a bit harsh and severe. After all they were generous enough to sell their land for the church, and they did give most of the money to the church, so was instant death really necessary?

Well, God seemed to think so.

Tidbit #1 - People who sold land for the church were held in high esteem. Barnabas is given as a example in 4:36-37.  ³⁶ Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), ³⁷ sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.
Son of Encouragement - not the name given to a "oh look at how much I gave" kinda guy, but a "How can I best serve and meet the needs of the church" kinda guy.  Ananias and Sapphira were not as concerned with being encouraging and generous as they were with recognition.

Tidbit #2 - They didn't need to give any of the money to the church. They were under no obligation to sell their land and give the money, if they needed it for themselves that would have been fine. But they made the decision to do this (obviously for the wrong reasons). Then they thought they could lie about it...tsk tsk tsk. Peter calls them out on their lie (3-4). It was not a lie to men, but to God.

Ok, but really....DEATH???  All right, I will concede that it still seems a bit harsh. After all if this was God's method of dealing with liars we would all be dead.

That brings us to Tidbit #3 - Timing. God's smarter than us, so we should look to understand his actions rather than question them don't you think??  My text offers this attempt to make sense of this strange little situation:

This was the early Church and some standards needed to be set. Ananias and Sapphira had put the credibility of Christians on the chopping block. If this offense (although seemingly minor compared to some) wasn't dealt with the credibility of the whole church would have suffered.
God's swift judgment not only protected the credibility of the church, but it might have in fact solidified it. If God would act so swiftly in judgment of people for holding back some money, how much more would he not tolerate people lying about the Resurrection?

I'll let you form your own thoughts about this, I just thought I would share this perspective.

I find this passage so intriguing, I would love to hear if you have any thoughts or different perspectives to share!

A Not-So-Lame Response

Acts 3:1-10 

Peter Heals a Lame Beggar
 ¹ One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. ² Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. ³ When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. ⁴ Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” ⁵ So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.  ⁶ Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” ⁷ Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. ⁸ He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. ⁹ When all the people saw him walking and praising God, ¹⁰ they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.


Verses 8-10 raise a few questions for me...

What if he hadn't responded??
What if upon his healing the beggar simply said "thanks guys" and went on his way?
What if he chalked it all up to coincidence?

The beggar had received an amazing gift of healing at the hand of Peter, and with that he had a choice of how he could respond. Had he chosen to respond by simply getting up and walking there would undoubtedly be many who would have noticed. And with that there could have been several if not many who came to believe in the power of Christ.

But that's not what he did.

He entered the Temple Courts not only walking, but "jumping and praising God."

In other words he created a spectacle of himself.

And because he wasn't afraid of looking like a fool or offending anyone, it says that "all were filled with wonder and amazement."

I am in no way saying that you should go out and make a spectacle of yourself...in fact, please don't do that.

However, I would invite you to wonder with me what would happen if were a little less afraid of mockery and judgement of our peers, and little more abandoned with our Joy? Christ has blessed ALL of us abundantly (if you have the resources to access, and the education to understand this blog, you are blessed my friend!).

Just a little food for thought :)