Acts 4:32 - 5:11 "Ananias and Sapphira"

Some of the stories in the Bible are so strange most people kind of want to pretend like they don’t exist. The story in today’s text is one of those.

I’ve heard a few sermons about Ananias and Sapphira over the years but I don’t think I’ve ever heard a good one. They’re usually some heavy handed attempt to scare people into giving more money. 

Some of you are like, “Oh great. I knew I should have skipped church today. Is he really going to talk about money?” Ha

Well. Kind of but not really.

If you know the story of Ananias and Sapphira, you know money is involved but it’s not the point of the story. Hasn’t stopped preachers from trying though.

I knew when I said we were going to go through the Book of Acts line by line, verse by verse, that I was going to have to cover this story. I mean, I love the it. It’s so strange. So dark. I absolutely love the weird parts of the Bible—the parts that are confusing and I don’t know what to make of them. I think they’re the most fun. They’re the parts that prove to me the Bible is true. Why else would those crazy parts have been left in? They must have happened, no other reason to include them. If I was making up a holy book, I wouldn’t put in crazy stories that make it hard for people to believe. I’d keep it simple.

But life isn’t simple. God isn’t simple. His word isn’t simple. You will spend your whole life trying to grasp the most basic concepts, and even then, you’ll only be getting started. So the weird parts make my faith stronger—They prove to me that the Bible is not made up, it’s true.

So, we’re in Acts chapter four. The very early days and weeks of Christianity. Just after the resurrection and ascension. Just after Pentecost. Things are happening, people are hearing the Gospel and being saved. Miracles are happening every day. People are joining the church in droves.

All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need. Acts 4:32-35

There’s probably ten thousand or more people in this church in the very early days of Christianity. They were all about it—it was the most important thing in their life. They got together in the temple, in their homes, they had so much excitement about the resurrection of Jesus and their new life in Christ that they wanted everyone to know about it. They also didn’t want anyone to need anything. They’ll know we are Christians by our love for one another—this is what that looks like.  Those who had land or houses they could sell, sold what they could and brought the money to the apostles to distribute to anyone in the church who needed it. 

This was not Communism. No one was telling them to do it. No one said they couldn’t own private property or keep their money—they wanted to do this. Also, the rich people didn’t sell everything they had and become poor people. This was an overflow of generosity, not some mandated social experiment.

The church should still want to take care of its people—including our church. We should give money to our benevolence fund so we can help the members of our church when they need it. Did you know we have a benevolence fund? I would encourage all of us to give to it regularly. It’s one of the ministries of the church and it has been since the beginning.

Now Luke is going to tell a couple stories that are examples of people who sold property and gave the money to the church.

For instance, there was Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas (which means “Son of Encouragement”). He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus. He sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles. Acts 4:36

That’s the whole story. A guy who had the very common name of Joseph was nicknamed Barnabas by the apostles—which means “Mr Encouragement.” He was apparently a very encouraging guy. He was a Levite, which means he had the right by birth to be a temple worker or priest but apparently he grew up outside of Jerusalem on the island of Cyprus. He was a wealthy man and was going to be one of the main leaders in the early church. We’ll meet him again in a few chapters. He’ll introduce Paul to the apostles and join him on his mission trips. He also has a nephew named Mark who wrote the second Gospel. Barnabas is a rock star of the early church. But at this point, he’s just an example of one of the people who sold property and funded the mission. He’s the good example. Then there’s this other guy… 

But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest. Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!” As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him. Acts 5:1-6

How about that story? I’m sure there are some details missing but here’s what we know… 

A guy and his wife join the church, they’re pretty excited about it, everyone’s selling property and giving the money to Jesus, and they wanted to get in on the action. They sold some property like the cool kids but they made a secret deal to only give part of the money to the church and keep the rest. They wanted everyone to think they were super generous and gave it all—like Barnabas. Peter called them out on their lie and Ananias dropped dead on the spot.

How did Peter know? Maybe it was like, “Yeah, so the wife and I sold our manion in River Oaks—here’s ALL the money—$100,000 dollars!” And Peter’s like, “River Oaks? You either got ripped off or your pants are on fire.” Or, more likely, the Holy Spirit allowed Peter to see through the lie. But here’s the thing… 

Why did they lie about it? They didn’t have to sell anything. No one was forcing them.

They were also free to keep as much of the money as they wanted to—Peter made all that perfectly clear. Keeping part of the money wasn’t the problem.

But lying about it—trying to appear super spiritual to their church friends—that was not cool. In this case, deadly uncool.

If you’ve never heard this story before, it sounds crazy, right? A man sells some land, gives a chunk of the money to the church, pretends like he gave it all but secretly kept a little for himself—and God strikes him dead on the spot! What the heck?

Peter said Ananias willingly let Satan fill his heart. Same thing that was said about Judas. Same motive, too. Greed. Jesus said no one can serve both God and money—that where our treasure is that’s where we’ll find our heart. We need to be very careful about our attitude toward money and possessions—especially when it comes to worship. Luther said the last thing to be converted is a man’s wallet. I wonder if most of our wallets are ever fully converted. Love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.

Also, this was deliberate sin. He had conspired with his wife to tell this lie—they were both in on it. Deliberate sin, especially when we involve other people, is an invitation for the devil to move in and really jack with us. Cost Ananias his life. Did it also cost his soul? Did he die and go to hell? Did he forfeit his salvation? It doesn’t say so, that’s going beyond the text. Dangerous game he was playing though!

Peter said he didn’t only lie to the him, because this was an act of worship, he also lied to God.

It’s important to notice that Peter didn’t make it happen. He didn’t curse him or threaten him in any way. He just pointed out the severity of his sin and the guy dropped dead. I doubt if Peter even saw it coming. At least not this time. Peter is the pastor of this new church, he hasn’t been on the job that long. I think he was shocked when Ananias fell to the floor dead. Helps explain what happened next.

A few members of the BrutSquad rolled him up in a sheet, took him outside and buried him. That sounds bizarre to us but people were usually buried the same day back then. Plus, I think there might have been a little panic—we got to get this body out of here! How can we explain this?

But the story gets weirder… 

About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, “Was this the price you and your husband received for your land?” “Yes,” she replied, “that was the price.” And Peter said, “How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this? The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out, too.” Instantly, she fell to the floor and died. When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened. Acts 5:7-11

Peter comes off okay in the Ananias part of the story but he seems a bit cold with Sapphira. Maybe they had tried to get a hold of her, maybe they hadn’t. In any case, she didn’t know her husband was dead and already buried.

I have to admit, I think I would have handled it differently—don’t you?

Three hours later the wife shows up. She has no idea what happened. You’d think Peter might have a little compassion, “Sapphira, you might want to sit down, I have some really bad news.” Maybe give her a little heads up, a chance to confess and repent. 

It’s not our job to second guess how Peter handled it. But dude.

He just goes straight for it, “Is this the full price you and your husband got for the land?”

I suppose this was an opportunity for her to confess and come clean. But she doesn’t.

She sticks to the lie they had agreed to tell, “Yep. That’s exactly the whole price. We gave it all to the church. Didn’t keep any for us. That’s how generous we are.”

Peter knows what’s going to happen next this time. “What were the two of you thinking? You think God doesn’t know what you did? You walk in here and lie to the Spirit of Lord like this?”

This is when he tells her about her husband, she doesn’t even have time for it to register—she immediately falls to the floor dead. The BruteSquad was busy that day.

So, what do you think of this story? Does it fit with your idea of who God is? Who Jesus is? Who the Holy Spirit is? Does it seem fair?

“Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened.”

People get confused when they hear that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. They’re like, “I don’t think we’re supposed to be afraid of God.” 

That’s what Ananias and Sapphira thought, too.

People think, well sure, the God of the Old Testament was not someone to mess around with, He was mad all the time. But Jesus and the New Testament is all about grace—the Holy Spirit is a nice gentle breeze—now God is kind of a pushover.

That’s what Ananias and Sapphira thought, too.

I’m not trying to make you scared of Jesus but this is a New Testament story. This is after the resurrection. This happened in the church—during worship. This happened to people who were trusting in God’s mercy and grace. Good grief, all they did was fudge a little on the accounting spreadsheet. One little sin and BAM! Pretty much the opposite of resurrection.

Obviously, this kind of thing doesn’t happen all the time. If it did, we’d all be dead. Think about all the ways we try to look more spiritual than we really are: Everytime we tell someone we’ll pray for them and then don’t. Every time we make it seem like we’re faithful givers to the church, bowing our heads and praying for God to bless what we call “our tithes and offerings.” Tithe means ten percent—the truth is we’re more like bad tippers. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer but have absolutely no intention of doing any of the things we say—keeping God’s name holy, doing His will on earth as it is in heaven, forgiving those who sin against us, leading away from temptation. Coming to worship and not paying attention, not focusing on what’s being said, not singing or allowing ourselves to fully engage with our whole heart, or making a show of it to draw attention to ourselves, or sitting here being critical of the people around us or the person on stage. Jesus said let your yes be yes and your no be no--if you say you're going to do something, do it. I think we can all agree that we’re are all very thankful God doesn’t exercise His right to “Ananias and Sapphira” us pretty much every day

This story is a good reminder: He doesn’t usually do things like this but He has. And He still can. It’s not against His rules. We should also have “great fear” when it comes to cheating or sinning against God.

Let’s be clear though. I’m not talking about salvation or heaven or eternal life. I’m talking about God’s blessing on your life in this life. I think this story is in the Bible as a fair warning. Don’t lie to God. Don’t pretend to be more holy and spiritual than you really are. Don’t make promises you have no intention of keeping. 

At the beginning, I read chapter four

The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. Acts 4:33

This is a story about how we can lose that “great blessing.” Deliberate sin. Conspiring with others to do wicked things. Pretending to be super spiritual to be respected in the church—being a big ol’ hypocrite. Saying one thing and doing another. Being deceitful. God doesn't like it. 

When church people lie, it doesn’t testify powerfully to the resurrection. It makes the church look like a fraud—which makes Jesus look like a fraud. And the Holy Spirit won’t stand for it. You might not lose your salvation but you’ll lose your blessing. You might not go to hell but your life will become a living one. You might not drop dead on the spot but your life will become so dark and miserable you won’t enjoy it.

People don’t know what to do with this story. It’s a weird one for sure. I think it’s a cautionary tale. One we should take seriously. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

But it’s only the beginning—wisdom keeps going. Because walking in God’s wisdom is what creates joy and peace. Living in the truth instead of deception. Doing what God wants us to do is what freedom looks like. Worshiping God and loving people the way He tells us to are blessings in themselves. Life works better the way God instructs us to live it. Relationships work better. Days will be sweeter and we’ll be able to sleep with a clear conscience at night.

The story of Ananias and Sapphira drives us to the cross. Sin is serious business, it’s deadly, but it shows us that God’s grace is all the more incredible. We don’t really see His grace in this particular story but we do see the crushing weight of sin. If Ananias and Sapphira had any faith at all in Jesus, then we’ll see them in the next life and take turns asking, “What the heck were you thinking?” And they’ll probably be like, “Oh you’re one to talk!” Then we’ll all have a good laugh and feel incredibly thankful for God’s mercy and patience with us.

Remember the Gospel: your sins are forgiven because of Jesus. You and me, we should have just dropped dead in our tracks time after time, the wages of sin is death—but God shows us mercy instead. That’s a promise for eternal life. Even when our sin has terrible consequences in this one—maybe deadly consequences. No matter what you do in this life, you’re still promised forgiveness and salvation in the next when you trust in the name of the Lord. AMEN