But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. 2 He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest.
3 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. 4 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!”
5 As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. 6 Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him.
7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Was this the price you and your husband received for your land?”
“Yes,” she replied, “that was the price.”
9 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.”
10 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. 11 Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened.
Acts 5:1-11
Dear God, this can be any act of duplicity, not just money. Decrying pornography, but secretly looking at it. Decrying single-parent homes, but secretly fathering several children out of wedlock. Coming out against abortion while paying for abortions for women you got pregnant. Admonishing people to not drink or do drugs while secretly indulging your own vices. As I sit here this morning, I want to be cognizant of my own sin in this area, and not just sit in judgment over these two duplicitous people.
The image by Micah Bloom is interesting. Sapphira is obviously the center of it. She is seen with simple dress, earrings, and no shoes. In fact, everyone pictured is barefoot. I’m not sure why Bloom chose to not put sandals or something on them. She had money in both hands–the right for Peter, the left presumably for herself. Peter has his hand out for the money in the right, but your angel of death is grabbing her left wrist and her death is exposing the money hidden in her left hand. Looking out the door, we presumably see the bare feet of Ananias, who is already dead. Someone is attending to his body.
Bustard quotes C.H. Spurgeon in his commentary on the left:
“The nearer we come to God the more truly shall we find that he is a jealous God who will not wink at sin. It was not Peter’s word, but the judgement of God, which slew Ananias. [Sapphira] had time for reflection, yet she stuck to the falsehood. It is a sad thing when husband and wife go hand in hand to hell, and most of all so when they make a profession of religion…The chaff was driven out, and kept out, but the true saints were all the more ready to join the church. Holy discipline does not diminish the church, it is the sure means of increasing it with the right people.”
Reading this made me think of an article I read about the “Road to Majority” conference happening in Nashville right now. This is billed as a conservative Christian political conference in Nashville, US Senator Rick Scott said, “It is time to rescue America. God favors those who are bold.” The mixing of my faith in you and the desire for political power makes me really uncomfortable. There is a difference between saying, “I want to have the majority of our country as Christians because that means more people are worshipping God,” and “I want the majority of the country to be Christians so we can impose our will on the rest of the country.” Jesus did not seem to care that Caesar and Rome were in charge of Israel, but he did care about what the Pharisees were teaching. He didn’t want to make Israel great again, but he did want to shed light on sin and invite repentance.
Father, it can be tempting to point fingers in all of this, but I have to start with myself. I am truly sorry for my sin. For my hypocrisy and duplicitousness. I acknowledge it before you. I do truly love you. I do truly want to do better. I do truly want to be the man you need me to be. Help me to bring you and your presence into the world with the highest integrity so that I might not cause anyone else to stumble and allow any cancers to grow in my own soul.
In Jesus’s name I pray,
Amen
Emails to God 