Part 14 (1/2)
Greedy for a Moment, Dead Forever: Sapphira
Sapphira was very generous with her monetary giving.
Alas, she was also very generous with her momentary fibbing.
Generosity was the hallmark of the first-century church. New converts by the thousands pooled their resources and shared the whole shebang with one another, regardless of station.
Mi casa, su casa.
All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Acts 2:44-45 The communes of the 1960s had their roots here. Imagine one big, happy family of five thousand or so. It was a unique experience in the history of the church, an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, a ”jump-start” if you will, for the body of Christ.
No one was more philanthropic than a certain fella from Cyprus: Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet. Acts 4:36-37 Way to go, Joe (better known as Barney to his friends). Barnabas was magnanimous in his giving. Without being required to do so, he sold his field and donated his money-all of it, we presume-so the apostles might divvy up the proceeds among the deserving.
Other landowners in the brand-new congregation couldn't have missed the praise and respect showered on Barnabas for his selfless act. Barnabas was hailed as a hero and the epitome of encouragement, a trailblazer for others to follow.
Even in the most egalitarian of economies, when someone is lauded above his brothers and sisters, the jade-eyed joker is bound to make an appearance. One couple in particular decided to play that ancient game of the Holy Land: ”Me, too!”
Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. Acts 5:1 The ”also” in this pa.s.sage is a dead giveaway-pun intended.
Ananias and Sapphira were clearly well-known among the believers. These two weren't no-names or low-profilers. My sense is, they made sure of that. Perhaps they served in some leaders.h.i.+p capacity for the young church, side by side as husband and wife, or had a thriving business that provided plenty of disposable income to support the cause.
Whatever the scenario, two truths stand out: (1) They were followers of Christ, and (2) they had the means to further his kingdom in a significant way. At first blush Sapphira was a Good Girl, not a Bad one.
But while others were filled with the Holy Spirit, these two were drained of the Spirit's power, emptied by their own jealousy and need for prestige and recognition. By selling their land exactly as Barnabas had, they hoped to get the spotlight off him and on them.
Two thousand years later we foster such poorly motivated giving in the church when we offer bra.s.s plaques mounted on favorite pews or names leaded into stained gla.s.s windows or hymnals with the donor's name printed on the flyleaf. The sales pitch is obvious: Give in a big way so all will know how generous you are.
It reminds me of a church I once visited that for years tolerated a sanctuary decorated with screaming green carpet. It was donated by one person under one condition: The donor got to pick the color. (Why be cleansed by the Spirit when you can be awash in limeade?) The carpet has since been replaced with a lovely shade more conducive to wors.h.i.+p, and I imagine if such an offer is made in years to come, the building committee will wisely raise a red flag...not a green one.
In the last verse and this one, it's clear that the twosome were working in tandem.
With his wife's full knowledge... Acts 5:2 Other translations shed more light on the fullness of her knowledge: ”His wife had agreed to this deception” (NLT), and ”they agreed to cheat” (CEV). Unlike Adam and Eve, who took turns pinning the blame elsewhere for their deception, these two worked on a full-disclosure basis-but only with each other. As one writer phrased it, ”They were agreed with each other, but not with G.o.d.”1 The good news is, Sapphira wasn't painted as subservient in any way. The bad news is, she didn't prove to be very responsible either, as we'll see shortly.
...he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet. Acts 5:2 Wait a minute. What's so bad about keeping some of the money? Wasn't it their money? If I sell a set of tires through Bargain Mart, am I supposed to put every dime in the offering plate?
The issue was honesty, not money. If I sell my tires for a hundred dollars but say I got eighty dollars for them and put that in the plate as if it were the whole amount, quietly pocketing the twenty-dollar difference and taking a bow for being completely altruistic...well, even with my limited math skills, I know that adds up to 100 percent deceit.
The apostle Peter knew it too.
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?” Acts 5:3 Wait another minute. How did Peter know Ananias had held some of the proceeds back? In today's real-estate world, the selling price is a matter of public record, printed in the newspaper after closing. But in those days, unless the buyer bandied his purchase price about, how could Peter have found out? One commentator surmised, ”Through the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, Peter received a prophetic insight enabling him to read the thoughts and intents of Ananias and Sapphira.”2 That's certainly within the realm of possibility. Maybe Ananias wore a guilty expression, had clammy hands, or couldn't look Peter in the eye when he handed over the money. Maybe the selling price did get around, such that Peter was expecting to receive a particular sum and was shocked when he didn't.
In this story it isn't the how but the what that matters most, and it's not Peter's actions that are in question but those of our ill-fated couple. What Ananias and Sapphira did was ”the first open venture of deliberate wickedness” in the infant church.3 In that sense they were very much like the first couple of the Old Testament, deceived-as Peter pointed out-by the wily serpent once again and quick to lie to cover their sins.
Greed was not their only sin. Nor was it just the ugly fruit of that greed-a false witness. They lacked sufficient faith that G.o.d would provide for their needs and so h.o.a.rded some ”just in case.” They lacked trust in their brothers and sisters to share fairly and so kept a portion ”just in case.” They lacked the willingness to live with less and place their hope in a spiritually rich future rather than a financially rich present, so they put some wealth aside ”just in case.”
(And just in case you haven't noticed, I'm stepping on toes here. They are attached to my own feet. Felt any pressure on yours yet?) Peter made sure their claim to the land was free and clear, with no mortgage to swallow up the proceeds and no moneylender waiting for his due.
”Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal?” Acts 5:4 Ananias's response had to be ”yes” and ”yes.” How low his head must have drooped!
”What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to G.o.d.” Acts 5:4 A thousand years earlier David confessed before the Lord, ”Against you, you only, have I sinned.”4 If Ananias had made such an admission, even at this late hour, he might have been spared.
We'll never know.
When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. Acts 5:5 Splat! That was that. Notice that Peter didn't strike him dead. We're not even told that G.o.d smote him. Perhaps his own guilt took him out. Whatever the case, Ananias wasn't mostly dead. He was history.
And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Acts 5:5 The bad news got around fast, as it always does, followed closely by a wave of fear. One writer summed up the reaction of the witnesses to this tragedy perfectly: ”They knew G.o.d was not to be trifled with.”5 Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. Acts 5:6 I'm amazed they were willing to touch the body, so great was their apprehension surrounding the man's swift demise. It's certain they wasted no time in putting him in the ground, because the day was still young when the little woman showed up.
About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Acts 5:7 Where had she been? we wonder. Shopping? Getting her nails done? How had she missed the news? Wouldn't somebody-a friend, an enemy-have tracked her down to tell her what had happened? Perhaps Peter asked them not to, intending to give her a chance to clear her own name. Or perhaps their fear kept them from seeking her out.
For G.o.d's purposes it was important that she come alone and without forewarning. Just as these two were judged for their sins separately, so will we stand alone before G.o.d someday. No amount of ”My husband made me do this” will cut the mustard, dear ones.
When it comes to sin and judgment, G.o.d is exceedingly fair. And frighteningly just, which Sapphira soon discovered.
Peter asked her, ”Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” Acts 5:8 Peter offered her a chance to be saved from certain death. He was neither accusing nor judging her here. Her choice was clear: Tell the truth or tell a lie. He wasn't sealing her doom; he was giving her the freedom to come clean. In the words of one writer, ”Repentance was not yet too late-return to reason was not even now impossible.”6 As with Eve, all hinged on her answer to one question.
”Yes,” she said, ”that is the price.” Acts 5:8 ”Ohhh...!” we groan, knowing the inevitable outcome.
Ananias held the money back as well, but we're not told he lied to Peter outright, as Sapphira did. Why did she sin even more grievously?
”Sapphira's lie began with fear,” suggested one writer.7 Maybe it was the fear of not having enough-enough money, enough recognition, or enough of what she might have hoped those things would buy her: love. We h.o.a.rd when we fear loss. We can all live without stuff. None of us can live without love. When we see someone demanding attention, as Sapphira did, it's a sure bet that what's needed isn't wealth, fame, or applause. It's love.
But she knew what she was doing, that she was flirting with disaster. ”For the wages of sin is death”8 was not a foreign concept to her. Sapphira chose to sin and flaunted her sin before Peter, before her fellow Christians, and before G.o.d.
Peter said to her, ”How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord?” Acts 5:9 She and Ananias had not only agreed to keep some of the money, they must have also agreed that the Holy Spirit, newly abroad in the land, was not powerful enough to know of their deception. As such, they tested G.o.d's strength against their own...and lost. If only they had written this truth on the tablet of their hearts: ”Do not be deceived: G.o.d cannot be mocked.”9 Sapphira's name was as beautiful as a jewel, but her heart was as hard as a stone. Before long, the rest of her would follow suit. In that, she reminds us of Lot's wife, who also made one wrong move and paid for it with her life.
Peter delivered her sentence like the bang of a gavel.
”Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” Acts 5:9 Even without an electric chair, her punishment was swift. And terrible.
At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Acts 5:10 One might chalk up such a death as a heart attack if it happened once in a blue moon. This occurred twice in one spot, in one day. Two such divine judgments tell the tale. When Peter said it would happen, and ”at that moment” it did, a promise from Proverbs must have run through the minds of the onlookers: ”the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.”10 Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Acts 5:10 Were there any heirs? Did they use the balance of funds from the land sale to buy a dual grave marker? Did anyone mourn them?