In this series so far, we’ve learned that: the early church was gifted with the Holy Spirit, who caused all kinds of incredible things to happen within the church – abundant growth, incredible unity, extravagant generosity and miracles of healing. the community and mission of the early church were something of which to be envious, however, we also learned that opposition was brewing. the religious leaders of Israel had placed sanctions on the church, basically prohibiting them from speaking publically about Jesus, which the church summarily ignored.

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. Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 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. 

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? 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.”  When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.

About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.” Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” 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. Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

Up until this point in the story of the early church, we’ve been given a pretty utopian picture of it, but my experience of church has not always been utopian; often it’s pretty messy. The early church is a portrait of a bunch of people with all kinds of baggage trying to live in community under the leadership and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Sounds a lot like us, doesn’t it? The account of Annanias and Sapphira flows out of the account of Barnabus; they are opposite examples of the same principle – generosity in light of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Barnabus: A Resume His real name is Joseph and he was a Levite from Cyprus. Tradition has it that Barnabus studied under the great Jewish Rabbi Gamaliel before becoming a follower of Jesus. He was a cousin of Mark - the writer of the Gospel - and was nicknamed Barnabus, which means “Son of Encouragement”, because of his amazingly supportive and encouraging nature. He was also a very generous fellow.

At this point the early church was operating on a shared pool of resources. Moved by the Spirit, Barnabus sold a particular plot of land – most likely near Jerusalem - and gave the proceeds to the growing church. First, Barnabus was under no compulsion to give. To abandon this financial and religious security was a big deal, but Barnabus happily does so. Secondly, Barnabus “happily” and generously does so. His gift is not a gift of a grudging heart, communicating an amazing trust of the apostles. Barnabus put both his present and his future wellbeing into the hands of the leaders of the early church and the developing community there.

Why does Barnabus seems to give so voluntarily and so generously? Because the early church took very seriously the words of Jesus as passed to them through the apostles. “But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well … For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Luke 12:31-34)

Barnabus’ treasure and heart were in the same place – with Christ and His kingdom on earth – the church. The joining of these two things – a passion for God and a passion for His people – led Barnabus and the other members of the early church to practice not just generosity, but sacrificial generosity. Sacrificial generosity is meant to mirror God’s sacrificial generosity in sending Christ as atonement for our sin. We have received a generous gift from God in the form of Christ; we ought to reflect this in our own use of finances.

Just as Barnabus did, Ananias and Sapphira sold a plot of land and presented it to the apostles. Unlike Barnabus, the couple held back a portion of the proceeds to keep for themselves. Ananias and Sapphira had every right to hold back whatever amount they deemed fitting; however, the phrase “broke faith” help us to understand that what most likely occurred is that Ananias and Sapphira pledged to the church the full proceeds from the sale of the land, gave as through this were the case, but held back some for themselves.

We see deliberate dishonesty and an attempt at engineered “righteousness” in their example. The foundational issue, though related to greed, is something else entirely. “They wanted the credit and the prestige for sacrificial generosity, without the inconvenience of it.  So, in order to gain a reputation to which they had no right, they told a brazen lie.  Their motive in giving was not to relieve the poor, but to fatten their own ego.” (Theologian John Stott)

The issue here is hypocrisy – the false claim to or pretense of having admirable principles, beliefs, or feelings. Ananias and Sapphira desired to be viewed in the same light as a man like Barnabus, but they couldn’t bring themselves to the same level of sacrificial giving. For Ananias and Sapphira the gift wasn’t truly a gift; it was not given out of love for the church, nor under the leading of the Spirit. The hypocritical choice of Ananias and Sapphira opened a door through which Satan’s influence might have destroyed the church. God would not allow this to occur.

“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple”. (1 Corinthians 3:16-17) The moment Ananias and Sapphira chose to lie to the church about their gift, they were choosing to align with evil and taking a place in opposition to the Spirit of God. When we stand in opposition to the Spirit of God and against His people, we place ourselves in line for a rude awakening. Thank God that we often have time to repent of our hypocrisy!

This morning, let us consider our attitude toward the people of God. Do we give sacrificially – whether that’s a gift of finances, time or service to the church – without expecting anything in return? Or are our gifts motivated by self-interest – do we feign giving or serving sacrificially for the credit or prestige that seems to accompany such selfless gifts? Secondly, do we understand that underhanded or divisive attitudes or actions taken against the body of Christ are in fact underhanded and divisive actions against the God of the universe?

May we be a church full of people who are immeasurably more like Barnabus than we are of people like Ananias and Sapphira. May we be a church that exhibits sacrificial generosity in all that we do.