Acts 5:1-11

Integrity

Dr. Larry Thorson
April 20, 2008

Scripture: Acts 5:1-11

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.

If today’s scripture text doesn’t scare you, then you’re not paying attention. Here’s what happened. A spirit of giving broke out in the early church of Jerusalem. People were selling off property and giving it to the church, and we are told, “There was not a needy person among them.”

A man named Joseph, from Cyprus, sold one of his fields. He brought all the money he made on the deal and laid it at the feet of the apostles. They were so impressed with Joseph that they changed his name to Barnabas, which means “son of encouragement.”

Ananias, who was part of this church, also got caught up in this spirit of giving—sort of. He wanted to do what Joseph of Cyprus did. But when Ananias sold his field, he took a good, hard look at all of that money. Then he decided to hold back some of it, and just tell the church that he was giving God everything

he made from the sale of the field.

I cannot even imagine that Ananias sat his wife Sapphira down and said to her, “Here’s an idea, sweetheart. Let’s lie to God.” No, I’m thinking that what he said was, “You know, we’ve got some big bills coming up—braces for our son, tuition for our daughter, your mother is in a nursing home, and there’s that

cruise we were planning. I just don’t know if we can give all of this money away. But what a fuss they made over Joseph down at the church. Now everybody’s calling him Barnabas, ‘son of encouragement.’

I can’t believe it. Let’s stash some of this away, and just tell Peter that we’re giving God the whole wad. And in a sense, we are. I mean if God helps those who help themselves, then he’ll be happy that I’m helping him help me.” And as lame as that rationalization was, Sapphira said, “Okay, honey.” There is no verse in the Bible that says God helps those who help themselves. God helps those who tell the truth, and then cast themselves upon his grace.

When Ananias made his way to the church with only a portion of the money he made from the sale of his field, he was probably trying to imagine what his new nickname would be. But after he laid his money down at the feet of the Apostles, rather than getting a wonderful new name, what Ananias got was a rebuke from Peter. “How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to us but to God!”

Now when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. The young men of the church then wrapped his body, carried it away, and buried him. Peter didn’t care that Ananias did not give all the money from the land he sold. He even says, “You owned the property. It was already yours. If you wanted the money, you should have kept all of it.” Ananias lost his life in a lie, claiming that he was totally dependent on the Savior when he was depending on the little stash he kept for himself—just in case.

It is so tempting to keep just a little something for rainy days. You just never know when you may need that little

stash. We are all very worried about that rainy day, and we’ve got a stash set aside just in case. That stash is of great interest to God. Here I want to be very clear. God is not asking you to give your savings to the church. God is asking you to give your trust to him. And that is because the stash is not enough to save your life. The rainy day could turn into a monsoon of calamity. Your child could get a terrible disease, you could be permanently crippled in a car crash, your spouse could die and leave you alone. How will your little stash of money prevent any of that?

Money is only one way to keep a stash from God. “God, you can have everything but my children. I have big dreams for them,” we say. “Just don’t take my career away.” “Just don’t take my home or my health.” “Don’t take my golf game.” ‘As long as you have your health,’ they say.” Again, you cannot call Jesus Lord and Savior and hold back anything.

What does it cost to call Jesus Lord? How much does he want? A lot more than the price of a field. What he wants is everything. He wants you.

Three hours later Sapphira comes into the church, and Peter asks her, “Tell me whether you and your husband sold the property for such and such a price.” She looked at the figure and said, “Yup. That was what we got for the land. And we gave it all to the church.” And Peter said, ”How is it that you have agreed

together to put the Lord to the test? Look! The feet of those who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” We are told, “Immediately she fell down at his feet and died.”

I am struck by that verse that says Sapphira died at the Apostle’s feet. Where they had first placed only a portion of their money, she lays down her whole life, as her husband did. That is what God wanted all along. Only he didn’t want them dead. He wanted them as living sacrifices, wholly trusting in the Lord.

We are not told that either God or Peter killed these two. Maybe they just died of heart attacks—or shame. We don’t know because we are not told, which means it isn’t important. What is important is that they are illustrations of Jesus’ point: “Those who try to save their own lives will lose them.” Ananias and

Sapphira lost their lives trying to save them.

Are you scared yet? The early church was. Twice we are told in this passage that “Great fear seized the whole church.” Maybe they were afraid of knowing that they had all held something back. And what about us? Aren’t we a lot more like Ananias and Sapphira than we are Barnabas? Aren’t we scared to give God everything?

Remember the thing that got Ananias and Sapphira in trouble was that they lied. They had no integrity to their faith. What they had was fear that they would run out of money. So they just pretended to trust God while actually trusting in their stash. God has always been so tender with repentant sinners who

confess their failure in belief. That is because when we confess our failures, even our failures in faith, we open our lives to be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is how we become Barnabas. We confess our inability to receive the Spirit’s ability.

I’m not telling you that you have got to muster up the courage to give God everything. I’m telling you that if you are like me, you don’t have that much courage. Confession is the first thing we have to give to God—we just have to give him the truth. And that is what it means to have integrity in faith. It doesn’t

mean you are a role model of fearless trust. It means that you tell the truth about your fears. To have integrity in faith is not just to give God your trust, but also to give God your doubts and anxieties.

Integrity in faith also means that you have to learn just how volatile and precious life is, and that it doesn’t matter how much you’ve got, it’s not enough to keep life safe. Only God can do that.

Maybe that was why great fear seized the whole church. Maybe the great fear was more like awe—the great awe that comes from realizing we are in the Lord’s hands, and he loves us too much to let us live with little fears. Nothing will take your life away like fear, most of all the fear that your little stash is not enough.

This sermon was adapted from a sermon written and delivered by Dr. M. Craig Barnes at the Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh on May 20, 2007 called “Finding Integrity”. Used with permission.