March 8, 2021
But a man named Ananias, with the consent of his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property; with his wife’s knowledge, he kept back some of the proceeds, and only brought only a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. “Ananias,” Peter asked, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, were not the proceeds at your disposal? 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. — Acts 5:1-5
I’ve always found this story from Acts to be puzzling. I’m still puzzled by it, despite the remarks here, which are speculation. If you have any ideas please share them.
Incidentally, Ananias is a popular name in Acts; there are three men with that name. Although this story presents its information somewhat obliquely, it seems that the sin of Ananias and Sapphira was not failure to donate their total proceeds — they had a right to give whatever they chose. It was that they tried to deceive others about what that had done.
Luke, who wrote more of the New Testament than any other individual, often wrote parallel passages. That is, a passage in his gospel might relate to one in Acts or vice versa; or adjacent or nearby passages in the same book might be related. One parallel here might be the story of the end of Judas in Acts 1:18-19. There are some big differences — Judas trades money for a piece of land and Ananias does exactly the opposite. But in both cases the motives appear somewhat confused. Judas seems to have been motivated by more than simple greed. Likewise, although greed may have played a part in Ananias’s decision to keep some of the money, he could have done that without the deception.
In both cases the sin leads to a chain of consequences. Judas’s action harms Jesus and by extension the community of disciples. Ananias’s action is against the Holy Spirit and by extension the community. Both stories end in sudden death (two in the second case.)
So here’s what I see in this. I’m not certain that one sin is worse than another; all sin is sin. But if there is one kind of sin that is particularly dangerous, it is that which harms the community. In the early church, threatened as it was, care of each other was crucial. We find ourselves in a similar situation now, even if for quite different reasons. Let us be especially sensitive to harm to the community of faith.
Gracefully submitted,
David Petty
Sam, here: The call for us to love our neighbor as ourselves, to build the community of faith, and to stand against oppression, are all issues that we face as a community. Brian McLaren writes about the unknowing bias’s we hold in his book: Why Don’t They Get It? Overcoming Bias in Others (and Yourself). Part of building the community in faith is being willing to listen to one another, to understand viewpoints that may differ from our won, and see that which brings life to the community. In doing so, we may all grow, and we may all avoid unknowing harm to those who would be our neighbor.