October 11

Acts 5: 1-11
But a man named Ananias, with the consent of his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property; 2 with his wife's knowledge, he kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles' feet. 3 "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? 4 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!" 5 Now when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard of it. 6 The young men came and wrapped up his body, then carried him out and buried him. 7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter said to her, "Tell me whether you and your husband sold the land for such and such a price." And she said, "Yes, that was the price." 9 Then Peter said to her, "How is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out." 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and died. When the young men came in they found her dead, so they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear seized the whole church and all who heard of these things.

The first recorded deaths in the Christian church come as a result of poor stewardship. It would be better to say that they came from not telling the truth about their stewardship. Apparently Ananias and Sapphira responded to the movement to sell all that they had and live in community. He also kept some of the proceeds for himself. The problem is that he says one thing and does the other.

Stewardship of wealth was and has the potential for temptation. The church is a community of the faithful. We do not tax the members to develop the funds needed to care for the poor and do the work of the resurrected Jesus. Ananias apparently could have made the decision to not sell his property. The appearance is that this couple has acted in faith with the expectation that they will now live in community. In fact they hold back some of the proceeds and lie to Peter.

The church is the body of Christ, so this lie is not to Peter but to God. We like to think that we control our wealth. The fact is that we, individually and corporately, controlled by our wealth or our fears about our wealth. In many ways we treat our wallets as our God. We put our fear, love and trust in what we can buy. In the early church and today we continue to wrestle with the temptations of wealth.

Reflection questions:
1. How does your wallet affect your life of faith?
2. In many congregations there is reluctance to talk about financial stewardship. How might this relate to this story?
3. How could we use our wealth to reflect our faith?