Acts 4:32-5:16           

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. 33 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. 36 Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, 37 sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.

5:1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” 5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. 6 The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, 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 breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

12 Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. 13 None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

This is Small Group Kick-Off” Sunday. My aim is to raise the value of meaningful relationships between believers in general and the value of meaningful small group relationships in particular. At the end, I’ll urge you to engage in small group ministry.

My “Ideal” Christian Community

It’s ironic that I have had my best relational experiences of community with believers, and I have had my worst relational experiences of community with believers. On the one hand, my deepest experiences of love and forgiveness of wrong and deep discipleship and fellowship have come within the context of the church—in relationships with other believers. On the other hand, my greatest relational disappointments have come within the context of relationships with other believers. I confess that my hopes and expectations for the Christian community are higher than my expectations for other groups of family, friends or neighbors.

I became a Christian in the summer before my sophomore year of high school at a Christian camp. Camp was, in my mind, the closest thing to heaven I had ever experienced. The days and nights were spent in teaching, discipleship groups, worship, and recreation. Love for Jesus and love for one another seemed to characterize the days. I thought, “So this must be what eternal life in heaven is like, camp forever”. After 6 days of bliss I had to go home, but I returned to camp 2 more weeks that summer for more of my first glorious experience of living in Christian community. The camp staff finally asked if I wanted to work there, so I did. I had this experience of ideal Christian community. Camp became the standard with which I measured other contexts of community.

The older I have become, the more I see that the disappointments I have with others are—if I am honest—the same disappointments I have with myself. I have been surprised and disappointed by the lack of sanctification of other Christians. While at the same time, I find a way to cope with my own lack of sanctification without despair. I have found a way to hope in Christ for my sins, not for the sins of my brothers and sisters.

The Gift of Disillusionment

With camp as my ideal, no other setting for Christian community could measure up: not relationships with Christians in public school, at home, in church, at Christian college, and not in the music ministry group I was with. I had a settled concept, and ideal of what Christian community was supposed to be and as much as I hoped for it and prayed for it—I could not experience it again.

More often my thoughts were something like this, “If other people would just shape up, grow in grace, be what we are called to be as believers then I could again have my experience of Christian community”. Remember, this idea was based on my experience of 3 weeks of bible camp as a 15 year old.

It was in my first year at Bethel College that I read Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book, Life Together. He helped me see that my disillusionment with my Christian community was part of God’s curriculum for me. He writes,

Certainly serious Christians who are put in a community for the first time will often bring with them a very definite image of what Christian communal life… should be, and they will be anxious to realize it. But God’s grace quickly frustrates all such dreams. A great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and, if we are fortunate, with ourselves, is bound to overwhelm us, as surely as God desires to lead us to an understanding of genuine Christian community (Bonhoeffer, Life Together).

I hope the historical account in our text brings what Bonhoeffer calls “a great disillusionment,” yet also a deeper understanding and appreciation of the gift of genuine Christian community.

Barnabas and the “Ideal” Christian Community

Despite persecution and threats from outside recorded earlier in Acts 4, within the community of believers the grace of God is being displayed in tangible ways. Acts 4:32 says, “Now the full number of those who believed was of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.”

Not only were the believers sharing their belongings. They were also selling their belongings to meet the needs of others. Verse 34-35 says, "There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need." Barnabas, the same man who would later become Paul’s first missionary partner (13:2) is exemplary. Verse 36, "Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, 37 sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet."

So, despite persecution, the church community is filled with the Holy Spirit of boldness and miraculous power. And despite personal need, the church community is given ‘much grace’ in sacrificing personal property to meet the needs of others within the church community.

Ideal Christian Community Shattered

Some with an idealized conception of the early church might say, “If we could just get back to the way things were in the early church...” but keep reading. The Bible is so real in giving us the messy picture. In the early church, there is sin enough to shatter the “idealized” conceptions of Christian community too. Acts 5:1-2, "But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet." At first glance this looks just like Barnabas mentioned back in Acts 4:36. But there is a problem with Ananias and his offering. The clue in verse 2 is that he “kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it”.

So in Verse 3 Peter says, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?  4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” After Peter said that, Ananias dropped dead on the spot (vs. 5). Young, presumably able-bodied men carried him out and buried him. Verse 5 says, “And great fear came upon all who heard of it”.

After three hours, Sapphira arrived without a clue that her husband had just dropped dead. Peter tested her and said, “'Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.’ And she said, “Yes, for so much.”’ So she lied too. She was part of this satanic conspiracy of hypocrisy, theft and lying. Peter replied in verse 9, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” She dropped dead on the spot. The young men took her out and buried her with her husband. And much like verse 5, verse 11 says, “And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.”

The problem was not simply that Ananias and Sapphira kept back a portion of the money. They were not obligated to bring in the money; they were free to give it and free to keep it. So offering a percentage of the proceeds from the sale—rather than 100% of the proceeds is not the problem. What was their sin? I can see 4 problems with Ananias and Sapphira:

1) Satanic Influence: Peter begins his confrontation with this in verse 3, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?”

2) Hypocrisy: Peter confronts Ananias for his posturing himself to be bringing in the whole of the proceeds, when actually only donating a portion of it. In this aspect as people pleasers. They wanted to be seen as more spiritual, more generous, more sacrificial than they actually were. The approval of Peter and the rest of the church people is in this regard their master, their idol. Perhaps they had already pledged the full amount, or had told others they were giving the whole amount of the sale to meet the needs of other believers, or it was just the community norm that when one sold belongings for the needs of others they brought in the full amount.

3) Theft: Peter says in verse 3 that they “kept back” part of the proceeds for themselves. The verb translated “kept back” is a rare word meaning to pilfer or to embezzle or to misappropriate. It’s used one other place in the New Testament and translated "to steal." The same word is used in the Greek translation of Joshua 7 describing Achan’s theft of a portion of Israel’s plunder when conquering the city of Ai in the second battle of the promised land. In judgment, God put Achan and his family to death for that sin. Joshua 7:1, “But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the LORD burned against the people of Israel.”

4) Lying: Remember, all sin is primarily sin against God and secondarily sin against people. When David committed adultery and killed Bathsheeba’s husband, he confesses to God and says, “Against you only have I sinned” (Ps. 51:4). Likewise, Peter confronts Ananias here in verse 4, “You have not lied to men but to God.”

What Does This Mean for Small Groups?

I wonder if one of the things that keeps us out of Christian community is our idealized notions of it and our disillusionment that our experience of the community falls short of our ideal. The community of Christians that you live in right now is a gift, not an ideal. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, "Christian community is not an ideal we have to realize, but rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate” (Bonhoeffer, Life Together). May God give a blessed death to our idealized imaginary version of Christian community.  Bonhoeffer writes,

Only that community which enters into the experience of this great disillusionment with all its unpleasant and evil appearances begins to be what it should be in God’s sight, begins to grasp in faith the promise that is given to it. The sooner this moment of disillusionment comes over the individual and the community, the better for both. Those who love their dream of a Christian community more than the Christian community itself become destroyers of that Christian community even though their personal intentions may be ever so honest, earnest, and sacrificial(Bonhoeffer, Life Together).

What can we apply from our text about the Christian community and small group relationships in particular?

1. Remember, as you engage in relationship with other believers, that despite the work of Satan and the presence of our sin, God is passionately zealous for his glory in the Christian community. Although Satanic opposition will press in from outside the church and rise up even within the church to destroy the gospel and the Christian community, God is always at work. He is more concerned about his glory at Bethlehem than you or any of us as pastors and elders. He is always active.

Before Ananias and Sapphira, he was at work for the glory of Christ. The  text says “great power” was upon the apostle’s teaching and “great grace was upon them all” (vs. 33).

During the tragic sin of Ananias and Sapphira he was at work. God causes them to drop dead as a consequence of their deception an act of judgment—a foretaste of eternal judgment for all apart from Christ. And the spiritual gift of ‘the fear of the LORD’ lands upon the church.

After Ananias and Sapphira, he was at work as verse 12 describes, for the glory of Christ, "Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. 13 None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women."

For the glory of God, Christ “will build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (cf. Matthew 16:18). So, whatever state you assess your small group—or even Bethlehem as a whole—rest assured that, through his mercies to us in Christ, God is always at work by his Word and his Spirit of power. May God give us spiritual power, faith in his promises and fear of the Lord.

2. Remember, as you engage in relationships with other believers that God hates hypocrisy. Jesus warned his disciples, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1). And Jesus said, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them (Matthew 6:1). May our relationships with believers be marked by genuineness, by what is real, and not by false pretense, posturing and people pleasing. May God give us grace to “put away all…hypocrisy” (1 Peter 2:1). And may each of us “speak the truth” with one another because “we are members one of another” (Ephesians 4:25).

3. Remember, as you engage in relationship with other believers to treat unrepentant sin very seriously. May we not "wink" at sin. May we hold one another to account. Of course this will involve getting the log out of our own eye, in order to see clearly enough to point out the speck in the eye of our brother or sister (cf. Matthew 7). In this we need one another. This reminds me of 1 John 1. Our fellowship is with God and one another characterized by a rhythm of confessing and receiving God’s forgiveness in Christ over and over again.

4. Let's treat unrepentant sin very seriously. In our text, God removed Ananias and Sapphira from the church by sudden death. We might say that God exercised the judgment of church discipline. The church has tended to oscillate in this area between extreme severity (disciplining members for the most trivial offences) and extreme laxity (exercising no discipline at all, even for serious offences). It is a good general rule that secret sins should be dealt with secretly, private sins privately, and only public sins publicly (cf. Stott,The Message of Acts: The Spirit, The Church & The World). May God give us grace to confess our “sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:16a).

It’s Small Group Kick-Off Sunday. You should have received a new Shepherd Group Directory when you came in sanctuary. There are 47 open groups in the directory listed for the Downtown Campus. Here are several ways to get connected to a small group: 

• Stop by the display tables in the main hall after the service. Shepherd leaders and elders will be waiting to talk to people.
• Use the tear-off slip from the back cover of the directory.
• Call or email any of the leaders in the directory.
• Check the Web site.
• Call the church office.

Alternate Account of Ananias and Sapphira

Let me close with my alternative version of Ananias and Sapphira. This is not a rewriting of the Bible. My hope is when this happens at Bethlehem, I pray that God would grant us an outcome better than judgement.

But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? You are pretending that you are bringing in all of the proceeds of your land, but in truth you are keeping back a portion for yourself. Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”

When Ananias heard these words, he replied, “You are right. I lied to you, the church and to God. I lied because I didn’t want to give the full amount. But when everyone else in the church was selling property and donating the proceeds to the church, we wanted to do it too. We didn’t want people to think we were stingy money-lovers. We want people to know that we are generous too! We care about the poor too! So, when the land sold, I lied. I pretended to donate all the money while keeping back a percentage to pay our bills. I was wrong. I feared people more than God. I loved money more than God.

Ananias continued, “Please forgive me. God forgive me. I’ll tell the church when the people assemble.” Ananias fell down on his knees in prayer, confessing his sins to God. Kneeling at his side, Peter put his arm around Ananias, praying with him the promise of forgiveness of sins that is ours in Jesus. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. A few brothers and sisters in Christ rose and embraced him and walked with him to a more secluded place to talk and pray.

After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter said to her, "Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “No, it sold for more than we brought in.” But Peter said to her, “That’s what your husband said too. He’s confessed and repented and is even now talking with the brothers from his small group about his unbelief and idolatry.” Immediately she fell down at his feet to confess, “God, forgive me. Lord Jesus, forgive me.”  A woman from the group praying with Ananias came over to talk with Sapphira and walked her over to her husband.

And great fear came upon the small group, the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.