To give some background: This is an appropriate passage for World Communion Sunday, as this follows right on the heels of the account of the wonderful spirit of unity and subsequent generosity which had broken out in the Early Church. It would seem that they were joyfully obeying their Lord's command to "love one another", and that Jesus' heartfelt prayer of John 17, "...that they may be one", was already being answered! 4:32 -- All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need." People were selling off property and giving it to the church. They were doing all of this not because they had to, not because they were forced to by the apostles (or by their government, for that matter), but because they wanted to. This was their heart-felt response to the amazing gift of love and grace they had received in Christ; they wanted to love and give in return. As a result of this generosity, "There was not a needy person among them." Our passage today begins with a man named Joseph, from Cyprus, selling one of his fields. He brought the money from the sale and laid it at the feet of the apostles. It would seem they were so impressed with Joseph that they changed his name to Barnabas, which, as the text tells us, means "son of encouragement." We encounter this Barnabas again and again in Acts; for example, he appears in chapter 9 as the staunch advocate of the new convert Paul (9:27), in chapter 11 as the pastor of the new Gentile converts in Antioch, and in chapter 13 as the first partner of Paul on his missionary journeys, again in chapter 15 advocating giving his nephew John Mark a second chance (15:37). Joseph/Barnabbas goes on to shine as one of the most mature, reliable, loveable leaders of the early church. And right here in Acts 4 Luke shows us how Barnabas' trusted ministry began -- it began with giving. Generous, selfless, honest giving.

Just as an aside, I'd like to point out that this is what giving often does. Giving encourages. Giving encourages and enables ministries of compassion, it encourages and fosters unity. Giving is the lifeblood of genuine ministry, in that it encourages service and develops the best sort of leaders, the servant leaders. In a word, giving changes lives. We don't give because the church has needs, or because we have to meet a budget or plan for the future. No, we give to God, and we give to God out of a grateful response to what He has given us. We give because we may give, never because we are forced to "give;" that's taxation and that's another sermon. We also give because we need to give. You do enough genuine giving, and you might as well change your name, because it will transform your life. It will help make you someone who is no longer always worried and preoccupied about "having enough," and into someone who is focused on being a son or daughter of encouragement for others.

Now we come to Chapter 5. It seems that another man in the church, named Ananias, also got caught up in this spirit of giving ... ah, to a point. Perhaps he was inspired by Joseph's example, or perhaps he envied the attention given Joseph. Perhaps he really wanted to do exactly what Joseph did; maybe he, too, wanted to get a new name from the apostles. But when Ananias sold his field and had all this money sitting in a bag in his hand, he decided to hold back some of it and just tell the church that he was giving them all the proceeds. He just, ah, wouldn't report the entire extent of his capital gains. The text also tells us that his wife Sapphira agreed to this lie. Now, I really can't imagine that Ananias set Sapphira down and said to her, "Tell you what, honey. Let's lie to God." No, he probably set that sack of money down on the table, stared at it and said, "You know, sweetheart, we've got some big bills coming up. And who knows what the Lamp Oil Cartel will do next, their prices are rising all the time, and there's that little trip to the Greek Islands we were planning. The roof needs thatching, and I'm sure the kids will need braces. And it's hot in here, we really do need air conditioning! Then there's that new driveway we've been talking about. I just don't know if we really should or can give all of this money away." But then perhaps he thought some more about the accolades Joseph/Barnabas received; perhaps he felt some pressure to look and act just like Barnabas. So maybe Ananias said to his wife, "Let's hold on to some of this, and just tell Peter that we're giving them the whole amount. And in a sense, we are. I mean, well, if God helps those who help themselves, then, uh, God'll be happy that I'm helping him help me. Right?" And Sapphira said, "Yes, dear." (Just as another aside: there really is no verse in the Bible that says God helps those who help themselves. Many of us might love to find such a verse because it would help justify our preoccupation with ourselves. But it's just not there; in fact, the Bible implies just the opposite: God helps those who cast themselves wholly upon Him and His faithfulness.)

When Ananias mimicked Barnabas and laid his money down at the feet of the apostles, rather than getting a new name from the apostles, Ananias got a stiff rebuke from Peter: "What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to us, but to God." Then we are told, "When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died." The young men of the church carried him away and buried him. Three hours later, Sapphira came into the church and Peter asked her, "Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?" She looked at the figure and said, "Yes, that was the price." And Peter said, "How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also." The account then tells us, "Immediately she fell down at his feet and died."

Note that Peter didn't care that Ananias and Sapphira did not give all the money from the land sale to the church. He even told Ananias that since he owned the property it was already his, and he could have kept all the money. There were no church rules that said you had to pledge all your property income on this Stewardship Drive of the early church. No, people were giving because they wanted to, not because they had to ... there was no forcible compulsory "church tax", no "ECRS" (Early Church Revenue Service) from which members should be tempted to hide their capital gains. No, the problem wasn't that they held money back, the problem was that they lied. Needlessly. Verse 3 says they lied to the Holy Spirit, verse 4 says they lied to God. Perhaps they didn't really believe the Holy Spirit was even present in the church. Maybe they didn't reckon with His reality. They may have been simply functioning on a human level and never even thought about the real presence of the Spirit of the living God in that church. Or maybe they believed in His presence in some theoretical way, but just didn't think He really knew the thoughts of their mind. He was "there," maybe, but He wasn't, well, real. Or perhaps they thought He was there and real, but that He wouldn't really punish them. Perhaps they had a view of grace that says, "No matter how devious and hypocritical we are, God always tolerates everything."

And so it is at times in our churches today. Some people may come to worship and operate totally on the human level, never even reckoning with the real, living presence of God in this room. Some come and give theoretical assent to God's presence but don't really come to terms with the awesome reality that He does indeed hear every thought in their mind and sees every imagination of their heart. Others come and convince themselves that the thoughts of the heart are not serious enough to worry about, because "grace" always means "tolerance." In each of these three cases the Spirit of God is demeaned. Perhaps one reason, if not the reason, this story remains in the Bible is to warn that it is possible to outrage the Spirit of grace.

Whatever the lessons, twice we are told that "Great fear seized the whole church." Maybe they were afraid as we should be, knowing that perhaps they had all held something back from God. Aren't we a lot more like Ananias and Sapphira than we are Barnabas? Haven't we all held something back from God? But please remember, the thing that got Ananias and Sapphira in trouble was not that they held something back, but that they lied, saying that they had given more than they did, that they committed more to God than they actually had. God is always tender with repentant sinners who confess their failure in belief, who are honest before Him about their limits and weaknesses. That is because when we do confess our failures, even our failures in faith, we open our lives to be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, Who then goes to work in (and through) us by the power of His sanctifying grace.

At the end of this month we will be placing our financial commitments, our pledges, at this Table. Symbolically we will be placing them before the living God Who knows our hearts, Who knows our resources, Who knows us through and through. In our lives and especially in our giving, may we imitate not the deceit of Ananias, but the integrity of Barnabas, the son of encouragement ... this man whose trusted ministry was rooted in generous, selfless, honest giving to God.