Holding Back
There is a scary lesson in today's reading. It is about the consequences of holding back.
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 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. And great fear seized all who heard of it. - Acts 5:1-5
The story is set up in the previous chapter, with all the followers agreeing to give up all their property for the support of the community.
Along comes a couple who want to be a part of this, but they aren't willing to give all their money to the group. They hold back half.
Confronted with how they had lied to God, both husband and wife die.
On the surface, this is a story about reneging on an agreement. Doing so with God has consequences. Now one could argue that it was guilt that killed them, or fear, but not God's hand, but in the end, everyone was frightened.
No one would hold back after hearing of this.
We don't demand such commitment to follow Jesus today. You don't have to sell everything and share it with all the believers. How could you?
With over two billion Christians in the world, that would be a challenge.
But regardless how you feel about communal living, something is lost when we don't start out sharing everything with each other.
If I don't think of the Church family as a place to go for help, then I won't offer my help to the Church.
We tend to think of those who come for aid as desperate, not as family.
The simple message here may be that those of us who have more to offer should offer more, whether that is time, talent or treasure.
It is not that we are forced to, but that we have committed to it by becoming Christian, by following Christ.
He gave it all. He held nothing back.
More to come...