Most communities and societies function around an unwritten rule: whoever holds the most money, holds the most power. The more money you have, the more influence you have. The more money you have, the more security you have for the future. The more money you have, the more respect and admiration you have. What’s interesting about the first community that was formed by the Holy Spirit - the Early Church - was that it seemed to function around the inverse of that rule. In the Early Church, people saw it as powerful to give their possessions and money away for the sake of others. And it seems that those who did so held a certain level of honor in the Early Church, because in Acts 5 we see a couple - Ananias and Sapphira - who want to steal a little bit of this honor. They sell a plot of land, give some of the money to the Church, but want the credit and honor as if they’d given the whole thing. So they lie, and because of this, they die. This is not a case of God striking someone dead, because they didn’t give enough money. If so, we all better learn what that dollar amount is so we hit our quota each year. It was their deception that was the problem. It was their pride. Their desire to keep some of the money, while pretending as if they’d given it all, was a scheme to deceive the entire community. For what reason, we’re not sure. Maybe they thought they would gain some honor and admiration from others. Maybe they thought it would give them a little more influence or authority in the community. Maybe they thought God would bless them more. But what Peter makes clear to them is that the issue isn’t the money they deprived from the community (Acts 5:4), but that they were “conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord” (Acts 5:9). Ananias and Sapphira were not giving due to listening to the Holy Spirit - or from their interactive life with God - but in order to trick the Spirit. We see a picture of generosity led by the Spirit at the end of Acts 4. That from time to time people were led to sell their possessions and entrust it to the Apostles to distribute to those who had need. And the result of this was that there were no needy persons among them. And Luke makes clear this is not just the result of human financial wisdom or a good economic strategy, it’s the result of God’s grace at work in their community (Acts 4:33-34). A community centered on interactive life with God is a new kind of society. It’s not a club or organization or government, it’s a family. And families share with one another. This means if we are to be this kind of community, we must become a community of regular generosity.
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