Getting Carried Away

We have all done it. Yes, we have, at some point in our lives. Whether it was eating too much, drinking too much, staying out in the sun too much, spending too much, whatever. We have all gotten carried away doing way too much of something at some time.

Most of the time all we needed to do was stop and we would be fine. But there is one time that getting carried away just seems to spiral out of our control: when we lie. You see, lying becomes this tangled mess that always seems to find a way to catch us at some point or another. Shakespeare wrote, “The truth will out.” The Bible put it this way, “For nothing is concealed that won’t be revealed, and nothing hidden that won’t be made known and come to light.” (Luke 8:17, HCSB)

The thing about lying is that we usually get so carried away not wanting people to discover the truth, that we just continue with this ever-growing story that becomes impossible to maintain. We just cannot keep up with every detail of the lie. Eventually we will say something that contradicts what we said previously. The most skilled liars have learned how to keep everything very nebulous. They give as little detail as they can so they will have room to escape…or so they think.

You may be able to fool some of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool God ever. He not only knows when you are lying to others, He even knows when you are lying to yourself. Today we look at a couple that got carried away.

In Acts 4:32-36 we see how the followers of Jesus took care of each other, even selling some of their property to help cover the costs that the church had incurred. The last verses tell us that Barnabas sold some property and brought the money to the church and laid it at the Apostles feet. Then we come to Acts 5.

But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property. However, he kept back part of the proceeds with his wife’s knowledge, and brought a portion of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 

Then Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the proceeds from the field? Wasn’t it yours while you possessed it? And after it was sold, wasn’t it at your disposal? Why is it that you planned this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God!” When he heard these words, Ananias dropped dead, and a great fear came on all who heard. The young men got up, wrapped his body, carried him out, and buried him. (Acts 5:1-6, HCSB)

Ananias had certainly seen what Barnabas did. It impressed him that Barnabas would sell some of his property and give the money to the church. He probably noticed how impressed others were as well and wanted to get in on some of the praise and adoration that Barnabas was getting from the other followers of The Way. So, he talked to his wife about selling a piece of their property. But they decided to keep some of the money from the sale for themselves and bring only a portion of it to the church.

There is nothing wrong with doing that. It was their property and they had every right to sell it, keep some, and donate the rest. That, in and of itself, was a very kind thing to do. The problem was that Ananias intended to make it appear that he was doing the same thing that Barnabas had done. He wanted people to think that he had sold a property and given all the proceeds to the church.

Notice that he never spoke a word to the people. He didn’t open his mouth and lie about the selling price of the land. He wasn’t lying to his wife, because she knew about his plan. He wasn’t lying to himself, because he had planned to do this. He simply placed the money before the Apostles knowing that he had withheld some of the money. If he wasn’t lying to the Apostles, his wife, himself, or the church, who was he lying to? He was lying to God.

Ananias was attempting to get some praise and adoration for selling his property and giving the money to the church, but God knew that he was only giving a portion of the money. And God gave this knowledge to Peter so that he could publically confront Ananias about his lie. Ananias got carried away with his plan and the scripture tells us that he was then carried away to be buried. He instantly dropped dead after Peter asked why he would lie to God.

There was an interval of about three hours; then his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. “Tell me,” Peter asked her, “did you sell the field for this price?”
“Yes,” she said, “for that price.” 

Then Peter said to her, “Why did you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out!” Instantly she dropped dead at his feet. When the young men came in, they found her dead, carried her out, and buried her beside her husband. Then great fear came on the whole church and on all who heard these things. (Acts 5:7-11, HCSB)

Sapphira did not arrive at the church until 3 hours after her husband. She probably had to finish cooking and cleaning and taking care of the children while her husband went off to hang out with his friends. Well, we don’t actually know that. I am sure that her husband worked just as hard out in the fields or with the animals or whatever it was that he did for a living. But for some reason she came to church later than he did and had no idea that Ananias had died.

Peter gave her a chance to redeem herself by asking if the amount they donated to the church was what the field had sold for. Sapphira probably thought she was being a good wife when she kept her husband’s secret. She, may have also longed for the praise of the people, the applause, the attention that celebrities in the church might get. Regardless of her reasons and intent, she lied to Peter and the others. Sapphira got carried away by the lie and she also was carried away by the same men that had just buried her husband.

Wow! What an incredible story from the early church. Verse 11 says that great fear came on the church and on all that heard about this. I bet. Imagine being a witness to this and seeing that, not one, but two people just suddenly dropped dead in the church because they were lying to God. I imagine that people were suddenly thinking to themselves, “Have I lied to God? Am I going to be next?”

This story causes fear even today when followers of Jesus read it. Some people even misuse this story to try and force people to obey God’s Word. Most followers of Jesus see this as a time when God was making an example of Ananias and Sapphira. They wonder about God’s callous use of two lives just to teach a lesson. The worry that God is going to zap them at any minute. Don’t worry, if God just zapped everyone that lied to Him or the church there wouldn’t be anyone left to attend church.

If we study the entire Bible we will come to understand several things about God. First, God knows everything. He is omniscient. He knows everything we do, everything we say, everything we think. Every. Single. Thing.

Secondly, God loves you so much that He died for you. God has forgiven us of every sin and will be faithful to forgive us of any future sins, if we humbly and sincerely ask for that forgiveness. Ananias and Sapphira certainly could have asked for forgiveness even for lying to God.

God loves His church. He will do whatever it takes to protect His church. Because God is omniscient, He even knows what we will or won’t do in the future. God knows if something we say or do will hurt His church. God also knows if we will repent of any actions we do that bring hurt to His church.

I believe that our omniscient God loved Ananias and Sapphira very much. I believe that He also loved and wanted to protect His church. God knew that what Ananias and Sapphira had done was something that would hurt the church if He allowed it to go unnoticed.

Why? Imagine when the person who bought the land from them heard that they had given all the money to the church. That person then casually says something like, “Wow! I can’t believe that Ananias and Sapphira gave $100,000 to the church. Everything that they earned from selling me this land.” What would happen next? The lie would unravel. Word would spread that members of The Way were liars. The credibility of the church would be damaged. God’s church would be hurt.

I believe that God also knew the heart of Ananias and Sapphira well enough to know if they would repent of what they had done and make it right. I think that God knew they would have stubbornly allowed this secret sin to hurt the church rather than allow it to hurt them. They were carried away with their desires. That is why I believe that Ananias and Sapphira got carried away by the men of the church.

What about you? Is there anything in your life that you have allowed to go unchecked? Have you gotten carried away with selfishness, greed, lies, lust, a desire for attention? Are you willing to seek forgiveness for getting carried away?