Acts 4:32-5:11
2026 Acts • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 2 viewsNotes
Transcript
The last paragraph in Acts 4 gives a sparkling picture of how Jesus’ followers did life together:
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.
It sounds ideal … and it is. This paragraph describes the early church at their best. Yet Annanias & Sapphira show that not everything’s perfect in the early church. Unhealthy competitiveness, pride, and lying happened among believers back then, just like it does now.
But on their good days, all was good in the early church. They shared everything they had and weren’t possessive about their stuff. To be clear, they were not practicing Communism. Communism proposes to get rid of social problems by giving ownership of all possessions to the state. Then, according to the ideal, the state cares for everyone by supplying what each person needs.
Communism falls apart because, despite their good intentions, people can’t resist their sinful nature. Greed, favoritism, and selfish ambition mean that, although communists intend to gather everything to share everything, the presence of sin means there’s “more gathering than sharing.”
Why does this kind of sharing work in the church?
Why does Luke, guided by the HS, emphasize the unity and generosity of the church in Jerusalem?
Why does “no one claim that any of their possession was their own”?
The believers understand that everything belongs to God on the grounds that God is the Creator. This belief is rooted in creation: at the dawn of time, when there was nothing, God spoke the whole world into existence. He’s the Creator! Our world belongs to God.
And God is generous. He has confidence in the people he made. We can read in the first chapter of the Bible how God made humans stewards of his creation:
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
From the day they were made until today, people are stewards of God’s creation. Everything belongs to God; we’re his caretakers. Our role is taking care of the soil and water, planting and harvesting crops, naming and tending the animals, and nurturing people esp. the most vulnerable.
When our first parents rebelled against God, they started acting like they were the owners. They claimed ownership - not to care for God’s creation, but like a toddler with a teddy bear who figures they can rip the arms off their stuffie if they want to; ‘cause it’s their’s. And they can do want with their own toys.
It’s parents’ job to stop their child for destroying toys. Parents and other adults teach kids that’s not what ownership or stewardship is about. All things, even our toys belong to God and ought to be cared for and used for their intended purposes. It’s how we worship God in all areas of life.
Yet it’s the human fallen and sinful nature that leads to destructiveness, selfishness, and uncontrolled anger. Our sinful behaviour breaks our relationship with God and other people. In his justice, our Creator and King, doesn’t let bad stewardship and other sinful behaviour go unpunished. God doesn’t sweep sin and destruction under the rug. The punishment for sin is death.
But - and here’s the good news - God came into his own creation, 100% God and 100% human to rescue his world and his people from sin and death and to reassert his claim. Jesus’ death atones for all human sin. Jesus’ resurrection confirms his victory over sin and all evil forces. Jesus’ ascension to heavenly glory … remember how the cloud of God’s presence hid Jesus from view? Now Jesus sits in God’s heavenly throne room: reaffirmed as ruler and king over all Creation. By faith in Jesus, you are free from sin and death. You’re included as a citizen of the kingdom of God.
Throughout Luke’s gospel, Jesus taught his disciples, by word and deed, what it looks like to be a citizen of God’s kingdom. The group of ~3000 disciples in Jerusalem worked hard to put Jesus’ teaching into practice. The believers’ efforts are described after Peter’s Pentecost sermon in Acts 2:
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.
As citizens of the kingdom of God, as people redeemed from slavery to sin, the disciples were generous with their possessions because
Our world and everything in it belongs to God
In Luke 6, Jesus teaches his followers to be generous:
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
That’s the kind of generosity we enjoy from God. It’s the kind of generosity Jesus calls us to imitate, without fear that we will run out of good things supplied by God. We can afford to be generous because, when necessary, God provides for our needs - sometimes directly, sometimes through the generosity of others. God taught this level of generosity in the OT after freeing the Israelites from slavery.
Perhaps you remember manna in the wilderness - collected daily and shared so that nobody had too much or too little
In the OT Law, God provides for the people in his service:
All people gave their firstfruits and tithes to supply food for the Levites who served God at the Tabernacle.
Levites in turn gave their firstfruits and tithes to God to supply food for Aaron’s descendants who serve God as priests.
In the NT, the principle carries on so that, like OT Levites and Priests, those who serve the NT church by preaching have a right to support from other believers. Paul helps us connect the dots in the letter to the Chr. in Corith:
Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.
It’s an awesome thing about our congregation. Crosspoint is generous! On our good days, we’re generous in supporting the needy in our congregation, supporting the needy in our community, and generous in covering the costs of ministry, including support for those who serve our congregation. Thank you! Keep it up!
Yet generosity is still a growth area for some of us. Most of us have a ways to go before anyone can honestly say that “we share everything we have.”
But what’s the story about Barnabas, Annanias, and Sapphira all about?
Luke mentions Barnabas as an example of the kind of generosity shown in the early church. Barnabas’ real name is Joseph. He’s from Cyprus. His nickname reflects his character. Barnabas = son of encouragement. He’s also among the generous believers in the early church. In Acts 4:37 Barnabas “sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.”
It’s the kind of thing that gets talked about. People talk, sharing the good news. This gift adds to Barnabas’ reputation for generosity.
Ananias & Sapphira admired Barnabas. They wanted to imitate him, but with a twist. Their heart and attitude weren’t in the same spot. At the root A&S were motivated by ambition tinged with greed and pride. Their sinful motives made it hard to hand over the full price of the property. They kept back some of the money for themselves and put the rest at the apostles’ feet.
Apparently they wanted praise and honour for being as generous as Barnabas. They acted like they gave all the money. Both Ananias and Sapphira lied to the apostles, lied to the church community, and ultimately, Peter says, they lied to God.
If they had told the truth, then keeping back some of the money was no big deal. The property was theirs. The money from the sale was theirs. They could give or keep all or some of it as they decided as an act of worship. The problem with Ananias & Sapphira is: they covered their greed and selfish ambition with lies.
When Peter confronted them individually, and they both kept lying, Ananias and Sapphira died. It’s shocking. It’s also shocking that Ananias was buried before his wife even knew he was dead. It’s safe to say, we don’t know everything about their burial practices except that it’s common for people to be buried on the same day they die.
The death of Ananias & Sapphira became big news. It’s bigger news than their gift could have been. It tells us something about God, the activity of the HS, and God’s desire for purity in the church.
Listen to the effect A&S’s deaths have.
When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.
Luke didn’t want his readers to miss this. He mentions it again as he sums up:
Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
In the case of Ananias & Sapphira, the early church is given a vivid lesson about the proper attitude when devoting their possessions to the Lord.
It’s a great passage to read during an installation service for an elder and deacon; a service that we’re reminded of the role elders and deacons play in our congregation.
Elders: Evelyn, Alette, Hank and Harry, you have a big responsibility, like Peter and the other apostles:
teaching - in the great power of God the HS:
With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them …
prayer,
and accountability for the purity of the church
It’s all part of our efforts to make more and better disciples who influence our community for Christ.
Deacons: Sid, Arjan, Brad, and Dorene
Deacons were first called to serve in Acts 6 - we’ll read about them soon as we read Acts together.
Called to end favouritism in the church
generosity, care for needy, and gift-giving
Jesus teaches about giving in Mt 6
“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
