The First Church We Should Return

Acts 5:1-11

Yonsei University Church (Sinchon)

2022.09.04. 11:00

When I was much younger than now, the Korean church was passionate about the movement to return to the early church. At that time, the early church that the Korean church wanted to restore was the church that was built in Jerusalem after Jesus left this earth. The Jerusalem Church was the first church established in the world. There were apostles who shared with Jesus, and there were believers who kept their faith despite persecution. The Early Church was a community of faith in which the people of Christ kept the faith and spread the gospel with the apostles.

The book of Acts tells us in detail what the early church looked like. The Jerusalem Church was a community of faith centered on the apostles and believers who stayed in Jerusalem according to the command of Jesus. They devoted themselves to prayer in the midst of persecution and danger, were filled with the Holy Spirit, preached the gospel boldly, and shared their possessions to form an abundant community. In just one day, the number of believers increased by 3,000 or more. The Jerusalem church was a church that could be a model for the future church.

Of course, the Jerusalem church was not ideal. There was also a conflict between the Hebrews and the Greeks over relief for widows. However, the Jerusalem church is still regarded as the first church on this earth as a model for the church.

If the early church shows the church we will restore, what kind of example will the Ananias and Sapphira incidents set us by? Was the case just a teacher while teaching a personal moral ethic not to lie? Or, is the church, a community of faith, showing what it should be like? If so, what does the text say about the early church that needs to be restored?

Ananias and Sapphira

According to the book of Acts, Ananias and Sapphira were a married couple and were believers in the Jerusalem Church. One day they sold their possessions and gave some of it to the church. Acts 4 records that several believers in the Jerusalem church voluntarily sold their land or house and gave the money to the church. Considering this atmosphere, Ananias and Sapphira could be seen as exemplary believers who gave their property for the church and for their fellow believers.

However, while giving the offering, the couple received severe rebuke from the apostle instead of praise, and they were judged by God and died on the spot. Peter asked Ananias, who had come alone with an offering, if that was all the money he had sold her possessions. Ananias answered falsely yes, and was judged as trying to deceive God. Later, even Sapphira, who came to the church unaware of her husband's business, was asked the same question from Peter and answered falsely. She, like her husband, was judged by God and died. It was a tragic event that both couples died under God's judgment on the same day. After their incident, the whole church and those who heard about it were greatly afraid.

Why did Ananias and Sapphira lie?

The account of Acts is not easy to understand at first glance. Reading the text, I asked a few questions. Did you have to donate all the money you sold your property? Or, would it have been ok if you answered that you only brought some? Taking note of Peter's point that Ananias and Sapphira were free to use their possessions, why on earth did Ananias and Sapphira lie that they brought them all?

First of all, why did Ananias and Sapphira sell their property? According to Acts 4, there were no poor people among the believers in the Jerusalem church. Because a believer who had land or a house sold it and brought it to the apostles, who distributed it according to the needs of each person. These offerings may not have made all believers prosperous, but at least they would have made a basic living possible. In this sense, there would have been no ‘poor’ believers in the church. Perhaps many of the believers who had property put it away. Giving up property may have been understood as a mature religious decision following the “great grace” experienced by believers (Acts 4:33). Ananias and Sapphira decided to sell their possessions in this atmosphere. Wouldn't they want to be recognized as "great grace" and mature believers like everyone else?

So, why did the couple only bring a portion of the money they sold? Here, we can suspect that the couple did not sell their property through an independent decision based on their faith experience, but were swept away by the atmosphere of the church and sold their possessions. The church atmosphere, in which believers who own houses or land sold them and brought them to the apostles, may have acted as an unspoken pressure to donate their possessions to those with property. If that were the case, it would have been difficult to willingly donate all the money from the sale of the property of Ananias and Sapphi. Their desire for recognition would have collided with their love for property.

If so, why did Ananias and Sapphira say they brought all the money? Why didn't you honestly say that it was just part of organizing your fortune? The passion for high devotion in the Jerusalem church at that time was not due to coercion. It was a voluntary commitment. It was a church that experienced “great grace”. Peter also points out that Ananias, who gives a false answer, was free to own what he wanted (Acts 4:5). Ananias and Sapphira misunderstood voluntary devotion as a duty and an opportunity for recognition, and were conscious of the atmosphere of the church or the eyes of others.

The behavior of Ananias and Sapphira was to ‘serve two masters’, which Jesus warned against. For that reason, he came to the apostles and gave false answers and was severely rebuked for trying to deceive God. If you pay attention to the behavior of this couple, you can learn a personal religious ethic that warns against trying to deceive God and serving two masters. However, does the incident in this text refer only to the believer's personal religious ethics?

Why was God's judgment so immediate and severe?

Even if Ananias and Sapphira tried to deceive God, how could they explain God's immediate and severe judgment against them? Why did God judge Ananias and Sapphira so harshly that the whole church and the neighbors all feared greatly?

The teachings of Jesus in the Gospels of the New Testament culminate in “Love God and love your neighbor.” In the Gospel of John, Jesus instructs his disciples to “love one another.” Jesus came to Peter, who had denied him, and gave him a new opportunity. Saul, who was persecuting the church, met the resurrected Jesus Christ and became Paul and devoted himself to preaching the gospel.

Who is God also? God sent his only begotten Son, and he is the One who gathers the nation of Israel “as a hen gathers her chicks together under her wings” (Matthew 23:37; Luke 13:34). He promised restoration even to the people of Israel who had been destroyed because of their sins, and he had the Israelites who had passed the captivity rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. It seems so harsh that such a God killed Ananias and Sapphira on the spot. Why did God do that?

God's severe judgment on Ananias and Sapphira can be explained in terms of God's holiness and its violation. Where God's holiness is revealed, human error becomes more evident. According to the story of Uzzah in 2 Samuel 6, he was afraid that the ark would fall when the oxen ran while carrying the ark of the covenant, so he grabbed the ark. Uzzah's actions were obviously to protect the ark of God, but at the same time, it was a violation of God's holiness. Uzzah died on the spot, and the place where he died was called Perez-Uzzah (the beating of Uzzah) (2 Samuel 6:8). Leviticus 10 tells the story of Nadab and Abihu, Aaron's sons, who were killed on the spot because they did not burn incense in the tabernacle as God commanded (verses 1-2). The High Priest could enter the Most Holy of the Temple in Jerusalem only on certain days to purify himself. The high priest who trespasses on the holiness of God was not spared his death.

In the Old Testament, the ark of the covenant and the temple represent God's supreme holiness, whereas in the New Testament, the church reveals God's holiness. Paul writes that each believer and the church as a community of faith are all temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19). The book of Ephesians speaks of believers being the dwelling place, the temple, of God in Christ Jesus (2:19-22). Believers become the temple of God as an individual and the temple of God as a community of faith. In other words, the church is the place where God is present, where His supreme holiness is manifested.

The Ananias and Sapphira incident happened right in the ‘church’. The church here is not the church as a building or institution. The church is a gathering of believers who worship together, for holy worship and fellowship. Paul also teaches that the church is the body of Christ united by the members of the body. Ananias and Sapphira had entered the church as a temple, where believers gathered to show the holiness of God. Standing before the apostles, they violated the holiness of God with a divided heart and falsehood. Therefore, the lies of Ananias and Sapphira could not be treated as a light fault, because their lies violated the holiness of God.

What is the appearance of the early church to which we should return?

What is the message of Ananias and Sapphira? If we must return to the early church, what does the record of Acts say about the early church we should return to? In other words, what does the church need to recover as a community of faith?

The words of Acts teach that the church should reveal the holiness of God. Whenever believers gather to worship God, the church must be a place where the holiness of God is present. The lies of Ananias and Sapphira in the Jerusalem church could not be overlooked. It was evident in the church, the temple of God, in contrast with holiness. The Jerusalem church had the holiness of God and was a place where lies could not hide. The church cannot worship God with lies. No, the church cannot be a blurry place where lies cannot be revealed. The church must be a place where lies are exposed and repentance before God.

Peter repeatedly questioned Ananias. However, Ananias repeatedly answered falsely. Even Sapphira was not pierced in her heart when he heard Peter's question. Like Ananias, he tried to deceive.

The lies of Ananias and Sapphira contrast with the tongues experienced by the believers in the Jerusalem church. The believers who experienced the filling of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost spoke in tongues. Regardless of how we understand their tongues, one thing is certain: tongues according to the Spirit speak the truth. Tongues cannot be the language of lies. It cannot coexist to lie and deceive God in the worship of believers in the presence of the Holy Spirit. However, Ananias and Sapphira went to God with lies rather than the truth.

The church must prepare itself for the holiness of God. However, we cannot prepare ourselves for the holiness of God. To come before God, we must rely on the shed blood of Jesus Christ and the broken body. Only His grace on the cross enables us to come before a holy God. Follow his example, follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit whom he has sent.

If we worship a holy God and seek His grace, we should know that we stand before His holiness here and now. Paul said, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” (Galatians 6:7). We must go forward with a humble heart and honesty before God with a broken heart.

The Jerusalem Church was a holy temple where lies could not hide. The church today must also be a holy temple where lies cannot hide. Through today's scripture, the shape of the early church we will restore is a community of believers in the presence of God's holiness.

Lord, we have gathered in the church. May this community of faith reveal the holiness of God.