It’s a rather odd story. I dare say that not many religious leaders today are so bold in their confrontations. Whether Peter had heard from other sources of the couples’ plans or not, we don’t know. What we do know is that, for him, their actions were appalling. They sold land with the intention of giving the money to the church, but then withheld a portion of it for themselves. Now which was the greater misdeed, not giving the money or lying about it? I don’t know for sure. But being challenged by Peter was so emotional that Ananias drops dead. Then his wife follows suit, she comes in telling the same lie and leaves the room feet first.

The last sentence is the clincher, “And great fear seized the whole church and all who heard of these things.” No wonder. I suspect that we all know a few liars. We may know a few stingy cheats too. But I don’t know any of them who have dropped dead when they were found out. Today, we’d probably be grateful for the portion of the sale given to the church and not care so much that they had pledged a different amount in their hearts and God’s eyes. It’s hard for us to be afraid of a story that seems so implausible. People these days don’t die of embarrassment very often, and certainly not literally.

So is anything at stake for us in this story more than just hearing an unbelievable tale from the church’s past? For me, Eugenia Gamble makes the stakes perfectly clear. When we are not fully committed to Christ, our benefits will be less than complete. We cannot hold back even a portion from God, lie about it, and have everything turn out OK. God knows what’s in our hearts, and God knows what is really true even if we are able to convince others of our commitment with a little fudging here and there.

Now fear is probably not the best motivator out there - especially when it comes to Stewardship campaigns. Peter maybe had a couple good years following this incident, but after that, when there were other people, just as deceitful as Ananias and Sapphira who weren’t struck down dead, the fear probably subsided. Thought I’m not a fan of lying or cheating, death seems like a harsh punishment for the crime committed. But we have this legacy in scripture of the early church quaking in its boots because these two half-hearted converts were caught in their sham and ended up dead.

What does that say to us? What does it say to the fragmented Christians we are today? What does it tell us when we want the sermon to get moving so we can get about making our lunch plans? What does it tell us when a good tee off time or breakfast and the morning paper sound much more enticing than an hour in a church pew? What does it tell us about the times we said we’d get to prayer or bible study only to put it off for later? What does it tell us about how much we give or don’t give from our own resources? Does God really get a justifiable cut, or does God get only what’s left over after our own lifestyle needs have been met?

I don’t know that pondering a rather sketchy biblical story will seize us with the fear of death. However, through this story we may be able to look at our lives and begin to see the impact it makes when we take such a large cut for ourselves and fail to give even a portion of our lives over to God. It may not lead to our physical deaths, but it certainly diminishes our spirits. A man named Sergey tells about the impact Christians had on the Soviet Union. He told of those who risked their lives to pray and to study the Christian life through books and bibles in the days of Communist rule. What a day it was when people were once again free to worship! But he also says, “Now that we are free, we are in danger of growing complacent, of not treasuring the freedom to worship. In fact, Christians in parts of the former Soviet Union have actually voted for the Communists to return to power because the church was so much more pure in those days. It seems we handle persecution better than prosperity. I, for one, pray we never have to return to those days. I pray that we will learn to praise God for what we have, rather than have to plead for it.” (Yancey, Philip. Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? Zondervan, 2006. Pages )

We’ve had a fairly long time of what I might call Christian prosperity in this nation – so much so that we could easily step into the trap of Ananias and Sapphira and believe that we are entitled to all the benefits of Christian community without taking on the full cost. That would be our mistake. The Christian life has requirements, and they go much farther than attendance at Sunday worship or dropping a check in the collection plate every now and then. The life that the apostle Peter was so strict to defend requires that we be fully committed – to the point of sacrifice, death if necessary. We can’t be partially in and partially wrapped up in our own concerns.

More so than harp on about Christian commitment, I’d rather give a sermon on thankfulness and the generosity that comes from gratitude. I’d rather talk about being motivated by love for our fellow human beings. I’d rather fluff our feathers and talk about how great we are. There are times for doing all those things, but I dare say that the church in the first world needs to hear more about Ananias and Sapphira and the death that ensues when we claim to be more pious and more dedicated than we really are. The church, in it’s suffering, has seen times that have certainly appeared more pure and more holy. Fat churches are much like fat politics – subject to any wind that blows and any financier who would keep us going. But praying for persecution isn’t the answer; praying for renewed commitment is. Now, God sometimes sends us adversity to teach us humility, and difficulty to teach us patience, so we better be prepared for whatever comes if we pray to be fully committed to God and to Christ’s rule here on earth. Pray and hold on for the ride!

Commitment isn’t for the faint of heart. It takes all kinds of fortitude just to stay committed in our human relationships – marriage, parenthood, friendships – just to name a few. Commitment weathers our failings. Commitment means that you’ll be there mopping your kid’s brow through the 3 a.m. fever. Commitment means that you’ll be married to the same person through the sagging jaw line, the gray hair, the heart attack and the cancer. Commitment means that you forgive the stupid comment, and it means that you can let your friend be wrong, but you won’t let her keep hurting you. But God’s commitment is permanent. The Bible calls it steadfast love or faithfulness, and it is shown to be a gift to generation after generation of human beings who have to learn about commitment in the fallible human realm.

When I was a teenager, the interim pastor’s wife at my home church invited me to their home in Virginia for a summer visit. They were older, like another set of grandparents to me, so I valued their wisdom and counsel. Over bagels one morning, they began to tell me about how their marriage had stayed great for so long. My friend Mrs. Earl said to me, he puts God first, but I’ve never minded being second. What she said stuck in my mind, but back then I didn’t understand it. Husbands and wives were supposed to put each other first. Since I was starting to ponder the ministry too, I didn’t want to hear that God had to be first. It seemed like that meant church had to come before relationships, and as a teenager, th at didn’t seem right at all.

What I discovered years later was that “God first” doesn’t mean “church meetings above all else” or that Chuck is always runner up. What it means is that committing to God puts all our other commitments in their proper place. God first and my family, my pastorate, my friendships are strengthened. God first and our loves are less likely to become our idols. God first and money is just money. God first and our fears about other things pale in comparison. The benefits far outweigh the sacrifice. The commitment becomes a gift and not a burden. One can only receive the benefits of total commitment to Christ when one is fully committed to him – no com partmentalizing our lives to work and parenting, church and the bowling league. God is serious about not wanting to be second or third in our lives. The bottom line is that we cannot cheat God, nor can we convincingly lie to God either. Our full commitment is what God desires.

Amen.