Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Monday, June 3, 2013 Read – Acts 5:1-11 Luke has just told his readers a story of a faithful believer, Barnabas, who sold all he had and laid the money at the apostles’ feet (Acts 4:37). The next story begins with the word “but” which links these two stories together (Acts 5:1). Barnabas is the good example of the proper view and use of possessions. Ananias and Sapphira provide the opposite example – they are possessed by their possessions and finally destroyed by them. This is a dreadful story. We can hardly read it without feeling at least some sympathy for Ananias and Sapphira – the punishment does not seem to fit the crime. There is precedent for this story in the OT. The story of Achan, who took some of the wealth of Jericho, tells a similar story (Joshua 7). Like Ananias and Sapphira, Achan, and his whole family, pay with their lives. How are we to take some value from these stories? At the very least, Luke has got our attention. And perhaps that is the point. The shocking nature of the story brings us up short – and hopefully causes us to think more deeply about our own lives and our own possessions. It is no wonder that Luke concludes the story with the words, “great fear seized the whole church and all who heard of these things” (Acts 5:11). Keeping these two stories – one about Barnabas and the other about Ananias and Sapphira – together is helpful. Luke plays the stories against each other. And his message to his readers becomes clearer when both stories are heard together. One more thought about these stories. They hint at and illustrate that the early church was not without its struggles. We are tempted to imagine a “golden age” when all was perfect. Such a time never happened. From the very beginning the church has faced conflict and struggle. There will be more to come as Luke unfolds his story in the book of Acts. By the time we reach chapter six we will confront this issue again from another point of view.