Sermon Tone Analysis
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*"Be Sure That Your Sin Will Find You Out"*
*Acts 5:1-11; **Numbers 32:23*
One of the classic American horror films is Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 thriller Psycho.
Most of us know the story: Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) is a woman in love.
Marion embezzles $40,000 from her employer and leaves town so she can marry her boyfriend, Sam Loomis.
As she drives to surprise her boyfriend and give him good news, she becomes tired and she is forced to stop at the dilapidated Bates Motel, on the side of the highway.
There she meets a rather shy middle aged man, Norman Bates, who is controlled by his domineering mother.
In what is one of the most famous scenes in cinematic history, Marion is brutally murdered by a mysterious woman while showering.
A mortified Norman quickly cleans up and disposes of the remains of his mother’s rage.
He desperately wants to hide the evidence of what has happened.
*(Show clip—begin with ch.
12-shows license plate of car)*
*/58:14-59:46--Clip ends with Norman smiling & the camera shifts back to the water which has covered the car & the scene fades to black.
Cut when it fades to black)/*
The deed is hidden.
It is covered up.
No one need know.
But if you have seen the movie, you know that they DO find out and in the last scene as “The End” appears, the car is being pulled out of the swamp.
Ultimately, the secret cannot be hidden.
That is one of the truths of the story of Ananias and Sapphira found in Acts 5.
*READ TEXT*
*Theme: Sin cannot be forever hidden.
Its fact and its consequences will eventually come to the light of day.
*
I.
*The Deception by Ananias and Sapphira* (5:1–2)
This story is recorded right after the account of Barnabas’ gift at the end of chapter 4. Barnabas becomes a fairly significant character in the New Testament.
His name means “Son of Encouragement” and that describes his character.
He is the one who convinces the apostles that Paul has indeed converted from a murderer to a disciple of Jesus.
He travels with Paul on his first missionary journey.
(“Paul and Barnabas”).
He is willing to split with Paul in order to show his faith in the young man John Mark.
Barnabas and John Mark eventually go off to Cyprus to preach the Word.
But here in ch. 4 we meet Barnabas for the first time.
Acts 4:36-37: /Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), //sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet./
We don’t know all of the details, but that story is immediately followed by the story of A&S.
They, like Barnabas, sell a piece of property and bring the money and give to the apostles for the church’s use.
But there is a significant difference.
Unlike Barnabas, they choose to lie about the amount they received for the land.
The Greek word - to embezzle or to steal by misappropriating for oneself.
(EXPAND?)
Ananias had evidently sold a piece of land, like Barnabas, and also like Barnabas had pledged the full proceeds to the community.
This can be assumed from the use of a rare Greek verb in v. 2 is νοσφίζω (nosphizoo) to describe his action in holding back part of the money.
The verb means /to pilfer, to purloin, to embezzle./
One does not embezzle one’s own funds but those of another, in this instance those that rightfully belonged to the common Christian fund.
Significantly, the same rare verb occurs in the Greek version of Josh 7:1–26, the story of Achan, who took from Jericho some of the booty “devoted” (i.e., set aside for God) for sacred use.
Achan received a judgment of death from God himself, and Luke may well have seen a reminder of his fate in the similar divine judgment that came upon Ananias and Sapphira.
They too had embezzled what was sacred, what belonged to the community in whom the Holy Spirit resided.
One must assume either that the practice of the community was always to pledge the full proceeds of a sale or that Ananias and Sapphira had made such a pledge with regard to the sale of the field.
Now as Peter makes very clear later, their sin is not holding back part of the purchase price.
It was their land, they were free to give some, all or none of the money to the church.
It is important to keep in mind that their sin was NOT in keeping back some of the money.
Their sin was in lying about it.
But we as humans like approval.
We like praise.
And we like the little bump from being on top.
It was not, “A&S have been very generous.
They sold a piece of land for $5,000 and from that have given $3,000 to the church.”
That (at least for them) was far different from “A&P have sold a piece of land for $3,000 and have given the entire purchase price for the use of the church.
They had no thought for self, but in their commitment have given all that they received.”
People think, “How are they going to provide for themselves?
That land was a very important asset to them.
They are real people of faith.
Trusting that God will take care of them, they have given all that they received.
What a guy!
What a gal!”
They are often like us.
There are two sides to the coin—we like to look good and we don’t like to look bad.
If our sin is widely known, then people will think less of me.
They will be disappointed in me.
I may lose the position I have in the church.
I may not be asked to teach that class anymore.
*THEME: But sin cannot be forever hidden.
Its fact and its consequences will eventually come to the light of day.
*
II.
*The Discovery of Ananias and Sapphira* (5:3–4)
How Peter knew that A&S were lying, we don’t know.
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Perhaps God directly revealed it to him.
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Perhaps he perceived it on Ananias’ face or voice.
Most of us are not great liars.
If we have any conscience at all, the guilt will show on our face, the averted eyes, the increased breathing or holding our breath.
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In /Hamlet/, Queen Gertrude notes that it is not hard to discern when someone is lying when she comments of the Queen in a play that she is watching, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
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Peter knew what it felt like to fall to Satan’s temptation.
He had denied Jesus three times.
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Perhaps God had arranged it so that Peter had heard how much they had gotten for the land.
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We don’t know.
But Peter knew that Ananias was lying: /Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?//
//Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold?
And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal?
What made you think of doing such a thing?
You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”/
In Numbers 32 the people of Israel are preparing to cross the Jordan River and invade Palestine and attack Jericho.
And two of the twelve tribes—the descendents of Reuben and Gad come to Moses and say, “The land we have already taken on this side of the Jordan is perfect land for we and our families.
Let us settle here and not have to cross the Jordan River to fight the Philistines.
Moses basically blew his stack and said that they were like their ancestors—people who doubted the power of God.
Moses concludes his rant in v. 14-15: ///“And here you are, a brood of sinners, standing in the place of your fathers and making the Lord even more angry with Israel.
//If you turn away from following him, he will again leave all this people in the wilderness, and you will be the cause of their destruction.”/
The Gadites and Reubenites backtracked and offered: if Moses would allow them to build pens for their livestock and houses for their wives, the men would cross the river and fight for the rest of Israel.
After Canaan had been taken, then Moses could dismiss the Gadite and Reubenite men to return across the Jordan to reunite with their families.
Moses agrees, but in v. 23 he gives them a warning: /“But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the Lord; and *you may be sure that your sin will find you out.
(REPEAT BOLD)*/
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