Generosity - Acts 4:32-5:11

When I was in elementary school at the Thunder Bay Christian School, a friend from outside our church and school community came with to our annual bazaar with his parents. Part of the bazaar was a cake auction at the end of the evening, and like here, there were astronomical bids for cakes. My friend’s parents were amazed at the generosity of those who bid on the cakes. My dad told them that generosity is part of our response to God’s generosity to us in providing for us. It confused me later when I would see the same community use their money as a weapon, holding back on giving when they didn’t like some of the decisions made by church council. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon. Our hearts and motivations, when it comes to generosity, are often mixed and can be shaped by both gratitude and selfishness.

We see the Holy Spirit powerfully at work after Pentecost, uniting believers in Jesus, bringing unity, and leading them to embrace again many of the teachings and ways God had given to Israel after freeing them from slavery in Egypt. God gives them a way of living with him and each other that reveals his heart, especially for those who find themselves falling on hard times. We see God’s love and grace especially in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for our sin and hard hearts. God’s grace and generosity is revealed in the resurrection of Jesus and the giving of the Holy Spirit, which is now working in this new community of believers in Jesus.

Barnabas responds to God’s call to generosity in Deuteronomy 15:7–8 and 10–11, ^“If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need… Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore, I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.”

Grace leads to love for the other. The apostle John picks up on this in 1 John 3:16–18, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” John is called the apostle of love; focusing on God and Jesus’ deep sacrificial love for us. I am thankful Jesus is so generous with his love towards us, even giving his life so we can experience new life. Thankfully his love is not tempered by selfishness of greed, as our love so often is. Love is shown through action; love shapes our choices and actions and flow out of our character and gratitude to God’s grace. Barnabas doesn’t have to sell his land to help others, he chooses to in response to Jesus’ love and sacrifice.

Luke then reminds us of the dark side of our souls. Like Barnabas, Ananias and Sapphira sell a piece of land, but this is where the story shifts. There’s a sense here of rivalry; pride or greed perhaps? Ananias also brings the proceeds of the sale of the land, or at least some of the proceeds. He holds some of the money back for himself, but he makes it look like he’s given everything to the apostles, just like Barnabas. Ananias wants to look as generous and amazing as Barnabas. There’s nothing wrong with keeping some of the money for himself, it's his after-all, he’s still donating a lot to the church; the sin’s found in his heart, in his deception, greed, and pride.

Why we do something is as important as what we do; the why reveals where our hearts, values, and identity really lay. What we do and who we are as followers of Jesus need to be the same. When they’re not the same, the biblical word is hypocrisy, referring to actors, putting on different faces to play a role. Peter addresses this in his responses to Ananias and later to Sapphira, “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.” Then Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord?” Both experience the consequences of their deception, falling dead, and “Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.”

This is a hard story; often I’ve had people ask why God would be so harsh over such a small lie, we’ve all done worse. What we hear in this hard story is an echo to another time in Israel’s history during a major step forward in God’s redemptive history. It’s at Jericho’s fall as Israel’s finally entering the Promised Land and beginning the process of claiming it for themselves. Jericho is the first major battle Israel faces as they seek to conquer the land, and God demands that everything in the city be devoted to him. After the fall of Jericho, a man named Achan decided to take a beautiful robe, silver, and gold for himself, burying it in his tent, stealing from God, figuring God wouldn’t notice or mind.

The cost of Achan’s theft from God is the death of him and his family by stoning. Ananias and Sapphira are accused of lying to God and testing the Holy Spirit, basically stealing from God, and the result’s death, echoing back to when God gives Adam and Eve one command, “Don’t eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil for the penalty is death.” Ananias and Sapphira aren’t just fudging on the selling price and keeping a few dollars in their pockets, they’re testing the Holy Spirit, “I want all the benefits of being part of God’s family, but I don’t want to honour God with my life; I will follow Jesus on my terms, not his.” God doesn’t need your money, what he demands is your everything, your entire life and heart for his kingdom. God gives us everything we have, wealth, talents, or time, in order to use and develop them for him and the kingdom of heaven.

As part of your everything, God desires your absolute loyalty and love, to make nothing more important in your life than him. Achan, Ananias, and Sapphira made money more important than God. Jesus talks a lot about possessions. In Luke 12:15 Jesus warns, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” In Mark 12:41–44, Jesus uses a widow as an example of what loyalty and love to God and neighbour looks like, “Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” This offering was used to help the poor and widows; it was above their tithing. Jesus marvels at her generosity, recognizing her love of God and neighbour being lived out here. This is heart giving, full trust in God giving, total life giving to God. Ananias and Sapphira’s story reminds us that outside of God lays death, while in Jesus we find life.

In the kingdom of heaven, loving God is the first commandment and the second is to love our neighbours. Paul picks up on Jesus’ teaching; in 2 Corinthians 8:7–8 Paul writes, “since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others.” Paul offers a warning as well, 2 Corinthians 9:6–9, ^“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”  

Many of us were never taught how to give, we learned by watching and through reading the Bible. If you want to learn to be more generous, begin small. Begin with a couple of dollars every week, after a few months, increase it by a dollar. It’s about growing in trusting God to provide, and it starts small, but like our faith, we work at it to grow our giving. Choose something important to you to give to. Don’t forget to surround your giving with prayer, asking for the Holy Spirit to guide and shape your heart. As you increase your giving, you will discover joy in giving, a deeper faith, the blessing from the Holy Spirit, and a full life.