This morning my husband read to me from the book of Acts, chapter 5, the story of Ananias and his wife Sapphira. This incident took place not long after Jesus ascended to heaven and his followers had been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. At that time all the believers shared with each other so that no one was in need. People who owned houses or property sold them and were bringing the whole amount to the apostles to be shared amoungst all.
Ananias and Sapphira had sold a property, and like the others, they brought the money to the apostles. The difference was, that they lied about the amount. Why would they do that? We are not told, but we can guess. Perhaps they didn’t want the apostles or other believers to know that they were not as generous as the others. Perhaps they thought it was their own business and nobody else’s how much they got from the sale, and whether or not some was held back for themselves. Perhaps they doubted whether it was a good idea to give away the entire amount, thinking that they might need some of it for themselves. Seems understandable.
The thing was, it seems it was all for show. They wanted to look good before the others and have the honour of people thinking they had been so generous as to donate all their money to the group.
Peter, one of the apostles who they brought the money to, somehow knew about the lie. We are not told how he knew. It could be that he also knew the person who bought the property, or heard from someone else, or possibly he simply knew because God told him and he listened to God’s voice.
Ananias had come first to bring the money to the apostles. Peter confronted him, saying that no one had asked him to sell his property or to bring the full amount to share with the others, and that Satan had filled his heart to cause him to try to deceive the group. Peter said that Ananias was not lying to the group of believers, but to the Holy Spirit. At that, Ananias fell over and died.
Three hours later Sapphira came, and Peter confronted her, asking her if the money her husband had brought was the same amount that the property had sold for. She also lied and said it was. Peter rebuked her for colluding with her husband in the attempted deception, accusing them of lying to the Spirit of the Lord. Hearing this rebuke, and that her husband had just died upon the same rebuke, she dropped dead as well.
Was it that Ananias and Sapphira did not recognize the Spirit of God in the apostles and other Christians? Peter listened to the Holy Spirit, who impressed on him to reprimand this couple for their deception.
We can learn several things from this story, but for my husband and I this morning it led to a discussion about listening to the Holy Spirit. In the busy present-day world people don’t often take the time to do that. Even in a prayer meeting, people tend to head straight into petitioning God. “Dear God,” (pleading in the voice, or even a demanding tone) “We pray for… ,” asking for a list of things, perhaps ending the prayer with a word of thanks.
How often do we actually listen to God, in stillness and quietness paying attention to what he is telling us. It’s a type of meditation. What is God impressing on our minds? Sometimes God speaks in the form of dreams. A couple of examples of this are found in Matthew chapter 2, when God gave dreams to the magi, and to Joseph as warnings.
Sometimes God speaks through people to each other, with what is sometimes called “a word of knowledge.” The person receiving the word of knowledge may not even realize that what they are saying is this. My husband tells of such an experience, in which he was given something to tell another man. He didn’t even know why these words were coming out of his mouth, and as he was saying them he thought to himself that maybe he was just being silly. At the time he was living in the Chilcotin, an area of BC that is sparsely populated. A pastor that he knew had come from New Westminster to hunt for a moose. This pastor had been hunting already for several days with a guide, and had not seen a moose. It was his last day there. My husband drew a little map and told him to go to a certain place and there would be his moose. How would he know this? He really had no idea, but that is what God gave him to say and he said it. Later that day the pastor came back with the moose. It had been exactly where my husband had told him.
Listening prayer seems to be a matter of keeping open to, and in tune with, the Spirit of God. Being aware of our own inner motives. Following His prompting. Living in faith. God already knows our needs before we tell him. We don’t have to convince him. What we really need is to quiet ourselves and listen to what he is telling us to do.
