There are two unshakeable beliefs around which all other beliefs are related in my thought patterns. They are that God is, and that he has revealed himself in Scripture. These are made meaningful in the redemptive gospel in Jesus Christ, and the claim that Scripture is divinely authoritative for life and practice. Such beliefs are both simple and profound. One looks for verification, not so much for oneself if faith is rightly generated, but to meet the objections and questions of others. Details make a story ring true or false, but they also add some distraction. Those details often seem odd, and challenge one’s cultural balances. There are many revealing and detailed instances in the multiple stories of Scripture. Following is one. Even before making a study in the orderly ways of scholarship and research, one looks for the culture ringing in the details of a story. We know from the first verses of his Gospel that Luke was a factual and objective reporter. He followed the strict regimen in writing The Acts of The Apostles.
From Acts 5 we have a factual illustration related to Ananias and Sapphira, and the early unusual events in the church that would emphasize standards in the personal and social conduct of Christian converts. Stewardship of financial participation was voluntary, but available to all. Reporting financial affairs was common, likely to provide evidence of Christian commitment, but also to witness to the general public the miraculous changes in the lives of Christians. Today private financial matters are held closely among nearly all groups in society, closer than reports of intimate details of personal sexual activity, which ought to be the more private information. In giving, Ananias lied about the amount he had received for his property. What he did give made his family eligible for storehouse privileges afforded by the church. He retained a secret nest egg on the side. The Apostle Peter firmly challenged him, and in the fervor of the embarrassment, Ananias fell dead, likely of heart attack. Men in the congregation wrapped his body, and carried it out for burial. After burial they returned to the congregation. A period of three hours had elapsed. Sapphira, wife of Ananias, arrived at about the same time the burial unit returned. The Apostle asked her if the property had sold for the amount reported by Ananias. She affirmed it, the exact amount that had been reported by him. According to the cryptic reporting in these few verses, she also fell dead and was buried in a matter of an hour or so as the next order of business. The event triggered fear and consternation in the church and community. It is clear that the event was a special one to accent to the church the integrity and morality of the Christian culture.
Imagination runs with the story. Many persons were present, engaged in church programs. Ananias arrived alone, three hours before his wife. When she arrived the agenda might continue for an extended period that would involve her. Why so many hours, and what was the agenda? Ananias was buried. The Church did not contact his wife, to have her present for the end ordeal related to the dramatic death of her husband. She too was buried without attention to amenities. We would have a doctor, a coroner in these two instances. What was the general culture of the times, relating to this new faith? Does the milieu have something to say to us? We sense moral clarity but with distraction for us. There could not be more dramatic teaching, even though we yearn for more information. God’s truth is writ with a moral focus. There is rightful trembling for those violating the holiness of God in hypocrisy. Whatever the situation may have been, and the procedures appear to have been treated in standard cultural fashion for the group, the scene suggests that a standard experience may occur in unusual pattern. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020