Acts 4:23-37
But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” 5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. 6 The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.
7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.
12 Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. 13 None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.
We recently had a train adventure. While traveling in France from Paris to Avignon we made it safely to Lyon, where we were to switch trains. So far, so good. Except when leaving from Lyon, we got on the wrong train! When I spoke to the conductor, she explained we would need to get off at the next stop and take the train back to Lyon, get another train to Avignon. Four hours later we arrived safely in Avignon.
These bullet trains raced down the tracks at amazing speeds. When we met a passing train there was a 3 second blur, and we were along our way. We also took the subway in Paris several times. (Don’t worry, these two disparate experiences will come together below.) I noticed something about the rails of the subway trains. They were worn on the outside of the rails. The flanges of the wheels are apparently on the outside of the rails – rather than on the inside. But whether on the inside or the outside, the flanges of the railroad wheels kept the cars on the rails. That’s a good thing at subway or bullet train speeds!
There are also rails which may keep us on track in our Christian walk. Some of those rails are love-based. We love God so we stay close to him and his ways. We want to be with him, so we go where he leads. Those are the good rails. But there are also good rails of a different kind. Those are the rails of fear. For fear of displeasing God, or experiencing God’s judgment we resist temptation. Because we don’t want to experience the same retribution or even the natural consequences that we see in others’ lives, we refrain from certain things. We can learn from our own mistakes. But we can also learn from others’ mistakes.
We can learn something from Ananias and Sapphira! Don’t lie to the Holy Spirit. That is a fatal sin. I think that means pretending to have faith when in fact we do not believe. That means believing that we can hide something from God. That means not acknowledging our true need for God’s grace, and his absolute knowledge of all things.
These are the rails by which we remain true to the path of faith. We should fear and love God, says Martin Luther in his explanation to the 10 commandments. When we resist temptation out of fear of God – or out of love for him – we do well. When neither our fear nor love for God prevent us from sin, we must repent and rejoice in God’s mercy and grace, and remember again his great love for us, and commit to fear and love him above all things.
David Bahn - Reflections 
Leave a comment