The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-01-23
International
SundaySchoolLesson
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.
January % is 'sTruth and
Honesty. Acts 5:1-11.
Socialism's First Hypocritc.

Honesty."-ActS SILL.
Socialism's First Hypocrite.
Even slight knowledge of history
steadies a person in times of turmoil |
The past is a lamp for present paths. |
Our air is filled with the clamor of
utopian get good-auica' schemes, ard
patent devices for a made-over world. |
Various types and degrees of social |
ism are being proffered as the panacea
for humanity's ills So we turn back
for a look across the centuries at
similar experiences: and We find that
the most nearly successful, for a short
time. was the first Christian COM
munity in Jerusalem. There the be-
levers had all things in common and
lived for a period in an almost ecstatic
|mood-altho little later, significantly,
we find Paul taking up collection
among the missionary churches to re-
EIieve the poverty of the Jerusalem
Opportunity, the present lesson por-
trays the first hypocrite in this new
experiment in Christian socialism. II
rather jars our optimism to find that
even amidst these almost IDEAL conoi-
tons, under the personal SUPERVISION
of Peter and. John and the other
apostles, self-seeking and pretense so
quickly found their way into the com
munity. Ananias was the first tx
ample of the sort of thing which is to-
day happening in Russia, whore
Trotzky lives in regal state, and other
Boishevik leaders have seized gold
and goods and special privileges for
themselves, as well as power. The diff
ference between the Bible and other
radical literature is that it does not
Overlook the Ananiases.
One E'amiIy's Costly Pretense.
In the fervor of faith and fellow
ship, the early church pooled its prop
erty. II was an experiment in COM
munisn. Seeking to have a reputa-
| ton for full Christian surrender, while
at the same time determined to hold
| on to their own private possessions
and privileges, two church members,
Ananias aud Sapphira, sold their prop
erty and offered part of the price to
| tending 1t was the whole.
Supporting his deception by clear
| cut lie, Ananias fell dead at the feet
| of Peter. Shortly afterward his wife,
| Sapphira, not knowing of the tragic
| fate of her husband, came forward
| with the agreed-upon lie, and she too,
was fatally stricken. They had tried
| to lie to man and to God: but truth
does, altho In their case somewhat
more quickly and dramatically than
usual.
1 About the stupidest blunder ever
attempted. by rather stupid world is
| this popular one of trying to fool God.
1t met dramatic failure in the case of
Ananias and Sapphira. 1t always
meets failure No wonder the Bible
represents Jehovah as laughing at the
silly sins and Wanting vanities of man.
| Sometimes men successfully deceive
| their neighbors - tho, oftener, than
| they know, they are only laughed at
but they never deceive God. None
Of us is any more virtuous or any
more religious than God knows him
/ to be; and it is really not worth while
to Inconvenience ourselves to the ex-
I tent necessary to play rnake-believe
1 with the world. That truth in the
/ inward part, which God requires is
| the only comfortable sort of religion
Press-Agented Piety.
! If this man, Ananias had ever paid
attention to the discourses of Jesus,
| whom doubtless he had frequently
| heard he would have caught the note
of scorn in the Masters voice for the
pharisees- Jesus spoke with disdain
of the sort of religion that vas mere
Ily to be seen of men. In his opinion
it rated as of less than no value.
needed. or else he had forgotten; for
here he was trying to introduce the
disreputable pharisee fashion into the
Christian church.
/ Many OF us are quite as Outl WlLteQ
as Ananias in this matter. We want
to get public credit for all our virtues,
and even for those we have not. That
is why finaneiers, society leaders and
| politicians employ press agents. They
| thirst for publicity, not understanding
that it never yet satisfied a parched
| spirit. OF all the vanities of a vain
world. this love Of the limelight is the
vainest. Simple sincerity is strength.
| A measure of disdain for public opin-
t.. fC ale ant of n f1a
| is something divine about disregard of
lrnen's approval. Samuel V. Cole has
fput the teaching into verse:
| why fret you at your work because
The deaf world does not hear ana
| Were it so bad. workman true,
To work in silence all your days?
ST hear the traffic in the street.
But not the white worlds Ger the
st heard the gun at sunset roar.
/ l did not hear the sun go down.
care work and workman greater when
| Nowhere on earth is found the. man
Who works as silently as God
| Jeers for a False "Reformer.'
Like all other pretenders, Ananias
| found his scheme of hypocrisy futile
So deeply established in the very soul
of things is Gods principle of truth
| that all of us eventually come to be
known for what we truly are. Nobody
is clever enough to nislead everybody.
Even our faces betray us However
favorably the public prints may repre-
sent a man. the real facts about him
QUICKLY pass from mouth to mouth
| Recently I was present at q, public
dinner OF newspaper men; and one
| of the speakers, who had secured. by
appointment, his first public office,
Yves "reformer," who gave utterancc
to platitudes that might have been
Inappropriate before a less skeptical and
less sophisticated audience As it was.
Ithese men were familiar with the
private business practices of the
Ispeaker, and with his notorious parsi-
nony and pretense, SO they openly
jecre.i at his simulated modesty and
public zeal. Perhaps it was not polite;