Luke is a story-teller, a narrator, a writer of historical biography. Paul, in his letters, provides guidance and encouragement through mostly through direct teaching—exposing false teachings and explaining right understanding. Luke, in his gospel and in Acts, provides guidance and encouragement mostly through telling the story.
In the Book of Acts, Luke tells the stories of the leaders: Peter and Stephen and Philip and Paul... He tells the stories of ordinary believers: Aeneas and Tabitha and Lydia and Cornelius...
Luke tells the stories of missionary endeavors that were well-received: In Berea, “they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” and many believed, both Jews and Greeks. He tells the stories of missionary endeavors that met with more than a little resistance: In Iconium, Paul and Barnabas had to flee to escape being stoned.
Luke tells the stories of those who are models of faithful discipleship: Priscilla and Aquila (who traveled far and wide with the good news), Jason (who welcomed Paul and Silas into his home and ended up in prison because of it). He tells the stories of those who were not such great models: Ananias and Sapphira (who lied to God to maintain an appearance of piety), and Simon (who tried to purchase the Holy Spirit to increase his own powerbase).
2 Timothy 3:16 says that “all scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” even the stories of those who were not such great models.
Ok…so how is this passage about Simon the Sorcerer useful?
Well, for one thing, if you’re thinking about trying to purchase the power to dispense the Holy Spirit as you wish, don’t.
Simon liked being the center of attention. When he was a sorcerer, people oohed and ahhed at his magic. You can be sure that whatever power he had, it did not come from God, but the folks in Samaria sure thought there was something divine about it. Simon had the reputation for having a direct link to some sort of divine power station. He was the local franchise-holder of GP…Great Power.
The Bible is not neutral about sorcery. It is not of God, period. When Moses was giving the Israelites instructions before they entered the Promised Land, he taught them to stay away from sorcery, lumping it in with child sacrifice and other activities involving manipulation of supernatural forces. Deuteronomy 18:9 and following says: “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.”
Simon was a Samaritan. Most likely he had ancestors among the multitude that entered the Promised Land under the leadership of Moses and Joshua. Most likely he knew that the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob prohibited sorcery. Still, Simon was attracted to the power he could wield through sorcery. He liked being able to draw a crowd of appreciative onlookers who turned on his every move.
When Philip came to Samaria, he too demonstrated power. Philip wasn’t doing magic tricks, though. The Holy Spirit was with him. As he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, as he cast out demons and healed the sick, the powerful love of God was made manifest for the people. Philip drew even more attention from the crowds than Simon did. Many believed, both men and women, and were baptized.
The text says that Simon himself believed and was baptized.
Then he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
Two observations here:
First, the fact that Simon was a sorcerer did not exclude him from candidacy for baptism. Jesus came, after all, to save sinners. Simon, like everyone else who heard Philip’s message, was invited to turn away from his old ways and turn to Jesus. When he professed faith in Jesus, Simon was welcomed. He was baptized with all the other sinners who turned to Jesus.
Second, already there is a hint that Simon turned to Jesus for the very same reason he had turned to sorcery earlier. Simon was attracted to the power that he saw manifested in Philip’s ministry. He was fascinated by the signs and miracles. No doubt he was also quite aware of the attention that came Philip’s way. When Simon turned to Jesus, he did not repudiate the power to which he had given his allegiance in the past, he merely acceded that a greater power was now present. Simon wanted from Jesus the same thing he wanted from sorcery—the power to amaze and manipulate the crowds.
Hearing about Philip’s evangelistic ministry in Samaria, Peter and John traveled up from Jerusalem. They came to see for themselves how even Samaritans were flocking to Jesus. They came to inspect Philip’s missionary endeavor and provide oversight. They came to encourage and teach the new believers.
When they arrived in Samaria, Peter and John prayed for the new believers, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon them.
When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, ‘Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’ Simon was accustomed to a world where he could get anything he wanted if he just had enough money, and he wanted a piece of this new franchise HS…Holy Spirit.
Peter did not hesitate. Immediately he rebuked Simon. “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!”
Simon thought wrong.
One…Simon had a wrong understanding of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is not a force, like electricity, that can be conducted from one body to another through the laying on of hands. Nor is the Holy Spirit a commodity to be purchased or acquired in trade.
The Holy Spirit is a person. Those who are in Christ are, by the grace of God, gifted with an intimate relationship with this person of the Trinity. As the Spirit chooses, the laying on of hands by those in spiritual authority may be a visible sign of the gift of the Holy Spirit. The laying on of hands is not a mechanical or magical manipulation of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit blows where he will. When he dwells in a believer’s heart, he dwells there as friend, teacher, and master, not as slave or as tool.
Two…Simon also had a wrong understanding of money. In the world, money is a boon to those who have it and a worry to those who do not. In the world, money buys power…power to acquire what one wants, power to direct other people, power to advance one’s own agenda. In the world, those who have more money are in position to look down on those who have less.
In the church, money has a whole different purpose. In the church, money is not to be used to further one’s own position. In the church, money is to be used to meet needs…everybody’s needs. In the church, those who have money are privileged to use it to lift up those who do not, so that all might have enough and no one need bow before another (but all bow together before God).
Simon thought wrong.
But that was not the only problem. In fact, from Peter’s response to Simon it is clear that this was not even the most important problem. Simon’s ignorance could be remedied quickly enough by some good teaching by a Christian more mature than he.
The deeper problem was that Simon had a problem of the heart. Simon was full of bitterness and captive to sin. His heart was not right before God. He had a corrupt attitude.
Simon used to amaze the crowds with his magic. Now he wanted to amaze them with his command of the Holy Spirit. He wanted what he saw as the power that comes with faith. He was not pursuing the relationship that is the heart of faith. He was motivated by self-interest, not by love. He was seeking to display the evidence of the Spirit, without being obedient to the Spirit.
In short, Simon’s heart was still oriented towards sin. Simon was seeking power over others, not transformation of his own heart. To use Paul’s words, Simon was still offering himself “in slavery to impurity and ever-increasing wickedness.”
Peter discerned the underlying problem right away. “Your heart is not right before God, Simon, and I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”
Simon wanted to incorporate Jesus into his old way of being and thinking. But it doesn’t work that way, ever. Turning to Jesus means turning away from old, corrupt ways. Our birthright in this fallen world is slavery to sin. Through Jesus Christ we are set free so that we might be slaves to righteousness.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul explains the problem. In the Book of Acts, Peter goes straight to the solution.
“Simon, repent and pray for forgiveness.”
Repent. Change your mind. Turn.
Turn from slavery to sin to slavery to righteousness. Turn from corrupt, self-centered ways to the way of grace and love. Turn from the desire to be the center of attention to the desire to see other people as better than yourself. Turn from the habit of using money to advance your own position to the stewardship of using money to provide for those in need. Turn from a focus on power to a focus on relationship.
One more observation:
Peter told Simon something else too: “You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God.”
Leadership in the kingdom of God appropriately goes, not to the sinless—for there are none, but to those who are humble of heart and seek to serve. The Holy Spirit most often chooses to work through those who overflow with love, not those who long for attention.
Sometimes bad examples can be good teachers.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
