I want what you have
Last week we had a large section of scripture covering the very brief ministry of Stephen. I described it as being like some of the fireworks we may have witnessed. The story starts out starting with some of Stephen’s character traits. Then it was not long before they explode with the story of Israel then makes the accusations that they murdered the messiah. The repot the loud boom of truth makes the leaders, the Sanhedrin explodes and murders Stephen. We ended with the mention of an observer named Saul…sort of a precursor to the story that would later develop around him.
This week we have only the remainder of the chapter but it is still a lot of material to cover.
We will be taking out scripture is sections again this week. I hope you are doing the reading. It will help you to keep up with where God is leading us on the walk through the Book of Acts.
The first little part of Chapter 8 mentions that Saul is giving approval of the treatment of Stephen. And it is the beginning of a dramatic change.
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
Saul is zealous to get rid of theses blaspheming people. You just don’t go around making comments about his faith or else you will pay the consequences.
This little hint of Saul’s actions helps us to make a mental note of who this man is and we already know that we will hear about him again. This snapshot of the story helps us to make up out mind about the Saul person…
I don’t know about you, but I don’t like him very much. He is a destroyer of the church and hunts down men and Women and throws them in prison.
He is the one in charge of the lynch mob….He wants religious purity….In a way, he is a little like Hitler in his actions and beliefs.
It seems to me that the main point of this section of chapter 8 is that the persecution started the same day Stephen was stoned.
Fear, gripped some, some that could leave easily started packing. But, what if you owned a house, or had a business. You can’t just leave…until they start taking families off to jail….Now there is a little more motivation.
Honey, just get the photo albums and any cash we have and let’s get out of town.
They are heading away from Jerusalem. It mentions Judea and Samaria, basically North and South.
The church is being scattered in all directions, again like a fire work that fills the sky. It talks like everyone left except the apostles. The persecution drives folks away except the leadership. The ones that were so chicken at Jesus trial and execution stay to potentially face the lynch mob. We talked about how much people changed at Pentecost.
Let’s read the next section of scripture,
4-13 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. So there was great joy in that city.
The people that were scattered preached the word everywhere they went.
Wait, a second, do you think that they really meant EVERYBODY? Because everybody is a lot of people. Over 5 Thousand men….
Let me say that I am not sure that they waked into town and started preaching on street corners. Perhaps, when they went to synagogues they were invited to explain scripture and explain the obvious references to the messiah. It could simply be that they really believe what they learned and just shared it with the people they met on the road or the places they settled.
Then our story jumps to the story of one man. The scripture says he went down from Jerusalem to Samaria. Since Samaria is North of Jerusalem it seems strange to say that, but we need to remember that when you leave Jerusalem in any direction you always go down. Jerusalem sits on a ridge with the temple at the highest point. So even when you head North, first you go down from the city - Just a little trivia.
This is the same Philip that we heard about last week that was on them Meals on wheels team with Stephen. We have made a bit of an assumption that he met the same criteria of being filled with faith and spirit.
When persecution comes to the group he is headed into a zone and area of rejects and outcast people that the Jewish Zealots won’t really follow. The Samaritans were written off generations before.
That made it a great place to go and hide, especially if you understood the teaching of Jesus that made the things that separated the Jews and Samaritans less of a problem.
We are told of miraculous signs, and the people were listening to what Philip said…interesting that it is not called preaching at first.
Then, I love the word they used, shrieks when evil sprits were cast out….Paralytics and cripples were healed
I have told you before; I really would love to see God moving like that. I would love to see God to show off and to watch a town and even nation transformed and real joy to take over communities.
I don’t like the disappointment that some today provide. The number of people that let people down. Not like parents that can’t keep promises. I mean people that make promises that there is no way for them to keep…some make promises for God. But, they actually put the failure on people. They claim that it is by the individual’s faith or giving they will be healed or receive financial blessing.
Philip was not healing anyone; it was God that was working as he traveled and spoke about what he has seen. Miraculous signs happened without the recipients understanding or doing a thing.
Back to the reading,
Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, "This man is the divine power known as the Great Power." They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
Simon was some kind of a religious or spiritual leader. The scripture says a sorcerer, He uses magic, and the people are impressed and in awe of him. That can give him lots of influence in the community. It probably gives him political power. He Boast about his own greatness and the people talk of his divine power.
The people had followed him for a long time because of his magic. But when Philip preaches the good news, the name of Jesus Christ, the people wanted to be baptized. The were breaking away form the old and reaching for the new.
We don’t hear about Simon feeling threatened of holding some magic contest because he also believed. The signs and wonders he witnessed were so convinceing, they could not be a trick. And Simon follows Philip around just to watch what will happen next.
Revival has broken out in Samaria, people are being changed, they believe the good news. Word gets back to Jerusalem that something is going on up North. Maybe, Philip send a post card to Jerusalem, “Having great time, lots of new converts, wish you were here!”
So the scripture picks up again,
14When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Peter and John travel about 60 to 100 miles to join Philip and they take over the services and teaching. It seems that Philip had not been able to facilitate the arrival of the Holy Spirit. He had baptizes in Jesus name but the Spirit did not automatically arrive.
Peter and John arrive and pray and place hands on people and the gift comes to these new believers. There is some kind of change that must have been obvious, something dramatic and great. It must not have been scary, but wonderful. So, while scripture does not explain the failure of the spirit to come, it serves to demonstrate that different people have different gifts. Philip has not failed, and perhaps the Spirit could have come without peter and John. But I think that it was for Peter and John’s benefit more that the people. You see, Peter and John needed to see for them selves that The spirit really came upon the Samaritans…That God was calling them into the kingdom. The Jews rejected them and everything about them as being un-pure. It seems like God was indicating other wise.
People outside the mainline Jewish faith were welcome to the kingdom.
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."
Folks, not every body gets it, I mean that as Christians, we can be excited and want to do so much. Sometimes we don’t understand the deeper working of God and think what we see the exciting things we see on the surface is what we want. I want to heal people with the touch of my hands and prayer. Wouldn’t that be great, we hop into the church van and drive over to Redmond and Floyd and empty the place?
Man that would be so great for me to have that power. But, that greatness, might transfer to my head. I might start withholding the power to get what I want. I might start the think it made me special, instead of God blessing through me. They need ME…
Sometimes we don’t get the simpler things. We want comfort and success in life. And as Christians we want God’s immediate assistance. God, Let me be successful, health, happy, some other immediate need. We don’t know how to wait and Grow.
Did any of you want to be older as a kid? If I was older I could stay up past 8 and watch Hogan’s heroes, If I was 16 I could drive. We want to short cut the natural growth and maturing process.
We try to take a short cut in our Christian maturity as well.
Maybe there is a question of wither Simon, was actually a believer or not.
Some say that what he is doing is trying to buy a position of Priest. He was used to being a spiritual leader and this new power was obviously more than he had experienced before. He wanted to get the job of leader and dispenser of the power and grace.
I guess it is pretty obvious that he had no deep understanding of God.
He thought he could buy what you wanted if you have enough money. For him power came through money instead of God.
For him it seems that he had a real faith in them Magic of Jesus, but he did not how to get what he wanted. So he used what he knew. Cash on the barrel head. This understanding of God in no less apparent today. The TV preachers that tell the crowds, If you will just send in you gift to this ministry God will bless you…..What is their basis of this teaching?
The giving we go to God is in response to what he has already done for us. He already owns everything and has expectation that you will respond.
Baptism, declaration of you faith, your prayers, your helping of the people around you, your sharing of what God has done for you…..If you think anything else you actually believe that you ….you have the ability, to influence God, the ability to pressure or trick God.
At least Simon, lived in a place and time where people commonly believed that their direct giving and action could change or improve the favor of God. Simon was new to this faith and he blew it when he made an offer to short cut the actions of God.
When Christians try that, and it seems to fail to get a result, the stop tithing, they stop serving they stop showing any sign that they recognize the favor of God already on their lives.
Simon, wanted the power to do what Peter and John and even Philip did. He wanted what they had and would pay any price to get it.
People with the purest desire are no different than Simon.
I have in my office a stack of books on leadership and church growth. I have had some of you read these books with me in hopes that we could together work out the secret to what God want us to do in our church. I have struggled and pushed to get people to agree to try something…
I have been guilty of trying to make a deal to see God work around here.
I have also felt the disappointment as I have seen none if it do anything but discourage me.
In my review with the DS this year, I noted the one thing that had helped me in my personal growth was that I stopped buying that kind of book. I stopped looking for a quick source for magic. I did the best I could to keel put of God’s way and watch him work though other people.
The scripture tells us how Peter responds to Simon,
Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin."
Peter seems to be acing in a harsh way toward Simon. In a way it is like Jesus responded to him when he was completely off track.
It seems that Peter might have doubts, because of the offer, as to the salvation of Simon. It seems like Simon is still drawn to his old sinful ways, he is drawn to the desire for power and personal esteem.
Peter tells him to repent and Simon responds, "Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me."
You know, I really can’t speak for you, but when I look at this story and how the Gift of the spirit seems to be moving in so many ways. I want what they seem to have.
Don’t misunderstand, I believe that I have the gift of the spirit and it works in me, but I feel like it is like watered down Kool-Aid, the color is there but the sweetness is lacking. Il feels like I have received just enough to know I want more but, I can’t seem to find the best way to get more.
I want or at least think I want the full power of the Holy Spirit that flowed in the early church. I think, I will do anything to get it…..Actually I am not sure of that.
I am afraid that it is me that has limited the gift….from time to time have thought “not to much”, or “I need to water this down, because it is just too strong”. I have asked God to fill be but, have put my limits on the method.
There have also been times when I felt like all my attempts have failed and I just coast. I just to the minimum and sit feeling rejected by God.
Simon repents and it is the last we hear of him. In his presence we hope that he was completely changed. Perhaps he remained a leader in the community once the had a deeper understanding of how God interacts. That the worked are a demonstration of God’s love and power and not something encouraged or distributed by an apostle or priest.
We too need to repent at our misconceptions and expectations of God. We need to repent for failing to receive the relationship offered and be willing to be witnesses to the actions of God
We will be continuing with a close look at Philip’s cork in Samaria next week as we finish the chapter
There is a potential problem, that is not directly a part of the scripture, the idea the everyone that went out was willing to talk about the good news. They were excited even thought they thought they were running for their lives…Are you at all excited about what God has done for you?
All Glory be to God!
