"Money & Power"

“Money and Power”

Acts 8:4-25

February 26, 2023

Read Acts 8:4-25

This is the word of the LORD

This passage takes place as the early church was scattering from Jerusalem; scattering as a result of the persecution following the stoning death of Stephen.  Philip went north from Jerusalem into Samaria.

As you may know, Samaria and Samaritans were not well respected by the Jewish community.  The Jews’ distaste for these people was the reason why the parable of the Good Samaritan was so shocking to Jesus’ listeners – how could Jesus use one of “those people” as an illustration of who is our neighbor?  Did he not know that they were traitors, they were dirty, they were accursed, they were unfaithful and disobedient to God?

Like many things dealing with the Middle East, a little background information may help.  The land known as Samaria was part of the Northern Kingdom, part of the land that was occupied by the ten tribes that split away from Judah and Jerusalem after King Solomon died.  The Northern Kingdom was known as Israel, the Southern Kingdom as Judah.  In 722, when Assyria wiped out the Northern Kingdom, most of the population was carted off.  Those that remained got involved in inter-marrying with the Canaanite population that the Assyrians re-settled there – and that was the piece that caused such great conflict and division with the Jews of the Southern Kingdom.  If you remember the disciples’ reaction to the woman at the well in John 4, they were “astonished that he was speaking with a woman” – and more than that, a Samaritan woman.  In that conversation some of the groundwork for Philip’s mission work may have been established.

Significance of Philip’s missionary work

Consider Philip: he was not an apostle; he was not a Jew. He was a Greek who had received Jesus as Lord and Savior as one of the early church converts.  He was identified as one of the first seven “of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom,” who were appointed as deacons.  The apostles laid hands on him and he was commissioned into that ministry.

Driven from Jerusalem by the persecution, he began to share his faith with those in Samaria.  Deacons, take note: you are on the front line of ministry, mission, and evangelism!  He shared his testimony.  Luke wrote that Philip was doing signs though he does not tell us what kind of signs.  The proclamation of the Gospel was accompanied by signs of the power of the Holy Spirit.  A number of “unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, came out of many who were possessed; and many others who were paralyzed or lame were cured.”

This was the same kind of expression of power we saw in the early ministry of Jesus. We tend to be impressed by the healings and exorcisms; but Luke emphasized the reception of the Gospel.  Look at verse 4: “Now those who were scattered went from place to place, proclaiming the word. Philip went to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them.”  The proclamation of the Gospel preceded the signs of power.

That seems backwards, doesn’t it?  Acts of power draw people – it is an attention grabber.  But the reality is that the gospel precedes the power.  Acts of power are expressions of the truth of the gospel: in Jesus Christ there is life.  In Jesus Christ there is healing.  In Jesus Christ there is hope.  In Jesus Christ there is salvation, redemption from our sins.  There is meaning in the testimony.  Our lives are the outworking of the truth of the gospel – those are the signs of power.  The signs of power without the gospel are meaningless.

If you have heard and received the gospel, have you seen God’s power manifest in your life?  Are you even looking?  As you look back on the course of events in your life, can you see God’s hand moving you to places where you experienced remarkable fulfillment of your gifts?  Have you encountered people who were an extension of God’s compassion and grace?

Here is a simple, silly little example.  When I lived in Indianapolis, I had business in Merrillville, which is about two hours north; close to Chicago.  I had not had my car for very long and was not particularly used to the gauges.  So, as a guy is apt to do, I tried to extend the gas tank as far as I could go.  You can see where this is going, right?  Well, in fairness to me, I got to an exit and thought, “I will not push it any farther.” I went up the ramp, followed the sign, only to be out in the middle of nowhere and the gas station was closed.  Back to the freeway, a few miles more, and out of gas. Now, if you have been to Indiana, you know that the stretch of I-65 from Indianapolis to Lafayette is pretty flat and open in places.  I was in one of those places.  This was before cell phones, so I could not call.  I got out, locked up and started walking.

I had not gone far – kicking and muttering – when a trucker pulled over, picked me up and took me to the next exit.  He dropped me off at the open gas station.  While we were riding, I asked him what made him stop.  He told me that he had been in the same situation about a week before, and a young couple had picked him up on their way home from church.  He vowed to God that if he saw someone in that same situation, he would help like that young couple had helped him.

I have chosen to see that God acted in the lives of the young couple going home from church, leading to touch the life of the trucker, who reached out in compassion to me. I do not know and will probably never know who that young couple was; but their responding to the gospel by reaching out touched my life in a mysterious and wonderful way.

There have been other examples – some where I have been the instrument God uses to transform other lives.  Again, an Indianapolis story: we had a pretty good young adults Bible study.  Some friends had moved to Oxford, Mississippi.  We wanted to go visit, but thought, “What are a group of us going to do together in Oxford, Mississippi?”

We thought about the things we had enjoyed doing together in Indianapolis – one of which was to do minor maintenance and repairs at the local community center.  It gave us something to do with our hands, and conversation and laughter were always easy.  So, we arranged with our friends to do some repair work in homes in the area.  They arranged to have people from their new congregation to join us as well.  It was one of the best trips I have ever had.  We had a great visit.

The families around Oxford whose homes we were in were flabbergasted that we had come all that way to help them.  Later, we heard that they had been so moved they began attending church.  When the rest of us returned to Indianapolis, we ended up sharing stories with other people in our workplaces; and some those people began attending churches.  There was something about those who went, who saw, who told, who shared – there was something that was so attractive about it that others wanted to find out more and to get some for themselves.

Let me add one more example that some of you have been asking me about: the Asbury Revival.  I wrote about this in my Trumpet article coming to your mailboxes soon, but let me follow up a little more:

Most Wednesday mornings at Asbury University are like any other.  A few minutes before 10, students begin to gather in Hughes Auditorium for chapel.  Students are required to attend a certain number of chapels each semester, so they tend to show up as a matter of routine.  But this past Wednesday was different.  After the benediction, the gospel choir began to sing a final chorus—and then something began to happen that defies easy description.  Students did not leave.  They were struck by what seemed to be a quiet but powerful sense of transcendence, and they did not want to go.  They stayed and continued to worship.  They are still there (five days later).

I teach theology across the street at Asbury Theological Seminary, and when I heard of what was happening, I immediately decided to go to the chapel to see for myself. When I arrived, I saw hundreds of students singing quietly.  They were praising and praying earnestly for themselves and their neighbors and our world—expressing repentance and contrition for sin and interceding for healing, wholeness, peace, and justice.[1]

It was a phenomenon that went on for a little more than two weeks before school administrators called it to a close.

"Yesterday, I found the following posted on Tim Peck’s Facebook page – he’s a friend and an ECO pastor serving at Glenkirk Presbyterian in Glendora.  He introduced it by saying, “Another update from Asbury from a trusted source.”  The writer is Sarah Thomas Baldwin.

[Edit: There are no more revival services at Asbury or sponsored by Asbury].

Day 18: We are returning to ordinary life--which is just as full of God as the last 17 days just a bit more quiet. I am sure we have a lifetime of journaling, prayer, and deep conversation ahead.  Throughout the days as we passed each other in the halls and outside, we kept saying to each other-- "can you believe this?", "is this really happening?"  As theologians and well, everyone, everywhere--name and debate what it was and wasn't, what I do know for sure is that people are longing for God.

--I don't want to forget the Latino family--grandpa, dad, uncle, kids, mama--who when they made it into Hughes after what must have been a wait of hours--didn't even go to their seats.  They went immediately to the altar and collapsed in front of it.  We saw this again and again.

--I want to remember the family who drove 30 hours each way from Mexico for someone to pray over their baby for healing.

--My heart is broken with the 18 men who piled into a 15 person-passenger van for 9 hours, to pray at an altar for even 30 minutes.

--Holding in my heart the time of prayer with an Indian Pastor and his wife, Diana, from the United Kingdom, interceding for their country and their campuses.

--Who can forget the Brazilians!  They showed up!  Their passionate prayers for their country!  All the Brazilian flags (although graciously put away when we asked--just too many people for all the flags ).

--The story of a police officer who was so moved that he got in a family (with two younger kids) who had been fasting through the lines and waits out of his sheer compassion.

--As a mom of a daughter with special needs, the families who brought their children for prayer for medical issues, just broke my heart.  Their faith, their desperation, I feel it with them. I will continue to pray for Alena.

--Trying to communicate thru an app with a couple in Portuguese.  Making a mental note: next time, we need to be prepared for interpreters! (kidding, kidding about the next time!).

--Remembering the pastor couple from Chile who sold their car to be here.  And strangers passing on money--"can you give it to the lady who sold the car?"  YES!

--I want to remember people giving what they had--we had no donation box set up--so they handed it to us--"thank you, thank you" people said, "This is what I have to give" whether it was a nickel or a hundred dollars.

--So many high schoolers praying for relief from the bondage of pornography.  Parents, step in! Take away phones, keep them out of bedrooms.  Your children are DESPERATE.

--A joyful group from a church in San Diego--so full of JOY of being here, thank you for your encouragement!

--Praying with a team from Canada who were full of stories of God on the move in Canada and how God moved on their drive down!

--I want to remember the Whatsapp thread, 101 notifications at a time-- "water needed in Estes!"  "Is there a prayer volunteer for out in the line?"  "Porta-potties overflowing!" ,"10 people gave their hearts to Jesus here!", "The huge JESUS flag needs to come down!", "what's that ambulance for?", "It's 30 degrees out here. Heaters are on the way."  "The Sal Army showed up.  Thank you, Jesus!".

Mostly, I will remember our relationships between one another on the ground team, the volunteer team, and the ministry team.

Revival runs on the track of relationships.

As one of our retired professors said, "We were surprised, but not unprepared".  We are a small community who loves Jesus deeply.

We weren't ready, but yet we were. God is like that."

They were ready because of their rooting in the Gospel.  They knew what God could do; they did not know what God was going to do.  Acts of power are expressions of the truth of the gospel.  In Jesus Christ there is life.  In Jesus Christ there is healing.  In Jesus Christ there is hope.  In Jesus Christ there is salvation, redemption from our sins. There is meaning in the testimony.  Our lives are the outworking of the truth of the gospel – those are the signs of power.  The signs of power without the gospel are meaningless.

Simon’s Folly

That brings us to Simon Magus.  He was someone who sought to be great; who sought to impress his peers with his power.  Luke’s description of Simon’s encounter with the two apostles – Peter and John – causes all sorts of interpretive headaches because it does not fit neatly within a pattern.  For example, what does it mean that the Spirit had not yet come upon any of them who had been baptized in Jesus’ name only? Again, Luke’s point seems to be that the Holy Spirit is unpredictable and uncontrollable.

Simon was a magician.  He is known as Simon Magus.  It is the same root of the word that was used to describe the “We three kings” who came to worship the newborn Jesus.  Unlike the Magi, Luke portrayed Simon as someone who was seduced by power. Simon was impressed by Philip; through whom the Holy Spirit was doing things that were greater than anything Simon could do.  Simon believed the power in the message that Philip brought, was baptized, but you get the impression that he still did not quite understand the significance of it.

Thus, when Peter and John arrived, they laid hands on the believers such that they experienced the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in a way like the disciples did on Pentecost.  Simon saw this and asked Peter if he could pay them to teach him how to be able to cast the Spirit.  Peter rebuked him harshly.  Why did Peter rebuke Simon so harshly?  Because Simon thought he could buy the power to control God.

This incident is the source of the word, “simony.”  Simony generally refers to the buying or selling of something spiritual.  It has a negative connotation and rightly so. We recoil in disgust at a television preacher’s appeal for money so that he will pray for your miracle.  The modern day “indulgences” are as offensive to us as they were to Martin Luther.  Simony was a large part of the reason for the Protestant Reformation – indulgences were only one example of how the clergy abused the trust given them.

It may or may not be too early to see similar behavior after the Asbury Revival.  Opportunists looking to capitalize on the movement of God will be like sideshow barkers, “There’s revival here!  Come see!  I have a tour package all ready for you!”  Or, “We are scheduling revival on Wednesday night, March 15, during the Pastor’s Class!  There’s a $5 cover fee for in-person; $10 if you are joining via Zoom! Guaranteed encounter with the Holy Spirit and demonstrations of power!”  Nope.

When we try to use God for our purposes, it all goes badly.  Peter made it clear that Simon’s heart was not right.  His heart was not right because he thought the power of the Holy Spirit could be subjected to human authority; that he would be able to buy the secret to the trick of controlling God.

Friends, before we get too aghast at Simon’s folly, we had better remove the log from our own eye.  Have you had the experience of thinking, “I go to church, so God owes me this…” job, relationship, success, whatever?  “I am a pretty good person, so God will have to let me into heaven …”  When you give money to the church, is it a payment for services rendered?

Think about it: your giving is an offering before God, obedience to His command to give the first fruits.  We do not give an offering so that God will bless us; we give because God has blessed us.  It is out of the blessings we have received that we return a portion to the one who has given everything to us.  It is an act of obedience and trust; not a down-payment for future blessings.

In the Old Testament, the prophet Amos railed against empty worship that tried to control God:

I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.  Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon.  Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps.

But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.

Samaritan Pentecost

Consider both Philip and Simon as exclamation points on the idea that the Holy Spirit is unpredictable and uncontrollable.

Yet even as unpredictable as is the movement of the Holy Spirit, the one thing we do know is: God is faithful to his promises.  God’s faithfulness often comes in ways much different than we expect, but that does not change the fact that God is faithful.  In this passage we have a description of the Samaritan Pentecost: that is, the Holy Spirit coming with power upon this group of Samaritans.  This is completely in keeping with the promises of God.

Consider the movement of the Holy Spirit in Acts: from the center of the faith and God’s chosen people in Jerusalem; to those distantly related by blood, in Samaria; and will soon be found among the purely Gentile folks when Peter is called to go meet with Cornelius in Acts Chapter 10.  Remember, Jesus commissioned the disciples, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Today, we are an extension of that promise of witnesses.

Conclusion

Go forward from this place, worshiping and sharing your testimony of the amazing works of God.  Go with eyes to see God’s power on display in your life, in the lives of others, in the events of the day.

Go with the humility of knowing that God has blessed you, and that the power of the Holy Spirit is unpredictable and uncontrollable.  God is not for sale – but God is faithful and true, and his steadfast love endures forever.  In all things and in all ways, give glory and honor to God.

Amen.

Questions:

1. Where have you experienced God’s hand moving in your life?  What episodes, events, or encounters have you just known God was present?
2. Are you prepared for God to show up?  If not, why not?
3. How will you give glory and honor to God this week?

[1] https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2023/february-web-only/asbury-revival-1970-2023-methodist-christian-holy-spirit.html