"THE GREAT POWER"

A sermon based upon Acts 8: 4-25

By Rev. Dr. Charles J. Tomlin, DMin

Flat Rock-Zion Baptist Partnership

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time,  October 28th,  2018 

(10-14) Sermon Series: Church: Then and Now

Few things are as important to modern life than having electrical power.  Just let the power fail for an extended time and what do we do but sit around and wait for it to come back on.  

Today’s story from Acts is about God’s saving and healing power.  God’s power falls upon the Samaritans in a similar way to how it came upon the first apostles in Jerusalem on Pentecost.  Luke’s point seems to be that God’s power comes to all people in all times.  But what exactly is this great power?  What God’s power is, and what it means, gets needed clarification in this story.

HE BOASTED HE WAS…GREAT (9)

In telling this story, Luke gives us a report about a man who wrongly believed that he could buy the power that belong to God alone. 

Simon, also called ‘The Great Power’ or Simon Magnus, was a magician who ‘amazed’ and ‘astonished’ the masses with his own magical, ‘healing’ skills. 

We are not told what these magical skills were, but we do see a contrast between skills of magic and the working of miracles.  As Theodore Ferris has explained: “Magic is the human attempt to control and alter the natural course of events for human benefit.’  ‘A miracle, on the other hand, is God’s use of natural laws in extraordinary ways to achieve his own purposes.” (See Interpreters Bible, “Acts”, Vol. IX, Abingdon Press, 1954, p. 111).   

In short, through miracles, Philip was glorifying God, not himself. Through magic, Simon only glorified himself.   While Simon’s, though named here as sorcery (KJV) or magic (RSV), may have begun, as some kind of simple, harmless kind of entertainment.  But due to his ‘charm’ or natural gift, Simon drew attention to himself, and used his gifts to manipulate the masses only for his own benefit.

While in college, I knew a magician who was also quite impressive with own magical skills.  He ‘wowed’ everyone, and once came to my dorm room and gave me and my roommate our own private performance.  Tom was a Christian and he always reminded us that his ‘magic’ was not ‘dark’ or even real ‘magic’, but simple tricks he had learned and mastered for entertainment purposes, not some powers he had conjured up.  Today Tom is not a professional magician, but a trained psychologist, using his own God’s given knowledge to help others overcome the negative powers that bring great hurt and harm to the human soul.

Perhaps Simon’s magic show began with good intent too.  But because Simon was not grounded only his own reality and not in true faith, he allowed himself, as John Calvin said, ‘to become touched with wonder’.  Simon was so obsessed with his own powers of deception and people were so impressed by all his illusions, he gained a nickname attributing to him the ‘power’ that only belonged only to God. 

The Great American showman, PT Barnum, who invented ‘The Greatest Show On Earth’ is warmly remembered in a recent musical movie about his life, ‘The Great Showman’.   According to the musical, at least for a while, Barnum allowed his own powers of greatness to go to his head too.  PT Barnum boasted about his own skills of human manipulation, saying ‘there’s a sucker born every minute.’ 

More recently, David Cooperfield, an illusionist working Las Vegas, created an act of making several people disappear. Against his wishes, he had to reveal one of his secrets in court.  During a show, while running in a tunnel underneath the stage, a volunteer was accidentally injured, and later claimed to have suffered serious injuries, including brain damage. 

Defending against the claim, Copperfield’s attorneys argued:“It was a freak accident...It’s only magic and it isn’t dangerous.”  The other team claimed to the contrary that this accident proves that “magic is dangerous.” Cooperfield was able to settle the lawsuit for 500,000 dollars, even though his legal team argued that having to reveal one of his ‘trade’ secrets would hurt him financially. He is calculated to be worth 800 million dollars.“ (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2018/04/18/a-david-copperfield-trick-allegedly-injured-a-participant-its-secret-was-just-exposed-in-court/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4fe4f49fffd0)

Can human ‘magic’ become ‘dangerous’?  Well, that depends, doesn’t it?  If ‘magic’ remains a simple form of human entertainment--nothing more than skilled ‘sleight of hand’ for generating fun and amusement--then how could there be any real harm?  In this way it remains a ‘trick’ or ‘skill’ that has a positive use.  If we take Ferris definition of ‘magic’ as ‘the human attempt to alter or control nature for human benefit’, even science, modern medicine, or most any human ingenuity could be defined as ‘magical’ too.

The problem for Simon, which can become a problem for us too, is when we claim or want to have the ‘power’ which belongs to God alone.  Isn’t this how the ‘use’ of power can quickly become the ‘misuse’ of it?  When we fail to maintain the proper perspective in power or live, especially by failing to acknowledge our dependence upon God, in our humanity before God, either the magic, and even the miracle too, can easily also become a ‘mess’.

ASTONISHED BY THE GREAT SIGNS… (13)

In our text, Philip’s evangelistic preaching gives us clarity that it is the truth about Jesus that releases God’s healing and saving power in the world.  Christ’s power, released through the preached word, brings cleansing from sin and offers the ultimate cure in life and in death. 

From this story, there is no doubt that Simon’s own magical powers impressed people greatly, but when Simon saw how people came to believe in Jesus and how great ‘signs and ‘miracles’ took place through Philip’s preaching, even this magician was amazed and impressed (13).

Seeing God’s ‘real’ and ‘raw’ power being released into the world, Simon could not help but see a business opportunity for himself.  Simon saw how he too could ‘use’ this power, not to minister to or serve others, but how he could get this ‘power’ to serve himself, using it only for his own personal gain.  Simon came to ‘believe’ in the ‘power’ of the Lord, but he did not really believe in the Lord of the power.  Like that character in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, who called the dark powers ‘my precious’, Simon wanted the powers just for himself, but didn’t realize the danger this posed.

But before we get to what Simon did wrong, we need to also understand that he did understand that there was something magical, miraculous, wonderful, and amazing going on through Philip’s preaching about Christ.  Simon saw immediate in preaching the value of allow God to work his wonder in our lives.  While many still see the powers of nature in a storm, an earthquake or a volcano, or more positively, they realize the benefits or promises of science and technology, do we still see what it might wonderful works might happen when we receive and respond to God’s goodness and grace?  Simon may have had the ‘wrong reasons’ for wanting God’s ‘power’, but at least he saw that power, and he wanted it too.

But can we still see what Simon saw?  Can we still see God’s power beyond our own? God’s power is still there to be seen, isn’t it?  Even though we have the ‘magic’ and miracles of modern medicine and to bring more healing and happiness than ever today, there are still limits to what we humans can do and accomplish, aren’t there?   Without the cooperation of the patient and the unseen power of faith participating in the cure, doctors are only ‘practicing’ a skill that remains as much an art, as it is a science.  All the medicine in the world is powerless to heal those who don’t want to get well.  Just ask any psychologist or any social worker, or any pastor, if you dare. 

Herb Miller tells how a great violinist was scheduled to play a concert in Houston, Texas. The Houston newspaper, however, didn’t focus on the artist. It used most of its space to describe his original Stradivarius violin. In fact, the morning of the concert, the front page carried a picture of the great instrument he would play. That night, the hall was filled with people.

The musician played extremely well. As he finished, the crowd thundered its applause. When the clapping subsided, the musician carefully laid his bow down. He carried a chair to center stage. Raising his violin over his head with both hands, he slammed it across the back of the chair. The violin smashed into dozens of pieces.

The audience gasped. Walking back to the microphone, the artist said, “I read in this morning’s paper about how great my violin was. So I walked down the street to a pawn shop. For thirty dollars I purchased a cheap violin. I put some new strings on it. That’s the violin I played this evening, then smashed. I wanted to demonstrate that it isn’t the violin that counts most. It’s the hands that hold the violin.” (From Herb Miller, Fishing on the Asphalt (St. Louis: CBP Press, 1987), pp. 32).

To acknowledge the power beyond us all, or that all human power cannot promise what only God can, is still the most needed perspective to keep all the magic and miracles of life from ‘going to our heads’, losing focus, and being misused.  Do you realize, that most all the problems of sexual abuse today can be attributed to a misuse of power?  Do you realize that most all wars, and threats of war, and social problems too, are problems of power, most often among the rich and powerful too?  Do you remember how the church, just as many nations and peoples have, has also struggled not to be obsessed with the use or misuse of power?

While God puts amazing gifts of power into our human hands, to fail to acknowledge this power as a gift, or to fail to recognize the limits of our power, remains the greatest deception that can become our greatest danger to life.  When we fail to realize our God-given limits to power, we fail to realize what is most real of all; that no human power, no human skill, and no human medicine whatsoever, can heal our greatest human hurt—becomes 'the sin that leads to death’. 

Even as science works to bring cures to the worst diseases, we will only continue to fantasize about healing everyone, about stopping all diseases, or about overcoming death itself.  Belief, which means trust in the true God and not just belief in a god, is the most reasonable response to our human limits and the realization of our own mortality.

YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD BUY THE GIFT OF GOD (20)

When Simon Magnus saw God’s power, Simon wanted it, but he wanted it only for himself.  This is the ultimate abuse of power; not that he wanted God’s power, but that he only wanted for himself.

If our tapping into God’s gifts get misplaced or abused, locked in selfishness or ‘greased’ only for self-service, grave, satanic, deceptions will lurk within the human heart to become dangers that deceive and will destroy.  Human power is good, and power is a God’s gift to us, but when power takes over in us, because we fail to acknowledge God’s gift, then the gift becomes a curse.  Ironically, perhaps it was a natural ‘Freudian slip, who knows?  But the German word ‘gift’ means poison.  Likewise, when the ‘gift’ of God is not rightly acknowledge, the good which God intends, becomes poison deep in the human soul. 

Simon learned this the hard way, in a very stern rebuke from Peter himself. Since all God’s gifts, especially God’s gift of power, are ultimately rooted in spiritual gift on loan to us from God, no spiritual gift should be reduced to a mere commodity to be bought or sold; being used only for human gain or human glory. God’s gifts, no matter the form, must always be received from God to ultimately achieve the glory and purposes of God, and can’t be reduced to be ultimately only and just for us!  Have you ever wondered why this is?  Have you ever wondered why the apostle Paul later instructs the church: ‘So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (1 Cor. 10:31 NIV).  Why is what Simon did, by wanting to purchase God’s power for his own glory and purpose, so dangerous that Peter and John, coming down from headquarters in Jerusalem, literally warned Simon that, if he thinks he can buy God’s power with money, he can take his money and go to hell.’ (v.20).  That is how strong the Peter’s language really was.  Why was that?

Peter and John have already noted that God’s healing, saving power can’t be merely associated to the material realm of ‘silver or gold’, because they had none.  God’s power can only be rightly associated to ‘the name of Jesus Christ’ (Acts 3:6) and to ‘faith in the name’ (Acts 3:16). God’s power can’t every be purchased, nor can God’s powerful gifts ever be for our human manipulation nor come under our full control.  God’s power in life and God’s power for life, belongs to God alone.  The power of life is released in this world and in our lives, ultimately for God’s glory alone.  Life is a power on loan to us, and this power is never, and will never, ever, be released to us only or just for us, and our own benefit. 

Does this sound to you like God is being selfish or greedy when the Bible says, ‘the power belongs to God, and not to us?’  That’s the lie Satan put in Adam and Eve’s head too, just before they lost paradise.  Why does our faith insist that even our skills, ingenuity and all our human powers must be acknowledged as gifts, and never used ‘just for us’ and only for human glory alone?

As I write, the American president is about to attempt to negotiate a nuclear power treaty with a relatively small nation, North Korea.  How can it be that a smaller nation can consider itself on equal terms to a greater one?  That’s a differ way of seeing power, isn’t it? 

With the coming of this nuclear age, we humans have a chance to come of age again.  We can realize that power and limits of power, put us all on equal terms.  In a nuclear age, the question of the use or misuse of power is forcing us all to reconsider the meaning and implications of human power.  We must learn again that what is mine is never mine alone.  What is given to me can become either a blessing or it can become a curse.

Could it be why acknowledging life true source of life, as God’s gift, always matters?   While God’s power, goodness, and even his glory too, can and will be a benefit to us and for us, God’s power at work in us, must elicit   ultimate praise to God and not just to us.  The reason is not to restrict any use of good power by us, but because only when we acknowledge the giver do we rightly and fully, receive or continue to rightly use the gift.  When the giver isn’t acknowledged, the gift is always abused and may be misused. 

By acknowledging God, as the giver and source of all good gifts, the gift remains a gift intended only to bless and serve, instead of becoming a gift turned into a poisonous power only to serve greed or selfish gain, which will eventually, bring us more harm than gain.   

In the children's series Veggie Tales, Madame Blueberry is always blue, blue, blue, about everything. While the tree house in which she lives is nice; her dishes are chipped, knives are too dull, spoons are too small, and all her neighbors have more wonderful things than she has.

Then one day a mega-store called “Stuff Mart" moves across the street. The sign glitters like a beacon of hope to Madame Blueberry. They have refrigerators to preserve her extra mashed potatoes and a giant air compressor to blow fruit flies off her dresser. The company jingle says it all, “Happiness waits at the Stuff Mart, all you need is lots more stuff."

But as Charlie Brown has said, unfortunately, when our eyes are more on what we want, than what we already have, “Most of us live just about one cookie away from being happy." It sneaks in on us, doesn't it? Greed comes hunting for us in the depths of our souls, and it can ruin the joy of today.

Only by learning to praise God from whom all blessings flow, will today and everyday, no matter what we have or don’t have, do we continue to have the power of a gift of life that refuses to become a curse. Amen.