The Other Six Days

Since the church was being persecuted, the members scattered, so the message and miracles went further.

Simon the sorcerer also believed, but he misunderstood that it wasn’t magic he was seeing and he couldn’t buy the power of the Holy Spirit. He got rebuked hard. V.13 says he became a devoted follower of Philip, but he had a lot of misunderstandings. Peter was not gentle in correcting him:

You and your money can rot.
Your heart isn’t steadfast on God.
Reform your evil ways.
You are poisoned with gall.
You are caught in the grip of sin

He seems to receive the rebuke. Simon might still misunderstand. His response seems self concerned, still.

Now those who were scattered abroad went about preaching the word” (8:4).

It is ironic that the violence that was supposed to put the early Christians in their place put them in Samaria to fulfill Christ’s great commission preach the Gospel in Samaria. This was a bold step for Philip, because of the hostility between Jews and Samaritans.

Acts 8:4-25 describes Philip’s missionary work in Samaria and new competition to the mission: sorcery. It’s one thing to understand and reject the Gospel. To accept and practice a distorted version of the Gospel is a serious problem. Simon is not a follower of Jesus, but he does perform signs and wonders .

Simon knows power when he sees it and wants to buy it. I assume with good intentions. Peter’s rebuke seems harsh, but it was necessary. Rather than tolerate a distorted understanding of the Gospel, Peter draws boundaries. The Holy Spirit is not a commodity that can be bought and controlled.

Stephen offends the people by telling them they are stiff necked and missing the Holy Spirit and disobedient. He sees a vision of Jesus, and— That’s It. Gnashing teeth and pulling ears, they drag Stephen out of town and stone him. Saul looks on approvingly and continues persecuting the church.

The vision part stands out to me. Like when Peter steps out of the boat and walks on water while his eyes are fixed on Jesus, Stephen maintains his focus despite his reasons to fear. His focus is on God. Let me worry less about what’s fluctuating around me or uncertain or threatening and remember the one who is solid holding it all together and loving us in the midst of it

Stephen gives a good summary of the first 5 books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch).

Resistance to the Holy Spirit is nothing new to God‘s people, and it’s pretty bold for Stephen to admit that. We can look back to the “good ol’ days” when things were supposedly so much better in our religious institutions (like churches). He reminds us to take off the rose colored glasses, because our spiritual predecessors had some serious problems too.

People judge Christianity by Christians, unreasonable as that is. (I’ve heard Christians are the#1 reason people reject Jesus).

I think Methodists like to think we model love and don’t get too explicit with the Gospel words. I’ve often thought if my actions aren’t preaching, my words won’t be effective anyway.

But I’ve been following apologists lately who are having conversations with non-believers about hell and the exclusive claims of Jesus and the problem of evil and I’m admiring the boldness to say in words and with humility the kinds of claims our apostles are bold to preach in this reading today.

Acts 6:1-7 is about leadership in the midst of change. When a ministry grows we must adapt, or else it becomes unmanageable. Then it is more work and less spirit led ministry.

Greek-speaking widows are being neglected. “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables” (6:2), meaning that the apostles knew that their primary duty is preaching. They don’t recruit “volunteers” to pick up the slack. They identify and appoint spiritual leaders.

It’s a troubling story, but there is something natural about the lies of Ananias and Sapphira in 5:1-11. When we struggle with covetousness, acquisitiveness, and insecurity, do we rationalize and excuse it? “I’m not really all that well off,” “I have all I can do just to make ends meet.” “I worked hard for this and deserve it.”

These may be true, or they may be examples of self deceit. Martin Luther once called security the ultimate idol. Our self-deceit are our attempts to deal with our insecurity, by taking matters into our own hands.

Peter silenced the Jewish leaders. He was bold. He knew the Scriptures, which surprised people since he was not an educated man. They noticed he had been with Jesus, and they saw the lame man standing.

We can be bold. We can know the Bible, no matter our level of education. People can know of our association with Jesus by seeing the results.

Peter and John are released from jail and they go home. The response is to pray. They praise God for his power and foreknowledge of the rebelliousness of the leaders. They also ask for God to continue reassuring the faithful thru signs and wonders and healings in Jesus’ name.

Let us be filled with the same confidence. Let us look at the power of God as we practice living. Let us entrust our burdens and worries into his faithful loving all powerful hands.