Acts 8:1-25

 Acts 8:1-25

This chapter is a study in contrasts of two men: Simon the wizard and the Ethiopian treasurer. The context is the bitter persecution of the church and the aftermath of “Stephen's murder. Philip has gone down to Samaria, and one of the converts is Simon. Simon saw the power of God at work and was "constantly amazed”. Simon was no dupe who was easily impressed. He was, before his conversion, a powerful agent of magic and supernatural demonic power. He was not a man who would be easily impressed; nevertheless, he saw in the ministry of Philip a power that was supreme and vastly superior to the power he had wielded in his former life. Simon had no doubt learned his magic arts through a long and costly process of study, apprenticeship, and practice. When he saw that power was available by the free gift, the grace of the laying on of hands, he wanted to have that authority. He wanted not only to have the power to do great works but also the power to pass on that same power to others. He could become the headmaster of his own magic school and ultimately a magic empire. He wanted God, and God's power, to be mean to his own ends.

We are not unlike Simon oftentimes. We are less bold and are less inclined to pursue grand things. We are interested in having God’s power at work and our lives at our command to accomplish our purpose. We view prayer as a way to manipulate the natural world to reorder it to suit us. We “claim” the promises of scripture, but only in the sense of our benefit. We determine what is “good” and “bad” based on our agenda, attempting by spiritual means to gain that “good,” just like Simon.

What was absent in Simon and in us is the fundamental point of being a disciple. “Dying to self.” To the degree that our faith and practice are about using God, Scripture, and “spiritual power” to manipulate life and circumstances to bend them to our will, we are Simon. We are attempting to practice witchcraft in a Christian variant. There is a powerful life as a believer, but it is fundamentally the power to die to self and live what God gives.

" Lord, help me to die to myself in all ways. AMEN"