Anyone that worked with me in IT the last 8-10 years of my career probably heard me say "I am a great and powerful magician" at least once. It's usually what I would proclaim after fixing something simply at first and later one after anything I fixed. I used to work with these two ladies from Columbia (South America not South Carolina) and they stopped calling me Glen and started calling me Magician. Good times!
Pastor Glen
Acts 8:9-13
I am a great and powerful magician!
I have a secret to tell you, In addition to being a pastor
and a former IT person. I am also a great and powerful magician!
I spent 16 years in the computer support field. I was really
good at repairing problems I was not so great a customer service. I have a tendency to come across arrogant and
condescending. If I have come across that you way to you in the past, I
apologize. I most likely didn’t mean it. I spent a few years driving around the
state repairing computers and printers at different SunTrust locations. I would
drive an hour, an hour and a half in one direction to get there and find the
computer wasn’t plugged in, or the power strip was turned off. I would plug it
in and turn it on and then the manager would ask “What was wrong?” and I would
go “It wasn’t plugged in, so I plugged it in” and then they would get mad at me
and complain to my supervisor and I would have to be lectured or take the
customer service training.
One day I drove 90 minutes because a printer wasn’t working
at a branch. I got there, and it was out of paper. I put paper in it and it
started working again. I had gotten in trouble at this branch about a month
earlier and I just knew I was going to get in trouble again the minute the
manager asked me what I did. So when he approached me and asked what I did I
came up with a response. One that was Inspired by the Wizard of Oz. I said in a
deep dramatic voice “I AM A GREAT AND POWERFUL MAGICIAN!” I figured if I was going
to get in trouble, at least it should make for a funny story. The manager looks
at me and goes “Cool. Help yourself to some bagels in the break room.”
For the rest of my IT Career anytime I fixed something
simple like plugged in a cord, or unpressing the mute button, that has my been
my response. I did that for 8 years, I never got one complaint about it.
Tonight, we learn about Simon, the Sorcerer and you might
notice some similarities.
But there was a certain man called Simon, who
previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria,
claiming that he was someone great, 10 to whom
they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the
great power of God.” 11 And they
heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long
time. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the things
concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women
were baptized. 13 Then
Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip,
and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.
A lot has been going on in Acts. Heavy persecution of the
church in Jerusalem has scattered them all over the place. We talked about how
There are two different words in the ancient Greek language for the idea of
“scattered.” One has the idea of scattering in the sense of making something
disappear, like scattering someone’s ashes. The other word has the idea of
scattering in the sense of planting or
sowing seeds. The world looks at this and sees the first meaning, God’s
word has this written at the second one.
The resulting good of the spread of the gospel shows us how
this persecution was inside the will of God. God can and will use pressing
circumstances to guide us into His will. Often we have to be shaken out of our
comfortable state before we do what God wants us to do.
Philip, is sent to Samaria. An area where he would have been
hated just for being a Jew. An area full of people he had been taught all his
life to hate because they were different. However, Philip did not give in to
his fear, as we often do, but let God’s perfect love cast out his fear and he
presented the Gospel to them in word and deed. The result? People coming to
know the Lord and a whole city rejoiced because of it.
The growing church, the ministry of Philip, this attracts
the attention of a man called Simon. What do we know about Simon? He practiced
sorcery in the city, he astonished all the people and he claimed he was someone
great. The people believed him saying “this man is the great power of God” and
he had been doing so for a long time.
The scriptures call Simon a sorcerer or magician depending
on your translation of the Bible. When I say witch what do most of you picture?
Someone who looks like the wicked witch of the west most likely. The green
skin, long pointy nose, black pointy hat, threatening to get someone and their
little dog too.
Deut 18 lists witchcraft and related things as forbidden for
God’s people. They were the pagan religious practices of the time and as we
know from the Old Testament God’s people were easily swayed away from the Lord
the moment things got difficult. Which is not that much different from the
church these days. We believe as long as God operates according to our plan and
time table and when He doesn’t? We throw a tantrum and start chasing whatever
might give us the answer we want.
It was common practice back then to take the title of
Magician or Sorcerer to prey on the superstitions of people. Among the ancients, the practice of
sorcery had an interesting association. That of, altered states through drugs
and potions. There was understood to be a connection between drug taking and
occultist practices. The English word sorcery is rendered our word witch
from the Greek pharmakos which is where we get our word Pharmacy. A big aspect of his “sorcery” was simply
knowledge about drug interactions. Knowing that this root will make you sleepy,
this powder will make you see things, and this herb is a pain killer. The right
combination of drugs can have you seeing and believing just about anything.
I imagine there
was also a great deal of sleight of hand involved in his “sorcery.” I remember
as a kid attending family reunions and my Uncle Wayne would put on a magic
show. He did all sorts of tricks, guessing the card you picked, pulling items
out of the air, making stuff appear in your hand or your pocket, making items
disappear and reappear. He could even saw part of his arm and then heal it. I
was just amazed and my Uncle Wayne’s magical powers! Then my cousin Johnathon informed me that
Uncle Wayne did not have magical powers. Just trick items. A fake arm, a
special deck of cards, accomplices! It was all a sham! Just toys and
misdirection. Simon was likely much closer to Harry Houdini then Harry Potter. Whatever
power Simon had, real or fake, it was not from God.
Before Philip showed up Simon has a pretty good gig going
on. He’s the big fish in a small pond. People refer to him as “the great power
of God”. He’s got the respect of the public, he has a big name, and he is rich.
He’s made a lot of money off of being Simon the Sorcerer for a while now. Everything is going pretty well. Then this
Philip guy shows up.
Philip would have drawn a crowd initially just by being a
Jew in Samaria on purpose. On mission trips overseas to SE Asia I drew
attention in public areas just because I was from America. Random people would
come up and ask if they could take a picture with me. It amuses me greatly that
somewhere in China there’s a picture of me on someone’s fridge.
What did Philip do once he showed up in Samaria? He was
preaching the Gospel! Not only that, he was meeting people’s physical needs as
well as their spiritual needs. It said earlier in the chapter that “ many who were paralyzed and lame were
healed.”
I want to touch on this for just a moment. If
I were to take a survey and ask why most of you started coming to church the
most frequent answer I get is “someone who loved me, invited me or brought me”.
We try to make the Gospel complicated and it’s not. It’s
rather simple. We love God, We love our neighbor. Before we make a decision,
take an action just ask yourself “Is this loving God? Is this loving my
neighbor?” If not then don’t do it. If you can honestly answer Yes to both of
those then go for it.
Philip was out there doing just that. It was drawing crowds.
Philip was building a reputation as man preaching God and working miracles. He
even healed those that were paralyzed and lame! We have tendency when reading
the scripture to overlay the narrative with our modern day concepts. Most of us
know at least one person who has to use a wheelchair or otherwise requires
assistance walking. This is 2000 years ago in the middle east. There was no
ADA, there were no motorized wheel chairs. Not only that but the prevailing
theory was that God, or the gods, had done
this to them because of their own sin or the sin of their parents if they were
born that way. They were shunned by society and considered outcasts. They had
one job available to them and that was to beg on the side of the street. These
were people that had tried everything to get better but didn’t. This was there
lot in a very short life. Then they were suddenly given a new lease on life! They
were healed! They can walk! They can work. The curse is lifted! Don’t you know that these people had tried
being healed by Simon the Sorcerer and had found no solace there. I’m willing to place these people as those
that rejoiced the loudest when the whole city rejoiced.
Simon shows up, wants to know what all the fuss is about. I
sometimes watch this show called “Fool Us”. It’s hosted by famous magicians,
Penn & Teller. They have up and coming magicians come on the show and
perform their best trick. Then Penn & Teller try to guess how it was done.
More often than not they get it right, yet occasionally someone does manage to
fool them and wins a trophy. I think there’s an aspect of this going on with
Simon coming to see Phillip. Professional curiosity, a checking out of the
competition as it were.
Then this radical thing happens! He gets saved! What did
Philip do to reach such an important man? A man who was wealthy, influential
and thought himself something? Does Philp get into a debate and do point and
counter point? Does Philip have a miracle contest and see who can perform the
most difficult trick? Does Phillip roll out the red carpet in hopes to impress
him? I know! He tags him on a facebook article with a comment that says “Read
this, it shows that I’m right.” No, he doesn’t do any of those things.
It’s right here in the text. “they
believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the
name of Jesus Christ”
Phillip preached the Gospel, plain and simple. We waste so
much time trying to argue people into Christ. For those of us who believe in the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, we should speak with, compassion,
confidence, and love. We don’t have to answer every question that is
asked us or accept the terms that are given to us by the world. When the
wrong question is asked, we offer better questions. When we are given a
multiple choice test, we answer in essay. When we are asked for a clear
answer, we respond with a parable. When we are asked for a position, we
give our testimony
Romans 1:16 “16 For I am not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ,[a] for
it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes”
While we will be shamed because of the Gospel, we need not
feel ashamed because of the gospel. When we alter the gospel to make it popular
and inoffensive we also make it ineffective. It’s why so many churches are
dying out. We can pass all the laws, sign all the petitions, and create all the
hashtags you want but you cannot legislate morality. We will never design a
system so perfect that people need not to be good. That requires a change of
heart and only the Gospel has that power.
1 Cor 1:27 “but God has
chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen
the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,”
I mentioned my love of Ric Flair last night, and tomorrow
night I’m going to talk about Ted DiBiasie but part of the reason I’m so
attached to wrestling even to this day is that God used something as foolish as
pro wrestling to bring me to Christ.
I mentioned on Sunday I had a friend that had been inviting
me to church, and inviting me to hang out with his church friends for almost 6
months. It was wrestling that got me in the door. I was hanging out with Nick
one Sunday afternoon and he was getting ready to leave because he was going to
watch some wrestling thing with a friend of his. I said wait a minute? Halloween
Havoc? The PPV? And Nick says “yeah” and I immediately start begging! Please
please please can I come?
Nick had to appreciate the irony of me begging to hang out
with his church friends after 6 months of blowing him off politely and
sometimes not so politely. He goes, uh sure. Then about 2 weeks later Nick
invites me again to watch wrestling at another person’s house. You know him as
David Chambers. As I started hanging out with this people more and more I
experienced the love of Christ. A few months after that I finally started
paying attention to what they were saying about Jesus. God used pro-wrestling
to being me to the gospel. God can use whatever He chooses to bring people to
the gospel.
The gospel alone brings forgiven sinners to final, everlasting
joy. Nothing in the world can do this except the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam — they do not have a Savior who can solve
the problem of separation from a holy God through sin, and offer sinners hope
by grace and not works. Only one message saves sinners and brings them safely
into the presence of God: the gospel of Jesus Christ. It alone is the power of
God unto salvation.
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