What Do You Expect From God?

Rev. George Miller
June 16, 2019
Acts 8:14-25

Have you ever had someone step into the middle of a conversation in which they think they know what you are talking about…but it turns out that they have no idea at all because they don’t know the history, or underlying issues?

They think you’re talking about Pam and Tommy going on a date, but what you’re really saying is that Pam used to date Tommy’s brother, and Tommy is the daddy of Pam’s best-friend’s child.

That’s kind of like today’s reading.

At face value and it seems like a simple story about how a Samaritan man tried to commodify the Holy Spirit, but place it in a larger context and you learn it’s about so much more.

So let’s do some simple history.

About 750 years before this story took place, Israel was a much bigger nation, but political infighting split it into two kingdoms- the north and the south.

Eventually the north was conquered by a foreign enemy, and Samaria was one of those conquered cities.

So for the past 7 centuries those in Samaria were seen as outsiders who were once insiders; people who were not really Jew, but not really Gentile.

They’re like your 2nd-cousins who live in another state that you try not to claim, who walk around barefooted, even in the grocery store, and let their dogs run free, but they’re still your kin.

Samaritans were said to steal you blind, not to be trusted, and if you saw one coming it was best to cross to the other side of the street.

That’s where Peter and John are in today’s reading. But if Samaria was looked down upon, why are they there?

Because of horrific events that took place in chapter 7.

The Pentecost Experience has rained down upon the people, filling them with the Holy Spirit, and one of the results is that people are speaking up and speaking out.

Well, one young man named Stephen spoke out a bit too much and was seen as a little too uppity for his own good. As a result, a crowd of men dragged him out of the city and killed him.

This sets off a series of events in Jerusalem in which followers of Jesus were attacked, pulled from their homes, sent into prisons and worse.

These mob-mentality moments of violence cause the early believers to scatter for safety and to seek refuge.

One such person was Philip.

In Jerusalem he was part of the Service Committee, feeding the local widows and making sure the pantry was full.

But due to the violence, Philip fled to Samaria, and while there he found a new calling: he had the ability to heal and to preach.

He preached the Good News in such a way that folk clamored to be baptized.

Philip had such a Spirit-inspired gift of healing that people were freed from the things that held them back, and their personal demons were destroyed.

Philip was such a real-deal that a local magician named Simon stopped all he was doing just so he could personally experience these events for himself.

Simon was a big shot; the kind of headliner you’d find on the Vegas Strip.

When he saw how people like Philip, Peter and John could lay hands upon people and share with them the Holy Spirit, his eyes lit up.

He took out his wallet saying “Hey, man, give me a piece of the action!”

“How much will it cost for me to incorporate this into my show so I can impress the locals?”

To which Peter speaks up, and rather bluntly says “You can take your money and go to hell, and may your credit score be ruined forever because you tried to buy what God has given for free.”

So, to recap, once again, God took something that humans meant for bad and turned it into something good.

People thought that by arresting and killing the followers of Christ, they’d put an end to the Christian movement.

But instead of stopping Christianity, this act of injustice actually helped to further spread the Good News.

It allowed the disciples to enter into so-called enemy territory to bring healing, cast out demons, and unite families.

Not to mention smoothing over long-fractured relationship between the north and the south.

But then we also see how humans found a way to take something God meant for good, and turn it into something bad; a commodity that can be bought, sold and controlled.

Peter and John shared the Holy Spirit to save souls; Simon wanted to purchase the Spirit to put on a show.

The Holy Spirit fills up; the Holy Spirit pour out? And what do some people want to do?

Put it in a box so they can make a buck.

You got to hand it to us humans; we can take anything meant for good and twist it to fulfill our own ego-driven ways.

So what is all this rambling doing?

Well, it’s bringing us to some questions to think about for today.

The first question is “Why God?”

Why do you believe in God and what do you expect from God?

Do you see God as Father? If so, what kind?

The kind who is absent or the kind who is present?

The kind of Father who loves only some of the family or the kind who loves all, even the cousins who refuse to wear shoes?

Why Jesus? And what do you expect from Christ?

Perhaps you see Jesus as a Brother. If so, what kind?

The kind you can tell anything to, or the kind you fearfully hide your identity from?

The kind of Brother who makes sure you are fed, or the kind eats the last ice cream bar in the freezer?

Why the Holy Spirit? And what do you expect from the Spirit?

A source of knowledge so you can face your problems, or a magic wand that can wave your issues away?

A presence that fills you with breathe and imagination, or a burst of hot air that can be manipulated and manufactured?

Now, let’s flip it.

Why you?

What do you think God expects from you?

Is God wanting you to live a certain way; to act a certain way; to be present in a certain way?

Think further: why the person beside you?

What do you think Jesus expects in your relationship with them?

Is Christ wanting you to treat them in a certain way; to respond to them in a certain way: to see them in a certain way?

Let’s think even further: why us? What do you think the Holy Spirit expects from us as a church?

Is the Holy Spirit wanting us to be about bright lights and show girls?

Is it about getting that cash and wowing them in the aisles?

Or does the Holy Spirit want something more?

Does the Holy Spirit move so that we can play a part in the wholeness and healing of others?

To assist the community in confronting and ridding itself of demons?

Perhaps the Holy Spirit wants work and wonder, stewardship and mystery, all wrapped up in a ribbon of wisdom and awe.

Perhaps the Holy Spirit wants us to think but to also feel; to be mystical but to also be aware of the world out there.

Perhaps the Holy Spirit wants us to teach as well as to offer healing; to feed the body as well as to feed the soul.

If there is one thing made very clear by today’s reading, the Holy Spirit does not want to be bought or sold.

It is not for the greed of man but for the benefit to humankind.

And the Holy Spirit is not to be played with; although it is meant to be playful.

So as we continue our journey through the Book of Acts, as we move forward embracing the Good News of Easter and the fruits of Pentecost, let us keep in mind these things.

That God, our Father, has a way of moving us from beyond the Cross into Resurrection.

God moves us from beyond persecution into restitution.

God moves us from beyond commandeering into collectively sharing.

Jesus shows us how.

The Holy Spirit gives us the ability.

And God, as Father, stays eternally proud of how we learn, how we grow, and how we continue to rise up and walk right.

For that, we can say “AMEN!”