"5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralysed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practised sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, 10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, ‘This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.’ 11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. 12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised, both men and women. 13 Simon himself believed and was baptised. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 and said, ‘Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’
20 Peter answered: ‘May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.’
24 Then Simon answered, ‘Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.’
25 After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages."
How do you like your church? I wonder if our Britishness means we like it fairly together, running on time, people following the programme, keeping things within the lines. Here in Acts 8 we see messy church.
The danger in the mission to the Samaritans is the potential for division in the church. Will Jewish Christians accept and welcome the Samaritan believers? Will the Samaritan believers want a distinctively different church? Are there two tiers of Christians depending on your background and ancestry? The potential for division is high as Stephen preaches and many Samaritans believe, but we see two actions which nip any potential division in the bud.
Firstly the act of the Apostles going down to Samaria from Jerusalem, not on an Ofsted like visit to check out the quality of teaching and learning. But as a sign of welcome and acceptance. The pillars of the church welcome these Samaritan new believers as they pray for them. This is not the establishment of a new church, but a new community of believers which is part of one church.
But we also see it in God's deliberate act of delaying giving the gift of the Spirit to these believers. It is through the laying on of hands by Peter and John that the Spirit is poured out on these believers, not because a two stage experience is the norm, it isn't in chapters 2-5, or in chapter 9 of Acts, but because this is the Samaritan Pentecost. This is proof, verified by the Apostles, that the Samaritans have come to faith in Jesus and are one people, kingdom people, Jesus disciples.
Church should be a place where the glory of the gospel is displayed by the sheer variety of believers present, loving one another, worshipping together, serving one another full of the Spirit. It will not be monoculture, it will not be monochrome either in terms of ethnicity, class, background, education or anything else. That will make church messy but that is the glory of the gospel, that grace and love shown by God's people empowered by the Spirit are what hold the church together, what brings unity.
As we go to church today let's glory in the diversity of those the gospel has won and united together in Christ. Let's praise God for the glorious display of the messiness of God's people bound together by the Spirit at work in each one of us.
But we also see it in God's deliberate act of delaying giving the gift of the Spirit to these believers. It is through the laying on of hands by Peter and John that the Spirit is poured out on these believers, not because a two stage experience is the norm, it isn't in chapters 2-5, or in chapter 9 of Acts, but because this is the Samaritan Pentecost. This is proof, verified by the Apostles, that the Samaritans have come to faith in Jesus and are one people, kingdom people, Jesus disciples.
Church should be a place where the glory of the gospel is displayed by the sheer variety of believers present, loving one another, worshipping together, serving one another full of the Spirit. It will not be monoculture, it will not be monochrome either in terms of ethnicity, class, background, education or anything else. That will make church messy but that is the glory of the gospel, that grace and love shown by God's people empowered by the Spirit are what hold the church together, what brings unity.
As we go to church today let's glory in the diversity of those the gospel has won and united together in Christ. Let's praise God for the glorious display of the messiness of God's people bound together by the Spirit at work in each one of us.
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