Click to hear this sermon  sermon100912

  If you went to one of the free concerts at Chevy Court at the New York State Fair this year, and if you got there early to stake your claim to a seat, you were treated to some extra
entertainment:

Three Corrections: It's Not Magic - Acts 8: 13 - September 12, 2010 - Cicero United Methodist Church- Everett J. Bassett

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you went to one of the free concerts at Chevy Court at the New York State Fair this year, and if you got there early to stake your claim to a seat, you were treated to some extra
entertainment: ABC showed the pilot of a new TV show. It's about a family who went on a trip,
and there was a disaster, and they all thought they were going to die. But instead, they all
survived. And, mysteriously, they all came home with a super power. Dad can withstand
bullets now and jump from high buildings unharmed. Mom can run at superspeed - something
I thought most Moms could do anyway. The teenage daughter can hear other peoples' thoughts. I wish I could tell you what the teenage son's power is, but right about then I went to sniff out a Belgian waffle. (That's my special power.)

So this is one of about a gazillion TV programs about supernatural powers; and there are
about a gazillion and a half movies to go with them. Just to name a few - The Mentalist is
about a crime fighter who can read people's minds; Medium is about a housewife who can see
into the unknown; Spiderman is about a teenager who can throw webs, climb walls, and kiss
upside down; Harry Potter walks through a wall into a magical world where he rides a broom to
play a game chasing this little mechanical butterfly thing; and this is not to even mention the
dozens of ghost stories ranging from the comic to the terrifying. We love spooky stuff.

And it's one thing to use it for entertainment, like on TV and in the movies. But a good
number of people believe in this supernatural world. In 2007, the Associated Press released
poll results saying that about one in three Americans believe in ghosts; about 23% say they
have actually seen a ghost. 19% believe in spells, or witchcraft; 48% believe in ESP; and so it
goes. Some pretty bright people are convinced of the powers of the supernatural world. For
example, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was an ardent believer in ghosts. Some of
you may remember that the Clintons, when Bill was president, consulted with an astrologer,
and so on. At the State Fair, I saw a fortune-teller's booth with a half dozen people standing in
line. These are ancient arts; belief in the supernatural is as old as human life itself. I would not
call myself a superstitious person, or one who thinks seriously about ghosts or horoscopes or
anything along those lines. At the same time, I am sure that there are mysteries and forces well
beyond my understanding - so I try to keep an open mind.

Through the spring and summer I have been preaching through the Book of Acts in the Bible, about the beginnings of the Christian church. A couple weeks ago, we read about the beginning of the persecution and martyrdom of the disciples, and how instead of quieting the Christian message, that actually spread it, as many of the disciples fled Jerusalem, and went to the outlying towns and cities. One of those was Philip, and Philip takes center stage in Acts,

chapter 8, as he carries the Christian message out. And as you might expect with a brand-new
religion, when it comes time for it to go out into the world, it gets compared to some of the
other religious movements that are already out there, and you begin to sort out some things
that this new religion is NOT. And that's what we're going to talk about for the next three weeks - three corrections that had to be made about this new religion Christianity, that we still
have to remind ourselves of again and again today.

So what we see in today's scripture lesson is Philip arriving in a Samaritan city and
encountering a magician named Simon. And this was one of those sorting out moments for
Christianity. This was the opportunity for Christians to sort out that whatever Christian faith
was, it was not magic. Now I need to clarify one thing - when we talk about magic today we
are talking about a certain form of entertainment. Our magicians are people who have honed skills in optical illusion, and they can pull rabbits out of hats, and saw people in half - or so it
seems. But we realize as we're watching that what we think we see is not really happening --
we're being fooled; that's part of the fun. I know two card tricks - and they are good card tricks. When I show them to my grandkids they are amazed. But they don't think I have super powers. They ask, "How did you do that?" They know there's an explanation.

But when the Bible talks about magic, it's more than that. It's closer to what we might call
'black magic.' It would include things like sorcery, spells, soothsaying, channeling spirits, and so
on. It reflects what cultural historians have called the 'enchanted world-view.' This was the idea that dominated almost all of human history that there is a spiritual world behind what we experience in our physical lives - a realm of mystery that can't be explained. This enchanted world was believed by people all around the earth - it was simply accepted as part of life.
Depending on where you lived, you believed in ghosts, demons, fairies, leprechauns, animal-
spirits, gods, and so on. This mysterious world interacted with our physical lives behind the
scenes. And certain special people could see into the spirit world.

But very recently in human history, just a couple centuries, really, the enchanted world view was replaced by what we might call the 'enlightened' world-view, or the 'scientific' world-view, which claims that there is no such thing as a spiritual world. Everything that is real can be seen or touched or understood by the human mind. I am a child of this enlightenment -I am
fascinated by science, and appreciate it a great deal. But I am also a spiritual person who
believes that if the scientific world-view is totally right, and there is no realm of mystery, then
life is a pretty sterile affair, and actually quite hopeless. Most of the truly wonderful things in
life are those that touch on the spiritual side of things.

And the Bible was written during that earlier enchanted age. And it reflects a strong belief in the supernatural world. And much of that is labeled 'magic' in the Bible. And much of it is vigorously opposed by Christian disciples, for some good reasons. And we can see those reasons reflected in today's scripture story, where the Christian disciple Philip meets the magician Simon. It must have been a fascinating encounter, because, according to our
scripture lesson, both Philip and Simon demonstrated supernatural power. And, at first, the
difference between them is not so clear. Philip, the follower of Christ, we're told, drove unclean spirits out of people, and healed the lame. And people were amazed. And Simon, the magician, had amazed them with his magic. At first, they could be mistaken for the same thing.

But there is a glaring difference, and we can't emphasize this enough -- magic is about
manipulation, and Christian faith is about relationship.

The magicians -- or sorcerers, or whatever you want to call them -- that the Christian
apostles encountered, were people who claimed that they could harness or channel or
manipulate the power of the spiritual world. They knew secrets that nobody else could know,
and this gave them power in the spiritual world that they quite often could use for spiritual
gain. It also could make them quite rich. And so here is Simon, "who had previously practiced
magic in the city and amazed the nation of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody
great." Magic reflects the human desire to manipulate the spiritual world.

But look at how Philip's approach was totally different; it's in verse 12: " ... he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, and they were baptized, both
men and women." So both Simon and Philip presented a promise of the spiritual world; but
Simon's message was, "Come to me; I've got the secret; I've got the power." Philip's message
was, "Come to Christ, and you'll have the secret; you'll have the power, because you'll belong
to the only spiritual enterprise that truly matters - the kingdom of God." The believer in magic
and the Dark Arts longs for a way to control the powers to get what he or she wants, so he or
she turns to the magician. The Christian longs to be close to the Living God, whose love created
and sustains the world, so he or she turns to Jesus.

Christian faith is not magic. It is not a manipulation of God and the realm of mystery. There aren't spells or tricks that get God to do what we want Him to do. Instead, God draws close to us through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, and invites us to be a part of the realm of love
and hope and peace in this world.

This makes a world of difference about how we think about and practice our faith. For
example, it clarifies what prayer is. When we pray for things, or for favors, or only when we're
desperate - and then are angry when things don't go the way we wanted them to - then
maybe what we really wanted was magic instead of faith. Maybe we wanted to manipulate
God, and call the shots. Maybe that's not what prayer is at all, but rather is an ongoing
relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Maybe prayer is not about shaping God into what
you want Him to be, but is instead about shaping you into what God made you to be.

Or what about baptism? A lot of people have a superstitious idea of baptism - it is a one-
time, magic act of protection that saves you from going to hell. But what faith tells us is that
baptism is a lifelong relationship that assures you that you are a beloved child of God, called to
serve him in your unique way in this world, alongside those who share your love for Him. Holy
Communion is mysterious - but not because the bread and the cup become magical charms,
but rather because they are the 'outward and visible signs of an inward and spiritual grace.'
Christ died for us, and this remembrance of His Body and Blood puts us in touch with that, and
nourishes our relationship with Him - feeds our spirits with His wonderful love.

So the question is, how is your relationship with the living God? How is your journey with Christ? In this world where things can get so hectic and confusing, where terrible things can
happen, as we know from the remembrance of 9-11, and from the daily news - we long for an
edge. We long for magic words to say, or some quick formula that can put all the pieces together, and fit into our schedule at the same time. When it feels like it's not working, and things aren't fitting together, then we cry out our outrage and our pain: Where was God? How did He allow this to happen? This is not fair or right. And the answer is that God is there all the time - but not as some impersonal being that answers the phone whenever we call, and does what we want Him to do. Rather, as a loving heavenly Parent whose deepest desire is that we will walk beside Him as He carries out a mission of grace and hope in this hurting world.

The thing is, of course, that such relationships take time - they disrupt and slow down the
schedule. We're more geared for the kind of day where you are flying around doing stuff, and
having all kinds of superficial encounters - you drive up to the drive-up window, place your
order, and drive away - and you never really looked at the person. You dial the number, push a
few prompts - and there was no one there. And you get to an end of a day like that, and you
may feel like you accomplished a lot; you exercised your magic. You were in control- but were
you really? Isn't the end result eventually a feeling of loneliness? A disconnection? A longing
for something deeper? That's what our Lord invites us to, from the bottom of His heart. Not
magic, but Good News: you are beloved of God; you are saved for great things; you are a
citizen of the kingdom of love; praise God!

We all know that New Year's Day is January 1. But for many of us, it's really now: the
beginning of September is when things start over. School is back in session. Our routines for
the coming year are being set up. We've got new clothes; new schedules; new grades; new teachers. Maybe it's time for a renewal of faith as well; maybe it's time to rekindle the
relationship that Jesus is longing to enter with you. The One who loves you most deeply is
calling your name. You are Beloved in His sight. Are you walking with Him?

It turns out that in the end, God's love is the only super power that's matters; the only one
that's real.