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   This morning's New Testament lesson is one of the only ones I know that has actually added a word to the English language.

Three Corrections: It's Not Merchandise - Acts 8: 14-25; Isaiah 55: 1-5 - September 19, 2010-
Cicero United Methodist Church - Everett J. Bassett

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            This morning's New Testament lesson is one of the only ones I know that has actually added a word to the English language. It is not a word we use very often; the word is 'simony.'
'Simony', according to the dictionary, is the buying and selling of religious blessings. It is one of
the objections Martin Luther posted in his Protestant Reformation - the Church was selling
forgiveness for sins. That's simony. Or, it is what you see in the story of the rich man who was
very seriously sick, and said to his pastor, "Reverend, do you think if I gave a half million dollars
to your church it would increase my chances of getting into heaven?" And the pastor thought
hard for a moment, and then devoutly replied, "My son ... it's worth a try." That rich man and
pastor both would probably be guilty of simony.

            The word 'simony', of course, comes from Simon, the Samaritan magician we met last week in our lessons. You may recall that he was quite taken by the message and the miracles of the disciple Philip, and presented himself to be baptized with everyone else.

            This morning's continuation of the story in Acts 8 tells us that when a number of people
believed in Jesus, that drew the attention of the disciples in Jerusalem, who liked to keep a
handle on such things. So they sent two top men, Peter and John, to go to Samaria and help
things along. And even though it's not the central message of this sermon, which revolves
around 'simony', it's important to take time and notice exactly what it was that Peter and John
were sent to accomplish, because it has an important lesson for anyone who wants to be a
follower of Jesus Christ. The people of Samaria, says the scripture, had received the word of
God, but had not received the Holy Spirit. And then it says it another way: They had only been
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit had not 'fallen' on them. This
distinction has been the topic of whole books about the need for the baptism of the Holy Spirit;
churches have divided in two over exactly what is being taught here; whole new branches of
Christianity have been born. Of course, the teaching goes back to John the Baptist, who said
that he was baptizing with water, but Someone was coming who would baptize with water and
the Spirit, or with fire. But, in fact, the Bible teaches different ways of looking at all this at
different times - it's more of a metaphor than a strict doctrine.

            I would offer this simple distinction. Part of Christian faith has to do with your head. It has to do with listening to, and learning about, and responding to the Christian message. It's about what you know and accept as true. The Samaritan people had heard the word of the Lord and accepted it. But another part of faith has to do with your heart. It has to do with being set afire -- seized by a Spirit beyond yourself and filled with passion and enthusiasm. And both the head and heart are essential in the life of faith. The faith of the head gives Christianity stability,
grounding it in the old, old story. But the faith of the heart gives Christianity wings. It is the fire
that sparks revival and carries the church beyond anything that seems possible.

            I'm not sure if he ever used these words to describe it, but it seems to me that John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, embodies this twin response. Wesley always had religion of the head - he lived and breathed it throughout his early life. It was the foundation of everything he did. But it didn't really take him anywhere. He felt frustrated and without power. But then he
had his Aldersgate Experience - his experience of the heart. His 'heart was strangely warmed,'
as he said it, and from then on he was a different person, leader, and preacher. From that
moment on, there was no holding the Methodist movement back.

            That's what happened in the Book of Acts when the Holy Spirit took hold - peoples' lives
were suddenly transformed; miracles happened; churches sprang up. It has happened
throughout history, and has touched many lives. Some churches try to box it up into a neat
package where they can say that Step A leads to Step B, and this has to happen, and you have
to say it like this, and this is what it will look like. The Bible doesn't wrap itself up into neat
packages like that. And the very idea of the Holy Spirit is that He or She does what He or She
wants to do. You can't predict it; you can't make it happen; you can't box it up to fit your idea
of it. All you can do is grab on when the Spirit takes hold, and ride the wave.

            Something similar was on the minds of Peter and John when they went to Samaria. The
Samaritans had heard the words - they had believed and stepped up for baptism. Now were
they ready for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the power that comes from God alone?
That's what Peter and John prayed for. Then something wonderful and miraculous happened-
it's told in verse 17 - 'they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.' The
laying on of hands is one of the ancient signs of sharing blessing and power in the church. We
did it already today as part of the baptisms; we do it other times as well. Peter and John laid
their hands on the new Christians and prayed - and the Holy Spirit came. We don't know what
it looked like; the scripture doesn't tell us. We just know that it was wonderful and powerful.

            Simon sees that, and gets it all goofed up. He sees this 'trick' - he sees the laying on of
hands, and the effects on the people, and he wants to buy the magic; to get the secret behind
this power. So the scripture says, " ... he offered them money, saying, 'Give me also this power,
that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit." And that's how the word
'simony' entered the English language.

            In Acts 8 I believe we see three corrections on the new Christian faith. The first one I
mentioned last week: It's not magic. The second one we look at today - it's not merchandise.
The Holy Spirit cannot be bought or sold, any more than it can be manipulated by magic. Simon
was, of course, clearly rebuked by Peter: "Your silver perish with you, because you thought you
could obtain the gift of God with money ... Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and
pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you ... " We don't
know if Simon ever really 'got it'. Our scripture lesson ends with Simon asking the disciples to
pray for him. Christian tradition has maintained that Simon continued to plague the Christians.
It even goes so far as to call him the first heretic, and even the forefather of all heretics.

            And it's easy to judge Simon. None of us would be so foolish as to believe that we could buy our way into heaven - or offer God money for our salvation. But the fact is, money has always had a shadowy connection with faith. Jesus talked about it constantly, as did the early Christian teacher. For example, the writer of I Timothy said, "The love of money is the root of all evil." Sometimes that is shortened to, "Money is the root of all evil," but that is not what it says.
Money is just stuff. It's the love of money that trips us up.

            Would anybody here deny that we as a society are in love with money? I think it was Joan Rivers who said that, "Money is not the key to happiness. But I always figure that if I have
enough money, I can have a pretty good key made." And the attitude of our society is that
more money is always a good thing (it is capitalism, after all), and everything is for sale. And
nothing changes it. We know that our political process is enslaved to campaign dollars -
corporations and very wealthy individuals pour money into elections to make sure they have
their sway. It is not unusual at all for companies to support opposing candidates - just to make
sure they have influence over policy no matter who wins. We know it's wrong - we know it
makes a mockery of democracy - but the people with money are given that right.

            Our economy comes to a crisis point - the taxpayers bailout the rich. A couple years later,
the rich are doing fine - the ones who bailed them out suffer. It's wrong. But we accept it as
the way of the world. The rich have the best seats in the house; the rich have the big houses
and the boats and the cars - and expect it. And the rest of us might play the lottery, might look
for a big score someday. But we want to join the rich, not change the game.

            Simon was one of those rich ones who believed that he was entitled. So why couldn't God
be bought off like everyone else? Everything can be bought in Simon's world. And Peter
recognized right away that Simon's heart was poisoned with money. He knew what Jesus had
taught so vividly - that it would be easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle
than for a rich man to squeeze into heaven. Not impossible - again, money is just stuff; it's not
inherently evil. But our love of money - either what we own or what we long for - poisons us.

            One of the great blessings of faith in Jesus Christ is that we are invited to shed our
subservience to our money, and trust instead in the abundant grace of Jesus. But to do this we
need to remember the same thing we learned last week - that faith is neither magic to be
manipulated, nor merchandise to be purchased. It is, instead, a living, growing, empowering
relationship with Jesus Christ. And - let this sink in deep - it is free! Jesus paid for it on the
cross. We couldn't afford it if we had to. But we don't have to. It is free.

            A couple weeks back I was in one of those mob scenes at Chevy Court at the State Fair to see a concert - it was Lady Antebellum. And toward the end of the show one of the singers
thanked the crowd for being so enthusiastic, and coming out in such huge numbers. Then he
joked that many of us were probably there because of the ticket price, which, of course, was
nothing. And he said, "That word 'free' is a pretty great word, isn't it?' And we all cheered.

            At the beginning of our baptism service today we heard about baptism as our way of being initiated into the Body of Christ, and incorporated into God's mighty acts of salvation, and given the gift of eternal life; and then it says this: 'all this is God's gift, offered to us without price.' In Isaiah 55, the prophet talks about salvation this way: ' ... everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and (you) who has no money, come, buy, and eat! Come, (receive) ... without money and without price." And Peter scolded Simon, saying, ' ... you thought you could obtain the gift
of God with money!'

            Folks, all the money in the world can't buy a sunrise, or a view from a mountaintop, or the beauty of a newborn baby, or the miracle of breathing at the core of life itself. But thank God,
they are given for free. And we can't write a check big enough to purchase salvation - but we
don't have to. Jesus paid that price on the cross. And we can't buy a ticket to the Holy Spirit,
for a command performance. But good news: the Holy Spirit comes in its own way, at its own
time - and when it does, it doesn't charge admission. It is God's gift - it is free.

            The flip side, of course, is that we can't control it. We can't order it or command it or change it to suit ourselves. We can't package it up and make it into a neat formula - Step A leads to Step B, and this is how much it costs. But once we truly realize that what God is offering us is
something we can't afford and don't need to, then we can finally be free from having to earn it,
or buy it. And then we can finally be freed from the tyranny of our money - freed for the true
joy of living. It's not easy - we are deeply entangled in material thinking - in relying on our
bank accounts and credit cards. We are possessed by our possessions. And in the end, all
Simon could do is plead with Peter - "Pray for me." But with God's help, we can let go of our
addiction to stuff, and our merchandise mind-set, and receive the greatest gift of all- the grace
that flows from the heart of God, through the hands of Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
That's when true living begins. And 'free' is a pretty great word.

            Someone has said that we are spiritual beings having an earthly experience. Somehow that earthly experience becomes so consuming that we become indoctrinated into a merchandise
mindset that says the best things in life are possessions that we can purchase and control. But
deep inside we know that that is not who we are. You can't buy spiritual joy. But here is the
Good News. It is free. And Christ offers it to us without condition. Without price. Pray that we
might all receive it.