Our text today is found in Acts 8.14-17. It’s part of a larger story involving Simon the Samaritan who is a Magician. Who with a large number of others hears the gospel and gets baptized by Phillip the Apostle. And so we read:
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Of Chameleons, Clown fish and butterflies
I did some reading over the past week into some unusual, even miraculous happenings in nature. I was reading about chameleons. Maybe you know about these lizards. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes and the really cool ones can do something amazing. Some breeds have pockets of yellow or red or blue coloured cells just below their skin that mix on cue to make the skin change colour. So depending on the situation, the lizard can change according to how much off each colour lays upon the other – everything from pink, orange, green, black, brown, turquoise and purple.
Now, the main reason for the colour changing is social, to tell other chameleons what’s on their mind. When they are mad or are ready to attack they go black, but when males show lighter, multi-colored patterns they are cruising for girls.
I also took a look at creatures that can change.
Has anyone seen Finding Nemo? It seems that Clownfish have a very structured society. Typically in every group there is about six fish. Dominance is based on size, the female being the largest and the male being the second largest. The rest of the group is made up of progressively smaller fish, which are neither male nor female. If the female dies, the male gains weight and becomes the female for that group. The largest non-breeding fish then sexually matures and becomes the male of the group.
Not only will the size, color, and markings of fish change as they change sexes, so too will their sexual organs and the sex cells that they produce. How exactly this works is unknown, but what is known is that the determining factors are often social. To keep the family going.
And then there is the butterfly. They start as an egg hatching into a caterpillar; then the caterpillar wraps itself into a cocoon and the caterpillar changes completely into a butterfly. It now is mature, can fly and looks nothing like its original form. It’s a new being made out of the same stuff it always was.
So, clown fish and butterflies have one thing in common. It’s called the change process of metamorphosis. Creatures who for social reasons undergo an obvious and permanent change in their bodies, habitat or behavior. And the chameleons? They just seem to change according to the situation they find themselves in. But by now you must be wondering, what has this to do with Acts 8.14-17.
Change is the key word brining these creatures and God’s word together. Change within the human being. How it happens – or not and why. And maybe most of all how to recognize when a human being say Brad or Denver have undergone their own genuine metamorphosis.
Acts 8 is one of many baptism texts in the New Testament and yet it is unique. Here we see that people are baptized but they do not immediately receive the Spirit. People puzzle over this. According to Acts 2, it seems the Spirit must come to a person in baptism. What’s going on? Some then say that what Acts 8 means is that they didn’t receive their spiritual gift yet, but still got enough of the Spirit to be saved. The special prayer gave the people a second dose, if you will. Others will say, no, this proves that baptism of infants or children and a later anointing of the Spirit is how it works. Both positions can be supported by good arguments; both positions are missing the point.
In fact there are at least two points in the passage, they both matter and lead to one application that I believe is essential for us today.
Point One: baptism is not magic. Simon the Magician finds that out in verses 18-19:
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.”
John tells us that the Spirit blows where it will. John 3.8. God’s Spirit cannot be bought, sold or commanded. Water baptism is a sign of the Spirit and the promise of God to be present. The down payment – not the full payment of our salvation. Water baptism is the sign of being included in the body of Christ. That only becomes an inward reality when the Spirit is received by the person who has been, will be, or may never be baptized. Sadly it is misguided to think that a baby cannot receive the Spirit or that in every adult baptism the Spirit is received.
Baptism is not magic. The Spirit comes as the Spirit will. Nevertheless baptism is the right start. Simply because baptism proclaims the promises of God and that the individual baptized has been invited into the family of God.
Point Two: Receiving the Spirit results in change. We could ask how sincere Simon was in his belief. Uncomfortable ground. Did he change and become a new creation in Christ rather like a clown fish or butterfly, or did he become a chameleon, able to fit in but not truly changed at all?
The text suggests the second one.
In Acts 8 Simon is playing at being a Christian and he’s found out. And he’s warned and loved and we really don’t know what happened to him after that. That’s what happens to chameleons.
What about the others who were baptized with him?
I frequently have conversations about baptism, faith nurture and growing into maturity as a believer. I believe that our children should be marked with Christ’s sign of belonging because Jesus welcomed children to sit in his lap. I believe the promises that parents and the congregation make are important and I believe that the children of believers deserve the best nurture parents and the community of faith can provide so that our little ones can receive the Spirit for themselves, be changed and grow into maturity.
I frequently wonder how it is our little ones see and experience the church community. How many butterflies do they see, how many chameleons? How many have undergone an obvious and permanent change in their bodies, habitat or behavior? Because that’s what the Spirit brings.
I sometimes hear young adults say they don’t what to do profession of faith because while they believe in Jesus, they don’t want to be criticized about their behaviour, or they don’t want to take on adult responsibility yet. But isn’t that comment already a profession of faith? Who are we fooling?
Who else has learned a lesson of faith from those who young; some of whom haven’t formally professed their faith yet, but who clearly are living by the Spirit?
I believe that one of the primary tasks of the church is to enfold, teach, train and encourage our little ones to recognize the voice of the Spirit. To teach them to work out their faith with fear and trembling. To teach them what community is. To pray for the Spirit to come on all the children, youth and adults of the congregation. To come in power so that parents and all the believers in the community do everything they can to live by the Spirit giving glory to God.
My prayer is that everyone who is baptized is truly changed by the Spirit’s power and I trust is that it’s yours as well. Good enough may be good enough in everything else. But in the Church being moral, nice, helpful or capable isn’t the goal. It’s about hearts being transformed by God.
What will the children born into the congregation see as they grow up? What will they come to believe about God and life because of our testimony? What will they understand about failure and forgiveness, about holiness and authentic faith? Will they see people who are growing in grace, growing love, growing in hope?
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