Acts 8:14-25 The Holy Spirit and Simon the Samaritan Magician
14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samar′ia had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit; 16 for it had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me also this power, that any one on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “Your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” 24 And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” 25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.
Two features stand out in this passage: 1) the need for the power of the Holy Spirit and 2) the temptation that such power can represent.
The power of the Holy Spirit
In the Orthodox Church Baptism and Chrismation (or Confirmation) go together. We are baptized (which literally means to be immersed in water) to symbolically bury our old life and then rise to a new life in Christ. But then we are anointed immediately with the oil of Chrism to symbolize the gift of the Holy Spirit who empowers us to live this new life. The Church understood from the beginning that our individual transformation into “Christs”—the aim of the Christian life—depends on being filled with the Holy Spirit. Hence, baptism alone was insufficient.
Note in this passage that the apostles Peter and John are sent in to convey the Holy Spirit sacramentally. Historically, it was the bishops (the successors of the apostles) who originally anointed and laid hands on all the newly baptized. In the West, the bishops continued to do this and the sacraments were gradually separated (given the size of the growing church after the 4th century it became impossible for bishops to be present at every baptism.) In the East Baptism and Chrismation were delegated to the presbyters (priests), while bishops continued to bless the Holy Chrism.
The temptation of spiritual power
One of the Samaritan converts was Simon, a prominent guru-like figure in the community known for his gifts as a magician or sorcerer. When he saw the healing and transformation that occurred when the apostles laid their hands upon people, he was hungry for some of that spiritual power. And his greed for this power, and for the adulation that went with it, were passions he was willing to pay for. Simon’s desire for power and his naïve willingness to pay are almost touching in their openness and he repents immediately seeing Peter’s visceral revulsion.
To this day we label as “simony” the purchase of ecclesiastical offices. I would like to think that such blatant corruption is a rarity today, but the temptation underlying it is a constant wherever spiritual authority is exercised, from patriarchs overseeing vast church empires, to priests with five parishioners. May our hearts be “right before God,” and may the Lord protect all of us who minister in His name from such temptations.
Return from Russia
Metropolitan Tikhon and the delegation traveling with him returned from St Petersburg on Wednesday night after ten days on His Beatitude’s official visit at the invitation of His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow. As you can tell from the accounts and photos on the website, it was a jam-packed itinerary that included not only church services, celebrations and meetings with the Patriarch, Metropolitans and high church officials, but opportunities to meet with our American and Canadian ambassadors and their staff. The political tensions were never far away, but everyone acknowledged that the life of the Church can and must transcend those tensions and look for even the tiniest threads of common life and peace-making.
We also had the chance to see something of what the bishops, clergy, monks, nuns and faithful of the Russian Church in Moscow and St. Petersburg have been able to rebuild in the past 25 years since the fall of the Soviet Union. Frankly, it’s a miracle. I’m in awe of the grace of God and the outpouring of faith, persistence and sheer hard work whose fruit can be seen everywhere. Yes, there are tensions and the work is incomplete and there is a long way to go, but which of us or which of our churches is perfect? When I think of my departed grandmother who was the daughter of a priest and who had to flee St. Petersburg and the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, all I can do is respond with gratitude to God.