 | The New England Church PulpitNew England Congregational Church UCC |
MAGIC TRICKS | Acts 8.14-25 | September 23, 2001 |
The appeal of magic has always been the charming possibility that there might be something we could say or do that would compel God to satisfy our desires, or at least surrender the secrets of the universe so that we could have a little more influence over them, as Barbara Brown Taylor comments. The appeal of magic was strong in the first century as it is today, and the centuries-old story of Simon plays itself out on the contemporary stage of our own lives like an off-Broadway play that never quite makes it past opening night. It is much ado about nothing.
Magic was a powerful challenge to the gospel in the first century, and it came in various sizes and shapes in the first century. If you logged onto the Internet back then with the search word Jerusalem Magician, you’d find a nice selection of magi, sorcerers, enchanters, charmers specializing in divination, soothsaying, and even simple magic tricks for birthday parties. The simple illusions were not a problem for the apostles any more than they are for us; it’s fun to pull rabbits out of hats and be mesmerized by card tricks. It’s the people who promised results that created the problem–then and now: cut the head of a chicken off and I’ll predict your future by the way it runs around. Say these words in the right order and God will save you and show favor upon you.
Simon was the Magus of Samaria who had a large and enthusiastic following, and he was so good at it, Luke says, that he was granted divine status by some. When Peter came along curing some peoples’ illnesses and driving out demons in the name of the Christ, people flocked to him as well. Simon wanted to know how he did it. Peter proclaimed that it was God’s Spirit that was behind it all; Simon offered to pay good money for this Spirit’s power. Peter chastised him: ‘to hell with you and your money’ is what he really said. Simon wanted to possess God’s spirit, never understanding that his only hope was to let it possess him. (BBT)
The story is about the desire to control things. Money is one way to do that; magic is another; religion is another. Whenever we believe that we can purchase God’s protection plan by living moral, generous, and faithful lives, then we have begun to practice magic. The truth that God cannot be controlled has slipped our minds; the love and protection of the Divine cannot be earned, deserved, demanded, arranged, or purchased. Life comes to us as a gift, and magic must give over to grace if we are to live faithfully in God’s way.
In my growing-up days, there was a common practice of letting one’s bible fall open as it will and claiming a verse on the page as God’s answer to any given dilemma on any given day. I laugh about it now, but it is serious business to some. Some say that by offering a few words in the right way, or by following the formula, or performing the ritual just right God will come to you. These are valuable avenues to God but they do not buy our way into God’s favor. For others going to church is a way of building up one’s spiritual bank account with the Holy thinking it will protect from harm. ‘Why me?’ rolls easily off our lips, betraying our notion that because we’ve been an upstanding Christian we will get special favors from God.
Still others believe that if we post the ten commandments in our court rooms and school or on our front lawns we’ll gain God’s favor and avoid terrorist attacks. This is magic, plain and simple. God doesn’t jump when we say frog. And the minute you think you are promised results when it comes to God, be suspicious of your thinking. Be very suspicious. It is an illusion, filled with a lot of smoke and no fire.
We want to know. We want some handle on the future because we are feeling helpless and afraid. It is a scary world out there and God is not always as communicative as we would like. That’s why magicians have never had too much trouble finding customers; people are always looking for someone who knows how to get to God, or maybe even how to get around God–someone who has the formulas and the power to make them work.
The purpose of prayer isn’t to convince God to do something. It isn’t to inform God of happenings in the world. It isn’t magic to get God on our side against someone else. Prayer and worship are not obligations to appease God; they are not divinations for answers, or for knowing the future, or for getting God’s attention. We have God’s full attention all the time as it is. Prayer and worship are opportunities to align ourselves with holy purpose and find strength to face what needs to be faced. We betray our belief in magic when we wonder why God didn’t answer our prayers or think we deserve better than what we’ve received from a God we’ve spent our lifetime serving.
In the seasons final episode of The West Wing, President Bartlet goes toe-to-toe with God in the cathedral following the death of his secretary Mrs. Landingham, killed when her car was hit by a drunk driver. “You son of a bitch” he screams as he walks the long aisle to the altar as if pacing himself for a duel. That is followed by a sarcastic “gratias tibi ago, domine,” thank you, Lord (implied: for nothing!). He sternly takes God to task speaking alternately in Latin and English. Michael Myer has offered this translation: Am I to believe these things from a righteous god, a just god, a wise god? To hell with your punishments. I was your servant, your messenger on earth; I did my duty. To hell with your punishments and to hell with you.” Later Mrs. Landingham comes to him in his memory, and rebukes him for his faulty theological reasoning: “God doesn’t make cars crash and you know it. Stop using me as an excuse.”
As we grasp for excuses and clamor for answers, it is easy to fall prey to an easy magic. The church is needed now more than ever, not to patrol morals as much as to offer morale, not to offer formulas by which we can get God on our side against the enemy, but to steady ourselves, to discern the higher ground of response, to be community to the grieving, the fearful, the anxious. The church knows something about sacrifice and can lead the way. Our faith is not in Wall Street or war, not in winning or being avenged. These are magic tricks that distract our attention from our calling to be faithful. Equating faithfulness with success is the wrong formula. And we are called to be faithful even when the world is going to hell in a handbasket.
As President Bartlet flails at God, he quotes Graham Greene in a profound understanding of life: You nor I can conceive the appalling strangeness of the mercy of God. Amen.
–Gary L. McCann
(With appreciation to Barbara Brown Taylor for
her sermon ‘Magic Tricks’ in Great Preaching Texts)
PASTORAL PRAYER:
Eternal Spirit, hope of all worlds and peace for all souls, we worship you. We join together with Muslims, with Sikhs, with Jains, with Hindus, with Orthodox, with Christians, with Jews, and the faiths of the world that seek peace for humanity and the created order. Lead us from fear to trust, from anxiety into confidence, from despair into hope, and from hatred into love. We pray that out of the ashes of a tragedy will rise the phoenix of a new world bound together in care for one another, committed to peace and community.
Grant us a new vision of the causes we should serve justice in a generation full of wrong, unselfishness in a time when many suffer, peace in a day of violence. Give us courage to stand for the greatest truths that liberate the soul and birth a community of the many peoples of the world.
In a day when the candle of the economy flickers and many are facing layoffs; when vengeance looms like a dark shadow over our spirits and grief engulfs us like midnight; when we are skiddish for fear of the other shoe dropping; when faith is challenged by what appears to be a more powerful force, enlarge our vision and steady our journey. Restore our inward reserves upon which we may rely when our outward resources decay and fall through.
May the national tragedy not blind us to the smaller tragedies of peoples’ lives around us. Those in nursing homes are still lonely; those in grief are still in pain; those who celebrate deserve our celebrations, those who seek cures for diseases need our support, and those who work for peace on local levels are as valued as those who do it on a global scale.
In this hour of worship, refresh us, empower us, align us with your Spirit that we may discern our role in bringing to this world the peace and freedom that it so desperately seeks. May Christ’s joy be ours, and his promise of abundant life be fulfilled in us. May we be among those who help bring humanity to a higher plane of serving and caring. We ask in the Spirit of Christ, amen.
| Copyright © 2001 by Gary L. McCann. All rights reserved. |