August 13th

Samaritans and Simon

            Now a certain man named Simon had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he was someone great. All of them, from the least to the greatest, listened to him eagerly, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” And they listened eagerly to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic.  But when they believed Philip, who was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.  Even Simon himself believed. After being baptized, he stayed constantly with Philip and was amazed when he saw the signs and great miracles that took place… Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.  Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me also this power so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”  But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God’s gift with money! You have no part or share in this, for your heart is not right before God. Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the chains of wickedness.” Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may happen to me.”

Acts 8: 9-24

            We are huge fans of The Lord of the Rings.  The books, the movies, the games, the memes…we love it all.  JRR Tolkien’s masterpiece sees the dark lord Sauron give rings of power to the leaders of the nations of middle earth, deceiving the leadership and establishing his dominance.  The movie describes his transaction with mankind’s kings like this: “And nine, nine rings were gifted to the race of men, who above all else desire power. For within these rings was bound the strength and will to govern each race.”

            We love power.  We crave power.  We throw our allegiances to strangers that we believe have power, internalizing their opinions and beliefs as our own.  Witchcraft is a pursuit of spiritual power.  Politics is a pursuit of institutional power.  Wealth is a pursuit of physical power.  Oppression is a pursuit of relational power.  Simon was a magician who was held in high regard by his people.  He encountered a power that was greater than his own when Philip came to town to preach the Gospel.  Simon converted not because he fell in love with Jesus, he converted so that he could have access to a greater power in order to build himself up to greater heights.  He asks Peter for the purchase price of the Holy Spirit and receives a tongue lashing from the apostle.

            Being powerless is a haunting feeling.  Your future, your well-being, even your life resides in someone else’s hands and there is nothing comfortable about that.  There are long-term scars that reside on people’s hearts who have been powerless before.  They may have been abused as children or lived in deep poverty or been bullied or been deeply hurt in some other way by someone that they trusted.  Something interesting tends to happen to people who have been powerless before.  When they have some degree of power and control, they lash out at those who are weaker than themselves.  It is as if they are showing themselves and the world around them and the universe at large that they will no longer be a victim…because they are now strong.  They are now the aggressor.

            Very few people live an existence that is as power-less as our children.  Life without assistance and accommodations would often be disastrous.  They are usually either targeted or ignored when they are not training tools or experiments.  No one comes to our kids for help or advice or support, they are almost always in the position of need and loss.  Want to know what our kids tend to do when they are in a relative position of power?  They lift up those who are around them.  I have seen it every day with my son and I saw it over and over again at the day services center.  They know what it is like to be needy and in pain.  They know what it is like to be powerless and they know that they will likely be in that position again sometime soon.  So if they have money or gifts or expertise in something, they share their power instead of hoarding it.  They use their voices to encourage their friends who are struggling instead of insulting others.  My son will regularly ask to carry heavy things for others so that they can be free of the weight.

            The special needs community is not perfect.  They are not selfless angels who have not been darkened by sin.  But they do tend to know a central lesson that the typical world has forgotten:  power is intended for lifting up others, not putting them down.

           

A moment to reflect:

What power do you have?  How can you use it to lift others up?