sermon excerpts: "Do You Believe in Magic?" (Exodus 7: 8-13; Acts 8: 9-25)

Now, any honest magician will tell you that the tricks are just that: tricks, illusions, misdirection and distraction. Their show is a disciplined routine of deceit to entertain and amuse in the best case, to defraud and humiliate in the worst. The smoke and mirrors act is an avenue to consider the possibility of living outside the laws of nature.

Aaron and Moses demonstrated power beyond this world in their meeting with Pharaoh. The miracle of their staff turning to a snake and overwhelming the other stick-snakes of Pharaoh’s magicians was not enough to convince someone who didn’t want to be convinced.

And that is the necessary ingredient of faith, being open to the divine message. It is not about changing the physical properties of other substances, but about changing one’s own spirit. It is a willingness to listen, consider, and adapt our behaviours and priorities.

Back to Simon Magus in Samaria, he almost got the message. He was attracted by the nature of what he was hearing, of Christ’s love, sacrifice and resurrection, of what all of that meant for him personally. He stayed close to Philip because of the signs and miracles that were performed.

I wonder if he really understood what was being asked of him, of the hard work of required of the Christian way, of the suffering he would experience at the hands of the persecutors, of true humbleness and service. His over-eager attempt to add a new trick to his bag exposed him and his motivations.

The magic attention grabbing tactics are self-serving and not for the greater good of the world. Of course, it shouldn’t surprise you when I say that magic is not the answer to the troubles of the church. But following the story in scripture, and the Stewards might curse me for saying this, but neither is money.

For Simon, money was the answer, but it turned out to be a symptom of the problem. Too often and too easily it is the substitute for the time, energy and effort needed for the work of faith. It is a long journey of hard work, slow progress, trust in one another, perseverance in hardship, and as Peter and John said, it is the rightness of one’s heart before God.

What must we do for our hearts to be right with God? A clear sense of ministry in our community, what will we do that makes this world better for those in need. What needs can we identify? How can we best respond?

I’ll leave us with these questions now, just like we don’t know what happened at the end of the story with Simon Magus, we don’t know the end of the story that we’re in now. With or without magic or money, all we have is the intent of our hearts.