Acts 8

The dispersion of the apostles' ministry from Jerusalem to the "ends of the earth" is the result of a persecution against them in the holy city. When they are no longer welcome there, they take their message and their ministry to other places.

The first story about the mission beyond the walls of Jerusalem is the story of Philip in Samaria. Samaria is the location of that ethnic/religious group that had been overrun by Assyrians in the 8th century BC and diversified through inter- marriage. Jews and Samaritans were bitter cousins, who avoided each other. Samaria had its own religious capital and its own sites of worship. They were not Jerusalem temple-goers and so they were despised. Philip finds himself there first. And he finds an eager crowd ready to receive good news, submit to Holy Baptism as a sign of their repentence and conversion, and be healed by the compassionate touch of Jesus. Philip drove out demons and healed the sick, ostensibly carrying out the pre-passion ministry of Jesus. A magician named Simon becomes a baptized believer too.
Next, Peter and John come to Samaria. Imagine their surprise and excitement. If they are rejected by the Jewish establishment in Jerusalem, maybe they are being embraced and welcomed by Samaria. Jesus, after all, told that story about the man who fell among robbers, was robebd ans beaten on the Jericho road. When the Jerusalem pries and temple worker passed by they showed no mercy. But the Samaritan, Jesus said, was the merciful neighbor. In that passage Jesus was shockingly revealing that neighbor love means to cross border and boundaries to embrace the stranger and the enemy. And Jesus had a conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, offering her living water. And now, Philip will offer them living water too. And they will receive it! The Samaritans were embracing the gospel message.
There is a curious scene in Acts 8 in which we are told that the baptized Samaritans had not yet received the Holy Spirit. So Peter and John are summoned from Jerusalem to confirm this new community of believers. By laying on hands a little pentecost experience occurs in which the power of the Holy Spirit comes to the baptized Samaritans.
What is happening here? Is baptism, as the reception of the whole Christ event into one's own body, and the gift of the Holy Spirit two separate experiences in Acts 8? Is it possible that people may be baptized into Christ, thereby receiving the gift and benefit of his resurrection life, who do not yet have the gift of the Holy Spirit? Or do Peter and John acknowledge for them the presence of the Holy Spirit through laying on of hands. Does the Spirit come to the Samaritans through their apostolic witness? Or are they confirming that the Holy Spirit is already at work in the baptized believers? In a Lutheran understanding, the Holy Spirit is the producer of faith in the hearts of people. Without the Holy Spirit we cannot believe or confess that Jesus the Christ is Lord and Savior. And we beleive that the Holy Spirit comes through the means of grace---God's Word and Sacraments. So hearing the Word, washing in the waters, eating and drinking, these are the sources by which the Holy Spirit comes to us. I affirm this truth. Apart from these means, how can we be assured that the Spirit is Holy? That what is happening in us is of the LORD?
And yet, I read Acts 8 and wonder if we might limit the Holy Spirit's power to come through apostolic blessing. Philip's Christ-like ministry is an incarnational witness to Jesus' divine life flowing in the disicples. He has Jesus' power. He is for them the messenger of the Word. And by hearing it, the Holy Spirit works through Philip's proclamation and ministry to create faith in their hearts. Peter and John, in the laying on of hands, confirm the gift of the Holy Spirit in the Samaritan believers. And this is a powerful moment for the church, because their ministry and community extends beyond the walls of normative Jewish tradition and practice. I'm wondering, to whom are we being sent? I long to become an evangelist like Philip, sharing the good news in word and deed with people who are not yet part of communion with Jesus. I do notice, however, that the initial mission is not to the unaffiliated. These Samaritans, I suspect, are practitioners of the law of Moses and part of the Abrahamic covenant community. Yet they are outcasts. Who are the faithful outcasts? The exiles? The lost sheep of the house of Luther? And how can we connect with them anew? Not to replenish congegation memberships, but to make disciples transformed by the amazing love and grace of Jesus...May I meet someone today in need of the Word and Sacraments. And may I boldly offer them in the name of Jesus.