It’s true that our motivation matters. A shepherd with an empty pantry praying for miracle provision so his sheep don’t starve is different than the guy who is praying for abundance so his neighbor can envy his sheep pen. But I’ll admit that far too often self-interest is what motivates my midnight pleas for assistance. “Lord give me a Word so that I can give it to your people”. That has remnants of Simon’s requests in it.

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 this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” –Acts 8:18-19

There are quite a few blanks that we have to fill in for Simon’s story. Was his faith legit? Was his repentance real? I lean toward saying that his faith wasn’t legit and his repentance was more akin to that of Judas. But the thing he says which draws Peter’s ire is pretty clear. And it’s also pretty clear that it’s a temptation we pastors face as well.

The biggest problem for Simon is that as the Spirit is being doled out (and I’m slightly uncomfortable with that phrasing) he doesn’t want the Spirit—he wants to be able to dispense the Spirit. And that is where we pastors can be tempted to be just like Simon. It’s what we sometimes call Saturday Night Fever. Those times of desperation when the sermon isn’t coming together and we plead with the Lord to give us something to give to our people.

It’s true that our motivation matters. A shepherd with an empty pantry praying for miracle provision so his sheep don’t starve is different than the guy who is praying for abundance so his neighbor can envy his sheep pen. But I’ll admit that far too often self-interest is what motivates my midnight pleas for assistance. “Lord give me a Word so that I can give it to your people”. That has remnants of Simon’s requests in it.

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