The Untouchables

Acts 8:18

When Simon saw that the Spirit was given when the apostles laid their hands on people, he offered them money to buy this power.

During Prohibition, Chicago turned into the hub of illegal activity. The city was ruled by Al Capone. Capone’s reign of terror was helped along by corrupt cops, politicians and judges. It looked hopeless.

And then a man named Eliot Ness was assigned to bring Capone to justice. It wouldn’t be easy, and it wouldn’t happen overnight. In the movie, “The Untouchables,” Ness has to try and figure out how to assemble a team of men who haven’t already been tainted, men who can’t be bought.

They decided to go to the police academy and recruit guys who hadn’t been on the police force yet.

As Sean Connery tells Kevin Costner, “If you're afraid of getting a rotten apple, don't go to the barrel. Get it off the tree.”

In today’s passage, Simon the Sorcerer thought that God’s power could be bought. He was looking for a shortcut, an easy way to get what he saw the Apostles had. It didn’t work for him, and it won’t work for us. We can’t go to a barrel to find the apple we want, we have to go to the tree.

God’s love, grace, and mercy can’t be acquired, can’t be bought, and can’t be inherited. God’s love must be received. His grace and mercy can only be experienced, never traded for or earned.

We can’t live off the Christian experiences of our church, our pastors, or our families. The life that Christ has for you is for you, not me. I have my own Christian experience to live.

So quit searching the bottom of the barrel, looking for some kind of peace, guidance, or grace. Go directly to God’s tree and experience all that he has for you.

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