Humans Trying To Follow God

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted God’s message, they sent Peter and John there. As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit. [Acts 8.14-17]

The people of Samaria had accepted God's message through the ministry of Philp complete with "signs and great miracles." It should be noted that this followed the Acts 2 outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the subsequent rapid increase in the number of believers. 

Because of a growth-related issue involving the apostles' time, Philip was one of seven chosen by the apostles to serve tables (Acts 6.1-6). Philip was mentioned second in line right after Stephen. The selection of these seven included prayer over them while laying on of hands. 

Sidenote: Ironically, both Stephen and Philip are not on record in the New Testament for their table-serving roles but instead for their preaching. Could it be that all are called to preach?

It occurred to me today that there is no way Philip was not at least aware of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, if not intimately involved in it! How was it that he was baptizing only in the Name of Jesus then without the Holy Spirit accompanying as Peter indicated following his rebuttal to the naysayers on the Day of Pentecost?

Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. [Acts 2.37-38]

Hmm. How is it that Philip, coming from that 'wave' of the Day of Pentecost (outpouring of the Holy Spirit), preached to these people and performed notable miracles without them receiving the Holy Spirit?

There are two things this question makes me understand that are very important in the function of God's Kingdom on earth: 1) as long as people are involved, things can get distorted and not go as planned, and 2) we need the grace and camaraderie of other believers.

The fact that Philip was out preaching and not waiting tables gives us an important (but often overlooked) clue that not everything we do as believers goes as we plan. Things can indeed get distorted. We need to understand this fact for ourselves and for others. The fact remains that God was totally glorified by the variation.

Every human to ever breathe upon earth is fully capable of "missing something." Philip somehow missed the importance of emphasizing, and therefore preaching, the gift of the Holy Spirit. With the significance of the Day of Pentecost, I personally don't see how Philip missed that, but he did. I am sure however Stephen's brutal murder caused at least some degree of irrational thinking. And this is where the visit by Peter and John (the camaraderie of other believers) is so important as they came right in and filled the gap left by Philip with complete grace.

I don't see a problem with the scriptures here. What I see are humans trying to follow God. And, I am encouraged!

Father, thank You for opening my eyes as You have today to what might be seen otherwise as "problematic."