July 3: Community of the Spirit and Phillip

Intro

In the community of the Spirit there are times when the Spirit gathers. Adam and Eve gathered in the garden. Jacob and his 12 sons gathered in Egypt and later the 12 tribes of Israel would gather in the Promised Land. Jesus gathered the 12 disciples who later, on the day of Pentecost, gathered in the upper room. And this very morning the Spirit has gathered us to worship the sovereign Lord together. Sometimes the Spirit gathers, but other times the Spirit scatters.

Adam and Eve were scattered from Eden. Those who built the tower of Babel were scattered about the earth. After hundreds of years in the Promised Land, the Israelites were scattered to Babylon. Jesus scattered his disciples on more than one occasion to share the good news of the kingdom of heaven and this morning we witness the effects of a new scattering.

Last week we read the story of the first Christian martyr, Stephen, who was stoned by the religious leaders of the day. The first verse after Stephen’s death in the 8^th chapter of Acts reads, “On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.” And just a couple of verses latter we hear the beginning of the adventure of one of those scattered seeds, a man named Phillip whose story we now pick up in Acts 6:28. Listen now to the word of the Lord.

Acts 8:26-40

²⁶ Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip,"Go south to the road-- the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." ²⁷ So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch,an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace,queen of the Ethiopians.This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, ²⁸ and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. ²⁹ The Spirit told Philip,"Go to that chariot and stay near it." ³⁰ Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet."Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked. ³¹ "How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?"So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. ³³ In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth." (Isaiah 53:7-8; 4^th suffering servant song) ³⁴ The eunuch asked Philip,"Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" ³⁵ Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. ³⁶ As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?"^{37 38} And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. ³⁹ When they came up out of the water,the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away,and the eunuch did not see him again,but went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

The way in…

Evangelism. If you are like me, you tend to get a littler shudder of fear and guilt when you hear this word evangelism. You tend to think of folks standing in the middle of the street with signs that warn of impending doom or of folks in nice suits knocking on your door when you want to take a nap. Evangelism, sharing the good news of Jesus with other folks, is something we feel like we should do, yet something we tend to see about appealing as a colonoscopy; necessary but certainly not fun.

I knew it was time to replace the boards on our deck when one of the kids’ foot made it crack. Instead of doing it all at once, I’ve spent a couple of hours every few days staining, cutting, removing and replacing boards. As a person who works with words everyday, it has been kind of cathartic to get to work with wood. Perhaps for this reason, I’ve taken my time on the boards. However, since we’re having some folks over to cookout on the 4^th of July I knew I needed to get the project done by then and so I spent one of our first really good hot summer days replacing boards. It’s funny how a little sun and heat can effect one’s routine. In the northwest spring-time I can spend all day working in the backyard and never really get thirsty, overcast and 50 degrees has that effect. But it is amazing the change in the body when the sun comes out and visits. The thing is I didn’t realize what was going on until about 2 ½ hours into the project when Erin came out of the kitchen with a glass of ice-water. Until that moment I hadn’t noticed I was thirsty. But as soon as I took the glass, there was nothing I wanted more than that water and the moment it touched my lips there was nothing that would have tasted better.

This, brothers and sisters, is a kind of evangelism; offering something good to a person who could use it. Evangelism literally means ‘good message’ and as we will see from our passage this morning it happens best when one person offers water to another who is thirsty.

Phillip and the Spirit

Our portion of Phillips story begins with a messenger, an angel which is the root of the word angelion or the suffix of our word evangelism, who tells Phillip to ‘go south, below Jerusalem where the road travels to Gaza.’ Phillip does as the angel tells him, but before we move on, we should pause to get to know Phillip a bit.

Phillip the deacon. The first time we encounter Phillip is in the same place we first encounter Stephen who we talked about last week. Does anyone remember where? Yes, in Acts 6 when the apostles realized that the widows were not getting taken care of they set aside seven deacons, which is a word that means ‘servant,’ to care for the basic needs not only of these widows but others who tend to be forgotten as well. The disciples chose ‘men full of the Spirit and wisdom.’ The first name on that list was Stephen and anyone want to guess the second name? Yep, Phillip. I find it very interesting that much of the first part of Acts is not just the story of what God did through the apostles, these ones set apart to preach and teach, but what God does through the deacons, the ones set apart to serve. I know that most of us here have a tough time identifying with preaching and teaching, but serving others? That’s you. Now, you might think that waiting on tables and caring for widows would be safe and boring work, but such was apparently not the case in the early church. We already found out what happened to the first deacon, Stephen, now lets find out what happens to the 2^nd, Phillip.

Phillip in Samaria. After Stephen’s martyrdom the people were scattered throughout the land to avoid the persecution. The first person’s story we hear is Phillip. Before going to the road south of Jerusalem, the Spirit leads Phillip to Samaria. Now, what do you know about Samaria? Yes, it is one of the least favorite places of the Jewish folks. The Samaritans were seen as illegitimate, irreligious and ignorant. Over many years they had married non-Jewish people and integrated elements of their religion into their life. We tend to think of Samaritans as good because of the story Jesus told of the ‘good Samaritan.’ What we fail to hear is that to Jewish ears calling a samaritan good was like calling a terrorist good; they were words that went together about as well as orange juice and milk. And yet, not only does Jesus go to Samaria, but his Spirit sends Phillip there as well.

As it turns out, the Samaritans were as thirsty as me on that back deck. Once Phillip shows up and he begins to proclaim Christ, the crowds start to gather. Phillip was even able to heal some of their sick and as a result, there was great joy in the city. Later Luke reminds us what Phillip was doing when he writes, “…he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, [and] they were baptized, both men and women.” Good news, euangelion, there’s that word again; like bringing a cup of cold water to someone hot and thirsty.

Phillip and outsiders

Notice thus far, who the Spirit has led Phillip to. As a deacon, he was first led to care for the forgotten Greek widows. As a scattered deacon, he was led away from the capital to the backwoods of the illegitimate, irreligious and ill-treated Samaritans. Do you notice a theme here? Phillip is being taken to share the good news with those on the margins. Or one might say that Phillip is simply being led to those who are thirsty. With such insight it should come as no surprise who the Spirit leads Phillip to next.

Now we return back to that desert southern road from Jerusalem to Gaza. Phillip started out “…on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians.”

Ethiopia. Now, a bit about Ethiopia in the 1^st Century. When we hear Ethiopia what is the first image that comes to our mind? Yes, starving children and famine. We tend to hear Ethiopia and think of extreme poverty which is in many ways true today, but such was not the case in the 1^st century. Ethiopia, which is also known as Nubia and Cush in other parts of the Bible is almost always portrayed as strong and powerful. Very often it is associated with Egypt as one of those places that is both a threat and a refuge for the Hebrew people. Okay, you might be saying at this point, doesn’t this counter your theory that Phillip is being led to folks on the margin? Here he meets an official of the queen of Ethiopia who is important and wealthy enough to be riding in a chariot, that is a person of power. Yes, that is one side of it, but there is another. This man is not just an Ethiopian, he is a eunuch.

Eunuchs. Eunuchs are mentioned a number of times in the Bible and most of the time they are officials in the royal court. While I couldn’t find a definitive answer on why castrated males tended to be officials in royal courts, I would venture a guess that it was because the kings knew they could be trusted with their queens. Regardless, despite his position of power, this Ethiopian’s sexual condition put him on the margins; not a woman, but not seen as fully man he was in some gray third category. Could this have made him thirsty? Well, Luke tells us that he wasn’t just on visiting Jerusalem because of business, rather he was there to worship. Folks who worship recognize their thirst for God in some way.

The Spirit

And here’s where the Spirit shows up again. Here in verse 29 she whispers to Phillip, “Go to the chariot and stay near it.” Have you ever heard that whisper? Do you know the sound of that voice? Can you recall the quickening of the heart and racing of the mind that tends to occur with the Spirits nudging? Go sit at that table with the lonely person. Ask her how her day is going. Pick up the phone and call them. Go over to your new neighbors house and introduce yourself. Do you recognize that voice? The same one that still speaks to us spoke to the deacon Phillip and told him simply to ‘go to the chariot and stay near it.’ And as it so happened, as it often does with the spirit, the nature of thirst was soon revealed.

Isaiah

Phillip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah. Seeing an opening he asks if he understands it. To which the Ethiopian replies, “how can I, unless someone explains it to me.” And with that, Phillip is invited up on the chariot, next to the eunuch where they read Isaiah together. Now, at this point I fear I may have lost you on the whole evangelism thing. I can wait tables. I can say hello to my neighbor. I can walk up beside a car and see a window opens to introduce myself, but explaining the Bible to someone, forget it. But wait a second, take a brief look at the passage the Ethiopian was reading and you’ll see two things that may ease your anxiety.

The passage is from the 53^rd chapter of Isaiah and is the 4^th of 4 songs historically entitled ‘the songs of the suffering servant.’ The first thing I noticed about this passage was the obvious connection with the Eunuch. “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearers was silent…” Is it possible this eunuch felt like he’d been led like a lamb before shearers? And just a bit later we read, “Who can speak of his descendants?” This was the very thing the eunuch knew he would never have. The first thing we notice from this passage is that it contained hints of the story of this Ethiopian eunuch official.

The second key thing about this passage is revealed after he asks Phillip who this prophet was talking about. Luke writes, “Then Phillip began with that very passage of scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.” One of the Bibles we give to our kids is ‘the Jesus story book bible’ at the beginning of which is this quote, “every story whispers your name.” Good things happen when the Spirit leads us to a passage which whispers both our name and the name of Jesus. Think of Phillip as a match-maker. From this passage Phillip knows that the Ethiopian and Jesus would get along really well. All he does is connect them to one another. This new relationship is good news, it is ice water to the thirsty, like it or not it is evangelism. Phillip does not create this connection, he does not manufacture it, all he does, his evangelism is simply putting the water in a glass that allows the eunuch to drink. And drink the Ethiopian does.

He downs the stories on that desert road as quickly as I downed the water on my deck. Then spotting literal water he asks, “Why shouldn’t I be baptized?” To which Phillip has no opposition and with that the thirst of this man was quenched and he went on his way ‘rejoicing.’

Listening to the Spirit and the good news

Do you know thirsty people? Are their people in your life to whom the Spirit is saying, “Go up and stand next to them.” Is this so much to ask? You don’t need tracks, you don’t need a seminary degree, you don’t need a license, all you need to do is go and be near them and listen. Listen to discover if they are thirsty or not.

I know many of you have done this. Tom and Luella Loran were at their high school reunion sitting across from one of their old classmates. Recognizing she had a thirst, they encouraged her to come to Manitou. Sure enough, the next Sunday Jean Achziger showed up and has been with us since. The Spirit led Joanna to knock on a few doors and offer prayer for folks, most of the people were grateful but one asked if it’d be okay if she came to our church. Clearly she was thirsty and Beth has been coming since. Is the spirit leading you to go and stand near someone? Who? Will you go? Let us pray.

Benediction

Sometimes the spirit gathers, as we have gathered this morning. Sometimes the spirit scatters, as we will scatter from here in just a few moments. Brothers and sisters, may you go from here not like stones, oblivious to the voice of the spirit. Rather may you go from here like seeds, responsive to the light, the air and the water of God’s spirit that you might grow and bring the good news of God’s kingdom and Jesus name to those who are hungry and thirsty.