Witnessing As The Spirit Leads Texts: Acts 8:26-40 with reference to John 15:1-8 [Easter 5 Year B] May 2015 Acts 8:26-40 (ESV) Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, Go over and join this chariot. 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, Do you understand what you are reading? 31 And he said, How can I, unless someone guides me? And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. 33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth. 34 And the eunuch said to Philip, About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else? 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized? 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. John 15:1-8 (ESV) I Am the True Vine 15 I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. Introduction: That Gospel passage provides a standout picture of what the whole Bible is about. God created humanity for the purpose of sharing his divine life with us. God made us to be his glorious flowers and bear his fruit. We were made in God s image to be his children and enjoy that. Adam and Eve messed that up and every following generation confused it more until Jesus when one human being finally lived a life as God desired. Message John 15:1-8 Jesus spoke to people who tended vines and grew grapes. They understood the process of maximizing the fruitfulness of a grapevine through pruning branches to get fruit and not just leaves. If Jesus were speaking today he might say, I am the power source, plug into me and you will do works that shine for God. However, If you do not plug into me you are wasting space and will achieve nothing so will be thrown away as trash. Plug into me!
2 The goal of discipleship and the saving work of Christ is to restore and surpass what was lost from the days when God would come and talk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day and be together. Adam and Eve were plugged in but failed to maintain the connection. God s saving plan through history is about reconnecting with disconnected humanity. That is why he called Abraham, the People of Israel, sent Prophets and in the fullness of time came himself in his Son Jesus to enter the depth of the disconnect on the cross and heal it in the resurrection and the pouring of his Spirit. A good worship service should be an experience of abiding in the vine and receiving the life that only comes from there. We plug into Jesus and abide in him through prayer with others and that should be powerful. o That includes prayers we sing to music from the depth of our being. We plug into Jesus and abide in him through hearing his Word read aloud from the scriptures. We plug into Jesus and abide in him when a preacher opens the Word and brings an inspired message. We plug into Jesus and abide in him when we stretch out our hands to receive his body and blood into our bodies. We plug into Jesus and abide in him when we offer ourselves for his service. Illustration One way to illustrate what this looks like is in relation to boats. We are to consider ourselves as being sail-boats needing the wind to make progress. That is the way God made us to draw on him for life and action. It is helpful to note that in the Biblical languages wind and spirit are often the same word. Without the wind of God, nothing moves. Unless the Lord builds the house we labour in vain. Ps 127 This is what Jesus was spelling out earlier in John s Gospel to Nicodemus (Jn 3:8) 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. St Paul hit the same nail on the head in Roman 8:14 14 For all who are led by the Spirit/Wind of God are children of God. Hence we are like sail boats needing to catch the wind of God s Spirit to live life as he desires.
3 The contrast to this is the self-propelled motor boat that runs independently on its own energy source. What I want to say today is that God s glory and God s purposes are best illustrated by the sail-boat and not the self-propelled motorboat. A motorboat lifestyle does not require you to be plugged in to God or abiding in His Vine. The occasional navigation tip might be appreciated but the motor-boat Christian expects to make progress by their own resources albeit according to God s guidance. This is quite common in affluent countries. My point is: This is not what the Bible sets out as the abundant fruit of what God came to provide in Jesus Christ. The desired fruit is life lived in the Spirit of God as he provides and sustained by an abiding relationship with Him. Amen? That is what I think Jesus means when he said in Luke 6:20 Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. The poor cannot afford engines or fuel so they rely on the spirit-wind of God s kingdom while those who rely on engines miss out. Those in motorboats may even try to power against the wind without knowing and wonder why God seems so distant? That is where the rich young man went when he turned down Jesus invitation to follow him in favour of keeping his riches. As an aside this is an issue for me as a Pastor. Quite a few people want help in repairing their engine or refilling their fuel tank when Pastors are more about helping people sail. Life coaches and Therapists may be of more help to motorboat people than a Christian pastor. Acts 8 Acts 8: 26-40 What I have said so far prepares us to enjoy the beautiful story we heard today about Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch from Acts 8. This is a story about being led by that mysterious wind-spirit that has much to teach us. Chapter 8 begins with Saul ravaging the Jerusalem church following the stoning of Stephen which had the effect of getting the faithful out of the city and moving outwards with the Gospel. Philip heads off to Samaria where there is a positive response and the Church sprouts all over that region. You can read about the developments and complications there yourself. Philip is an evangelist with a capital E. He is a witness to the resurrection. He knows how to tell people about Jesus in a way they can receive. But now listen to how his next adventure starts in v.26 as heard today.
4 Acts 8:26 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert place. 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert place. Somehow the voice of the Lord came to Philip ( by an angel ) and gave him instruction to leave Samaria and head south to a lonely place. This was while he was in the middle of a fruitful evangelistic mission in Samaria. For the first time since Pentecost, a whole region was being reached and accepting Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Philip had the clarity of spiritual ear to hear the Spirit of God say, Move on, head south to the road between Jerusalem and Gaza. Remember what Jesus said: The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. So here we go; Philip heard the Spirit tell him to leave a thriving move of God among an unreached people group to go to a lonely wilderness road where he might see a few people in a day. Let s imagine Philip had needed funding for this or official church approval. I can imagine people saying, Philip this does not make sense. You are doing good work here, see it through. Focus on villages and towns with communities and don t go to the middle of no-where. That would be typical human thinking, well meant, but not Spirit lead. I think this quenches the Spirit and makes Jesus weep! 1 Happily we read that Philip rose and went. Days and nights passed until Philip found himself standing on the Jerusalem Gaza Desert or wilderness Road. There was not much happening, but then came something you could not miss. Travelling at around 5 kilometers per hour was a four wheeled chariot of note. 2 What was this? Acts 8:27b-28 And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. This needs a bit of translating. Whether Philip perceived all this as the carriage came by is uncertain but what we are told he saw someone who was: 1. Very dark skinned. A real African. This is what was meant by Ethiopian. 2. A man who was not masculine or seemingly interested in women, in today s language: gay. 3 1 In a day when four of six billion have yet to hear the gospel within their own language and culture, we should not be surprised to see God calling our most effective evangelists to go to remote places. And like Philip, they should obey immediately and unquestioningly. 2 The chariot is probably a four-wheeled covered vehicle, like a covered oxcart, large enough to accommodate the eunuch, his driver, Philip and possibly another servant (who would be reading the manuscript aloud if the official is not doing so himself). The carriage is moving slowly enough to allow for reading and for Philip to approach it on foot. Ref https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/ivp-nt/acts/philip-ethiopian-eunuch
5 3. A high-ranking royal treasury official from the land beyond Egypt in modern day Sudan. 4 This Ethiopian kingdom was rich from smelting iron, mining gold and its central trading position in Northern Africa. To the Greco-Romans in Mediterranean Europe, this was the end of the world as we here might consider Alaska, Tierra del Fuego or possibly New Zealand. I think Philip was looking at someone very different from himself as the Spirit spoke again: Acts 8:29-30 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, Go over and join this chariot. 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, Go over and join this chariot. 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet. People in ancient times read aloud. Apparently that s a better way to process strings of letters without punctuation or spacing. Once Philip heard the Prophet Isaiah being read it was game on! question: He knew what to do; ask a Acts 8:29-30 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, Go over and join this chariot. 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet He asked, Do you understand what you are reading? 31 And he said, How can I, unless someone guides me? And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. He asked, Do you understand what you are reading? 31 And he said, How can I, unless someone guides me? And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. The Ethiopian Eunuch was probably reading from a version of Isaiah 53 which talks about the Suffering Servant which gave Philip an easy entry to present Jesus as the one prophesied to suffer for us to reconcile humanity to God. The gay African royal treasurer was probably a convert to Jewish monotheism and ethics, a God fearer as was not uncommon among people disillusioned with paganism in those days. He received Philip s gospel presentation with joy and sought baptism in the next pool of water they encountered. I am telling this story to focus on the way great things happen when people are led by the Spirit of God and do things out of abiding in God to flow in his leading. If I were to commend or sell this way of life the story gives a beautiful selling point in the rich imagination of God. God did two awesome things through someone who was spiritually leadable. 1. He took him somewhere he would never have thought of to do something small and significant that people would never have thought of. Who would do outreach on a desert highway? 2. He had Philip go to someone who was so different to himself. The gay African treasury official is someone he would never meet in a 1000 years! God arranged this for his glory to bring this seeking soul to Jesus. Our awesome God is inclusive and his Spirit leads those who it can lead 3 Eunuch meant man born intact but with no desire for women as opposed to surgically altered thus possibly gay. Sourced from: http://www.gaychristian101.com/ethiopian-eunuch.html This article however limits what God does with people and assumes birth as determinative where as there are many instances of gays changing as part of their spiritual transformation. 4 Although Ethiopian was used generally for anyone with these physical characteristics, here it refers to an inhabitant of the ancient kingdom of Meroe, which covered what is now Northern Sudan, south of Aswan to Khartoum. https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/ivp-nt/acts/philip-ethiopian-eunuch
6 to reach all and overcome every apparent obstacle whether social, racial or geographical. Jesus will build his church through those who can be lead by the Spirit of God. Impressive? There is more as we read: Acts 8:39-40 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. This is an intriguing story. The Spirit who had lead him then carried him away and he next appeared over 50 km away at modern day Ashdod in Gaza. How did this happen, slowly or in an instant? I do not know but from here Philip preached his way north to Caesarea on the coast. Application: Out of all this I want to commend two things to you today: 1. Aspire to be a Spirit-wind led sail-boat Christian. 2. Tell people about your adventures in being led by the Spirit. Travelling puts us in places where the Spirit may lead us and have appointments arrnaged. I talk to more people about Jesus when I am travelling than anywhere else. The Spirit leads me to connection and the conversations flow. So many great things in the Book of Acts happen on roads so the Holy Spirit is active on roads. I would add planes to that as well, especially planes. From Facebook I see many of us are having vacations around the world so we are travelling. It s natural to come back with stories about the weather, the food, the hotels etc. I do that myself. That is all nice but let me confess something to you. Those stories are often boring! What would excite me more is hearting people come back and tell stories about being led by the Spirit of God to do things that you could never do yourself; stuff that was not on the schedule such as having a conversation with someone about Jesus who you would normally have never met. That is normal Spiritled experience when travelling when the Spirit provides a connection, an opening and it happens! When we practice living that life and telling those stories everything about church will change. Those are the stories to tell as you munch all the meals I see posted on FaceBook, meet for cell group or drink coffee after church. I love hearing those stories of people being led by the Spirit to do what they would never plan to do let alone be approved by a committee deciding by exhaustive information and cost benefit analysis. Really great things happen when God is allowed to lead and people have enough love and faith to follow his lead.