COVENANT PULPIT Catch The wave A Cowabunga Moment: The Wave Goes Global March 24, 2013 Pastors Bob Petterson & Trent Casto Covenant Church of Naples PCA 6926 Trail Boulevard, Naples FL 34108 (239) 597-3464 www.covenantnaples.com
The old man was coming home after giving 50 years of his life as a missionary to Africa, hacking his way through tangled jungle, going from village to village sharing the gospel, and leaving a string of churches. He also left behind the graves of his wife and three children. In a lavish stateroom several decks above his tiny cabin, was a former president of the United States, Teddy Roosevelt. He and his son had just crisscrossed Africa, slaughtering 1,100 animals. The ship s holds were filled with these big game trophies, ready to be mounted for display at the Smithsonian Museum. When the ship pulled into its slip in New York City, the docks were full of people, waiting to see the man whose African exploits had made headlines around the world. Adoring crowds cheered wildly as Roosevelt gave them one of his bully speeches. Then he was whisked off in a motorcade for a ticker tape parade. The docks were empty when the missionary finally limped down the gangplank. No one was there to meet him. The mission agency had forgotten to send an official to welcome the old man home. He suddenly felt very lonely as he blurted out his complaint to God: For fifty years I brought your gospel to Africa. This president went there for a few months on a big game shooting spree. He gets a hero s welcome, but there s no one to welcome me home. As he wept quiet tears, a still small voice whispered back to that missionary, Son, you re not home yet. There will be choirs of angels greeting when you come home. Heaven will be filled with cheering saints to welcome you. You will hear, Well done good and faithful servant. When you come home all the heavens will shout with joy. But you re not home yet. Neither are we home yet. The Great Commission of Jesus calls us to be pilgrims on a journey, going across the street and around the world, sharing the Good News, following in the footsteps of Jesus, inviting people from every nation to join us on the highway to heaven. In his poem The Road Less Traveled, Robert Frost captures something of Christ s call: The woods are lovely, dark, and deep. But I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep. We aren t home yet. That s why the final Catch the Wave principle is so significant: Going global puts the Great in the Great Commission. We ve entitled this final sermon, The Cowabunga Moment. When a surfer dude rides the mother of all waves to its finish, he cries out in victory, Cowabunga! And onlookers shout back in surfer slang,
Cowabunga! The angels and saints in glory will surely shout some heavenly version of Cowabunga! when we finally come home. This morning we see a Cowabunga moment in the 8 th chapter of Acts. The church that started with 120 disciples has now fulfilled all four phases of the Great Commission. It was first stated in Matthew 28:19 Go and make disciples of all nations! But we have focused on Acts 1:8 You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. History has called this The Great Commission. At its heart is the word mission. We can t rest until his gospel has been taken to every tribe on earth! The mission won t be over until every knee bows and every tongue declares that Jesus is Lord. We don t have to do this alone. Jesus said in Matthew 28:20, I am with you always... Jesus is our partner. That s why it s called The Great Co-mission. It s impossible to invest time, talent or treasure for a greater cause or better returns. That s why it s The Great Commission! Some 2,000 years later, it still begins in Jerusalem, where you live. But you must take the gospel to the surrounding areas that make up your Judea. Then you must go to Samaria, crossing cultural divides to evangelize neighbors with alien languages, religions, and lifestyles that bewilder and even frighten us. By the 8 th chapter of Acts, the 120 original disciples had evangelized Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. But there s one part of The Great Commission that hadn t been fulfilled. It was still only The Partial Commission. But, in the 8 th chapter of Acts, a deacon by the name of Philip created a Cowabunga Moment. Isn t it amazing how deacons got so much good press in the book of Acts? Stephen, another deacon, first took the gospel outside Jerusalem. His martyrdom set off a persecution that scattered Christians across Judea. Then another deacon, Philip took the gospel to Samaria. Now, in the 8 th chapter of Acts, that same deacon hears the voice of an angel and heads to Gaza where he meets an Ethiopian, introduces him to Jesus, baptizes him, and then sends the new convert off to Africa as its first Christian missionary. At that moment, the gospel goes global. Cowabunga! At every juncture from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to Samaria to the ends of the earth it s a deacon who opens the next door, and rides the wave on through. Hooray for the deacons! So, what does Philip teach us? 1. HEAVEN WON T REST UNTIL THE WAVE GOES GLOBAL. The Holy Spirit was rolling like a tsunami wave over Samaria, just as he had across Jerusalem and Judea. Philip was doing spectacular
miracles, preaching to packed houses, and baptizing folks round the clock. No fisherman ever pulls in his nets when the waters are teaming with fish. Department stores don t shut down during the Christmas rush. Why would Philip want to leave such a harvest? But verse 26 says, Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Go south to the road the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. Notice the first word: Go The Great Commission is about going, not staying. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus says, Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations. The original Greek verb is better read, as you are going, make disciples... Going is to be a way of life. But going is not wandering or meandering. Going has a purpose: to find more people! Here s our mistake: we build a church in one place. We then stay put and invite nonbelievers to come to our place. But here s a shocker: the Bible never commands nonbelievers to come to church. Instead, it repeatedly commands the church to go to nonbelievers. The book of Acts is crystal clear about one thing: heaven won t let the church stay only in Jerusalem. If it won t go to Judea, God will unleash a persecution to scatter the church there. Great things are happening in Judea, but the Holy Spirit pushes Philip to go over into Samaria. Then heaven looks beyond the harvest in Samaria to the ends of the earth. So an angel comes to Philip and says, Take the desert road south to Gaza. Thus far the church in Acts has gone east, west, and north but it hasn t gone south. God is always expanding and enlarging his circle to encircle those still outside. The Old Testament told people to come to a temple. The New Testament calls the temple to go to the people. The Old Testament told the world to come to Jerusalem. The New Testament calls Jerusalem to go to the world. Heaven will not rest until every one of God s lost sons and daughters have been brought back into his family. 2. HEAVEN PREPARES THE WAY FOR THE WAVE. It would be easier for Philip to stay in Samaria, or go back to Judea, or even return to Jerusalem. But God says in verse 26, Take the desert road. The desert road to Gaza is sometimes called the bloody way because murderous thieves and beasts of prey lie in wait. This road will take Philip through hot deserts of utter desolation. Gaza is a seedy border town in the coastal badlands between Israel and Egypt. The angel doesn t tell him where he s to go or what he is to find. We never know what awaits us when we go. It s never safe. Jesus said to his disciples, Go! The angel said to Philip, Go! Verse 27 says, So he started out The angel doesn t give any specifics, and Philip doesn t ask any questions. He just went. We walk by faith, not sight.
I love the next phrase: and on his way he met an Ethiopian Eunuch If we will simply go, the Holy Spirit will have someone waiting. We might think that Philip just stumbled onto the Ethiopian. But there are no coincidences or accidental meetings. Everyone we meet is a divine appointment arranged by God. My friend, Francis Hunter told me, I only meet three kinds of people in my life: those who are saved, those who might possibly get saved, or those who will get saved. This Energizer Bunny of an evangelist saw every person that she ever met as a mission field. Every day, as you are going about your business, you will come upon your Ethiopians: your hairdresser, the girl at the checkout counter, your golf foursome, the parent who sits next to you during your kid s swim practice, or a classmate who shares a locker. God puts people on the road you are traveling as surely as he put the Ethiopian on Philip s way to Gaza. You might wonder, What do I do when I run across my Ethiopian? Don t make that your concern. It s the Holy Spirit who prepares our way. Verse 27 tells us that this Ethiopian Eunuch was an important official who oversaw the treasury of the Queen of Ethiopia. Verse 27 adds, This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship. This is very exciting, if you remember your Old Testament history. During the legendary reign of King Solomon, the Queen of Sheba had come up to Israel to see his exploits for herself. She went back down to Sheba converted to the God of Israel. Sheba was an ancient name for Ethiopia. Outside of Israel, this African country was the only nation that practiced Judaism. These Africans also had been waiting for the Messiah. God had been preparing this man for his meeting with Philip for a thousand years. And he had been preparing Philip all his life for this meeting. God still works the same way today. 3. HEAVEN PROVIDES THE GUIDE FOR THE WAVE. This official of the Ethiopian royal court was returning to Africa from his holy pilgrimage to the temple in Jerusalem. Verse 28 says, and on his way home, he was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. As the 8 th chapter of Acts goes on to say, he was reading Isaiah 53, the most vivid prophecy of Christ s crucifixion in the Old Testament, written some 700 years before Jesus was nailed to the cross. It s still the same today. Don t you know that God has been preparing you for every encounter with others by preparing your history, their history, and world history for your chance meeting. Cowabunga! We read in verse 29, The Spirit told Philip, Go to that chariot and stay near it. Notice, the Spirit doesn t say, Go up to the guy and blurt out the gospel. Instead, he says in effect, Just stand near the chariot and wait, watch, and listen. We are too quick to spring into action; too intent on looking for an opening in the conversation for a
quick gospel jab. Too often our evangelism is like a drive-by shooting. Tony Campolo said, Evangelicals are too quick to talk and too slow to listen. We don t take the time to discover people s heartbeat or find the key that opens doors to their hearts. We talk past people, speaking a Christianese that is both unintelligible and irrelevant to them. So sensitive, Spirit-filled Christians listen and wait, like Philip. Watch what happens next. As he inches closer and looks over the Ethiopian s shoulder he asks in verse 30, Do you understand what you are reading? The queen s treasurer replies in verse 31, How can I, unless someone explains it to me? Tim Keller of the Redeemer PCA church in New York City says, Our job is not to answer questions that no one is asking, but to listen for their questions. We can help them understand the things they wrestle with because their angst and struggles are dealt with in God s Word. But we have to listen, and sometimes for a very long time. Notice, even when the Ethiopian said, I need someone to explain these Bible words, Philip didn t immediately jump in as the answer man. The rest of verse 31 is critical: So he invited Philip to come and sit with him. We never have a right to barge into someone else s space without their permission, and then it s best to ease on in slowly and carefully. I remember asking a Hollywood producer if he knew whether he would go to heaven when he died. The man looked at me angrily and said, Why don t you also ask me whether I had sex last night? What right do we have to barge into someone s most private world, and ask that person to give us the answer to the most intimate questions of life? Philip waited to be invited to sit and converse with the Ethiopian. Now a conversation begins in earnest but it s focused on the needs of the Ethiopian, not an evangelist s need to put another notch on his gospel gun. The eunuch reads the prophecies of the cross in Isaiah 53 and then asks Philip in verse 34, Tell me please, who is the prophet talking about, himself, or someone else? Catch this. The Ethiopian doesn t have to be cajoled into coming to Jesus. He is begging Philip to give him the answer. We don t have to do the work when the Holy Spirit is working. We just have to be available. When the time to speak is ripe, we will get the words. Verse 35 says, Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. The same Spirit who prepares the Ethiopian to ask the right questions also gives Philip the right answers. That s why every morning I plead with God to fill me afresh with his Holy Spirit. Famous evangelist D.L. Moody said, I pray constantly to be filled with more of the Holy Spirit because I leak. If he leaked, then I am a sieve. I m always asking the Holy Spirit to fill me again. But, when the Holy Spirit is at work, Ethiopians get saved. This African was baptized that very day. Afterwards, he went on down to Ethiopia, and,
within a hundred years that African country became the first Christian nation in world history! Cowabunga! 4. GOING GLOBAL INCLUDES GOING LOCAL. Philip could have sat down and said, Cowabunga! We ve gone through the Great Commission checklist: first Jerusalem, then Judea, after that Samaria, and now Africa. Now I can kick back. But the ends of the earth hadn t been fully reached. They still haven t. Neither have our neighbors across the street. But this story has a happy ending. Verse 39 says, The Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but he went on his way rejoicing. I love this deacon. When you are filled with the Spirit, you never stay in one place for long. The Holy Spirit has so many places to take those who are willing to go anywhere at his command. The Ethiopian never sees Philip again. But he will see him in heaven. Imagine all the people we will meet in heaven because we paused long enough to give them something of Jesus! You won t take your money or stuff to the grave with you. But you will take those you ve influenced for Christ home with you to heaven. And on this earth, you will leave a lot of joy. The Ethiopian went home rejoicing. How can we dread sharing Christ when he brings so much joy to folks? But there s also a happy ending for Philip. Verse 40 says, Philip, however appeared at Azotus and travelled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea. Caesarea was Philip s personal Jerusalem. That s where he lived with his wife and four daughters who, according to the Bible, were all prophetesses. Wouldn t it be great if we could train our children and grandchildren to grow up to be prophets and prophetesses to speak forth the Word of God boldly to their generation? That s why we are asking you to help us expand our facilities. We want to raise up a generation of kingdom kids who will shake the world they are inheriting for God. On the way home from going to the ends of his world, he goes back through cities and towns along the Mediterranean Sea. Some of them are Samarian and others Judean. And now he is back to his Jerusalem. In a few weeks time, this deacon has completed the Great Commission cycle. That s what we want for this church: we can do Jerusalem missions across the street, while making a difference a little farther out in our Judea, while reaching immigrants in our Samaria, and still going global. We want to expand facilities to expand our mission force to fulfill the Great Commission. Caesarea by the Sea is Philip s hometown. He and his family planted the first church there. But it was also the city St. Paul embarked from to go to Rome. It was the launching point for thousands of Christ followers who went to Africa, Europe, and Asia within the next century. May Covenant be a
modern day Caesarea. If that happens, we can say COWABUNGA! Better yet, when we all get home someday, all of heaven will shout COWABUNGA! as we jump off our gospel surfboards for the last time in a life that has ridden the Wave to the end. Copyright March 24, 2013 by Covenant Church of Naples / PCA