Acts 8:26-40 The Church that Welcomes Sermon preached Oct.

6, 2013 Opening What a great time of year Fall is. Football and baseball! So I begin with a story about the great baseball manager Leo Durocher. He was once asked who was the all-time favorite player he had coached. Lots of people were shocked when he named Dusty Rhodes. Rhodes was a little known pinch hitter, not a really big name player. Durocher was asked, What was so special about Dusty Rhodes? He replied, In a tight game when I looked down the bench for a pinch hitter, some players would avert their gaze and refuse to look in my direction. But Dusty Rhodes would look me right in the eye, smile, and tap on his bat. Dusty Rhodes, was available when called on. Today I want us to consider if were available if God should call. Reminder about Acts and summary Acts should be called Acts of the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit propels the narrative forward and pushes the church out from Jerusalem and into the world. Gospel trying to spread in a world opposed to gospel - and the apostles are getting beaten up and jailed all through the book - but Acts is the story of Gospel spreading and then a few centuries later, changing that world completely How did that happen? Through conversions - Acts has whole bunch of case studies of conversions - radical change in life - where Gods love came pouring in through Jesus and completely changed people. Who is most famous conversion in Acts? Paul. But hes only one of many. Last week looked at courage of Stephen who died for his faith, this week will look at the spiritual sensitivity of Philip as he listened to and obeyed the Holy Spirit and God used him to bring about the conversion. Philip One of the seven deacons along with Stephen whom we learned about last week - leader in the Jerusalem church Church is persecuted and scattered after Stephens martyrdom - and Philip ends up in 1

Samaria - district between Galilee and Judea, where Jerusalem was. And Philip goes right to work - hes preaching with power and with miraculous signs. News soon spread back to Jerusalem, and Peter and John came on a reconnaissance mission. Seeing that God was truly at work, they laid hands on these new believers, and the converts received the Spirit. We might skip right over that, but anyone from Palestine in first century would have been amazed - Samaritans were hated outsiders, Jews would say the word Samaritan and then spit on the ground. Thats why Peter and John go check it out - I mean, Samaritans joining the church? Took them a little while to get their minds around that. What we see in Acts is God continually pushing the church out, to bring new people in. Pushing them out to where people were outsiders, to bring the outsiders in. And Philip already had a ministry to outsiders - Samaritans in Samaria Phillip called to go out to the road So Philip is already doing good ministry - and God interrupts him with a mission that probably seems a bit peculiar. Now lets note how Philip gets this idea - Dr. Luke, the author of Acts, says an angel of the Lord told Philip to head down to the desert road. When God sends an angel, its to get your attention, that this is an important message. And it works, Philip saddles up and heads down to the desert road. But note that the angel doesnt tell him why hes supposed to go down to the desert road. Just tells him to go. And we see this same pattern all through the Bible - telling Abraham, leave your homeland and go to the land that I will show you (once youve already begun your journey); Jesus calling the disciples to come, follow me, and then dont know really what or where, but they drop what theyre doing and follow along. It seems to me that the only qualification one needs to be used by God in powerful and amazing ways, is to be available. You dont have to be smart or educated or charismatic or talented or young enough or old enough or good-looking; you just have to be available. But the catch is, you have to be available...when God calls. You may, like Philip, be doing something else really worthwhile and then you sense God calling you to drop it and do something that feels like go stand by the side of a road and wait for further instructions - what sense does that make? So - first question that this story asks us - are we available to God?

Ethiopian Story continues with a case study of an African being converted to Christ. Biblical history of Ethiopia - Ethiopia has appeared in Bible before Much earlier, the queen of Sheba had visited the wise King Solomon in order to test him with hard questions and to tell him all that was on her mind (1 Kings 10:2). Some believe that the Falasha Jews of Ethiopia are direct descendants from Solomons time. A long history binds Israel and this region together. Ethiopians were considered exotic even in Roman times - they were an independent nation at the very edge of the known world - people with amazing ebony skin, tall, slender and beautiful. who this particular Ethiopian is: Finance minister for Ethiopia - hes the CFO for whole country Eunuch - what hes given up for his job - common in those days that if you were born a commoner and given an opportunity to rise in service to the monarchy, you were castrated so you wouldnt be try to fool around with any of the women in the royal court This man has paid a very high price for his career - no family, no children and children were how one had a future in the ancient world. That may seem crazy to us, but plenty of us pay too high a price for success - plenty of people sacrifice their marriages and children for a career - and if you want to climb to the very top in our society, like be a CEO of a major corporation, you have to work insane hours to get there. Everything else comes in second. His journey Now, the Ethiopian is returning home from Jerusalem, because hes made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. And so, this strongly suggests that the man is either a Gentile God-fearer meaning a non-Jew who was attracted to Judaism, its monotheism and its ethics - or else he was a Jew - a convert Pilgrimages If you are country music fanatic, you go to Nashville Civil War? Gettysburg! 3

If you are a Nascar nut at some point you want to go to Daytona Race Elvis fan? Graceland! Abraham Lincoln scholar/devotee? Springfield, Illinois Idea then was that if you wanted to get closest to God you had to go to Jerusalem. And the place stills pulls people there for that reason - I was there in 1997 and there were people from every corner of the world there - there were Koreans singing hymns and Brazilians and Australians and Chinese - and the old city is a tiny place, and yet people of every color and language and tribe all go there. Mostly, to try to get close to God through soaking in the history of the place. So the Ethiopian is on his way home - and he has a long journey ahead of him. I just made a long journey myself - drove with my son from Fort Collins, Colorado to Durham, North Carolina. 1700 miles! I was driving my sons Hyundai. The Ethiopian was in a chariot - and he had to go about the same distance. On my drive, I listened to an audiobook biography of Ulysses Grant - the Ethiopian has in front of him a scroll of the prophet Isaiah - maybe hed heard a teaching or sermon on it and hes intrigued so he bought a copy (very expensive, all copied by hand on sheep or goat skin) and hes fascinated, but puzzled by what hes reading. And he is led to a messianic prophecy about the sufferings of Jesus. And during his drive home - he just happens to run into Philip. One of those Holy Spirit coincidences. Philip goes alongside him The guy has a nice ride - chariot was not just a first-century Cadillac - was the equivalent of a private jet today - I see ads for private jets in the WSJ and wonder about the social and economic distance that separates me from people who can buy their own jets. People like that, are the 1% of the 1%. Spirit of the Lord speaks to Philip - the Spirit has brought him there for just this moment And what does Spirit tell Philip to do? To run alongside the Ethiopians chariot! So Philip jogs up to the chariot trundling down the road - its kind of comical and says, Hey, need any help understanding that scroll? Philips availability extends to being willing to look slightly ridiculous and being rejected. But hes not rejected because the Holy Spirit is at work in the Ethiopians life - normally 4

a rich and powerful man would have nothing to do with someone like Philip, but hes open - and tells Philip, Yeah, I could use some help with this. So Philip hops into the chariot and they have a bible study. So - heres the second thing we learn from this passage - we make ourselves available to God, so we can go alongside people and join in what God is already doing in their lives. Nevas story God puts us in the path of people, or puts people in our path, all the time, who are searching for his love and mercy and healing. What we have to do, is to pay attention to the nudges of the Spirit, and be available to these people. Your sharing a few kind words, a smile, an offer to pray with someone, can be precisely the way God is reaching through you to touch these people. And because its God at work, not you, you may think what youve done is insignificant, but God may use it for great good. When we lived in South Carolina, our bank branch had a teller named Neva. Small bank so you got to know the tellers, hardly ever any lines so you could have a bit of conversation with them. I started talking to Neva on my trips to the bank, and heres her some excerpts from her testimony. I will start by saying I have never known Christ in my life until I reached the age of 40... I knew of a God, but I didnt know him. My parents were not religious, nor ever went to church, nor had I ever been baptized. I spent most of my life not sure of a lot of things, not sure about love, guidance, honor, dignity, confidence, praise. I never had any desire even at the lowest points in my life to think of turning to God, I have been down wrong roads- thinking that killing myself would be the best, no one would have noticed, Id be done with my pain. I look back and see just how much I was calling out to God. Through many years of disappointments, heart breaks, etc I just had too much. I felt like there was no light at the end of my tunnel. I got up one morning and just couldnt take it anymore...I sat home and cried all day, didnt want to go outside, didnt want to talk to anyone, didnt even want to pick up the one person that I loved the most in life from school, (my son) I was just down low as I had ever been. I remembered Scott coming into the bank where I was working...he was always friendly, seemed happy and always invited me to come to his service, and he stood out to me over all the others that invited me to attend their services. He seemed more human, more like a normal person. 5

(One Sunday) I was going to come to church (but) I backed out, I was scared ...finally one Sunday I got up and (went to his church) by myself, walked in those front doors, having no idea what to expect and there (were people) smiling and ready and willing to welcome me in... At the Christmas (eve service) I was able to get my son Tyler to come with me, it meant everything to me that he came along. We were singing...Silent Night...and all of a sudden...tears were pouring out of my eyes, I felt warm, I looked up at the band and saw the smiles and almost as if they were smiling at me, it was very overwhelming and I just wasnt sure what to think...I knew then that this was my new family and that God reached me somehow and I believed in him, loved him, and praised him, and accepted him into my life. I became baptized here (two months later)...I get very emotional at times but it is the love of God that is in me now, not the emotional hurt I felt before, or the self pity...I depend on my God, I trust my God, and I love my God. Now I didnt share that to demonstrate how I was spiritually brilliant and shared exactly the right words to answer Nevas deepest hurts and questions - it was just a matter of momentarily suspending my usual nauseating self-absorption and paying attention to another person and being a little kind. And God reached through me and saved a woman who was drowning in the pain of life, a woman who was like the Ethiopian, an outsider, questioning, wondering if there was a God and if he cared. Philips conversation Now, circle back to the eunuchs trip to Jerusalem. Remember, that maybe the eunuch had become a convert, or was just intrigued by the one God of Israel and the beauty of the scriptures, the psalms, the law. And he heads to Jerusalem. Long, difficult journey,. He gets there - and finds out he is barred from the temple. Because hes a eunuch. There is a law in Deuteronomy that says if you are sexually mutiliated, you cant enter the temple. He wants to know this God, but he cant enter the place where it was believed you got closest to God. So this man is shut out from the presence of God because of the sacrifice he chose to make so he could rise in government service. So God comes and meets him in the person of Philip. We dont have a record of the conversation - would be great if we did...but we know the scripture text they were studying - comes from Isaiah 55 - suffering servant passage about Messiah - and Philip told the eunuch that Jesus of Nazareth was the suffering servant who died and rose again. A savior who knew what it was like to be cut off and alone. 6

And a Savior who welcomed those who were shut out and excluded like this Ethiopian, and created the community of the church where everyone of every race and condition has a place, a home. Philip baptizes Eunuch himself - seals the deal, so to speak The eunuch went home rejoicing - and tradition has it that the eunuch founded the Ethiopian church which is considered the most ancient church still in existence today. When European missionaries got to Ethiopia, they found Christians who had been following Jesus for 1,500 years. Eunuchs conversion becomes a fulfilment of prophecy Then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him shoulder to shoulder. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, my worshipers, my scattered people, will bring me offerings. (Zephaniah 3:9-10). And the Ethiopian does have children through bringing Christianity back to Ethiopia and become the father of millions of future Ethiopian And all this is due to Philip being available to and sensitive to, the leading of the Holy Spirit. Closing & challenge Heres what I ask of you - from now until next Sunday, pray at the beginning of each day for the Spirit to lead you to someone who needs a word, a gesture, of Gods love and kindness. Ask God to help you be alert to his leading, and to help you know what to do or say. And as these encounters happen, keep a record of it - or them. And then send me an email or note about what happened and Ill publish them - anonymously - in the next newsletter.