Title: The Ways God Works
Text: Acts 8:26-40
Thesis: God is at work in critical circumstances and strange encounters.
Introduction
In 1440 Johann Gutenberg invented the movable type printing press which was capable of cranking out 3,600 pages a day… just 60 years later the printing press had spread throughout western Europe printing upward to 20,000,000 volumes. The printing press is said to be one of the most influential inventions of the second millennium and ushered in the period of modernity.
300 years later, in 1795, German writer Johann George Heinzmann warned people about reading too much. He warned that consuming words leads to “weakening the eyes, heat rashes, gout, arthritis, hemorrhoids, asthma, apoplexy, pulmonary disease, indigestion, blocking of the bowels, nervous disorder, migraines, hypochondria and melancholy.” This new-fangled printing press craze was not a good thing.
Back in the Morse Code days, Henry David Thoreau protested the telegraph line that extended from Maine to Texas… wondering what of importance would either Maine or Texas have to communicate.
In 1906, composer John Philip Sousa lamented the invention of the phonograph as causing the deterioration of music in America.
In 1926 the Knights of Columbus warned that the telephone would “break up home life and the old practice of visiting friends.”
About the same time the dean at Princeton observed that cars were a threat to America’s young people. He was worried that general effect of the automobile on young people would be that they would be driving all over the place on Sundays… everywhere but church.
Most recently The Atlantic magazine posed the question: “Is Google making us stupid?” (Homiletics, June 2015, Volume 27, May – June, PP 8-9)
I believe that despite the fears of some the printing press has been a huge change that God has used to communicate the Good News to countless people over the centuries. I believe that the development of transportation and communication has facilitated the reaching of people for Christ in ways that were not possible before.
While the cause of considerable hand-wringing change is beneficial at best and benign at worst… though not always.
Sometimes change is forced upon us and we’ve no choice but to roll-with-the punches.
I. God Works through Extreme Circumstances, Acts 8:1-19
“A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria.” Acts 8:1
I am of the opinion that change, however unsettling, is an opportunity for us to do a new thing. In our text today, we see what seems to be a most unfortunate circumstance that was seemingly devastating to the Christian community in Jerusalem.
It began with the martyrdom of Stephen.
A. The martyrdom of Stephen, Acts 7:51-8:2
Jerusalem had become a hotbed of unrest during Passion Week. Christ’s arrest, trial and crucifixion and burial were intended to put a stop to the Jesus movement. But then Jesus came up missing from his tomb and started appearing here and there. Then is followers caught fire and rather than the movement dying away it exploded exponentially. The fledgling church grew and grew and the tensions between the religious leaders and the followers of Jesus heightened to the point of violence when Stephen was stoned to death.
The stoning was not without provocation. Toward the end of his speech he told his audience that they were “stubborn people, heathen at heart and deaf to the truth.” This of course enraged the religious leaders and ultimately he was drug out of the city and stoned to death.
This was a radical change for a movement that fostered loving God, others and living in a Christ-like way.
The stoning of Stephen was the catalyst that set in motion a plan to persecute Christians.
B. The persecution of the church, Acts 8:3
Following the public stoning of Stephen, Saul, who would one day become the Apostle Paul, unleased massive persecution upon the followers of Jesus. The result was what historians call “The Diaspora.”
The (big picture) Diaspora refers to Jews who were living outside of Palestine or Israel having been dispersed or scattered to other Gentile countries. Today the Diaspora refers to the scattering of the Jews throughout Europe who returned to their homeland in 1948 with the creation of the state of Israel by a United Nations resolution
However, in the rest of the New Testament, the meaning of the Diaspora seems to evolve somewhat. First it refers more specifically to Jewish Christians who were spread out all over the Roman Empire rather than Jews in general. In Acts 8:1–4 we see the gospel being spread as the persecution of Jewish Christians began in Jerusalem, so the Jewish Christians were “scattered” or dispersed “throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria” and “those that were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.”
On April 20, UK newspaper The Telegraph printed an article citing two videos released by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant. The first depicted the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians and the other the execution style killing of 15 Ethiopian Christians... all singled out as “worshippers of the cross. All were supposedly given the opportunity to embrace Islam or pay protection money… all opted to die for their faith.
Interesting to me is a comment lifted from a similar article in Christianity Today citing the fact that approximately 2/3rds of the 90 million people in Ethiopia are Christians and that the Ethiopian Church claims descent from the Ethiopian Eunuch converted and baptized by Philip in Acts 8.
Which leads directly to my next point… the church always flourishes when persecuted.
C. The flourishing of the Good News, Acts 8:4-25
“But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went. Philip for example went to the city of Samaria… and the crowd listened intently to Philip because they were eager to hear his message and see the miraculous signs he did.” Acts 8:4-6
In two of the least likely places on earth Christianity has flourished. 50% of the population in Russia identify as Christians. Since 1949, those who identify as Christians has grown from 4 million to 200 million today. When Christians here in our country complain about loss of rights and freedoms they have no concept of what it means to live under a suppressive government.
It is interesting to speculate about the future of Christianity had Christians been able to stay in Jerusalem and enjoy the blessing of freedom of faith and practice there. Typically a church likes to just grow and grow and grow and build bigger and bigger and bigger… but that is not God’s way. God’s way is for Christians to go!
God used the extreme circumstances to accomplish what may never have happened otherwise. There would be no Christianity in this country had there not been extreme circumstances all over the world that compelled people to move from the UK, western Europe, Scandinavia, eastern Europe, southeast Asia and so forth.
Immigrants and displaced peoples are adamant about many things but the thing they are most adamant about and the thing they most wish to retain from their culture is their faith.
In the Denver metro area today the faith is flourishing among Somalis and Chinese and eastern Europeans and southeast Asian and Hispanic communities just as it did with displaced English, Germans and Swedes and Norwegians, the Irish and Italians.
God not only worked and continues to work through extreme circumstances. God guides supernaturally.
II. God Guides Supernaturally, Acts 8:26 and 29
“As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, ‘God south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.’” Acts 8:26
God may guide in many ways but ultimately it boils down to the way the Holy Spirit prompts us or gives us cues as to what to say and do. It isn’t an exact science because we tend to hear what we want to hear so we need to be discerning.
I’ve heard listening to God’s guidance is like being the pitcher in a baseball game. The catcher is behind the plate 60 feet 6 inches away. The batter is up and I need to know how to pitch to this guy.
The catcher settles into his crouch and I look for his signal… the signal that will indicate the pitch I am supposed to throw.
He signals a fast ball. I think for a moment and shake my head—no, not a fastball.
Next he signals a slider.
This time I look toward my teammates in the dugout for guidance. Then I glance up at the fans. No, I'm not comfortable with that one either.
He gives me yet a third signal and I think, “Nope, not today, thank you!”
Then I imagine Jesus silently and slowly withdrawing his signaling hand back into his mitt. There's a deep disappointment in his eyes. He's decided to let me throw whatever I want. So I do...
God never stops speaking to us. Like a catcher behind the plate God is prompting us to obey his guidance. Go there. Say something. Do a kind deed. Write that note. Share your faith. Offer to help. Welcome the person in the margins. (Clare de Graff, The 10-Second Rule (Howard Books, 2013), pp. 52-53)
God prompted Philip to act…
A. God prompted, Acts 8:26 and 29
“An angel of the Lord said to him, ‘Go south down the desert road…’ and in verse 29, “The Holy Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over and walk along beside the carriage.’” Acts 8:26 and 29
And Philip responded…
B. Philip responded, Acts 8:27 and 30
“So he started out and met the treasurer of Ethiopia…” Acts 8:27 “Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the Prophet Isaiah…” Acts 8:30
It may have made absolutely no sense to Philip to head down the road to Gaza. He didn’t know anyone there… why this road? Why this very moment?
The example of Philip reminds us to be open and responsive to the promptings of God.
We can be assured that when God prompts us he does so for good reason.
III. God May Prompt in a Big Picture Way, Acts 8:27
“So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia.” Acts 8:27
Historically the region south of Egypt on the eastern coast of the African Continent has been known as Nubia, Kush and Ethiopia. It encompasses a region including the Nubian Desert and extends to include present day Sudan and Ethiopia.
The Queens of Ethiopia were known as Warrior Queens of Royal Nubian descent. It is said that when Alexander the Great set about to the conquer the world that when his Roman army reached the border of Ethiopia he turned back rather than risk the humiliation of defeat from the Queen’s Elephant army waiting for him to enter her kingdom.
The man God sent Philip to meet was a man from the Queen of Ethiopia’s court… the national treasurer.
The first thing we learn about this encounter is that the man riding in the carriage was an Ethiopian.
A. An Ethiopian, Acts 8:27a
“So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia…” Acts 8:27
How did Philip know he was Ethiopian? Did his carriage have an Ethiopian license plate? Was it because he was wearing a brightly colored woven-cotton gabbi… the traditional clothing of an Ethiopian man? Was it because he was Nubian black?
In addition to being Ethiopian he is identified as a eunuch.
B. A Eunuch, Acts 8:27b
“…a eunuch of great authority under the Queen of Ethiopia.” Acts8:27
In Matthew 19:12, speaking in the context of divorce and remarriage Jesus, Jesus said, “Not everyone can accept this statement. Only those whom God helps. Some are born eunuchs, some have been made eunuchs, and some others choose not to marry for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.”
While men were neutered for the purpose of subduing them sexually to serve in the royal household, the term more widely referred to a man who was impotent or celibate or otherwise not inclined to marry.
How did Philip know he was a eunuch? Did he have a big E tattooed on his forehead?
In any case, whoever this man was, he was a eunuch and a man of great influence and power. A man who literally had the ear of the Queen. This is important… God was simultaneously working in Philip’s life, the Ethiopian’s life, the Queen of Ethiopia’s life and is still working in the lives of Ethiopians today.
God used Philip to reach out to this man of influence with the Queen of Ethiopia, who reigned with her husband between the years 25-41 A.D. She was then converted to Christ and then used her office to further spread Christianity in Ethiopia and the surrounding countries. (Women of the Early Church, “Christian History, Issue 17)
Conclusion
Every month Harper's magazine publishes a list of statistics called "Harper's Index" where you'll often find some interesting statistics. Recently they cited two interesting stats:
1. Number of letters from Americans President Barack Obama reads each evening: 10
2. Number of staffers in the Correspondence Office responsible for selecting those letters from the 11,000 letters received each day: 7.
So seven full-time staffers wade through 11,000 letters and ten lucky people get to be heard by the President each day.
I do not believe God has a bunch of angels sifting through his mail to determine which ten of us will be blessed with a little Presidential attention…
I do believe God does work in and through us all with promptings that urge us to come along side others as they journey through life. And though it would be nice to be able to see what will become of it all… we may not.
Do you think Philip saw beyond the Ethiopian riding along in his carriage reading the Old Testament, to the Queen of Ethiopia, to the 60 million Ethiopians who call themselves Christians today?
The bible says that the Spirit of God is like the wind… we don’t know where it comes from or where it is going but it is always moving somewhere. God is at work in ways big and small in us and through us.
So we listen for God’s prompting and we look to see who God sees and we do what God leads us to do.
