Acts 8:26-40
John 15:1-8
“Meet the Ethiopian Convert”
By:
Rev. Ken Sauer,
Pastor of Parkview UMC,
Newport News, VA
www.parkview-umc.org
Philip was one of the seven deacons chosen to assist the apostles in their work.
The deacons were given the responsibility of overlooking the daily distribution of food to the ever-increasing number of new disciples of Jesus Christ.
Another one of these deacons was Stephen who broke the mold of the deacon and become an evangelist as well.
Stephen was also the first Christian who was murdered for his faith.
And after the stoning of Stephen, the early church was scattered throughout Judea and Samaria and we are told that “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.”
Philip first went down to “a city in Samaria and proclaimed Christ there.”
Now Jews and Samaritans shared a mutual contempt for one another, but Philip knew that the Gospel of Jesus Christ knows no bounds.
So Philip, guided by the Holy Spirit, preached to the Samaritans; and many accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior there.
We are told in Acts 8:5 that due to Philip’s proclaiming of the Gospel: “there was great joy in that city.”
And this is what God brings to those who hear and accept the Gospel and to those who gladly share it: He brings great joy!!!
Because the Gospel is what it means.
It is good news indeed!
And we all need a bit of good news in this often difficult and defeatist life.
We all need the hope that only faith in Jesus Christ can bring!!!
We all need the new life that salvation through faith in Christ does bring!!!
So both those who bring the good news to other people and the people who accept this good news of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior experience great joy!!!
Don’t you want to experience great joy?
Don’t you want others to experience great joy as well?
If there is one thing that can aptly describe our world, our community, our nation…it’s that so many of us seem to be joyless.
We become so caught up by things that we can never change and we come to realize that the things we are hanging our hats on…the things we are depending on to bring us joy…only bring us frustration and anxiety.
Many of us worship youth!
By that I mean we live for trying to make ourselves look and feel as young as we can.
The problem with this is obvious.
We are all headed in the same direction fast.
We will all get old and die.
There is no getting around it!
So living to stay young and physically beautiful is a real exercise in futility.
It is bound to drain anyone of joy!
So many of us also live for making money and collecting stuff.
But we can never have enough. We can never make enough.
And so this also leads to a very self-centered and hollow life.
What’s the point?
Remember the old bumper sticker: “Whoever dies with the most stuff—wins!!!”
Again. What is the point? We can’t take it with us.
And this life is so short and fleeting.
Money can only buy us so much!
It cannot buy us ultimate fulfillment, true joy and real peace!
If all we have at the end of the day is our money…with death looming large on the horizon…how can we possibly sing with all the Christian saints down through the ages to today: “It is well, it is well, it is well with my soul!”?
So Philip, who was not some professional evangelist, by any means, faithfully proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people in a city in Samaria and this Good News fills the city with “great joy.”
That’s right.
Philip was not a professional evangelist.
Philip’s job as deacon was to wait on tables, and yet God was able to use Philip in mighty ways!!!
How many of us here this morning would consider ourselves professional evangelists or experts in evangelism?
Raise your hand if you feel that you fill this description.
Nonetheless, God is able to use any one of us to bring great joy to our community…to our neighborhoods…to our schools…to our workplaces…
…and this is what God desires to use us for…
…and in bringing joy to others we ourselves will experience greater joy than we could have ever imagined possible!!!
In our Gospel Lesson that Virginia read earlier Jesus tells us: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a [person] remains in me and I in him or her, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing…This is to my Father’s glory that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
The key to living lives which are filled with great joy and which bring great joy to others…
…the key is becoming connected to Jesus and staying connected.
Jesus is the vine and we are to be His branches.
We are to allow the life and thoughts and direction of Christ to flow from Him to us.
And as we see in our New Testament reading from Acts for this morning—this is how Philip was able to operate and be a successful joy-filled evangelist…even though his official job title was not that of an evangelist.
Philip, was so connected to Jesus Christ…
…His life was so in-sinc with God that God was able to use Philip to accomplish God’s will.
“apart from me you can do nothing”
Philip was directed by an angel of the Lord to leave Samaria and head for the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.
Now Philip could have easily protested.
And his fleshly mind and will may have been tempted to do so.
He could easily have said to the
angel of the Lord… “I’m sorry but you must be mistaken. Things are going so well here in Samaria that I am sure this is where God wants me.”
But Philip was able to avoid giving in to this temptation through staying connected to Jesus.
Who knows what would have happened had Philip not listened to the Lord…
…and stayed in Samaria instead!?
Certainly he would not have met the Ethiopian Eunuch.
But he also might very well have lost the great joy of doing the will of God.
He would have gotten off track.
He would have become unconnected.
He would have lost the ability to produce any fruit.
Because, it does not matter whether or not we are trained evangelists…whether this is our job title or not…
…what matters is allowing the life of God to flow through us to others.
By ourselves we can do nothing!
Through Christ we can accomplish all things!!!
God can use anyone of us to evangelize and thus bring salvation and great joy to our communities…
…our world…
…all we have to do is allow God to use us for God’s purposes!!!
We must stay connected to the Vine!!!!
If we do not stay connected…
…we become like dead branches that no longer bear any fruit…no longer bring or experience any joy!!!
So Philip listens to the voice of the angel of the Lord.
He starts down the desert road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza, “and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians.”
We are told that this Ethiopian eunuch had gone down to Jerusalem to worship…
…so apparently he was a convert to Judaism…
…and on his way back from Jerusalem…
…he was searching the Scriptures…
…you see the Spirit of God was working on this man…
…this man was a Seeker…
…he was what we might call—ripe for the harvest.
He was seeking something that he did not yet have.
He was looking for a Savior who he had not yet heard about…
…a Savior who he had not yet met…
…but the Spirit of God was telling Him that there was something in the passage of Scripture from Isaiah that he was reading…
…there was something in there that would and could bring great joy to his life!!!
How many folks in our neighborhoods, in our communities, in our workplaces, in our schools are searching for a Savior they have not yet heard about nor met?
The harvest fields are ripe and the harvest fields are right outside our doors!!!
People are seeking.
And whether we are professional evangelists or professional dishwashers…God wants to use us to bring His message of Good News to a world that needs salvation…
…to a world that is starving for great joy!!!
Philip did not have the title of “evangelist”…but look at how God used him—title or no title!!!
The Ethiopian eunuch was sitting in his chariot…
…now let’s stop here…
…this Ethiopian eunuch was not a poor man by any stretch of the world’s imagination or standards.
He was rich!
He had a big-time job!
He was in charge of the money for the queen of the Ethiopians!
So he was both rich and successful, but he was still searching for something that would bring ultimate meaning and joy into his life.
Obviously, he did not believe the motto to be true that says: “The person who dies with the most stuff wins!”
Otherwise he would not have been bothering to search for a savior!!!
Anyway, as he was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah…
… “The Spirit told Philip, ‘Go to that chariot and stay near it.’”
And we are told that Philip didn’t just merely saunter up to the chariot…perhaps in hopes that it might get away from him before he had the chance to do what God had asked…
…no, we are told that Philip “ran up to the chariot.”
And when Philip ran up to the chariot he heard the eunuch reading from Isaiah the prophet.
So he asked the eunuch: “Do you understand what you are reading?”
What a great model for Evangelism!!!
Philip did not force the Good News on the man, he simply found someone who was seeking and asked him a simple question…
…Do you understand?
There are so many folks who we work with, socialize with and so forth who do not attend a church.
But we do attend a church.
Do our friends outside of the church understand why we go out of our way to be part of this fellowship?
Do they understand why we worship God?
Do they understand what Jesus has done for us?
What a great question to ask a friend or neighbor during a conversation…
…where you can sense the Holy Spirit calling you to evangelize…
…to be a vessel of God’s Good News…
… “Do you understand why I go to church?”
If they do not want to know, or if they are not interested…
…well, we do not need to force ourselves upon them…
…but they may just be seekers…
…like the Ethiopian eunuch who replied to Philip’s question with: “How can I unless someone explains it to me…Tell me please…”
At this point all Philip had to do was tell him “the good news about Jesus.”
Pretty simple, really, that is, if we are connected to Jesus who is the Vine!!!
And the Ethiopian who had been a Seeker that day…
…became a convert!!!
And this happened, at least in part, because Philip was closely connected to Christ and was willing to do what Christ was calling him to do.
So the eunuch accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
One ancient text adds (as verse 37) that Philip told the Ethiopian he could be baptized if he believed with all his heart.
The eunuch replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
And after the eunuch was converted and had been baptized, he “went on his way rejoicing.”…
…not searching any longer…
…not searching for joy anymore…
…but filled with great joy!!!
The Ethiopian Coptic Church which survives to this day traces its origins back to this incident!!!
What a difference one person can make when they live their life as a branch who is connected to the Vine and is, therefore, bearing fruit for God!!!
All of us can be evangelists for God.
Everyone of us can be used by God to bring others into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ!
All we have to do is stay connected to Christ and be willing to be used by Him.
And when we do this we will find that we are living lives which are filled with great joy and which are spreading much joy throughout our city and throughout our world!
Let us Pray: Make us open to the guiding of Your Holy Spirit, O God. We want to be connected as branches to the True Vine Jesus the Christ.
We want to bring forth fruit for the Kingdom of God.
We want to live useful, productive lives.
We want to live lives which are filled with great joy and which bring great joy to others.
In Jesus’ risen name we pray.
Amen.
