Acts
8:1-13
And Saul
approved of their killing him. That day a severe persecution began against the
church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the
countryside of Judea and Samaria. 2Devout men buried Stephen and
made loud lamentation over him. 3But Saul was ravaging the church by
entering house after house; dragging off both men and women, he committed them
to prison.
4Now those
who were scattered went from place to place, proclaiming the word. 5Philip
went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them. 6The
crowds with one accord listened eagerly to what was said by Philip, hearing and
seeing the signs that he did, 7for unclean spirits, crying with loud
shrieks, came out of many who were possessed; and many others who were
paralyzed or lame were cured. 8So there was great joy in that city.
9Now a
certain man named Simon had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed
the people of Samaria, saying that he was someone great. 10All of
them, from the least to the greatest, listened to him eagerly, saying, “This
man is the power of God that is called Great.” 11And they listened
eagerly to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 12But
when they believed Philip, who was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom
of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13Even
Simon himself believed. After being baptized, he stayed constantly with Philip
and was amazed when he saw the signs and great miracles that took place.
Acts
8:26-40
26Then an angel
of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south to the road that
goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.) 27So
he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the
Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come
to Jerusalem to worship 28and was returning home; seated in his
chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29Then the Spirit said
to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.”
30So Philip ran
up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand
what you are reading?” 31He replied, “How can I, unless someone
guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.
32Now the passage
of the scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the
slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his
mouth. 33In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe
his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” 34The
eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this,
about himself or about someone else?”
35Then Philip
began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good
news about Jesus. 36As they were going along the road, they came to
some water; and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me
from being baptized?” 38He commanded the chariot to stop, and both
of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized
him.
39When they came
up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch
saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40But Philip found
himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the
good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
---------------------------------------------------
When
Jesus gave his last instructions to the disciples, he told them that they would
be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the
earth. Faithful to Jesus’ direction, the disciples waited in Jerusalem for the
power of the Holy Spirit and then began to tell the story of God’s amazing
grace in Christ. Last week Susan shared the story of Stephen, the first
Christian to die for his faith. Stephen’s murder began a wider persecution that
scattered the church, but God used that scattering to spread the gospel
throughout Judea and Samaria and, eventually to the ends of the earth.
What
I love about these two stories, especially the story about Philip and the
Ethiopian eunuch, is that the Spirit leads and Philip follows. The Spirit tells
him to go to the chariot. He doesn’t know who is in it or what he’s going to do
with this chariot, but he trusts that he will know what to do when he gets
there.
Notice how Philip approaches the man in the
chariot. He hears him reading scripture, so he opens the conversation by asking
about it. He doesn’t force his way in. He doesn’t attack the man’s beliefs or
push Christ on him in some aggressive way. He doesn’t start the conversation in
a confrontational way. “Do you know where you’re going to spend eternity,” is
almost never the best way to open a conversation. Instead Philip listens to
what the man is reading and then asks a simple, respectful question.
Miracle
stories are sometimes hard to related to, since I don’t have any experience
with miracles. But I can ask a question and tell a story, and so can you, so
this story is easy to relate to. Philip is an especially good example of
evangelism for our time. People are skeptical about authority telling them what
to do or believe. But people are also hungry for meaning. In the aftermath of a
Christian culture, most people know that the church has something to do with a
man named Jesus. They know there’s something about eternal life, sin and
salvation. But they don’t necessarily know the story, and more importantly,
they don’t know the story is for them because no one has invited them recently.
People
need Christ, and you can reach people no one else can reach. As a disciple of
Jesus you have what you need to evangelize like Philip, so let’s break it down.
The first step is having a strong faith. You can’t share what you don’t have. Many
of us mildly believe or mildly don’t believe in God, but we don’t do anything
to change that. Going to church each week isn’t going to make you believe in
God, it takes something more than that.
Here’s
a simple experiment I want you to try this week if you’re feeling unsure in
your faith. Act like you believe in God this week. Pray frequently like you’re
talking to someone who really cares about you. Don’t worry about saying the
right words, just talk. Read scripture ready to hear a word to you. Spend some
time in silence reflecting on who God made you and how you can use your gifts.
Don’t spend time wondering if God is real; for the moment, just assume that he
is and live like it.
What I think you’ll find is that as you
actively reach out for God, you’ll find him. It might not be obvious or
dramatic, but the more you practice relying on God and listening to God, the
clearer God’s presence will become in your life. But you need to reach out.
The next step in evangelizing like Philip is
to open your ears and your eyes and your heart so you can see where God is
leading you. Keep doing the things you do: go to work, spend time with friends
and family, play golf. As you do all your normal things, pay attention. Who is
hurting? Who seems to need some hope? What do your friends worry about? Is one
of your coworkers going through a hard time?
As you pay attention, make yourself available
to the people God puts in your path. Be open to them. Allow yourself to feel
with them. Listen to what they say and listen to how God prompts you to
respond. Trust God to lead you and say what you feel your heart leading you to
say. Usually you’ll listen more than you will talk. People in pain first need
to know someone is listening to them and cares about them.
Sometimes it will feel right to share a word
of faith; a simple phrase of God’s truth can be a beam of hope for them that
will guide them to the next step. Often people need to hear something like: You
are not alone. God hasn’t given up on you. God cares about you. God loves you.
Give a word of hope. Give it honestly and
then listen. Sometimes a simple phrase about God’s love unleashes a flood of
doubt, or grief, or hurt, or longing. Be ready to hear uncomfortable things.
Listen to them, patiently, lovingly. Don’t listen like you’re waiting to
respond; listen to really hear what the person is saying. Listen for the words
and the meaning behind the words. Let them know you are listening.
Don’t feel like you have to defend God. God
needs you to bear witness to his love, but he doesn’t need you to defend him.
If people are angry at God, that is OK. God can take it; you don’t need to talk
them out of it. Often people have been hurt by church or by religious people.
What they need from you is an example of someone who is reasonable, who is kind
and loving and gentle, and who believes in God.
Your job as an evangelist is to open the
door, to plant a seed, to welcome a conversation. Maybe the conversation you
have with this person will present an opportunity to tell the story of Jesus.
Listen to your heart on that one, but expect to be afraid too. It’s scary to
share your faith, but if you’re gentle, you’re not going to hurt anyone, so
push through the fear if you feel like sharing is right.
As you tell the story of Jesus take a hint
from Philip: start where you already are. Philip and the eunuch had been
reading a passage in Isaiah about the suffering servant being led to the
slaughter, so the logical place to start for him was with prophets and Christ’s
suffering. Maybe your conversation has been about suffering: then the cross
makes sense as a place to start. Maybe your conversation starts with their
problems with “organized religion.” In that case it might make more sense to
start with Jesus having trouble with organized religion as well.
Wherever you start, keep it simple and short.
Don’t launch into a long monologue. Tell the story of Jesus simply, in a way
that will make sense to the person you’re talking with. Then finish talking so
you can listen again. Maybe they’ll have questions. Maybe they’ll want to talk
about something else instead. That’s OK too. Follow your heart, follow the
conversation and keep an open mind.
We’re going to take a few minutes and
practice this. First, take 2 minutes to think about how you want to tell the
story of Jesus. I’ll let you know when your time is up, then you’ll have one
minute to tell the story of Jesus to your neighbor, and then you’ll switch. You
don’t have to “get it right.” We’re just practicing. The most important thing
you can do is tell the story in your words. The person you’re talking to
doesn’t need a text book answer, they need to know why you find Jesus
compelling. Relax; be yourself. Ready to start preparing? Go.
OK, now the person closer to the sanctuary,
you’ll go first, go.
Switch. Time’s up.
What did that feel like? What was it like to
try to tell the story of Jesus?
When we think about evangelism sometimes we
think about conversion as the goal. Really, the job of an evangelist is to
plant seeds. You are a witness; you’re not a prosecutor or a defense attorney.
You’re definitely not judge or jury. You are a witness to God’s love in your
life. All you have to do is offer you’re story. You also want to pay close
attention to the person you’re talking about. This is an invitation, not an attack;
if they don’t want to hear this from you now, it’s probably not the right time
to share.
You don’t have to lead them to Christ. Most
of all be loving; be open to what the person is saying and listen to what your
heart guides you to say. The Spirit speaks in our heart and leads us if we’re
open to it.
The last step in evangelizing like Philip echoes
the other steps: relax, and don’t feel like you need to control things. Philip
has been faithful in this conversation. He asked a question, listened to the
eunuch, and when there was an opportunity to share, he told the story of Jesus
starting with the passage the eunuch had just read to make it easy to
understand. They had this beautiful conversation that led to the eunuch
believing in Jesus and being baptized. Philip might have wanted to stay with
the eunuch all day, to teach him all about the Bible and the new faith they now
shared, but God had other plans. The Spirit took Philip away. Instead of being
upset, the eunuch rejoices in getting to know God, and Philip is ready for
whatever God has next for him.
Every day you have an opportunity to minister
to people I will probably never meet. If you live like a Christian, they will
see that. If you pay attention, you will find opportunities to share your
faith. And as you share your faith you will grow. Open your ears; open your
heart, and share.
Thanks be to God.
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