Seeker, Spirit, Speaker

Dr. Jon Burnham preached this sermon from Acts 8:26-40
on May 14, 2006 at Batesville Presbyterian Church.

We don't often hear from angels who speak to us. In fact, if a Presbyterian ministerial candidate told her Committee on Preparation for Ministry that an angel had spoken to her and directed her to speak to someone else it is possible that she would be referred to a psychiatrist for testing and counseling. Yet our Bible story today begins with the Spirit sending an angel of the Lord to speak to Philip.

Angels are messengers in the Bible and Philip is a messenger in our Bible story today. So the word goes from our angel messenger to a human messenger. And the message from the angel to the human messenger is that Philip is to speak to a spiritual seeker who is unnamed but clearly identified as an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Queen of Ethiopians. This eunuch is in charge of the Queen's entire treasury. An important man. So we have so far the seeker who is the eunuch and the speaker who is Philip. Let's start with the eunuch.

The eunuch is described as an Ethiopian, whom we may assume to be an African. Since he was a eunuch he could not be a Jew or a proselyte to Judaism. The eunuch is a court official of Candace which is the title given to the queen of Meroe, a Nubian realm along the upper Nile. So the eunuch position is one of considerable power.

The eunuch has been to Jerusalem to worship God in the Jewish temple and he is now traveling home by chariot and he is reading as he rides in the chariot. Reading was what people then did during travel since neither the miniature DVD player nor the Game Boy Advance system had yet been invented. The eunuch was open to the Holy Spirit and was ready to receive guidance. He had a questioning spirit.

A questioning spirit is often a sign of spiritual activity. We need to remember that as we anticipate the upcoming release of The DaVinci Code film this week. The film, like the book of the same name, suggests Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and had children and some of Jesus' descendants are alive today, sequestered away in Southern France. The movie is a fiction but it raises serious questions about the historical Jesus. As Christians we are to be ready to hear such questions and rather than be offended by them we may interpret them as possible signs of a questioning spirit which is a signal the Holy Spirit may be active in the questioner. The spirit was certainly active in the eunuch's heart and mind and the eunuch had  a questioning spirit.

And the Spirit was active in Philips life as well. The Spirit speaks to Philip through an angel and tells Philip to head South from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a wilderness road. The Spirit often sends messengers first to the wilderness to test and purify them. For example, the Spirit sent Jesus to the wilderness immediately after his baptism. To the wilderness to be tested by the devil. The Spirit calls us to be messengers like Jesus and like Philip. And like them, the Spirit sometimes sends us out into a spiritual wilderness to be tested and purified. Sometimes the Spirit uses a person who is bullying us around at school or work or a person who acts as a thorn in our flesh. The Spirit uses such persons to grow in us the fruit of the Spirit: Patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. The Spirit works in mysterious ways in our lives and in the life of the eunuch in our Bible story today. The Spirit often uses other people, even strangers, to teach us spiritual truths about Jesus. Notice how the Spirit speaks to the eunuch through a stranger named Philip. The Spirit finds a way to communicate with spiritual seekers such as the eunuch.

And thank goodness for the speakers that listen to the Spirit and speak to the seekers. Speakers such as Philip. The Spirit told Philip, "Climb into the eunuch's chariot." What a strange suggestion the Spirit gives Philip. The Spirit's suggestions often sound strange but if we obey the Spirit then miracles may happen before our very eyes. The Spirit told Philip, "Climb into the eunuch's chariot. "Running up alongside, Philip heard the eunuch reading Isaiah and asked, "Do you understand what you're reading?"

He answered, "How can I without some help?" and invited Philip into the chariot with him. The passage he was reading was this:

As a sheep led to slaughter,
and quiet as a lamb being sheared,
He was silent, saying nothing.
He was mocked and put down, never got a fair trial.
But who now can count his kin
since he's been taken from the earth?

It sounds like a riddle from The DaVinci Code. The eunuch questioned the Bible not because he lacked faith but because he sincerely wanted to know. The eunuch needed the Spirit's help in understanding the Bible and so do we. The Spirit speaks to us through the Bible. The Spirit spoke to the eunuch through the Bible. And the Spirit used Philip to interpret the Bible to the eunuch.

The eunuch said, "Tell me, who is the prophet talking about: himself or some other?" Philip grabbed his chance. Using this passage as his text, he preached Jesus to him.
As they continued down the road, they came to a stream of water. The eunuch said, "Here's water. Why can't I be baptized?" He ordered the chariot to stop. They both went down to the water, and Philip baptized him on the spot. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of God suddenly took Philip off, and that was the last the eunuch saw of him. But he didn't mind. He had what he'd come for and went on down the road as happy as he could be. (Translation from The Message) The Spirit connected with the eunuch, a seeker, by means of Philip, a speaker.

Seekers are all around us. The teenager who has questions about science is a seeker. The college student who has questions about God is a seeker. The mother who questions why her child has died is a seeker. Seekers are all around us. They surround us. We must learn to listen to the Spirit. Listen like Philip did. Develop our spiritual ears. For the Spirit will not speak to us with audible words or sounds. Not usually anyway. Sometimes the Spirit may speak to us through a song, a hymn, a familiar voice, or a character speaking in a film. But often the Spirit speaks silently. We feel an urge to speak to someone we haven't talked to in years and that urge may be the Spirit. By the Spirit I mean the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of Jesus Christ. The Spirit that came into the gathered disciples on the Day of Pentecost. Our spiritual guide. Our comforter. Our teacher. The third person of the Trinity. Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

So we end where we began, with the Spirit. The Spirit that urges us to speak in Jesus' name to certain people at certain times. The Spirit works to draw people to Christ. The Spirit asks us to cooperate in this process. We cannot save anyone and we are not responsible for the salvation of anyone. But we are called by Christ to cooperate with the Spirit as Philip did. To speak when the Spirit urges.

Friends, we live in a broken world. People are hurting out there. People have questions about Jesus. People have questions because the Spirit is working in their lives. Let us not be afraid to speak for Jesus. We may not be Biblical scholars. We may not be eloquent speakers. We may not even know what to say. But if we open our mouths in faith the Spirit will speak through us.

So let's be like Philip. Let's employ our tongues in the service of Christ. To speak to someone when the Spirit urges us. The results may be immediate and astounding as with Philip. More likely, we may never witness the results.  Doesn't matter.  We'll leave the results to the Spirit. All that really matters is that we met a seeker.  We heard an questioning spirit.  We tried to speak a healing word.  Thanks be to the Spirit who gives us words. Thanks be to God.

Amen.