Pushing the Ends of the Earth
Text: Acts 8:26-40
Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo
February 11, 2007
Have you ever accomplished something really great and expected to be greatly rewarded and appreciated for what you did, only to be greatly disappointed.
This happened to Philip. Philip had taken the ‘ends of the earth’ imperative in the beginning of Acts of the Apostles very seriously and had gone into Samaria and preached with great success. Even Billy Graham on his best day ever would have never matched Philip’s great success in converting the people of Samaria. Philip expected that he was going to be able to stretch the ends of the earth out a bit further, maybe go to Athens or even Rome. After all, he was the new superstar preacher.
Thus it was that an angel of the Lord appear to Philip and said to him:
Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza."
And Luke, who has a habit of writing these little asides, adds, “This is a wilderness road.”
Whatever ego Philip felt, whatever pride he was feeling about converting the people of Samaria had been deflated. He obediently complied with his command and began his journey down the wilderness road expecting to find no one. He was not happy.
And things get interesting. Instead of finding no one he encounters one of the more interesting characters in the Bible. It is an Ethiopian eunuch. Luke tells us that this Ethiopian eunuch was part of the royal court of the queen of Ethiopia and he was in charge of the entire treasury. And he was sitting in the chariot, reading a scroll from the prophet Isaiah 53, a reference to the suffering servant narratives, “Like a sheep he was led to slaughter.”
The scene was, if anything bizarre. The goal of Philip is to lower his head and walk on by. He did not want to engage any Ethiopian eunuchs. The command by Jesus was to go preach to the ends of the earth and Philip had already been burned by Samaria. The ends of the earth could not, in any way, shape, or form, include a random Ethiopian eunuch on the Wilderness Road.
And the Spirit prods him. “Speak to the man.”
Philip should have seen it.
The Kingdom of God is like a man who has two sons.
The Kingdom of God is like a widow with two copper coins.
The Kingdom of God is like a shepherd who searches for a missing sheep.
The Kingdom of God is like a random Ethiopian eunuch reading Isaiah on the Wilderness Road.
And Philip is rude. He goes up to the man and asks, sarcastically, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The Ethiopian says, “How can I unless someone guides me?” So Philip ends up sitting down and having to explain it. He truly wanted to get on his way.
The Ethiopian eunuch is enthralled by the story of Jesus and wants to convert right there and then and asks Philip to Baptize him. And, lo and behold, there is water and so Philip is compelled to baptize the man.
This story is an interesting story on several levels.
For one, it is truly about pushing the ends of the earth. Often, when we read in Acts of the Apostles about preaching from Judea to Samaria and to the ends of the earth, we like to limit that. I can’t even begin to tell you how much out of the loop this Ethiopian eunuch would be.
He worked for a royal family. He was not Jewish. He was not the same race. He was a seeker, coming to Jerusalem to Worship, but had no clue as to what or who he was going to Worship.
And he had been gelded to serve the Queen of Ethiopia. The Jews, who had strict purity laws would have flipped out on this one.
If this story had taken place in Jerusalem and Philip had to ask the wider church’s permission to baptize this man, it would not have been granted.
If Philip had a cell phone and called in for clearance to Baptize the Ethiopian eunuch he would have been told no.
But Philip was on the Wilderness Road, being compelled by the Holy Spirit, and he had little choice.
We find out God is the God of those who no one else wants, who no one else includes. God is the God of the lost sheep, the lost son, and the Ethiopian eunuch. God is the God of society’s strays. God is the God of society’s wounded. And God is the God of effective preachers who are alone on the Wilderness Road. And somewhere, on that Wilderness Road, two men from very different worlds found that they were both people of the same God.
There’s something else in here as well.
A few weeks ago I talked about the two characters in Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger. If you have ever read those stories, you’ll note that Eeyore is the somewhat lovable but somewhat whiney character who can always find reasons not to do things where as Tigger is always upbeat and raring to go. This story is a classic Eeyore/Tigger moment.
Philip so desperately wants to be Eeyore. He does not want to engage this man, he does not want to baptize this man, he really wants to be anyplace in the world other than the Wilderness Road. But God wants him there.
The church of the time, again, if this had been in Jerusalem they would have found 1001 reasons to not engage this eunuch from Ethiopia. There were many more reasons to say ‘no’ than there were to say ‘yes.’ Classic Eeyore moments again.
But when the Holy Spirit gets lose, things happen. People are sent to places they are not anticipating or wanting to go. People are encountered one would ordinarily not want to encounter. Decisions are made that would not usually be made. When the Holy Spirit gets lose lost sons come back home and are forgiven. Lost sheep are found. Lost coins are celebrated.
And preachers wandering in the middle of nowhere find a voice and strangers seeking to learn about God discover the presence of God when they were least expecting it.
Stuff happens.
I remember once watching a tape of a man who said that he read the Bible and got all excited about God and went to church and sat there week after week and wondered, “When does the stuff happen?” To me, when we make the stuff happen, we discover the Tigger within ourselves.
Philip, when he converted Samaria expected great rewards. He was rewarded with a journey onto a deserted road.
A traveler from Ethiopia was sitting, reading Isaiah, not making heads or tails out of it, not expecting to find out that his questions would be answered and he would discover Christ.
Sometimes things don’t go as planned. But when the Holy Spirit is involved, it isn’t the planning that’s important, it’s the response.
7 comments:
John, can I ask you something? What is the move of the holy spirit in the church today? Where do you see things heading? We are at the brink of world war 3 it's muslims against Christianity/Jews tension is high, our nation seems to be divided right down the middle. What's your thoughts on the Hebrew Roots movement?
One of my professors in seminary was Rabbi Leon Klenicki, a man who has always been noted for Interfaith dialogue, made the observation that Judaism and Christianity were different world religions.
Judaism is a faith built on waiting for the coming of the Messiah. Christianiy is a faith built on the belief that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ, the Messiah. In reading Paul, I've come to the conclusion that they are separate and distinct religions so I never really did get into the Hebrew Roots movement----which has been around for along time with different styles and names.
It's difficult for me to say where I believe the Holy Spirit is moving right now. We are a nation divideed and Christianity is very divided with actually very little meaningful dialogue. My one hope is that the Emergent Church people such as Brian McLaren may be the bridge. His book, "A Generous Orthodoxy" is, to me, a must read.
Hi, I can see where someone would look at Christianity and Judaism and say they are 2 different religions, but as I see it Judaism stems from the tribe of Judah does it not? Do Christians believe different than "Jesus" who was a jew, the lion of the tribe of Judah? I've researched church history alot, and from what I can tell the disciples where Jews with the exeption of believing "Jesus" was the son of God. When Constantine decided to stop the pursecution of the jews he decided to merge alot of the pagan beliefs with the jewish faith, which later on was the basis for the Roman Catholic Church. Before then the church was Jewish, in its beliefs, customs and background. I know I am by no means as educated in religious studies as you, but it seems to me that most of what has been confused by theology today is the writings of Paul. Who says(from the greek translation) we are no longer under the law but under grace, AKA the new covenant. But from it's Hebrew translation what Paul was referring to was the oral law of the Jewish Rabbis.It seems there has been a spirit of antisemitism for centuries that anything jewish has to be expelled from the church. I find it hard to understand how God would say that the Sabbath and his Feasts and Festivals (appointed times) where to be acknowledged and set apart for all generations, did he make a mistake? Jesus said he came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it, There's the written law and the oral law, The law of God and the law of the Rabbis. It's seems so simple to me that we should follow the roots to see the foundation of God's religion. I understand that alot of the torah doesn't apply such as the sacrifices, as Jesus was the last sacrifice. Ritual stoning, as there has to be a sanhedran set up for that to apply. But wasn't the torah an everlasting covenant between God and his people? I am not a jew and I think that orthodox Judaism has missed the mark too. I know that so many main stream preachers are being drawn back to the feasts and festivals, (John Haggee, Bill Cloud, Perry Stone and others) Could the church being drawn back to the faith of our father be a part of the last move of the Holy Spirit? I by no means presume to imply you are wrong or that I would know as much as you, but do you think sometimes people are indoctrinated to the point of believing false teachings as opposed to admitting that 1700 years of church theology could be blinded to the truth.
I do believe that Judaism and Christianity are separate. The letters of Paul, to me, obviously, indicate a new direction and that new direction and separation is very evident in Acts. Acts was written, with certainty, sometime after 80 and before 130, well before Constantine. The issue in Acts was two-fold, namely circumcision and purity laws most especially around food. Judaism required circumcision from the time of Abraham and the purity laws were, at that time period, very strict. One could not enter the home or sit at the table with someone who was from outside the Jewish community.
Please be careful with reading church history. You mentioned John Hagee and that did raise a red flag for me. Hagee tends to write and cite very revisionist history. Hagee is himself militantly anti-Roman Catholic and often greatly misrepresents Roman Catholicism to make his case.
Constantine did end the persecution and did make Christianity the official religion of Rome. He did not add pagan beliefs creating wht is now Roman Catholicism. I've heard Hagee refer to some Roman Catholic practices as 'pagan' and they are not. He misrepresented things within Catholicism to make it appear pagan, but they aren't.
And I say this as a person who was educated in the RC Church and has two degrees from RC seminaries. And as a person who chose NOT to be Roman Catholic. There are issues I do have with Roman Catholicism, but they are not issues of paganism.
As for Paul. You make mention of the Greek translation. Paul actually wrote his letters in Greek and not in Hebrew.
Jesus did say that he did not come to abolish the Law. His words, however, have to be read in the context of the entire Gospel and not on strictly on their own. Jesus showed little regard for many of the Jewish purity laws. His association with the Northern Kingdom Samaritans as 'inpure' by those standards and contrary to the Laws of Leviticus. He also associated with Gentiles and was, in a word, cavalier about the Sabbath Laws. Most scholars indicate that his reference was to the original Law of loving God and loving neighbor and the Decalogue.
I don't believe that Christianity has been blinded by 1700 years of false teaching. I really don't. There has been a contemporary trend which seems to be trying to vilify and change the era of Constantine to be other than it was. It is, at its core, to me not so much pro-Jewish but anti-Catholic and as a way to try to make contemporary Christians believe that the evolution of Christianity in history was based on false pretenses.
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till Heaven and Earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law (Torah), till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least Commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of Heaven.” Matt 5:17-19
"The Edict of Constantine (321) established the Sun-Day as the day of rest for the empire, and carried the death penalty for violations. Farmers were exempted if they had to conduct their duties, but urban dwellers were expected to honor the sun by resting. Natsarim living at that time had to rest on both days, and so this produced the "weekend" we have now in the western world. Eventually, the State religion (Catholicism) outlawed resting on the true Shabbat, and persecuted the Natsarim for it (Epiphanius is one "Church father" that wrote of the Natsarim, referring to them as "heretics" because they continued to obey the 10 Commandments). The change of the day of rest was predicted to occur at Daniel 7:25. This "beast" thought to change "times" and "law"; but the end of the "times" of the Gentiles will be very soon"
Lew White Quotes
http://www.fossilizedcustoms.com/pagan_spin.html
Again, two verses from Matthew is not the whole Gospel.
And I checked out the website. Thanks for the link. Christians were breaking bread on the day of resurrection in Acts...by the time of Constantine the church was largely and mostly Gentile. Your link is not so much pro-Jewish Christian but strongly anti-Roman Catholic. Sorry!
YAHUSHUA (YAHSHUA) MADE THE ESCHATOLOGICAL STATEMENT, "PRAY THAT YOUR FLIGHT WILL NOT BE IN WINTER, OR ON THE SABBATH" MT. 24:20 -- THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN A PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO MENTION IT IF HE INTENDED TO CHANGE WHICH DAY IS THE SHABBAT, SO WE WOULD KNOW ABOUT IT NOW. TAKE NOTE: HE MENTIONED THE SABBATH IN THE CONTEXT OF DESCRIBING EVENTS IN THE END TIMES. ALSO, THE CHURCH OF ROME FREELY ADMITS THERE IS NO SCRIPTURAL BASIS FOR THE CHANGE, BUT IT WAS THE CHURCH ITSELF THAT MADE THE SABBATH CHANGE (CONSTANTINE). CONSULT DANIEL 7:25 ALSO, BECAUSE IT PREDICTED THIS CHANGE OF LAW. IS SUNDAY THE SABBATH? THAT'LL BE EASY TO FIGURE OUT ONCE YOU MAKE A STUDY OF IT ON YOUR OWN.
Acts 20:7-38 begins by describing a "gathering" of believers (Natsarim) in a home, an upper room, where they listened to Paul (Shaul) until midnight, since Paul was departing the following morning. This was at Troas, where they had arrived after "the days of unleavened bread" (7 days following Passover). Notice "there were many lamps in the upper room". At the start of this gathering in the lamp-filled upper room, Sabbath had just ended, and a few of the Natsarim had come together in this home, and had a bite together (breaking bread). It was after sunset, the resting was over. It was officially the "first day of the week" when Sabbath ended at sunset. There was nothing going on here like a "Mass", or a "communion service". In fact, no one was "worshipping". The believers simply wanted to hear Paul (Shaul) before he left town.
AT THE COUNCIL OF NICEA IN 325 CE, CONSTANTINE PRESIDED WITH HIS SON OVER A BODY OF MESSIANIC ELDERS. THEY FORMULATED UNIVERSAL (EMPIRE-WIDE) DOGMAS CONCERNING ARIANISM, PERCEIVED AS A HERESY OVER THE NATURE OF "THE TRINITY". THIS COUNCIL ALSO ESTABLISHED THE UNIVERSAL OBSERVANCE OF "EASTER", A FORMERLY PAGAN OBSERVANCE BROUGHT OVER AND DISGUISED AS AN ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF THE RESURRECTION OF YAHUSHUA.
HE INSTITUTED THE "EDICT OF CONSTANTINE" (321 CE). THIS EDICT COMPELLED THE ENTIRE EMPIRE TO OBSERVE THE "DAY OF THE SUN" AS A DAY OF REST FROM WORK, TO GIVE HONOR TO THE SUN DEITY.
Excerpts from Lew White Fossilized Customs.
http://www.fossilizedcustoms.com/Constantine.htm
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