When God Sends You Out of Your Way
26. And the Angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Arise and go toward the south to the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, which is desert.”
27. And he arose and went and behold a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem to worship,
28. Was returning and sitting in his chariot reading Isaiah the prophet.
29. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and join yourself to this chariot.”
30. And Philip ran over to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31. And he said, “How can I, except someone should guide me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
Acts 8:26-31
Are We Sacrificing Progress on the Altar of Convenience?
We, as humans are not only creatures of habit, but we are also creatures of convenience. Which means that modern society has the tendency to want everything easy and are not generally open to change. We will even justify our resistance to change with the phrase, “why fix it if it is not broke.”
This “life is easy” culture has given rise to such industries as Door Dash, Uber-Eats, and Grub-Hub. Each of these companies have taken advantage of the “craving for convenience” and created an industry that delivers what people want right to their doorstep. Grub-Hub has amassed a net worth of $1.4 billion, while Door-Dash’s net worth is around $4.7 billion. Uber-Eats has valued its “convenience delivery” enterprise at over $20 billion world-wide. What does that say about the modern consumer? I think it causes us to raise a couple of important questions. First, are we lazy or are we just too busy to do certain things for ourselves? Second, are people becoming more secluded and would rather not deal with crowds in particular and public places in general? Thirdly, will this convenience trend become the norm where the culture will become so entrenched in the “easy life” that they will dismiss positive change?
I am all for progress that makes life easier, but a line must be drawn. At some point, we must admit there are many opportunities to help others, make improvements to our society, and more importantly, share Christ with a dying world. A price must be paid in order to make these things happen. Convenience must be sacrificed in order to make way for a better life. This leads us to question whether the Church today shares the same drive and enthusiasm that the early Church possessed. As we have noted from the opening chapters of Acts, that the early Church was devoted to prayer, fellowship, and following the direction of the Holy Spirit. They encountered opposition, but still they moved forward in their mission to know Christ and to make Him known. They suffered setbacks and much persecution but they prevailed and even welcomed the suffering as a way of identifying with the Savior. This leads us to ask whether or not the modern Church is equipped to handle such “inconvenience.”
Another issue that the modern Church seems to relish over is that of “greatness” and the ability to attract large crowds. Does the modern Church measure its success only on the basis of mega-Church status? Does this mean that the Church must not become distracted with the miniscule details of simply helping people in need? Or, do we for the sake of convenience, stick to the big stuff of becoming recognized in the world? Our Scripture passage will help us dig into these matters and provide a solid foundation to further our commitment to Christ and His work. The passage will help us explore how to follow the Holy Spirit even into out of the way places.
Persecution will take you Out of Your Way
Jesus had commissioned as well as commanded the Church to be His witnesses. In that capacity, they were to go into all Judea, Samaria, and ultimately to the entire world with the Gospel message. Several years had passed and the Church was very much, a “Jerusalem thing.” There were large crowds. Miracles were occurring. People were growing in their faith. So, if it wasn’t broken – why fix it, right? Wrong! The plan was for the Gospel to go into all the world because God’s Salvation was universal. So what do you think happened to get the Church beyond the confines of Jerusalem? Persecution.
Stephen was the first Church martyr but following his death, ‘a great persecution’ was launched against the Church. (Acts 8:1). Guess where the Church went from Jerusalem? They were scattered into regions of Judea and Samaria; they went into the regions where Jesus planned for them to go in the first place. One of those “displaced Disciples” was a deacon by the name of Philip. Going down to Samaria, Philip preached Jesus Christ to the people and began to perform miracles among them. Immediately, the number of believers in Samaria started growing rapidly. Crowds of people were being baptized, but they needed the Apostles to come and pray for them to receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:15). When Peter and John arrived in the region, they prayed for people to receive the Holy Spirit and laid their hands upon them. It was so powerful that a gentleman by the name of Simon wanted to buy the ability to “lay hands on people to receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter rebuked him and said, “your money will perish with you for thinking that you can purchase God’s Gift.” See Acts 8:19-20. They commanded him to repent of his wickedness. Nevertheless, the outcome of the Apostle’s preaching and the work of Philip was that the region of Samaria received the Gospel and precious souls were added to the Church. Yet, it was persecution and the death of Stephen that made room for the Church to progress beyond Jerusalem. Hardships had driven them out of their way but God used those same hardships to bring about greater blessings.
What can we learn from persecution? First, if the persecution is based on our own faults, we can learn not to repeat the same mistakes. Second, if the persecution is based on things beyond our control, we can learn to depend on God’s direction. The Lord will always lead you in the right direction to do the right thing. Never try to retaliate or seek revenge on persecutors; that was never the practice of the early Church. Pray for those who persecute you. Use the persecution to examine your own walk. Look at the persecution as an opportunity to do something else. Perhaps God is closing one door that He might open another door. You should never question what God is doing nor should you doubt your own faith in the Lord. Just, go where He sends you and continue to be a witness for Jesus Christ. Lastly, always look for God’s Strength in your time of persecution. The Lord will never put more on you than He will put in you. If He sends the trial, you had better believe that your Faithful Shepherd has already supplied for your need during that trial. Just obey when God sends you out of your way.
Going Where the Lord Sends You.
Did Philip just settle down in Samaria and continue to work with the growing Church family? After all, helping them to grow in their faith would have been a worthy calling? As it turns out, God had another assignment for Philip. This time, it would not be the large crowds, nor would there be any miraculous signs or wonders. Thankfully, there was no persecution as a part of this new move of God. However, that did not mean that the assignment would be absent of struggles. Philip would be confronted with some significant factors that the Church of today might otherwise sacrifice for the sake of convenience. What are those factors?
The first struggle was distance. Philip did not give it a second thought when the Lord sent the Angel to tell him that his assistance was needed on the road leading to Gaza. And the Angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Arise and go toward the south to the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, which is desert. The distance from Samaria to Gaza was about seventy-five miles. This meant that the trip would probably take Philip at least four days travel time. Did I mention that there was no police escort or companions. All Philip had was a promise from God and the Power of the Holy Spirit in his heart. That is how he could make that journey.
The second struggle that Philip faced was the fact that it was desert. God was sending Philip into the desert and away from conveniences. Why does God send us into some desert places? I believe it is to teach us to depend totally upon God and not to lean on our own understanding. The desert is a lonely place so you will need to talk to the Lord as you make the journey. The desert is a confusing place with howling winds and shifting sands so you will need to depend upon the Lord as your Guide. The desert is a barren place with no food or shelter, so you must depend upon God for your provision. God led Philip into the desert not to produce fear but to encourage faith. As the saying goes, “if you can find God in the desert, you will be able to find Him anywhere.”
As if the distance and the desert were not struggle enough, when Philip arrived to the place of service he met the third struggle, Diversity. The person that Philip was sent to help was an Ethiopian. Not only was he an Ethiopian, but he was also a eunuch. Here was a person of a different ethnicity from the Jews. Here was a person who was a eunuch, probably against his will. The Angel had simply given Philip directions as to where to go next on his journey. Now the Spirit of God was directing him to a person that Philip knew nothing about. And he arose and went and behold a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem to worship … Was returning and sitting in his chariot reading Isaiah the prophet … Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and join yourself to this chariot.” Imagine the thoughts that must have been going through Philip’s mind. The focus, however, was not on the who but the why. If you and I get stuck on the struggle of Diversity you will end up only helping those who look like you. You will always be limited in your service to others and your obedience to God if you take that approach. Through the Eyes of the Holy Spirit, Philip was able to look beyond the person’s condition and was able to see their need. And Philip ran over to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The quickest way to get past the barrier of prejudice is to simply ask, “what do you need” or “how can I help you.” Even though the wording was different, Philip got straight to the point of why God had sent him there. He was willing to go out of his way to help even this Ethiopian eunuch.
There is one other struggle that the modern Church deals with that is not covered in the text but is never the less important. It is the struggle of Duration. How long will this take? We are all about time management and mainly our own time usage that centers mostly around our schedule. As long as something doesn’t take too much time, we are good to go, but if it takes too long, we bow to the altar of convenience rather than obey God’s voice. As a result of Philip’s faithfulness to God and his heart-felt compassion for the Ethiopian eunuch, God worked a miracle in a desert place. Upon hearing the Gospel of Jesus, the man asked Philip, “what is hindering me from being baptized?” Philip said, “if you believe – you may be baptized.” Based on Philip’s conversation, the man was converted and confessed, “I believe that Jesus Christ IS The Son of God.” I close by asking how far are we willing to go to help others find God? Will convenience keep us from being the Christian that God wants us to be. Remember, Jesus went out of the way to bring us Salvation.