Led by the Holy Spirit

We continue our Easter Season sermon series this week where we are examining the various ways that the Holy Spirit helped the early followers of Jesus and how the Spirit also desires to assist each one of us.

This week we see how the Spirit leads. Our scripture comes from Acts 8:26-40. The words will be on the screen.

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth.

33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.”

34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Please pray with me…

Our scripture today shows how one person listening and responding to God can lead another person into a willingness to understand and believe in God and be baptized. This is the way that many people become followers of Jesus around the world. One person willing to be led God.

Earlier in this series we spoke of the “coincidences” that God will often set up to allow us to be able to speak to someone about what it means for us to have a relationship with God. This will often be through our Jesus Story.

Our Jesus Story is a short statement that offers how Jesus has impacted our lives and is why we believe in him and have chosen to follow him in what we say and do. This Jesus Story will often impact the person that God has placed before us.

We discover these “coincidences” in today’s scripture. We have Philip listening for God to speak to him at just the right moment. He is not only willing and ready to hear the voice of God, but he is willing to follow that voice even though it made no sense.

The angel tells Philip to go to a “desert place” between Jerusalem and Gaza. This is a fifty-mile area and there is an area near the end of the journey that had desert areas. We also can assume that these areas were often desolate.

Philip would have most likely wondered why out of all of the places he could have been sent, he was to go there and at that moment. But instead of questioning further he gets up and is willing to follow the will of God. What would you do in this circumstance? Would you listen and respond?

Or would you sit back and question why God would send you to such a place? I believe this is the reaction most of us would take. God through this scripture is telling us to listen and respond. Go and you will discover what I have for you there.

There happened to be one person in this area where God told Philip to go. A man who happens to be an Ethiopian eunuch who had gone to Jerusalem to worship. We aren’t told if this man is Jewish or not. Most likely he was a proselyte who was considering becoming Jewish.

Eunuchs were outcasts to society no matter where they are from. Jewish scripture offers us a mix bag on how the Jewish people were supposed to treat them. Deuteronomy 23 seems to say that they should not be allowed to be a part of the worshiping community.

But a later writing from the prophet Isaiah says in chapter 56 beginning in verse 3…

“3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely separate

me from his people”; and let not the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” 4 For thus says the

Lord: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold

fast my covenant, 5 I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better

than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.”

God sees these people as the outcasts they are. He knows that they are not looked upon

favorably by society. He chooses to let them know that they are not only accepted but they are

accepted with an extra blessing.

This is how Jesus lived his life. Those that seemed to be ignored or even mistreated by society,

were who he desired to be with and to offer insights too. He showed love to those that society

deemed as unworthy.

He spoke to the Gentile and the Samaritan. He ate with the sinners and tax collectors. He did not

allow society to dictate who was worthy of his time. He did not let peer pressure decide who

was worthy of God’s love.

I believe we are called to do the same. When we have people around us that seem to be left out

or on the fringes of society, we are called to help them have a voice. To help them become a part

of a community that will be willing to let their voice be a part of the conversation.

Are we willing to be a church like that. Our we willing to be open to voices that the rest of the

community has chosen to ignore. Are we going to be willing to show the love of God to all

people.

The change offered by Isaiah seems to allow for this eunuch to go and worship in Jerusalem. He could have traveled as far as 1,500 miles to get there. We can assume he was allowed to at least enter into the Temple area since he is reading from a scroll. It might be considered “a coincidence” that he is reading the scroll when Philip arrives.

The Holy Spirit will often lead us to the person we are to speak to. In this case it wasn’t too tough since no one else was around but the Spirit still told him that “this man” was the reason he was told to go to “this place.”

Philip starts the conversation like many of us would who we someone reading, “What are you reading?” This would have led to the next question, “Do you understand what you are reading?” We have the eunuch reading something he does not understand and being willing to admit it.

The scripture he is reading “coincidentally” has been about much of the life for the eunuch. Humiliation was probably something he would have regularly faced. He was different than everyone else and not by his choice.

Justice denied. He was most likely an important figure in the court of Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians, but his voice was most likely not heard or not viewed as meaningful because of his situation. Humiliated and ignored.

Philip points out that this is not only referring to his situation but also to the situation of Jesus. The scriptureleads Philip to let the eunuch know God doesn’t only care about his story but he has also brought to earth someone who ended up with a similar story.

What timing. The Holy Spirit will do the same for us. We also will have situations occur in such a way that will also allow us to do what Philip was able to do. Relate the story of those around us to the story of Jesus.

That is why we need to be open and available to hear from God. We need to be willing to spend time listening to what is sometimes called that “still, small voice.” We also need to be willing to respond.

Once we figure out how we can best hear from God that will often become the easy part. We also need to be willing to respond to where God leads us and what God asks for us to do. We have to believe that even if God seems to be sending us to a “desert place” that he has a plan in mind that will allow us to serve him and those around us.

Did you notice that being baptized was not Philip’s idea. It was through the conversation with Philip that led the Eunuch to connect with Jesus in such a way that he made the decision he wanted to be baptized.

The Holy Spirit brought Philip to the right place at the right time to speak to this person at the right moment. This interaction was so perfect that it leads this person to decide that he is ready to be baptized.

One person, one God. The one person listens to the one God and goes where he is told to go. There he meets one person and tells him about the one God. The one person becomes a follower of Jesus and is baptized. One person, One God, leads to one new follower of Jesus.

Our first reading points out to us how much God cares about that one person he wants us to speak with. It has us looking at two examples that show us how important that one person is to God.

The first example speaks of a shepherd having one lost sheep out of one hundred and his willingness to go find the lost sheep. Jesus says what man “does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the one that is lost.”

It is my understanding that the audience would have said “no one.” A shepherd if he is by himself will not risk the lives of 99 sheep to save one who wandered away. But Jesus would. Jesus wants us to be willing to go out and find the one.

God loves each person so much that he wants us to be willing to have us leave those that are safe to reach those that our not. What would happen is that if there our other shepherds around a person? He would be willing to seek out the one.

This is where the church enters into the situation. We are to be a safe place for the 99. We are to be a place where those that are not lost can become closer to God and can help those around them also become closer to God.

This is why the Holy Spirit will lead us to the one. The one who is facing a life crisis. A one who is struggling with what is going on in their life. The one who believes no one cares. The Holy Spirit wants to help us find those that need him.

Our second story points out that Jesus isn’t only willing to risk 99 to find the one but that one is valuable to him. We have the story of a woman who had lost one tenth of all she owned and needed to find it. She searches for it everywhere until she finally finds it.

Both stories end with a focus on joy in Heaven. How it is through a person who once was lost and now is found that there is rejoicing in Heaven. This should lead us to seek those the Holy Spirit guides us to find, and rejoice when they are found and decide to become followers of Jesus.

What if each of us asked the Holy Spirit to give us one person? What if we spent time with that person? What if that person became a follower of Jesus? We each have been given the gifts to help God lead those around us into a relationship with Jesus. Let us decide to ask the Holy Spirit to help us find that one person.

A pastor who planned better would have looked up and found out that there is a website and information on how to live this thought of helping one person find the one true God. But since I didn’t, what I want to do is provide you with some information from the website whosyourone.com.

They offer five steps to finding your one and helping your one find Jesus. The first is to remember that we are called to “know Jesus and to make him known.” We are to become closer to Jesus and help those that don’t know Jesus learn about him.

Their second step is to ask God to create opportunities for you to let someone know about Jesus. We have called them “coincidences.” God timing matching our timing to allow for us to share Jesus with someone.

Third, is for us to be willing to interact with those around us that might not know Jesus. We may have to step out of our comfort zone. We might have to be like Philip and say “what are you reading” or “what are you doing?”

The fourth step is “build relationships” and be open to “conversations about God” with those you meet. Get to know those that you know well enough that they will trust you enough to have discussions about topics that can often be viewed as off limits within society such as religion.

The last step is to remain faithful. We spoke last week about one the fruit of the Spirit being patience. We should not expect immediate results. We should build relationships and remain ready for when the Holy Spirit provides us the chance to tell how Jesus has impacted our lives.

You can go to the website whosyourone.com for more information or to receive a packet that offers further ways to connect with those around you. But I want to end by making sure we understand why we are building relationships.

We form relationships with those around us not to lead them to Jesus. We build relationships in order to show people that they matter to us. These relationships may never lead to someone following Jesus, but they will lead to us being able to show the love of Jesus to those around us.

Let us pray…