Get up & Go!

GO!

In 1912, 39 year old, Rev. John Harper a Scottish preacher was making a transatlantic trip to preach at the Moody Church in Chicago. As fate would have it, the vessel he chose was the Titanic. We all know the story about the disaster but do you know the story of John Harper? Harper like many others ended up in the water, and as people desperately tried to survive in the chilled waters, Harper swam to them.

The minister asked people in the water if they knew Jesus. Eventually, Harper approached a passenger clinging to a jagged piece of wood and he pleaded for the man to trust Christ. The minister was completely exhausted at this point. As he succumbed to the conditions and went under the water to his death, Harper said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved."

A few years later at a meeting of survivors of the Titanic, the final man who encountered John Harper told the group that he had been saved twice that night. First, he had accepted Christ as his personal Savior because of Harper’s efforts. And, of course, he had been rescued from the deep Atlantic seas. He said “Alone in the night with two miles of water under me I believed, I am John Harpers’ last convert.”

John Harper’s goal, his focus was not on himself. Even in his dying moments, all he thought about was the people around him and their spiritual condition. His desire was to see people go from death to life - spiritually - in the very moments when many of them were going from life to death physically.

In another account I read about this incident, when the lifeboats were being loaded on the Titanic, John was there directing, saying “Women, children, and the unsaved first.” What an incredible heart he had for the lost, even when he knew he was going to die!

Turn with me to Acts chapter 8:26-40, or the words will be on the screens behind me.

Acts 8:26–40 NIV84

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” 30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. 31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” 34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?” 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

Often, I have thought of this story as a story about 2 characters - Philip, who was one of the Christians that had been dispersed after the death of Stephen. He served along with Stephen as one of the deacons of the church, freeing up the 12 apostles to do the ministry of the Word of God.

Then there is this Ethiopian Eunuch - a foreigner - an outcast even, because he was a Eunuch. This man, in spite of the fact that he would have been ostracized at the temple because he was a Eunuch, had come to Jerusalem to worship and was now on his way home. This is a story of 2 men whose worlds are about to connect.

Two people - but there is a third character here - the Holy Spirit, represented also as an angel. Philip was led by the Holy Spirit, and he followed that leading.

Usually when I think about this passage, I have seen myself as Philip - the guy who has a relationship with Jesus, and has a responsibility to share it with those around me no matter what their position in life may be, or what they look like, or where they come from.

Philip was a man very much like Rev. John Harper. He was fixated, he was focused on doing God’s will, God’s work. He was fixated on influencing people for the kingdom, and he obediently did so wherever God led him. He was successfully leading people to Jesus in Samaria when God called him to go to a desert road. There was no explanation of why, but he followed the leading of the Spirit where he meets up with this foreigner - this outcast.

People become outcasts from society in a number of different ways and for a variety of different reasons. As I was praying and preparing for this morning’s message, I was drawn to the fact that this man, this outcast, represents many people in our world today. The Holy Spirit calls the church today to reach the outcasts, the unwanted, the estranged, the migrant, the refugee - no matter their reason for being outcasts. Maybe you have even felt like an outcast yourself at times.

When you are an outcast, you do what you can to find your way. As a Eunuch, this man would have been unable even to worship with the true Jews.

The ESV Study Bible says, The designation Eunuch could have been a mere title, or could refer to his having been emasculated. He was probably a God-fearer - a gentile who worshiped Israel’s God but had not become a full convert. As a Eunuch, he would have been barred from the inner courts of the temple. He would have been barred from baptism into Judaism because he was a Eunuch.

So, he was somebody that was kept out of the fellowship because of his situation in life. It was not uncommon in many places in those days for young men to be castrated in order to serve the king’s harem. These young men were highly valued in those cultures, and they would advance in the kingdom. He would have been given a lot of responsibility as he served the Candace. He may have been an outcast, but he was no second class citizen financially - as the fact that he was riding in a chariot and reading from a scroll would prove. Scrolls were expensive, so only the wealthiest of people would have one. Chariots were not the way common people would have gotten around - they were expensive, and only the wealthiest of people would travel this way.

As he is leaving Jerusalem and heading on his way home, he is surely contemplating his place in life, and how he had just come from worship, but had been left outside. That may have been why he was reading “the prophet Isaiah.” Over in chapter 56, just a few chapters after the place he was reading, Isaiah held out hope even for the Eunuch -

Isaiah 56:3–5 NIV84

3 Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.” And let not any eunuch complain, “I am only a dry tree.” 4 For this is what the Lord says: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant— 5 to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.

When Philip arrived at the chariot, the eunuch was reading from this book of Isaiah, just a few chapters before in chapter 52 & 53 - what we know as the suffering servant passage. These verses describe God’s servant who suffers humiliation, bears the consequences of the sin of others, and is then exalted by God. Christians, from the earliest days were able to see how this suffering servant passage clearly resembled the life and death of Christ. So, Philip was able to tell this Gentile Ethiopian all about Jesus, using this Old Testament passage from the prophet Isaiah. God wanted the Gentiles included and Philip won this first Gentile convert. This outcast was given the transforming message of Jesus, who gave His life so that even outcasts could be fully included in the kingdom of God.

As they are traveling, they come upon some water - it was a desert road, but there were some places where water would be present. The Eunuch, who had been kept from full worship of God when he went to the temple in Jerusalem asks what on the surface seems like a simple question, but as we think about the nature of an outcast, he is asking a legitimately hard question for him. You can sense the frustration, concern, and fear of rejection in his question:

Acts 8:36 NIV84

36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?”

Maybe he expected Philip to explain to him, as he had heard his whole life, that as a Eunuch he would be excluded. I think he half expected to be turned away and rejected once again. He had been excluded from worship in the temple, would there be some reason that he would be excluded from full worship as a believer in Christ?

There is water, and Philip sees no reason why the eunuch should not be baptized. Man, I remember the day I was baptized. My church had a baptistry, but it was, for some reason back in a Sunday School classroom. I was about 12 years old, and I wanted to make it known to the world that I had accepted Jesus as my savior. Baptism is vital to our faith - it is a sacrament - it symbolizes our entrance into the family of God, and marks us as a member of that family. Here in a little while, we will be participating in another sacrament which symbolizes our relationship with the Lord, and our continuing dependence on Him for life in that kingdom.

Philip, who had been instrumental in bringing Samaritans, despised by Old Israel, into the community of the New Israel; now disposes of another barrier, and welcomes in the Church a eunuch, who according to Jewish law was not eligible to belong (Dt. 23:1).

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Eight: A Church on the Move (Acts 8)

In October 1857, J. Hudson Taylor began to minister in Ningpo, China, and he led a Mr. Nyi to Christ. The man was overjoyed and wanted to share his faith with others.

“How long have you had the good tidings in England?” Mr. Nyi asked Hudson Taylor one day. Taylor acknowledged that England had known the Gospel for many centuries.

“My father died seeking the truth,” said Mr. Nyi. “Why didn’t you come sooner?”

Taylor had no answer to that penetrating question.

How long have you known the Gospel?

How far have you shared it personally?

People are considered outsiders and outcasts for all kinds of reasons, even sickness can cause you to be an outcast. Even if you are an outcast - the gospel message is for you! Even if you feel you have done something unforgivable, God’s forgiveness is available in Christ! In Christ - there is hope for the outcast and the outsider, for the untouchables and the refugee. And yes, there is hope for you and me.

The Communion Supper, instituted by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a sacrament, which proclaims His life, His sufferings, His sacrificial death, and resurrection, and the hope of His coming again. It shows forth the Lord’s death until His return.

The Supper is a means of grace in which Christ is present by the Spirit. It is to be received in reverent appreciation and gratefulness for the work of Christ.

All those who are truly repentant, forsaking their sins, and believing in Christ for salvation are invited to participate in the death and resurrection of Christ. We come to the table that we may be renewed in life and salvation and be made one by the Spirit. In unity with the Church, we confess our faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. And so we pray:

Holy God, We gather at this, your table, in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, who by your Spirit was anointed to preach good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, set at liberty those who are oppressed. Christ healed the sick, fed the hungry, ate with sinners, and established the new covenant for forgiveness of sins. We live in the hope of His coming again.

On the night in which He was betrayed, He took bread, gave thanks, broke the bread, gave it to His disciples, and said: “This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

Likewise, when the supper was over, He took the cup, gave thanks, gave it to His disciples, and said: “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in remembrance of me.” Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

And so, we gather as the Body of Christ to offer ourselves to you in praise and thanksgiving. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us and on these your gifts. Make them by the power of your Spirit to be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the Body of Christ, redeemed by His blood. By your Spirit make us one in Christ, one with each other, and one in the ministry of Christ to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen. And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, let us pray:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, broken for you, preserve you blameless, unto everlasting life. Eat this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and be thankful.

The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, shed for you, preserve you blameless unto everlasting life. Drink this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and be thankful.