I love it when the Holy Spirit draws me into a familiar passage with the desire to show me something relevant to my life in a new way.
Making my way slowly through Acts, I recently landed on the passage that describes the encounter of Philip with the Ethiopian eunuch.
This is what I noticed:
Philip had been chosen as a deacon, which would have meant his chief role would be to take care of widows and orphans, and the day to day practical matters of the early church. But here we see him getting a special message from an angel to go down the wilderness road between Jerusalem and Gaza. That’s it. Just go. No special instructions. He didn’t refer to his daily or weekly goals and objectives, or to his job description. He just went.
The eunuch, as a court official to the Ethiopian queen, was a dignitary and would probably have been a wealthy man since he was able to afford to travel the many days necessary to reach Jerusalem. What could possibly be so appealing to him about worshipping the God of the Israelites that he would travel all this way? It wasn’t part of his role in the Ethiopian courts, that’s certain. And what about his social status as a eunuch? Not to be indelicate, but Jewish law would have prevented a castrated male from worshiping in the temple. Some of the commentaries I read surmised that this man might have been a “naturalized” eunuch… suggesting he was gay. This would be irrelevant except for the point I’m trying to make: these men would not naturally have traveled in the same circles, and they would have had very little in common.
Then there was the passage the eunuch was reading from Isaiah: “Like a sheep, he was led to the slaughter, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” Not a passage that seems particularly compelling unless the Ethiopian was drawn to a man (Jesus) who was denied justice.
So imagine with me. Here is a wealthy dignitary riding down a wilderness road reading a passage of scripture and up runs a Jewish man, probably dirty and weary from his swift pursuit. We have two men who seem total opposites in every way who form a temporary community. And a new life is brought forth!
It struck me that even though this man may have been unable to produce offspring physically, he was able to produce spiritual heirs! I discovered that, according to Pew research, Christianity is now one of the fastest-growing religions in Africa, and Africa is outpacing the rest of the world in converts to Christianity! Did you know that one in every four Christians lives in Africa, currently? It’s entirely possible that this man was the person who started it all!
So, what can I learn from all this that I can apply?
1. I need to drop my own self-importance and perhaps be willing to veer from my own personal mission statement. Philip was a deacon and was appointed to a certain task, but he allowed God to direct his days. The eunuch was a royal treasurer, yet he was willing to learn from someone of a different culture and social status.
2. I need to see beyond any barriers and differences to the needs that we all have for love, acceptance, worth, and security. The need for understanding and redemption.
3. I need to see the value of community in advancing the kingdom, within and without.
4. I need to keep the main thing the main thing: Jesus. His life speaks for itself. I don’t need to be a great theologian or a master of debate. I just need to be willing to speak about what I know from personal experience.
This set me to wondering if I would actually be able to hear an angel from the Lord whispering in my ear…or the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit. And if I did hear this voice, would I be willing to stop what I am doing - even the good and important things - and do it, no matter how ridiculous it may seem?
I can only think of a couple of times that this has happened to me. One is so very clear in my mind it seems like it just happened. It actually occurred about fifteen years ago. The details are too many to review here in this space, but I’ll get to the meat of it. I had been visiting the women’s jails for a time and happened to be there one evening when several Hmong women were incarcerated. As I passed by, one was crying softly but audibly and was being comforted by one of her friends. I stopped to ask if there was anything I could do. The friend told me this woman was crying because she knew I was talking about Jesus and she wanted to have a Bible she could read. Not realizing what a difficult thing she was requesting (I mean, we have Bibles of all translations and varieties, right?), I told her I would find one for her and get it to her somehow.
Over the course of a few days, I began to think there was no way I could keep this promise. I exhausted all my resources and even discovered that there are two Hmong languages, blue and white. I was told that even if I knew which dialect this woman spoke, it was unlikely she could read either version. I was ready to give up.
I was prompted to go to the library, thinking that if I could find one there and see the publisher, I could purchase one directly. No Hmong Bibles at the library.
I tried to put it out of my mind, but could not rest. On my way home from work the next day, I felt the Spirit prompt me to go back to the library. I argued, reminding God that I had already been there and I was in a hurry to get home, prepare dinner, and get back to prayer service at church. I had stuff to do. The prompting was so strong, that I whipped my car around, more than a little put out with this whole thing. I stomped back into the library and made my way back to the religious section. At a study table near that section, I noticed a man and young boy that looked to be Asian. This appeared to be a father tutoring his son. God said, “Go speak to them.”
“No way,” I said. What if they think I’m crazy, and worse, what if they think I’m stereotyping them - not knowing if they were Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese,…..? Finally relenting, I went over and excused myself, and hurriedly muttered that I was trying to find a Hmong Bible. Any chance they might be able to tell me where to find one.
They looked at each other, seemingly bewildered, and I started to tell them I was sorry for the interruption and turn away. The man said, “I have a Hmong Bible. I would be honored to give it to you for this woman.”
Dazed, I went through the motions of thanking him and making arrangements to meet him at the corrections facility the next evening. Even through all this, I doubted he would show up. But off I went the next night. There in the parking lot was his entire family, smiling and crying, as he offered me his own well-worn Bible. We all laughed and cried, and I waved to them as they drove away. I stumbled into the jail and asked the officer to please make sure that the woman in the first cell get this.
Even as I am retelling this story, it seems incredulous to me. I have no idea what happened after that, to either party. But I did learn that when God speaks, even if it seems nonsense, I want to listen. I wonder if Philip felt that way as he made his way back to Samaria or Jerusalem that week.
I think that God must still work the same way today when it comes to matching up individuals who can be mutually encouraging to one another. We just need to be paying attention.
Maybe it would be helpful for you to ask yourself how you might recognize the voice of God in your own busy day? It’s probably rare that he would call on us to do what Philip did, and I have not had another experience like the one I just described. But I do want to be listening for those kinds of invitation. With the world so much more homogenized than ever in history, we have opportunities every day to connect with someone who looks different than we do, or who has a different set of values. But as children of God, we all have that inner longing to know him, whether we recognize it or not.