O Lord, You have made it clear that You desire Your Church to be united. Break down the walls which separate us and build us back up again as one body in Jesus Christ, through whom we pray. Amen.

Read: :26-40

Acts 8:26-40 New International Version (NIV) Philip and the Ethiopian

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian , an important official in charge of all the treasury of the (which means “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 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its 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. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” [37] 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.

It seems like God went to a lot of effort to get one guy baptized. OK, yes, everyone is important to God. After all, as Jesus said, God knows how many hairs we have on our heads. 1 And how many we used to have. And what color they used to be. But I digress. And, yes, this wasn’t just any guy. This guy was an Ethiopian, and head of the treasury for the Kandake, the Queen of , at that. And he was a eunuch. Even more uniquely, he’d been in Jerusalem to worship and was headed home. So, he wasn’t just any guy. Still, God went to a lot of effort.

Philip had been in Samaria when the angel told him to head south to the desert road, which led from Jerusalem towards Gaza. As he traveled, he met the aforementioned Ethiopian who was reading to himself from Isaiah as he traveled. Once again, God stepped in. The Spirit told Philip to go and hang out by the chariot. We should probably think something closer to a carriage than a war chariot. After their encounter was over, Philip was snatched up bodily and found himself in Azotus, also known as Ashdod, and was sent back north all the way to the area of Caesarea. That’s a lot of effort on God’s part to divert Philip from his northward journey just to meet up with this guy.

The encounter that Philip had with the Ethiopian is significant. Philip started his conversation with a question—Do you understand what you’re reading? It seems likely that he was reading it out loud and that it was either in Hebrew or Greek—in other words, not his first language. But as being able to read and speak several languages wouldn’t have been as unusual in the ancient world as it is for us—especially not for a high government official—Philip’s question wasn’t really about translation, as the Ethiopian’s response shows us. “How can I, unless someone explains it to me?” Here was the perfect teaching moment: a teacher ready to share what he knew, and a student eager to learn what he might. The student asked, “Who is the prophet talking about?” And the teacher answered with the Good News of Jesus. This shows us a pattern that is a guide to how we can share the Gospel today: start with where people are, use their interests to begin the conversation and answer as fully and truthfully as we can. And through it all, listen carefully for the Holy Spirit to direct the conversation.

As they went along, they came to some water, which caused the new believer to ask, “What prevents me from being baptized?” This is a significant question. He was a man who was used to being religiously restricted. As an Ethiopian, he would have been restricted to the court of the Gentiles in the temple. As a eunuch, he would have been even more restricted. Imagine how he must have felt when Philip responded by baptizing him on the spot!

God seems to have gone to a lot of effort to get one guy baptized. But no more effort that to pour out the Holy Spirit on the apostles.2 No more so than in giving Stephen wisdom in the face of opposition.3 No more so than working signs and wonders through Philip for Simon and the other Samaritans. 4 God went to a lot of effort to bring one guy to faith, who would then go on, as tradition tells us, to bring the Good News of Jesus to the people of Ethiopia— people who still worship Jesus Christ to this day. And so through Philip’s ministry and this one guy, the Church spread it mission from Jerusalem to all Judea, Samaria, and towards the ends of the earth.

Where, or to whom, is God sending you today?

May the God of love break down the walls to unite you with the world in Jesus’ Name. Amen. ______1 Matthew 10:29-30 2 Acts 2:1-4 3 Acts 6:9-10 4 Acts 8:4-13