Open to the flow
18th April 2024
A longer reading this week, but it’s worth it:
An angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get ready and go south to the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So Philip got ready and went. Now an Ethiopian eunuch, who was an important official in charge of the treasury of the queen of Ethiopia, was on his way home. He had been to Jerusalem to worship God and was going back home in his carriage. As he rode along, he was reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to that carriage and stay close to it.” Philip ran over and heard him reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. He asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
The official replied, “How can I understand unless someone explains it to me?” And he invited Philip to climb up and sit in the carriage with him. The passage of scripture which he was reading was this:
He was like a sheep that is taken to be slaughtered,
like a lamb that makes no sound when its wool is cut off.
He did not say a word.
He was humiliated, and justice was denied him.
No one will be able to tell about his descendants,
because his life on earth has come to an end.The official asked Philip, “Tell me, who is the prophet speaking about? Himself or someone else?” Then Philip began to speak; starting from this passage of scripture, he told him the Good News about Jesus. As they travelled down the road, they came to a place where there was some water, and the official said, “Here is some water. What is to keep me from being baptized?”
The official ordered the carriage to stop, and both Philip and the official went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away. The official did not see him again, but continued on his way, full of joy.
Acts 8.26 – 39
I wonder what you make of that story? The orthodox church in Ethiopia looks back to this encounter as their foundation. There’s a sense of dynamism in the whole story – from Philip’s arrival on the road, to a conversation which gets right to the heart of things, and then to the baptism – it must be one of the shortest ever times from the first explanation of the gospel to belief and being baptised. And then the official continues on his journey and Philip is whisked off somewhere else.
What makes this all possible? Both Philip and the official have a particular openness to the movement of the Spirit. When Philip is given the direction to go to this little used road we’re told he got ready and went. Just like that. None of the questioning that often comes with such a call. Then he goes, as instructed, up to the carriage of this important stranger, and engages in a conversation with him.
The official has been to Jerusalem to worship God. It seems he is open to learning about the God worshipped by the Jewish people, and he wants to go further, so he has somehow got hold of a scroll of the prophet Isaiah and has, guided perhaps by the Spirit, found this part which Christians take as pointing to the crucifixion. He wants to understand more deeply, and Philip, full of his own new Easter faith, wants to share with him. It reminds me of a diagram in an old book about the internal combustion engine. The petrol and air fill the piston, the piston compresses them, and then the spark ignites this mixture and bang – the car moves forward.
The official is on the look out for the next step, and he sees some water. Philip is ready to respond, and so he baptises this new follower.
There’s a wonderful flow through the whole story, the flow of the Spirit, made possible because both Philip and the Ethiopian official are open to this flow.
After Easter, I was walking on the way of St Francis in Italy – not a desert road, but pretty hot. I fell into conversation with a lovely guy called Mark. We were talking about taking risks, and responding to what we sense as promptings of the Spirit. It isn’t easy for us to do, but just occasionally we manage to get out of the way and let God in. And then, as Mark reflected, for once our ego is not involved. We haven’t done anything great – we’ve simply allowed God to be at work. And maybe, like Philip, afterwards we just leave, not longer part of the story – but someone may have moved on in some way because our openness and their openness has allowed the Spirit to flow, and something to happen.
Maybe we have sensed some time when we have felt that flow of the Spirit, and by God’s grace we have been open to it…
Maybe we have seen that in someone else…
Maybe it is something we long to experience more…
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Lord of life, may we sense the flow of your Spirit in our lives. May we learn to be open to you – to make space for you – to let go of our ego and of all the distractions that clog up our minds. May we enable, in whatever small ways, your goodness and your grace to flow in the world.
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We think of people who are stuck, or searching, or unsure…
Maybe people we met with, and try to respond to…
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Lord of all goodness, by your grace help those who are stuck or hurting or seeking to open themselves to the flow of your life-giving love. Where we have the opportunity, may we be deeply open both to them and to you. May they find water in the desert.
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Lord of love, in a time and a place where we need to speak in new ways and in unfamiliar cultures to share your story, give us courage to take risks, teach us how to share what we have been given, and help us be open to those whose hearts are opening to you.