How Many “Philips” Do We Have?

5th Sunday of Easter, 4/29/18
Acts 8:26-40


How Many “Philips” Do We Have?
I. Who grab the Spirit’s opportunities
II. Who explain the Spirit’s truths
III. Who administer the Spirit’s sacrament


Comparing yourself to someone else can be helpful at times. It might help you consider where you need to improve something. It might help you aspire to greater things in your life.

But making such comparisons can also be dangerous. We can easily take far too much credit for who we are and what we have become. We can easily be filled with the sinful pride of the Pharisee in the parable who declared, “God, I thank you that I’m not like other men are.”

But there’s another inherent danger in comparing ourselves to others. It’s the tendency, once we’ve made the comparison of ourselves to others and have recognized that we’re lacking, to simply offer excuses. We don’t have the gifts, we don’t have the opportunity, we’re disadvantaged from the start. And while some of those excuses may have an element of truth to them, we use them as the reason not to strive harder.

But there are still opportunities to compare ourselves to others that can be extremely helpful. And the Bible contains page after page of them. As Christians we examine the lives of God’s people as they play out before us on the pages of Scripture and, so often, we find our lives are no different. We face the same fears. We fall into the same traps. Our sinful natures get the best of us just as theirs got the best of them. And, like them, we flee for forgiveness and comfort to our faithful God.

But there are also shining biblical examples about the way God’s people carried out their lives of service to him as one of the fruits of their faith. Jesus spoke about those fruits of faith in this morning’s Gospel and we see those fruits of faith in the life of the man before us this morning, the evangelist Philip.

This morning our intent is not to venerate Philip. He was a sinner who needed a Savior just as much as we do. But in this event before us this morning, we do have an example to follow. The same Holy Spirit who empowered Philip’s life of service empowers you and me.

But how many of us can see ourselves doing what Philip did? How many “Philips” do we have? Let’s keep that question before us this morning as we examine this interesting event in the early history of the Christian Church.

Part I.

Has an angel ever spoken to you? I can’t say that one has ever spoken to me in nearly 60 years of being a Christian. But, if an angel spoke to you and told you to do something, would you do it right away? Would you answer as Mary, the mother of Jesus did, and declare that you are the Lord’s servant for him to do with you as he wills? I’m not sure that would be my response. How about you? We’d like to think that we would, but who knows that until it happens?

But that’s what Philip did. “Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ 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.” If this was the only information the angel gave Philip, it’s rather cryptic. He doesn’t tell Philip why or when to go, or what to do when he gets there. Just go. And Philip went. Would you have done that? How many “Philips” do we have?

Once Philip got there, the Holy Spirit himself stepped in. We read, “The Spirit told Philip, ‘Go to that chariot and stay near it.’” We’re not told for sure, but it would seem Philip realized this was the Holy Spirit speaking to him. And, again, if this was the only thing that Holy Spirit told him, the information was rather cryptic. “Stay near the chariot.” We might wonder, “Why? How long? Is there something in particular you want me to notice? To hear?”

But I don’t suppose Philip wondered. The apostles had called him to be an evangelist. His call was to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others. That included everyone. That included this Gentile man from Ethiopia who had come to know and worship the God of the Jews. As such, he was looking for the Messiah to come as God promised. Philip now had the opportunity to tell him that Jesus was that Messiah.

How many “Philips” do we have—people who will grab the Spirit’s opportunities?

Has the Holy Spirit ever spoken to you as he did to Philip? To be honest, it makes me a little uneasy when people tell me that the Spirit told them to do this or that. I’m uneasy because what they tell me certainly sounds like it didn’t come from the Holy Spirit, and the Bible tells us that Satan is constantly whispering things in our ears. So, I don’t look for the Holy Spirit to whisper something in my ear.

Instead, God tells us to listen to what the Holy Spirit has already told us—not in our ear, but in his word. And in that word he gives the ministry of the gospel to his Church—to all believers. He calls on each of us to grab the opportunities he presents to share his word with others. But, believe it or not, there are times when I’m reluctant to do that. How about you? Have you ever dropped the opportunity to share with a loved one what God declares in his word? Have you ever felt inadequate or incompletely trained? I’m sure Philip did too, because he was no different than we are. He needed a Savior for his sinful failures just as we do. But the death of Jesus forgives us and his resurrection empowers us to produce the fruits Jesus is looking for and one of those is to grab the Spirit’s opportunities. So, how many “Philips” do we have?

Part II.

Are you familiar with the phrase, “It’s like shooting a fish in a barrel”? I’m guessing you are. We have an example of it here in this biblical event. I would never claim that sharing your faith is always easy, but humanly speaking, it couldn’t have been much easier for Philip to do so here.

Look at the opportunity! The Ethiopian wasn’t taking a nap while his driver took care of guiding the chariot. He wasn’t busy talking to someone else. He wasn’t engrossed in the latest best-selling novel. He was reading his “Bible.” In an age when few people could afford a copy of the holy Jewish scrolls this man had one. And look at what he was reading—Isaiah 53, arguably the clearest Old Testament prophecy about the Savior’s suffering and death. For Philip, grabbing this opportunity to share his faith was like shooting fish in a barrel.

We’re told, “The eunuch asked Philip, ‘Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?’ Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.” No doubt Philip made sure that first the man knew about sin and God’s solution to sin in his promise to send a Savior. Being a convert to Judaism, the man surely knew about the promises to Abraham and King David about a Savior from sin.

Philip then used that knowledge as a basis for declaring that Jesus was that promised Savior from sin. He shared how Jesus fulfilled the very words that the man had been reading—how Jesus suffered and died to take our sins upon himself. And then Philip shared with him the good news of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead—nothing that would take a doctorate or any advanced Christian training. Just basic Christian truths—our sin and Jesus who died and rose again to save us from the punishment of sin. Can you see yourself sharing those same truths?

How many “Philips” do we have who explain the Spirit’s truths?

In comparing ourselves to Philip, we could make excuses for not doing what he did, but that’s all they would be—just excuses. And we can walk out of worship feeling pretty low about that, or we can do what our God calls on us to do—to confess our sins of omission regarding explaining God’s truths. We have a Savior who is the Word of God in human flesh. Jesus always spoke God’s word perfectly for us. He always knew what to say and when to say it. He died to forgive us. And he rose to empower us. He now speaks his word through his Church—you and me. How many “Philips” do we have? God knows you can do it with the power of Christ in you!

Part III.

This biblical event ends with a private baptism. The Ethiopian man sees some water, knows what baptism is because of Philip’s instruction, and asks to be baptized. Philip was only too happy to grant his request. Philip took water—connected to the word of the risen Lord Jesus—and applied it to the man. Philip used the Sacrament of Holy Baptism.

How many “Philips” do we have? Have you ever considered administering Baptism to someone? I hope you have. I instruct our Catechism students to do so in cases of emergency. There are instructions on what do to and what to say on page 14 in the hymnal.

My point is the Jesus gave the means of grace to his Church. You are the Church. You have the means of grace to use to bring people into God’s kingdom and to strengthen the faith of those already in his kingdom. Normally, you expect me to do that because you have called me to do that for you. But you still have God word and sacraments.

So, how many “Philips” do we have? I’m not telling you to go out and baptize people indiscriminately. But I am asking you to recognize that the word and sacraments have been given to you. Make sure our congregation is proclaiming the word and administering the sacraments faithfully and truthfully—just as Jesus gave them to us. Make sure you are making use of them for yourself. How important is the word of God to you? How much do you cherish your baptism? Do you look on the Lord’s Supper as a heavenly blessing or just an unwanted extension of an hour-long service? How many “Philips” do we have? I pray that God would instill in you what he obviously instilled in Philip—a love for Jesus and his saving word and his life-giving and faith-sustaining sacraments.

Think about this—of all the things you do during the week, how many of them have results that are eternal? What Philip did on this day had eternal results for an Ethiopian man. How many “Philips” do we have? May the power of the risen Lord Jesus fill you and inspire you to be a “Philip.” Amen.