Latest / Chapel Talks / Cross cultural courage | Acts 8 | Dr Chris Howles

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Cross cultural courage | Acts 8 | Dr Chris Howles · Chapel Talks

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What am I doing here? That's not an existential
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crisis as I stand at the Oak Hill Chapel pulpit.
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But it may well be what Philip was thinking.
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As bemused and confused, he stood on a desert
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road, far from anywhere, not knowing why he's
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there. Why has God brought me here? After all,
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in the reading that Matt just gave us, Philip
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had been enjoying unparalleled, unprecedented
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ministry, evangelistic success in Samaria. He's
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been in Jerusalem at the start of chapter eight.
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But like so many others, had been scattered by
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that Pauline persecution. And he'd ended up in
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Samaria where, verse five, he'd been proclaiming
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the Messiah. And when the crowds heard Philip
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and saw the signs he performed, they all paid
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close attention to what he said. Streaks, impure
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spirits came out of many and many who were paralyzed
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or lame were healed. So there was great joy in
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that city. Wow. What a beautiful, bountiful,
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blessed ministry. that Philip was enjoying in
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Samaria. There's healing, there's deliverance,
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there's miracles. And best of all, there is many
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turning to faith in Christ, including the spectacular
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conversion of a sorcerer, no less. So when an
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angel appears in verse 26, there's many things
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that we might expect God to say through that
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angel to Philip. But perhaps the one thing we
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might be least expecting is what the angel does
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say. Go. Go on, go south, go into the desert
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on the track that leads you through Gaza to Africa.
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Now I dropped a Google pin. onto this road as
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it looks today it's just a few miles from the
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horrors going on in Gaza and even with all the
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modern irrigation there's not a huge lot going
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on today and there was even less back then the
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angel is telling Philip to leave the ministry
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momentum that he was enjoying and head out into
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the wilderness no crowds no apparent platform
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no apparent plan what am I doing here It's a
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strange assignment, isn't it, that God gives
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him. But God has an appointment for him. And
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sure enough, a chariot soon trundles into view.
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Now, don't get me wrong, Philip's not a man to
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be disturbed by difference. After all, he's been
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a missionary among the Samaritans, those others
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with a wrong history and wrong temple and wrong
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worship. But this man on the chariot coming into
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Philip's view will require next level cross -cultural
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courage. For everything about this man makes
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him a profoundly unlikely candidate to receive
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God's grace and truth. For a start, his ethnicity.
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Ethiopian. Probably not from the modern nation
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state of Ethiopia, but further up the Blue Nile
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around modern day Khartoum, the kingdom of Kush,
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as it was called, a five month chariot journey
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from Jerusalem. A land so distant that it stood
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at the very edge of the known world. To the Greek
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mind, Ethiopia was the furthest horizons imaginable.
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Both Herodotus and Homer speak of Ethiopians
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as those literally on the edge of the earth.
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You cannot get any further away from the Jewish
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religious center than this. What am I doing here?
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The kings in that Kushite kingdom were regarded
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as divine, too holy to involve themselves in
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administration. So it was the queen or the queen
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mother that governed. Her title was Kandake and
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the royal treasurer kept the books of the kingdom.
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So our charioteer here is that treasurer. He's
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a powerful figure, but he's a eunuch. Probably
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that's why he's so senior. eunuchs could not
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father a dynasty so they could be trusted around
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a royal harem they could be trusted not to rebel
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because without descendants what would be the
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point of setting up a rival dynasty eunuchs throughout
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entire antiquity were then trusted therefore
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to raise to high office so his disfigurement
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would have been a decision made for him a procedure
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done to him You may rise to significant wealth
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and power, but without children, you will always
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be an outsider, temporary. Your name dies with
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you as a eunuch. Cancellation and condemnation
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arising from his castration was deeply embedded
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in Jewish culture. And so in Philip's mind and
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heart, after all, Deuteronomy 23 says, no one
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who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting
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may enter the assembly of the Lord. A eunuch
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was an ultimate outcast, unclean, untouchable,
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unwelcome. This is about as unlikely and unconventional
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an evangelistic encounter as Philip could imagine.
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What am I doing here? This Ethiopian eunuch is
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on his return journey. He's heading back from
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Jerusalem. He's gone there to worship. And whilst
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he's there, he spends a not inconsiderable amount
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of money on a precious scroll. The prophecies
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of Isaiah. Now, he's almost certainly not Jewish,
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this man, but he's reaching out in some way,
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reaching out to Yahweh, perhaps having heard
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of him through Jewish diaspora communities further
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down the Nile. This man's a Gentile, but he's
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a God fearing, perhaps a Sabbath keeping Gentile,
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a proselyte. Yet no doubt he would have discovered
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in Jerusalem that he was held at arm's length.
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Restricted to the outer courts of the temple,
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shut out by his anatomy and ethnicity as a castrated
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Gentile from the ends of the earth. And now he's
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on the long road home, scroll in hand, but he's
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desperately in need of a guide. What am I doing
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here? Thinks Philip. Go to that chariot, says
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the spirit. Him. He's the reason I brought you
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here to this desert road. Philip would have had
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every reason to do a Jonah and turn around. Him.
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Surely not, Lord, he might have objected, just
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as Peter does over the page when facing a similar
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encounter. But no, Philip listens to the Holy
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Spirit's whispers and he obeys. He runs down
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that dusty track until he draws level with the
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moving chariot and jogging alongside, catching
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his breath, he listens. And this man is reading
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the scriptures aloud. Do you understand what
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you're reading? Philip asks. Brilliant question.
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And the reply from the Ethiopian eunuch is humble
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and honest. How can I, unless someone explains
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it to me? That is the question of a heart wide
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open, ready to receive. Do you get a sense of
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the kind of divine choreography going on in this
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passage? Can you see how the Holy Spirit has
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just brought it all together so beautifully?
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God is weaving this tapestry of redemption with
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threads that stretch far across space and time.
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So one of these threads runs from the royal court
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in distant Ethiopia, where a powerful official
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is granted a hunger for truth. Another thread
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runs from the streets of Samaria as Philip learns
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to hear and obey the Spirit's voice and move
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to the desert road. Another thread is from centuries
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earlier as Isaiah's pen scratches prophecy onto
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parchment, words that would one day find a home
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in this chariot. And even up front, way in the
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distance, the distant glint of water in the desert.
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Do you see that the spirit has been weaving it
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all together? Grace that's just threaded through
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geography and history and all converging on this
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random desert road outside Gaza. It's stunning.
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And so Philip is invited up onto the chariot.
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And this is where he and we learn what the man
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is reading precisely. It's Isaiah 53. I mean,
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seriously, you couldn't script it better, could
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you? We know that the whole Old Testament is
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calling us to Christ, but this passage is one
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of the more clear, obvious, beautiful, profound
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passages that does that. Now, Luke gives us two
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or three verses that the man was reading, but
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there's no reason for us to think that that was
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all that he was reading. It's got to be, I presume
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it's got to be the whole servant song, at least
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the end of chapter 52, all of chapter 53. So
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who is this Ethiopian Gentile eunuch reading
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about in the scroll? He's reading about a servant
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who was marred, disfigured. He's reading about
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a servant despised and rejected, a man of suffering,
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familiar with pain. One who bore our suffering,
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pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our
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iniquities. One by whose wounds we are healed.
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As sheep who have gone astray, the Lord lays
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on him the iniquity of us all. But he will stay
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silent amidst all that oppression and affliction.
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He will be cut off from the land of the living,
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assigned a grave alongside the wicked, pouring
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out his life, bearing sins, interceding for transgressors,
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a righteous servant who will justify many. That's
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the servant of Isaiah 52 and 53. Who is he talking
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about? The Ethiopian's question is spot on. Who
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is this suffering, smitten, sin -bearing, saving
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servant? Who is he? Well, Philip makes it loud
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and clear in verse 35. Then Philip, beginning
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with that very passage of scripture, told him
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the good news about Jesus. Philip begins with
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that passage, that servant song, but I doubt
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he finishes there. I think we're absolutely right
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to assume that Philip unrolls the scroll. A bit
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further during that Bible study. And comes to
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the next prophecy in our Bibles. It's three chapters
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later on. I've got it on the screen for us here.
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It's Isaiah 56. And look what it says. For my
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salvation is close at hand and my righteousness
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will soon be revealed. Let no foreigner who is
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bound to the Lord say the Lord will surely exclude
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me from his people. And let no eunuch complain.
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I am only a dry tree. But this is what the Lord
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says to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who
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choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant.
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To them, I will give within my temple and its
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walls a memorial and a name better than sons
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and daughters. I will give them an everlasting
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name that will endure forever. And foreigners
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who bind themselves to the Lord, to minister
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to him, to love the name of the Lord and to be
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his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without
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desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant.
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These I will bring to my holy mountain and give
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them joy in my house of prayer. Brings me so
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much joy to think of the face of the Ethiopian
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eunuch. As Philip reads that section and explains
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it to him, that in Jesus, those beautiful words
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have come to their final fulfilment. Jesus, who
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was pierced for our transgressions and crushed
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for iniquities, has carried the shame of the
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excluded so that the excluded may enter in. Jesus,
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who was cut off from the land of the living,
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has made it possible for those who were previously
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cut off to live forever. Jesus, who became disfigured
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so that this disfigured African official on a
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dusty desert road might find himself welcomed
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into the heart of God's temple and God's people,
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not in the outer courts, but in the very presence
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of the Lord himself. This eunuch looks down and
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the parchment in his hands, it's like a mirror.
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in which he sees his own story written there
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in Christ, by Christ, through Christ, that salvation
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that for Isaiah was merely close at hand has
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now come in all fullness. God's righteousness
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has been revealed. The foreigner is no longer
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excluded. The eunuch is no longer cut off. His
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name will be written in the book of life and
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will endure forever. And just as we think that
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this story can't get any more joyful, the Ethiopian
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spots a pool of water in the desert. Look at
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that. Look, he says, here is water. What can
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stand in the way of my being baptised? And the
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answer, of course, is it because of Christ. There
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is nothing that can stand in the way of him being
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baptised. Not anymore. Christ has removed the
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barriers and the blockages. His death brings
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life and his exclusion brings inclusion and his
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wounds bring healing. And so down into the water
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they go. And at that moment, at that moment,
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surely Philip is no longer asking, what am I
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doing here? For now, he sees clearly this divine
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tapestry of redemption, a soul saved. New life
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in the desert. That's what he's doing here. And
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as they come out the water, the Lord takes Philip
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away, apparently supernaturally, and the Ethiopian
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is left alone yet rejoicing. The five -month
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trip to follow will feel very different from
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that day on. It's a beautiful story, isn't it?
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There's three things I want us to enjoy in light
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of it. I want us to rest in Christ's work, respond
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to the Spirit's prompting and reach out to God's
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nations. Firstly, let's rest in Christ's work.
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Many of us here today will feel the sting of
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exclusion in one form or another. A past failure
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that feels too ugly to name aloud. A set of habits
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that have calcified into a deep sense of unworthiness
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in us. A culture or a language or a heritage
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that feels somehow second class in certain spaces.
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If you, like me, read Acts 8 and immediately
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identify with Philip, then maybe that speaks
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to certain privileges that we enjoy. There are
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many in the world around us and in this college
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amongst us who relate to the outsider status
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of this Ethiopian eunuch. We all know, don't
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we, that the gospel welcomes the foreigner and
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the eunuch, the distant and the different. We've
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studied that truth, we've written essays about
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it, we maybe even preached about it, but some
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of us still feel that it applies more naturally
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to other people more than ourselves. The ones
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who seem to belong better than us, the ones who
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find the rhythms of academic life easier, the
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ones with the right backgrounds or the confidence
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or voice or heritage or accent. In different
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ways, actually, all of us. We'll feel that at
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some time or another, perhaps in ways that we've
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never even admitted out loud to ourselves. So
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please, all of us, hear God's voice through Isaiah.
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Let no one who is bound to the Lord say, the
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Lord will surely exclude me from his people.
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No. In Christ, all barriers have fallen. By faith,
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by his work on the cross, all are welcomed. All
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are wanted. The servant was cut off so that we
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all might come in. No more outer courts, no more
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arm's length, just grace upon grace in Christ,
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the suffering servant. Who can stand in the way?
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What can stand in the way? Nothing. Not anymore.
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So we rest in Christ's work. Secondly, we respond
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to the Spirit's prompting. In Acts 8, the Spirit
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is the true missionary. Philip listens and moves,
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but it's the Spirit who sends himself, nudges
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him towards the chariot. It's the Spirit who
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whisks him away when the work is done. It's striking
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how little Philip actually kind of initiates
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in this whole encounter. There's no plans, no
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committees, no strategy. It's just obedience
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to the Spirit. There's something in that, isn't
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there? To be responsive to the Spirit is to be
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interruptible, available, teachable, pliable,
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willing to have our schedules rearranged somehow
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for the sake of God's purposes. That takes humility,
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takes trust. It's horrible to give up control
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of our own lives and ministries, isn't it? It
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hurts, but it's essential. When a team of students
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go out into Southgate to witness to Christ, I've
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no doubt they can easily wonder, what am I doing
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here? Perhaps similarly, if you find yourself
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helping an asylum seeker with some practical
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life logistics when you'd rather be writing a
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sermon, what am I doing here? When the jobs you
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really wanted after college fall through and
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you're left with a ministry setting that feels
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small or remote, what am I doing here? But the
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spirit is at work. To those who listen, our part
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is to stay alert and willing and open and interruptible.
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God rarely hands us the full blueprint of our
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lives for the next 12 years or even the next
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12 days or sometimes even the next 12 hours.
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But his spirit does give us the next steps. Our
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work is to listen. A couple of years ago, the
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US Christian band Casting Crowns released a song
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which contains these lyrics. God, if there's
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a bigger picture, it's getting hard to see today.
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I don't know where this is going, but I know
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who holds my hand. It's not the path I would
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have chosen, but I'll follow you to the end.
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Lord, as long as I am breathing, I will make
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your glory known, even if it means I'm walking.
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On this desert road. That's right, I think. Spirit's
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leading doesn't always feel strategic or glamorous.
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It often feels inconvenient, uncertain, perhaps
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even lonely. It's not always the path I would
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have chosen. Perhaps that's for the best, for
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our hearts are corruptible and sometimes our
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decision making sucks. But the same spirit who
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sent Philip to that desert road knows exactly
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why he brought you here to Oak Hill. And here
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into these difficult language classes and here
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into these difficult essays and here into this
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chapel service. And he jolly well knows why he's
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bringing you into whichever desert roads you
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may find yourselves in in the future. We respond
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to the Spirit's prompting. And thirdly and finally,
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we reach out to God's nations. Let's finish by
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just pulling the camera back a little bit and
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noticing this passage as part of the bigger narrative
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of scripture. See, before Paul ever preaches
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in Philippi or Athens, before the gospel ever
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reaches Europe, it's already heading south along
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the Nile into the heart of Africa. The church
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in Africa does not begin with 19th century pith
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-helmeted missionaries. It is in the Upper Nile
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region centuries before it reaches the Upper
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Thames region. Now, we don't know for sure what
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life and faith and mission looked like for this
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Ethiopian eunuch after this chapter. Interestingly,
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second century church father Irenaeus reports
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that this man started to spread the gospel around
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that region and began the growth of the church
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there. I don't know if he's right. I don't know
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how he would know that. It's perfectly plausible,
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I guess, isn't it? Perhaps even likely. We do
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know that by the fourth century, Christianity
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is established in Aksum, what we'd now call today.
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Ethiopia. And today, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo
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Church still venerates this man, this Ethiopian
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eunuch. And Ethiopian church history is just
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longer than any European church history. And
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it continues today, stronger than ever. On Monday
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night, James Robson and I were at a book launch
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for Girma Bishor. Dear friends of the colleges,
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he's Ethiopian. He arrived in the UK in 1990
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without a word of English in his heart or without
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any money in his pocket. And at his book launch,
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James and I were surrounded by Ethiopian sisters
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and brothers right here in London. We drank Ethiopian
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coffee. We ate Ethiopian foods. It's good, wasn't
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it? And I couldn't help but think of this very
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story. The joy that begins on this desert road
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has blossomed into millions of true Ethiopian
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worshippers across space and time. It's marvellous,
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isn't it? And it doesn't stop there. By the end
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of this century, over half the world's Christians
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will be African. Ponder that for a moment. As
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we worship the risen Christ today, we do so shoulder
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to shoulder with sisters and brothers in Addis
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Ababa, in Kampala, Kinshasa and Kigali. The spirit
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pushes Philip out across barriers of race and
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context and geography for God wants those barriers
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dismantled in his multicultural kingdom. Again
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and again and again in the book of Acts, we see
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the spirit forcing the early church out into
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these cross -cultural encounters that stretch
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them and humble them. And he's still doing that
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today. The gospel does not belong to one culture
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more than another. It is radically inclusive.
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It cannot be captured by one single language
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or culture or ethnicity. And we need that reminder
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because we are experts at shrinking the gospel
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to fit our own preferences. We're so good at
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it. We talk about a global God, yet quietly we
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live as though he is most present where we are
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most comfortable. But the God of glory will not
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be domesticated into our culture. This Ethiopian
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from the very edges of the world is part of God
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fulfilling his promise to see Christ known in
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Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to Ethiopia,
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the ends of the earth. This man's baptism is,
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of course, first and foremost, personal to him.
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But it's also representative of something so
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much bigger. The gospel begins its long, unstoppable
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journey to the ends of the earth, from Jerusalem
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to Judea, from God. Gaza to Addis, from Oak Hill
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to the ends of the earth. God's purposes are
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unchanged, that every tribe and tongue and nation
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and language might find life in the servant who
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was cut off to bring us in. What a privilege
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to be invited into that, each of us, wherever
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we may end up, to be invited into God's glorious
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global gospel purposes. For the story that begins
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on this desert road is still being written. And
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by grace, by his kindness, we get to be a part
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of that. Let's pray. Our loving Lord and Father,
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we thank you that your son was cut off from the
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land of the living, crushed for our iniquities,
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bearing our sins. dying for our transgressions,
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that in him we might find life, that in him the
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excluded will be included, that in him our names
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may be written in the book of life and live forevermore.
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We thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ and we
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ask that we might find our rest in him, that
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where we feel outside as we might remember, that
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we might deeply cherish that we are insiders
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in his kingdom. We pray, Lord, that we would
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be responsive to what you are calling us to in
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our lives, both near and far. In whatever desert
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roads you bring us to, might we be inclined to
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hear the prompting of your spirit and might we
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participate with all joy and gladness in your
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global purposes that you might use us in whatever
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way you see fit to keep on writing your story
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of the gospel going to the ends of the earth.
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Please bless us, Lord, and be with us.