Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The text for today’s meditation is Acts 8:26-40

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is a desert place. ²⁷ And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship ²⁸ and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹ And the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and join this chariot." ³⁰ So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" ³¹ And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: "Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. ³³ In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth." ³⁴ And the eunuch said to Philip, "About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" ³⁵ Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. ³⁶ And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?" ^{37 38} And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. ³⁹ And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. (Act　8:26　ESV)

Relationships, life is all about relationships. We have relationships at home, school, work, here at church, in our neighborhood, at the gym, on the golf course. All of our relationships are at different levels. Obviously you would expect your relationship with your spouse to be deeper and better than a buddy from work. Some relationships are intentional; you remember back in high school, everyone wanted to hang with the kids with the cars. Getting a ride somewhere was a motivation to form a relationship with them. This is a very intentional relationship where as bumping into someone in the checkout line and striking up a conversation is spontaneous. We work hard to maintain the relationships that are important to us. For most of us family relationships are important even though they can be hard to maintain but we do it anyway because it is important. I think everyone has that one person in their family that is hard to get along with. Either they know everything, constantly complain, or they are competitive about all things, even things that aren’t meant to be competitive. They can be very annoying and by the look on your face I see most of you have one of those. Even with all the annoyances we work at the relationship because it is important.

Philip is about to intentionally create a relationship because it is important. He is directed by God through an angel in verse 26, "an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza."" The Greek word translated as south can also mean "noon," so it could have the sense of time instead of direction as in the heat of the day. God urged Philip to go to a desert place in the heat of the day and he goes. He listens to the angel of the Lord. Have you ever felt that feeling in your stomach that tells you to do something? Your mind says, "help that person on the side of the road change their tire," as you pass by the feeling in your stomach tells you, "hey you, help them with the tire." The question is do you listen? That is the Holy Spirit calling you. He is putting opportunities for relationships in front of you, listen to the call and act on it, even when it is inconvenient like Philip in the desert in the heat of the day.

Philip is called to an Ethiopian eunuch. The eunuch is a gentile from the kingdom of Nubia and as a eunuch he could not be a full-fledged convert to the faith of Israel. Deuteronomy 23 verse 1 describes what it means to be a eunuch and says they "…shall not enter the assembly of the LORD." The eunuch believed and feared God and made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem even though He knew he could not be a convert. Philip hears the eunuch reading scripture aloud, as was the custom, and runs to meet him and quickly forms a relationship with him. The eunuch was looking for someone to explain scripture. Philip met him where he was and explained it and at the same time proclaimed Jesus as the good news. He proclaimed Jesus as the one fulfilling scripture as in Matthew 8:17 "This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.""

And where Jesus interpreted scripture for the disciples in Luke 22:37 "For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: 'And he was numbered with the transgressors.' For what is written about me has its fulfillment."" Philip proclaimed that Jesus died to forgive our sins when He became sin by taking all our illness and bore our diseases and conquered death when He rose again so we too can have eternal life.

He gave him what he needed and what he was looking for. At that moment Philip was Christ to the eunuch. In the eunuch’s baptism scripture was fulfilled, Isaiah 56 verses 3-5, "³ Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, "The LORD will surely separate me from his people"; and let not the eunuch say, "Behold, I am a dry tree." ⁴ For thus says the LORD: "To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, ⁵ I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off." This is another example of the good news going out to all nations. This eunuch will also spread the good news when he returns home to Nubia.

We can look at Jesus for examples of meeting someone where they are, such as in John chapter 8 "³ The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst ⁴ they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?" … "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." …But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. ¹⁰ Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" ¹¹ She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."] Jesus met her where she was, an adulterous woman, and gave her what she needed, forgiveness and the good news. He went against public opinion and custom to bring the Gospel to her.

What does all this show us? It’s all about relationships. Do you think Philip would have been able to proclaim the good news to the eunuch if he hadn’t first listened to the Spirit and also met him where he was in his uncertainties? Philip listened to the Spirit and ran to the chariot then saw and heard that the eunuch was reading scripture. If Philip just started proclaiming the good news right away the eunuch might not have listened but instead he asked if He understood and in so doing he created a relationship and started his proclamation at the eunuch’s starting place, the scripture He was reading, Isaiah 53. It also shows us that the proclamation is for all and we should look to make relationships with everyone. Do we look for people just like us? What about the homeless, the prostitutes, the tattooed bikers, or the drug addicts, is the proclamation for them? Yes, the good news of Jesus death and resurrection is for everyone! Don’t be afraid to create relationships and meet people where they are. Where they are might just mean someone acknowledging their existence by saying "hi." It might mean giving someone a meal or asking how they are doing and really meaning it. You are Christ to people when you meet them where they are. You are proclaiming Christ by your actions. Proclaiming the good news can wait until the relationship is strong enough for it.

Can we mess up the Spirit’s call to action, can our actions be offensive? Could Philip have been offensive to the eunuch? Just think, scripture said eunuchs were not to be converts; Philip could have been rude and told him not to waste his time since he can’t convert anyway. He could have made fun of his lack of understanding of the scripture. We too can be rude, offensive, and judgmental while trying in good faith to reach out. Our reactions to a lack of Christian knowledge or their current sinful lifestyle or actions can turn someone away. The extreme case of threatening or bombing abortion clinics are rude and turn people away from Christ instead of towards. All of these things give Christianity a black eye and harm the kingdom. Stay positive and meet people where they are and nurture a relationship. Philip’s relationship developed very rapidly and led to proclamation right away. We may have relationships like that but more than likely we will work at a relationship for months or years before you are at a point where you can begin to proclaim the good news. They may even come to you when they see how you handle life as a Christian. They may ask you how you do it and at that point you can proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and the eternal life that gives you hope and confidence to live your life as a Christian. Be intentional in creating relationships everywhere you go because it is important. Why is it important? Because it is why we are here as Matthew 28 verse 19 explains, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" Listen to the call of the Spirit, foster relationships, meet people where they are, and meet their needs. That is called evangelism.

Amen.