Acts 8:26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
We love traveling, at least we have in the past. One of the parts of traveling that we don’t love is the preparation. We have to plan where we want to go and what we are going to take, pack the suitcases, purchase the tickets, book the hotels and sight tickets, and finally be willing to start the journey.
For some people the last part is the most difficult. They talk about traveling, but they never actually go anywhere. They make plans and dream, but never get in the car and drive. Dreams are not enough. Plans will not bring about travel. Willingness to use your credit card won’t get you to that exotic destination. You must go.
This chapter in the book of Acts begins with the first wave of persecution of the Church. Its first champion is Saul of Tarsus, a devout Jew. He seems to revel in his job as persecutor. He pursues Christians and drags them to prison. The result of this enthusiasm is that the Church is scattered.
But scattering is a great thing because they “preached the word wherever they went.” Even unlikely places like the dreaded Samaria become responsive to the Gospel message. And for Jews to willing go to Samaria represented a change of heart for them. They used to travel around Samaria to ensure they weren’t polluted by their contact with the Samaritans. And now they go to them and preach.
One of the disciples named Philip is told to go in the opposite direction, toward the south. And the object of his journey is the same: preach the Word. This time it is to an official of the southern Nile region in Northern Africa. This official had traveled to Jerusalem for worship and was now returning home. But the official was still in need of answers, so the LORD sends Philip to provide answers.
Philip not only was willing to go, but he went. He was willing to go on a mission of unknown destination to talk to an unknown person about the one thing he was certain about, the person of Jesus. It is this combination of willingness and the get-up-and-go spirit that enabled the spread of the Gospel into Africa.
I think the Western Church sometimes talks about the willingness to go, but then it seams that too often we lack the get-up-and-go spirit. That is because actually going costs us dearly. Willingness costs us very little.
Philip answered the angel’s direction by putting his feet to the ground and walking in the right direction. He was attentive to what was happening around him. He was listening to the Spirit’s prompting as he went and obeyed the additional directions.
We get very comfortable in our lives, so much so, that perhaps we don’t go! We express willingness, but then get stuck in our arm chairs and couches. We hold tenaciously to our remote controls and air conditioning, but stop listening to the prompting of the Spirit. We sit behind our religious facades in comfort and satisfaction.
Philip put it all on the line. The Spirit said “go” and he went to another people group. And the message and power of the Gospel continued to spread.
But the force that caused the spread of the Gospel beyond the comfortable boundaries was persecution. The squeeze of persecution caused the believers to scatter for safety. And in the scattering, the opportunity to share the Gospel with those who hand’t yet heard was facilitated. Without the persecution, the spread of the Gospel would have been slowed greatly.
I think we need some persecution! It would put the needed fire in our bones and rip us from our comfortable lives. It would propel us into the world around us and into the far corners of this world. But it would cost us our current lives. We would have to say ‘goodbye’ to what is comfortable and known. And that might be too much to ask for from some.
The Arnold Journey 