Sermon
for Eastertide
5th Sunday – May 2, 2021
Fr. Philip Eberhart+
Acts 8:26-40
Ps 66:1-11
1 John 3:11-24
John 14:15-21
WILLINGNESS…
AVAILABILITY … OBEDIENCE !! 1 … 2… 3
Have you
ever had someone around you that was like a broken record?
I’m going
to be that person today!
For
almost a decade, I think, we’ve heard talk of the three steps of THE GREAT
ADVENTURE of Christian living as fully formed disciples…
WILLINGNESS
… AVAILABILITY … OBEDIENCE
Paul the Apostle
said to the Thessalonians (1 Thess 4:1-2, 9-10):
4 And
now, beloved brothers and sisters, since you have been
mentored by us with respect to living for God and pleasing him, I appeal to you
in the name of the Lord Jesus with this request: keep faithfully growing
through our teachings even more and more. 2 For you already know the
instructions we’ve shared with you through the Lord Jesus.
9 There’s
no need for anyone to say much to you about loving your fellow believers, for
God is continually teaching you to unselfishly love one another.[d] 10 Indeed, your love is what
you’re known for throughout Macedonia. We urge you, beloved ones, to let this
unselfish love increase and flow through you more and
more.
This is the purpose of this morning’s sermon, is
to encourage you to do what you are already doing, even MORE AND MORE!
Our scripture passages all collude this morning –
they converge into an example and a message of encouragement for this kind of
Adventurous Christian living!
Philip,
the Evangelist, likely the one named among the deacons in Acts 6, versus the
Apostle Philip, is our example of the BIG 3:
Willingness, Availability & Obedience:
Then an angel of the
Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go … so he got up and went!
All three
are captured in these few words! Philip
was in a state of constant willingness, that is where he lived. It was the foundation of his life. King David prayed, “UPHOLD ME WITH A
WILLING SPIRIT.” (Ps 51:12) All of
this always comes from the Spirit of God within us – none of it is from
ourselves! As Paul says, “we have
this treasure in a jar of clay!” (2 Cor 5:7)
Philip
was ready to hear and respond. “Get up
and go … so he got up and went!” Was
Philip planning his day? Did he know WHY
he was being sent? NO.
The
journey to Gaza was about 60-70 miles, two or three days journey, through the
Negev Desert Wilderness – no water, no provisions, no hotels along the
way. And there were no questions from
Philip! No, “But Lord!” or “But what
about…?”
On the
foundation of WILLINGNESS or YIELDEDNESS Philip was immediately AVAILABLE. There was no hesitation – no second guessing –
no explanation needed – no planning the day.
“Get up and go … so he got up and went!”
Philip
knew that WILLINGNESS AND AVAILABILITY LEAD TO ASSIGNMENT!
But how
do we know what the assignment is? You
probably won’t! Until you obey. Philip had no idea what was planned before he
went on his walk. He wasn’t the One
planning his day! God was.
But
Philip was obedient to be ON THE WAY. To
actually GO! All of this happens AS YOU
GO! When Jesus called and sent the
disciples he said to them, “AS YOU GO, PROCLAIM, ‘THE KINGDOM OF
HEAVEN HAS COME NEAR.’ ”
(Mt 10:4)
Nothing happens while we are sitting still, especially
after God has said, GO! “Get up and go …
so he got up and went!”
WILLINGNESS…
AVAILABILITY … OBEDIENCE. GET IT?
SORRY,
BROKEN RECORD.
And the
rest of the story is just the stuff of the ADVENTURE! A great series of coincidences!! …
Just so
happens he meets up with a chariot.
Just so
happens that it has a high government official in it, a Jew from Ethiopia. An advisor and servant to the Queen!
Just so
happens he is reading aloud as he rides along, from the very verses that speak
of the Messiah as the suffering servant, and substitutionary sacrifice for our
sins and the sins of the whole world!
Just so happens…
AVAILABILITY
means showing up! Showing up at the
place God has assigned you, day by day, moment by moment – it means living in a
place where your “eyes are wide open to God’s mercies” (Rom 12:1 JB Phillips) and your “ears are open
for His voice” (Jn 10) to speak to you, through what you overhear… through coming along
side to walk with someone … SHOW UP. When
I was instituted as the Rector of St. George’s Parish, 25 years ago, the sermon
by Canon Burt Womack was “90% of the Lord’s work in the parish is accomplished
by our just “showing up.”
At the
end of the day, and the end of the sermon, OBEDIENCE is the goal. Without OBEDIENCE its all just water flowing under
the bridge! What if Philip hadn’t asked
the question – opened his mouth and said, “Do you understand what you are
reading?” Conversations that matter, like this one,
often start with simple questions! Questions
and parables were Jesus’ primary method of engagement. Jesus didn’t make pronouncements, He asked
questions.
And all
of it – let me say it again: ALL OF IT
is motivated by love. We are not out
getting spiritual notches on our gun – brownie points or merit badges for all
the good we have done. ALL OF IT is
motivated by love, for God and for people.
”If
you love me, you will OBEY my commandments!”
OBEDIENCE IS THE OUTCOME OF LOVE FOR GOD. Obedience is not a way to gain God’s
love!
God’s
love preceeds our response of obedience and our response of obedience proceeds
from our love for God. Can you see the
difference? When Jesus said what He said
in our readings today from John’s gospel and first letter, He is saying this
fact. John tells us that “we love
because He first loved us!” Everything
arises out of that love and of our experience of it – our comprehension of our
apprehension by God’s Love!
Paul
prayed it this way:
I pray that He (Jesus) would unveil within you the unlimited
riches of His glory and favor until supernatural strength floods your innermost
being with His divine might and explosive power.
17 Then, by
constantly using your faith, the life of Christ will be released deep inside
you, and the resting place of his love will become the very source and root of
your life.
18–19 Then you
will be empowered to discover what every holy one experiences—the great
magnitude[f] of the astonishing
love of Christ in all its dimensions. How deeply intimate and far-reaching is
his love! How enduring and inclusive it is! Endless love beyond measurement
that transcends our understanding—this extravagant love pours into you until
you are filled to overflowing with the fullness of God! (Eph 3:16-19
TPT)
Jesus promised us this relationship and this infusion of love. Here is your assignment verse this morning –
assignment to memorize this:
Jn 14:20 On that day you will know that I
am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 They who
have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me
will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”
Friends, the means of God’s personal self-revelation to us in the
intimacy of our relationship with Him, is in the context of our willingness, of
our availability to Him and of our obedience to His voice and his direction,
moment by moment and day by day.
A friend once said to me, “What if I’m not always willing? Jonah didn’t seem particularly willing to go to
Nineveh!” “True,” I said, “but God made
Jonah willing!” Sometimes we just have
to pray to be made willing! Anyone else
ever have that experience?
Yesterday? This morning?
Let me end with Jonah’s prayer in the belly of the whale:
2 Then
Jonah prayed to Adonai his
God from the belly of the fish, 3 saying:
From the belly of Sheol I cried for help and you heard my voice.[c]
8 As my soul was fading from me,
I
remembered Adonai
and my
prayer came to You,
toward Your holy Temple.
9 Those
who watch worthless empty things
forsake
their mercy.
10 But
I, with a voice of thanks
will sacrifice to you.
What I
vowed, I will pay.
Salvation
is from Adonai.”
Help us Lord, never to “forsake our mercy… Your mercy!” Give us open eyes and ears to hear You and
to follow your direction for our days and hours. Open our eyes, Lord, to see Your hand at work
in the world around us, and use us, as instruments of Your peace to those we
encounter in Your Name. As we go, help
us to proclaim Your Kingdom and to demonstrate Your love to all we meet along
the way.
When we hear You say, “Get up and go … “ HELP US to be the ones
who “got up and went.”
In Jesus Name and for the sake of His Kingdom we pray.
Amen.
