When It's "GO TIME!"

When God says “Go…”, we should be ready to follow His leadership…no matter where it takes us…what needs doing…or for how many.

Key Passage:  Acts 8:26-40

Any John Fogerty fans here?   “Put me in coach…I’m ready to play, today.”  Center Field.  Put me in there where I am trained to play, where I can make a difference for the team.

Let’s Go!  Let’s do this.  It’s go time! I’m ready!

I’m one of those guys that is ready to go…to jump in there and go for it.  Those of you who know me know that I have a hard time not jumping in, especially if music or fun is involved.  God has really used that part of my personality in a positive way over the years, even when I didn’t know it.  Each of us has special gifts and talents and expertise that are useful in various situations, and when someone needs something done, guess who they call?  The person that they think can really help to get the job done.  Now, I’m not talking about moving…so don’t get any ideas.  I sold my truck…sorry.   But, you have specific knowledge and abilities that are valuable to those around you, whether personally of professionally, and at some point it is very likely that you are going to stop riding the bench and be called into the game.

We're going to focus on this guy named Philip.  Philip is no bench warmer; far from it.  He might even be considered a closer.  So, at a time when he is in the midst of great excitement, he is still ready, so when God says “Go!”, he doesn’t hesitate.  “OK. Whatever you say coach.”  Or, in the business world…Whatever you need me to do, boss.

So, here we go.  The Acts of the Apostles, written by Luke as a sequel to his Gospel, noting his name, presents a selective history of the early church from Jesus’ resurrection and ascension to the rather thorough spreading of the good news of Christ from Jerusalem to Rome.  Acts is dedicated to Theophilus…as opposed to Acidophilus…who we all know was the guy who ran the dairy farm. (cheesy smile) An interesting thought on the book of Acts - - it could be described somewhat as the “genesis” of the Christian movement.

 Here, we are looking at a bit of history that, for those who have been around church for any amount of time, is likely pretty familiar.   Now, if you’re not a “churchy” person, or if you’ve never been to church before, this story has something important to say to you as well…so you can hang out during the “religious stuff” part, but be ready to dig in with us.

Starting at Acts 8:26²⁶ 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?” 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.

 

Be ready to Go!

God tells Philip to Go three times within this single story, and each time Philip responds immediately.

• Leave the party and walk down a desolate, wilderness road?  Sure thing.
• Go talk to this one, specific guy on a chariot…from another country?  No sweat.
• After you baptize him, move on?  You got it.

Philip’s readiness and trust has countless implications for each of us, Christian and non-Christian.  Being ready to go or do is ALWAYS important.  The Boy Scout motto?  Be Prepared.  It speaks well of you in any and every situation if you can think on your feet and be ready to jump in when someone needs you.

One of the best known Scriptures in the Christian dialect is the Great Commission.  Go ye therefore…  We are instructed to go.  God has a reason for telling us to go, and we really need to be willing to listen to Him and trust in Him, even when we may have no idea what the outcome might be.  Whether to help someone in need or to teach someone something that you know, bring them out of a dark place…whatever.  Be ready!

Don’t Assume…

If we walk up on someone reading the Bible, would we assume that they knew what they were reading?  Would we assume that they are a Christian?  Would we assume that they have some level of spiritual maturity to be reading the Bible on a train or a plane or in some public place?

Now, Philip…at the behest of the Holy Spirit…had to run up alongside this guy on a chariot…apparently moving.  It’s pretty interesting to mentally pull into the story all the pieces that are left out, probably because those who heard the message in that day would have just understood.  This guy was a in a chariot and it turns out that he is a eunuch…and a very important guy.  He is over the treasury for the queen of Ethiopia, so he’s not going to be out here by himself.  What if this guy were to get captured?  He’s going to be protected.  Now, some strange Jewish guy runs down the path, through the guard, up to the chariot…running alongside…and say,  “Hey.  Sup?”  As he approached, he hears the guy reading Hebrew Scripture out loud, which would actually have been pretty standard in that day.  This official says that he was reading Isaiah, which Philip would likely have caught, and then admits that he didn’t really understand what he was reading.  How many of us are willing to say that?  Those “Wait…what?” moments are important, aren’t they?

Have you ever thought about Learning styles.  Visual.  Audio.  Experiential?   Can reading something really give you what you need to know?  Can you read the Bible on your own and catch the nuances within the text?

This stranger says to Philip, “How am I supposed to understand it unless someone teaches me the right way to understand it?”  He didn’t know exactly what he was reading, even though we learn that he is returning from Jerusalem where he went to worship.

But…look at that again.  Perhaps there is a better way of looking at this from today’s perspective.  “How am I supposed to understand this without a mentor?”  Again, that’s pretty important…

Philip leads him through the Scripture and the eunuch asks about the Scripture presented.  Is about some guy in the past?  Is this about Isaiah or someone else?  He is paying attention and wants to know, and we get a sense in the presentation of the story that Philip is excited to share the story of Christ with this stranger.  Whether personal or professional or spiritual, those of us who are prepared and ready should do our best to give others what they need…and then some.

 ^“Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.” He expressed the gospel of Jesus, AND talked about Jesus. How did these things spoke in Isaiah relate to what happened to Jesus?  Would the gospel of Jesus Christ be sufficient, or would Philip go further into who Jesus was as a man and what happened to him?  He MUST have gotten to the point of explaining baptism, because the eunuch was obviously excited about the stream that they encountered.  “Baptize me now…”  So, that is what he did!  In a single conversation in the back of a chariot, an Ethiopian eunuch comes to understand that Jesus was the Son of God because Philip was ready to put into the game.

Be ready to go…again.

The coach decides to pull Philip out of the game suddenly, but this guy was already changed.  He went of joyfully…even though he would never see Philip again.  He was changed forever by Philip’s willingness and readiness to get in there and play.  He finds himself in another town, preaching away and leading more and more people toward Christ.

If you’re ready to go, that’s great!  You may have some idle time, but don’t sit down and get comfortable.  You have to warm up…you don’t want to pull a spiritual hammy.  And, if you’re ready to Go…then LOOK AND LISTEN.  Don’t sit back and wait for an opportunity…LOOK for an opportunity and then LISTEN for God.  He’s not going to yell at you, but it should be obvious when an opportunity presents itself.  When the opportunity arises - Get In There!  Get it done to the very best of your ability. Don’t hold anything back.  Give them what they need and then some!

Then, when it’s time to go…go. When you’re done, you’re done.  Moving on might be hard, but God has plans for you and will use you mightily if you will simply respond when It’s Go Time.  Just as my favorite Scripture speaks in Isaiah 43, God is doing a new thing.

Conclusion

Each of us will have those Go Time moments in our lives, and it’s imperative that we listen and respond/react.  Philip got up, set out, met the chariot, caught up, struck up a conversation, taught, revealed, baptized…then left.  Whether it’s one person or hundreds, or even thousands, we don’t want to miss that opportunity.  Someone’s life...perhaps even their eternal life…may be forever changed by our readiness and willingness to step up when we’re needed.

Are you sitting here reading…KNOWING that God has been speaking to you?  “Hey…it’s time to go.

What is God saying to you right now?  Right here?  Is it Go Time?  Is there something that you KNOW needs to be done but you’ve been waiting for a sign from God?  Well…here is your sign.  God has gathered those here who needed to hear Him.  It was intended for each of us…even me.

            So what will you do?  Will you go home and have a conversation with your husband or wife or your mother or father about that thing that you’ve been putting off for whatever reason?  Will you be obedient to the Holy Spirit? Will you become a mentor?  A teacher?

If you don’t have a relationship with Christ, will you take a cue from the story and open yourself up to the opportunity for someone to mentor you?

I challenge each of you.  Slow down.  Stop for a moment.  Look and Listen…then Go!