We shared a humorous moment at a session meeting recently when one of our elders looked a little panicked. He thought he was being asked to preach on an upcoming Sunday. It was a misunderstanding that was cleared up quickly, to his great relief. This is an elder with a lot of wonderful gifts, but I guess he does not consider preaching to be one of his gifts. Although, it certainly could be.
I have to admit that I think it is interesting to put the question to a person sometimes and just see how they react. Would you like to preach? If their reaction is the expression of a person facing a firing squad, then they probably won’t take me up on the offer. But sometimes a person says, “yes.”
I saw that once when I was a campus minister. My students were preparing to lead worship at a local congregation. For some reason, call it the Holy Spirit, I turned to one of them, Nicole, and asked her, “Do you want to preach?” I think everyone expected her to say no, but she didn’t. She sat quietly for a moment and then said, “yes.”
Nicole had never been asked before, and possibly never really considered it before, but she was ready. And on that Sunday at Trinity United Methodist Church she got up in the pulpit and she was on fire. The people of that congregation got some preaching that day. It was wonderful.
Nicole’s home congregation would never have let her do that. No women are permitted to proclaim the word of God – that’s strictly men’s work in the congregation in which she was raised. I don’t know if Nicole has ever had an opportunity since then to preach – but she should. She really should.
Philip was not a preacher, originally. He was among the early followers of Jesus and, back in Chapter 6 of Acts, he was one of the seven chosen to serve in the newly created role of deacon. At that time, the church was growing rapidly and so the community was having to constantly make adjustments and accommodations – growing pains, you might say. And there arose a dispute between the Hellenistic Jews and the Palestinian Jews. The Hellenists called out the Palestinians for unfair treatment – they said “You are not taking care of our widows the same way you are caring for your own widows.” Rather than dismiss the complaints or argue against them, the elders decided that they needed to have an appointed group to lead the ministry of caring for those in need. And they apparently selected seven men from among the Hellenists to be in charge of that, so they could be assured that the Hellenistic widows would not be neglected. A wise and generous decision.
Philip was one of the men chosen to care and serve, the ones we now call the deacons of the church. Deacons are not expected to preach, normally. This is not a part of their calling. However, elders are. Traditionally. Just, FYI.
Yet, even though preaching was not in Philip’s job description, things changed. A severe persecution against the church began, and all except the leadership team (the apostles) were scattered throughout the countryside. And “those who were scattered went from place to place, proclaiming the word.” In other words, preaching.
So, just like that. Philip was a preacher. He went into Samaria and preached the word. To the Samaritans, an ethnic group who were considered outsiders, outcasts; somehow lesser than others. But that didn’t stop the church, nor did it stop the Holy Spirit.
Then an angel of the Lord – or we might say, again, the Spirit – told Philip to get up and go south. He got up and went. There he encountered the Ethiopian eunuch who happened to be sitting in his chariot reading from the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit nudged Philip again. Go over there. So he did and started a conversation, which led to preaching, which led to baptism.
We have a lot of rules about who can do what and how, and so on – but stories like this one can make you wonder if we have too many rules. Or if we might take our rules too seriously sometimes. Because nobody ordained Philip to preach, let alone to baptize. He was ordained to serve as a deacon. He had no call to preach, except the call of the Holy Spirit.
And this unexpected preacher finds himself preaching to unexpected converts. First the Samaritans. Then the Ethiopian eunuch. A eunuch was definitely an outcast; the law of Israel said that he could never be admitted to the temple, because he’s a eunuch. That didn’t stop the Spirit, though.
The Spirit of God seems to like to go out and gather in the outcasts, doesn’t she? I mean, if you read the scriptures that sure is what you see. And that is just what the Spirit is calling and urging and pushing the church to do.
Should anyone be prevented from serving God and singing God’s praises? Should anyone be prevented from joyfully living out their calling? Certainly not. Yet, so many are. Sometimes because the church deliberately puts up a barrier that says, “Nope. Not you, you are the wrong … whatever.” Or, much of the time, simply because we lack the energy or interest to get out there and follow the Spirit’s lead.
The Spirit of God will always guide our steps if we allow her to. The Spirit of God will always provide us with the gifts we need if we are willing to try. Then we will sing with the psalmist: “Posterity will serve God; future generations will be told about the Lord, and proclaim God’s divine deliverance to a people yet unborn.” We will say it and believe it.
There is a song I learned many years ago about this story of Philip. The refrain says, “I believe God will use me.” Like Philip. Like the Ethiopian who went on his way rejoicing. Believe that the Spirit will speak to you, guide you, and equip you to carry the good news onward and outward, to carry it to the ones who have been neglected or shunned. To be about God’s work, rejoicing.
