Scripture
29The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”30Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. 31“How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Acts 8:29-31
Observation
In the middle of a revival in Samaria an angel shows up to Phillip and tells him to go to the middle of nowhere…literally. “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (Vs. 26). There are two roads to Gaza and God tells him to take the road less traveled…Sometimes what God is asking us to do makes little to no sense. However, once we realize that obedience is not predicated upon explanation a whole new adventure of faith opens up no matter where we go. Notice, the angel didn’t tell Phillip the amazing opportunity for the Gospel that awaited him there. He simply said, “go”. Openness the key to this narrative. Because Phillip was open to the leading of the Lord he was in the right place at the right time to see the openness of the Ethiopian official. Phillip was not intimidated by the royal robes and wealth as he saw man hungry for a treasure he couldn’t attain apart from Christ, the treasure of salvation itself. Now, an entire country would be open to the gospel because Phillip was ready to “make the most of every opportunity.” (Eph 5:16)
Application
It would be easy to look at the low numbers in the American church and get discouraged. Yet, Barna research is revealing that there is a new spiritual openness in this generation.
-3 out of 4 Americans are spiritually open
-44% say they’re more open to God today than they were before the Pandemic.
-60% of Millennials and Gen Z are open
-84% of Americans are open to the possibility that God exists.
After 25,000 interviews in 26 countries and 14 different languages Barna named this “The Open Generation.” This is the Ethiopian in the chariot driving right on by the 21st Century Church. The question is, will we be open to having these conversations in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of our plans, in the middle of our success? We have people that are spiritual but not going to church which means the Church needs to go to them! What if the interruption is an invitation to help someone find Christ? Recently, I was waiting on pizza’s at Costco for the youth group and I ended up in a conversation with a man named Abel who was running the foot massage display. He began to open up about his divorce and then I ended up praying for him in the middle of Costco. I didn’t see an angel telling me to pray, but I did sense Abel’s openness and thankfully I didn’t ignore Holy Spirit’s leading. I went in for pizzas and went out having ministered the goodness of Jesus to a complete stranger. How did this happen? I’ve been praying for God to open my eyes to see the opportunities right in front of me. I have many other stories over these past few weeks since I’ve started praying that. As it turns out, God is moving on open hearts and is waiting for a disciple like Phillip to be open to His leading.
Prayer
This morning I’m praying right along with Paul, “And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.” (Col 4:2-4)
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