Sermon for Easter 5 2021 May 2nd
The very last thing that Jesus does in St. Matthew's Gospel is to commission his disciples to continue his work, his mission, saying: “Go then to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples; baptise them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
2 The problem was , of course, that the disciples were Jewish men, born and bred, brought up believing that the Jewish people were God's chosen people, set apart, not to be contaminated by anyone beyond the pale of the ticket -holding, law abiding, strict Jews ; discimination was practised not just against those of other races but also of many Jews who fell below the spirit level of rigid religiousity.
3 Even though Jesus had told them to make disciples of all people they assumed he meant all Jewish people everywhere .
4 And, if the Bible / the story, had stopped there at the end of the Gospels , Jesus' mission would have failed, it would have been limited to Israel.
5 Thankfully the Gospels are followed by The Acts of the Apostles which should really be called , and often is, “The Acts of the Holy Spirit” . Acts records the steep learning curve the apostles, Paul and others had to navigate to get over their deep-seated prejudices, to listen to the Holy Spirit, and trust him.
7 As we have read in our readings from Acts since Easter Day, after Pentecost Peter and John in particular, did brilliant work preaching to, healing , teaching and baptising thousands of Jews who responded and became followers of Jesus. But, they still had a long way to go, a lot to learn and --
8 if the Bible/the story, had stopped there, Jesus' mission would have failed because of their prejudice , their reluctance and their failure to listen.
9 On Thursday evening Archdeacon Ian Bishop reminded us of the imaginary conversation between the Angel Gabriel and Jesus taking place on Jesus' return to Heaven. Gabriel asked Jesus how his mission had gone. Jesus replied that he had done all that he needed to. “So is the mission completed then?” asked Gabriel. “No,”said Jesus , “I've left it in the hands of my dsciples.”
“What “, exclaimed Gabriel, “that motley crew ! What's your back-up plan? “
“There is no back-up plan”, said Jesus!
10 Going back to St.Matthew's Gospel and Acts ch 1, Jesus' words of commissioning in the King James Bible are followed by the little but crucial word “Lo”, changed in the Good News Bible to the equally crucial word “and”- Both led on to the promise, “I am with you always, to the end of time”. Jesus didn't need a back-up plan because his power, his wisdom, his strength - his Spirit was within them, working through them- as long as they listened to him and allowed him to work through them.
11Because the Church was growing so rapidly among the Jews, after Pentecost',the disciples had to appoint 7 deacons, men who had been close to Jesus , well versed in his teaching, to help them. One of them was Philip.
12 At the Ascension the disciples heard Jesus' promise that his power would enable them to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth..
13.For the apostles , even filled with the Holy Spirit , preaching in Jerusalem + Judea was fine, but Samaria was a different kettle of fish-and a really dodgy issue. The Samaritans were theoretically Jews, but there had been so much marrying of Jews to non-Jews in Samaria that they were considered “unclean” , very much 2nd class Jews. The disciples' inbred prejudice created a barrier to the work of the Spirit ,there was a lot of reluctance to venture among the Samaritans. It was Philip who found himself in Samaria, getting away from the persecution in Jerusalem . God really can use all situations. Once there Philip did preach the Gospel and he was absolutely amazed by the phenominal response he received.. Many heard the Gospel and were baptised. Philip was kept fully occupied no doubt enjoying the fruits of his labour.
14 But, according to the passage read by Fiona, the Holy Spirit of Jesus wouldn't let him rest on his laurels. Unbeknown to Philip Jesus was already preparing for his word to be taken out much much further than Samaria + he needed Philip to play a crucial part which would be even further out of his comfort zone than the thought of going among the Samaritans had been.
15The Spirit of Jesus told Philip to leave the success of Samaria and to get himself out into the desert and onto the road from Jerusalem to Gaza. He listened and went but he must have wondered, WHY? He's propelled towards a man who was probably the last person he would have have a) expected Jesus to include in his kingdom andb) expected to respond to the the Good News of Jesus; a man traditionally more beyond the pale than the Samaritans
16 Fiona's read that the man was an Ethiopian- a black man who was also a eunuch. He was an educated high standing court official. He wasn't a Jew but he was a God-fearer . searching for knowledge about the God worshipped by the Jews. He'd made the long journey to Jerusalem to visit the Temple and to find answers to his questions. Sadly, arriving at the Temple he was banned from entry both by his both his nationality and his castration.
17 So there he was , rejected and dejected, on his way home. At least while in Jerusalem he'd been able, at consideable cost ,to buy a scroll of the Prophet Isaiah which he was reading , but not understanding ,whilst travelling in his chariot
18 The Spirit prompted Philip to run to catch up with the chariot, if he'd ignored the urgency or been put off by his scruples, he would have missed the oportunity of explaining to the Ethiopian that what he was reading was Isaiah's prophecy that had been fulfilled in Jesus. Thankfully Philip did catch up with the chariot, climbed in and to the mans great joy gave him the answers he had been searching for. He met and his life was transformed by the loving, living Lord Jesus,.For his part, Philip, no doubt to his great surprise, recognised the Ethiopians joy and understanding and listening to the Holy Spirit, agreed to his request to be baptised when they came to a pool of water.
19 Job done, the Spirit directed Philip to his next port of call, whilst the Ethiopian continued home, his life transformed by the loving, living Jesus +taking the good news of Jesus to Ethiopia.
Jesus' mission was continuing because Philip, however reluctantly, listened to the promptings of the Spirit, to put aside his inbred prejudices and preferences in order to share the Good News and joy of Jesus Christ .
20 Archdeacon Ian told the story of Gabriels conversation with Jesus to emphasise that Jesus is relying on us , part of his Body here, to bring the Good News of the Gospel to folks in Whaley Bridge, in Disley, in New Mills, in Cheadle, Tunsted, Buxton, in Kendal, wherever we are, relying on us as much as he was relying on those early disciples and deacons.Relying on us to listen to His Spirit within us ;to be willing to do all in our, or rather, in his power , to find ways of helping people to find Jesus , -Thats the fruit we need to produce-people finding Jesus and coming in to the Kingdom of God.
21 As Steve said last week we all have preferences and comfort zones which are important to us but we must not refuse to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, Jesus within us, and to act upon what He is saying to us, even if it rocks our boat ,or we find it difficult. It's our crucial part in the continuing success of Jesus' mission . It's not an optional extra to anything else we do as the church- its our primary purpose, and it's Jesus' command to us all.
How do we hear what Jesus is saying to us? Well we never will unless we're plugged in to him, unless the channels of communication are constantly open., listening to him through prayer, study, worship. (sun. 9th BBC 8.10am Morning worship led by Archbishop Stephen Cottrel on prayer) Jeanette is going to read the Gospel for today. Thankyou Jeanette Music: “Find the quiet centre”
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