{"id":876,"date":"2000-05-21T22:39:30","date_gmt":"2000-05-21T22:39:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/?p=876"},"modified":"2020-12-03T00:26:22","modified_gmt":"2020-12-03T00:26:22","slug":"let-loose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/let-loose\/","title":{"rendered":"Let Loose"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Acts 8:26-40<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 21, 2000<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An angel told Philip to get up and go, of all places, to a desert in the middle of the afternoon. This was not Philip\u2019s idea. He was told to just go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There, in the desert, Philip meets a strange traveler, an Ethiopian, a member of the court of the Queen of the Ethiopians. He\u2019s a man of a different race, of uncertain gender or sexual orientation, of exotic nationality. He\u2019s somehow got a scroll of the prophet Isaiah, Jesus\u2019 favorite prophet, though the Ethiopian doesn\u2019t know that. He had trouble making sense of what he was reading. \u201cWho is this lamb of God?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Spirit said to Philip, \u201cGo over to the chariot and join him?\u201d So Philip ran over there and heard the Ethiopian reading Isaiah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philip asks this total stranger, \u201cDo you understand what you are reading?\u201d And the Ethiopian said, \u201cHow can I, unless someone guides me?\u201d Philip, whose encounter with Jesus has led him to read Isaiah as prophecy of Jesus, tells the Ethiopian, \u201cIts about Jesus and how he died.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philip must have done a great job teaching the Ethiopian because he believed what Philip was saying. He wants to be baptized. But in the desert where there was no water? And you just can\u2019t go around baptizing Ethiopian eunuchs when there hasn\u2019t been any guidelines written about baptizing non-Jews! Philip probably resisted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But miraculously, there is water. And they both came down into the water and Philip baptized him. But look at what happens next. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away and dropped him at Azotus. Amazing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evangelism<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Most of us have come to know the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch as how the Gospel was shared with people beyond the Jews and how to do \u201cone to one evangelism.\u201d But another way of understanding this amazing event in the life of the early church is the power of the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did we get to the desert in the first place? It certainly wasn\u2019t Philip\u2019s idea. And if we have it our way, it wouldn\u2019t be our idea either. Philip got dragged, kicking and screaming out here, of all places, to the desert to minister to, of all people, this Ethiopian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From this event, we see the spread of the good news of Christ out to the world. It\u2019s evangelism. Evangelism, reaching out to the world, is God\u2019s idea before it is ours. At every turn in the road, when the Holy Spirit turned toward the Gentiles, then to this race and that, the Church had to be pushed and prodded to go there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it is natural to think of Jesus as our pet, rather than our Lord. So we hunker down with Jesus, just us and our people. If we did that, the story of Jesus might have ended in Jerusalem, with his first followers and their best friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But no, this God is not only God the Father and God the Son, but God the Holy Spirit too. So the Holy Spirit pushes us out into some desert and the next thing you know is that we\u2019re calling this Ethiopian, \u201cour brother.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur Father\u201d<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

In western Canada, a young missionary told the native tribes of the love of God. To the Indians it was like a revelation. After the missionary had spoken, an old chief asked, \u201cWhen you spoke of the Great Spirit just now, did I hear you say, \u2018Our Father\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes,\u201d said the missionary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat is very new and sweet to me,\u201d said the chief. \u201cWe never thought of the Great Spirit as Father. We hear him in the thunder; we see him in the lightning, the tempest and the blizzard, and we were afraid. So when you tell us that the Great Spirit is our father<\/em>, that is beautiful to us.\u201d The old man paused, and then went on, as a glimpse of glory suddenly shone on him. \u201cMissionary, did you say that the Great Spirit is your <\/em>Father?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes,\u201d replied the missionary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd\u201d questioned the chief, \u201cdid you say that he is the Indians\u2019<\/em> Father?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat I did,\u201d said the missionary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen,\u201d exclaimed the old chief, like a man on whom a dawn of joy had burst forth, \u201cyou and I are brothers!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evangelism begins not with our political correctness to be inclusive. It begins in the heart of God. God is resolved to gather his people\u2014all the races, gender, class to be together. We are brothers and sisters. It\u2019s hospitality in the name of Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being Evangelistic<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

I know that it\u2019s not easy to share your faith. Sometimes, I find it hard too; guessing when might be the best time to share my faith with a friend. Some of us feel we are too shy to go up to someone. And sometimes, we are afraid that we won\u2019t have answers to tough questions about Jesus and God. Especially an answer to why bad things happen to good people!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I wonder if the main reason why we are reluctant to be more evangelistic, more inviting toward the world, is that we fear it will work. That is, the wrong people might step forward, might hear the good news as their news, might say, \u201cYes, I want to follow Jesus.\u201d Then where would we be! Our churches will be disrupted by all these people we don\u2019t even know? Is there no limit to God\u2019s, or our, hospitality?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Los Alamos Fire<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Over a week ago, the National Park Service authorized a control burn of some vegetation in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The set fire was to prevent potentially dangerous fires in the future. And we are glad that it is finally under control and that no one lost their lives. But the Los Alamos fire became out of control because of 50 mph winds. The wind spread the fire that consumed 44,000 acres, burned down 260 homes, closed down a nuclear laboratory, and forced the evacuation of 25,000 people!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we can understand the Holy Spirit as that 50 mph wind, it is uncontrollable. When it\u2019s let loose, there\u2019s no limits!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have a wind chime on our deck that sounds like a ship\u2019s bell. When the wind starts up, it rings the bell so much that it wake up our guests. It keeps ringing to wake up our neighbors. When the wind of God the Holy Spirit comes, it\u2019s like our wind chime that disturbs us from our slumber to get us up. We can\u2019t just hunker down with Jesus, just us and our people, but we have to wake up all the Ethiopians in the neighborhood to teach them that it\u2019s Jesus that we are talking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let the Spirit Loose<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

We call this book in the Bible the Acts of the Apostles. It really should be named, \u201cThe Acts of the Holy Spirit.\u201d Surely the apostles did plenty of action in this book, but most of their actions are a reaction to the Holy Spirit. Open up the book and see for yourself. Every major move that the church, or leaders of the church made is usually initiated and caused by the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the angel that told Philip to go to the desert. It was the Spirit that told Philip to climb up onto the chariot to join the Ethiopian. It was a miracle that they found water in the desert. It was the Spirit of the Lord that snatched Philip away and plopped him down in Azotus while the Ethiopian went on his way rejoicing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And for us today, it is still the Holy Spirit that keeps our church interesting, keeps bringing new sisters and brothers, keeps converting us into a more embracing gospel of good news than if we have not been given the Holy Spirit at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Holy Spirit gets loose, amazing things will happen like those that happened to Philip. It wasn\u2019t that we chose to leave the comforts of our church home and eagerly come to the \u201cdesert\u201d of the Lau school. Like Philip, the angel of the Lord said to us, \u201cGet up and go to the Lau school because I will work in you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And after we have finished the retrofit, it will be the Holy Spirit that will drag us kicking and screaming to open our doors for ministry to others. When we see how beautiful and clean and modernized our church home will be, we naturally will want to protect it. We want to only use it for ourselves. We will want to find our kind of people to occupy it. We may even want them to take off their shoes so not to dirty our new carpets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know better now that if it were left up to us, we would not be the church of our Lord Jesus Christ but merely a clubhouse of his fans and groupies. We always thought that this story in Acts 8<\/a> was a story of the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch. When Philip explained the passage from Isaiah to the Ethiopian, this once excluded man got the news that he was included in the hospitable news of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But today I\u2019ve noticed another conversion, another recipient of evangelism\u2014Philip. Out in the desert, Philip discovered that the gospel was even bigger than he first thought. The Holy Spirit, that 50 mph wind has just leapt over another fire line, rang the ship\u2019s bell and woke up the neighborhood, pushed down yet another wall, kicked open another once locked door. There\u2019s a party going on in our church, and the Holy Spirit has invited everyone to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Parable of the Three Little Pigs\u201d<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

When I was pondering over this message this week, I thought about the children\u2019s story, The Three Little Pigs. They thought that when they got older, they needed to have places of their own. Being independent is okay. So the first little pig built his house out of straw. The second little pig built his out of sticks. The third little pig, the smartest one of them all built his house out of bricks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But not everything in the little pigs\u2019 neighborhood was routine or quiet. There was the big wolf of the Holy Spirit. The wolf saw that trying to be separated and living apart from each other weren\u2019t good for being good neighbors. So he puffed and he huffed and blew down the house made of straw and blew the first little pig into the house made of sticks. But the big wolf of the Holy Spirit was not done yet. So he puffed and he huffed and blew down the house of sticks and blew both little pigs into the house made of bricks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now the third little pig built his house out of the solid foundation of Jesus Christ. And when the big wolf of the Holy Spirit puffed and huffed to blow at the house made of bricks, the house stood firm but the three little pigs were blown outside to meet and spend time with their neighbors. They told of how their house built with the bricks of Christ is strong and that if it wasn\u2019t for the big wolf of the Holy Spirit, they would be happy ever after with only themselves which in the end is not happy after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Easter for the Church<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

When the Holy Spirit came upon the church in Acts 2<\/a>, it was like Easter was happening all over again. The once disheartened, fearful, and disillusioned disciples become leaders of an outspoken, vibrant force. The gospel begins to spread like wildfire throughout the whole world. The Spirit is poured out upon all, embracing all within its grasp. It\u2019s like Easter all over again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the Easter story is not just for the first disciples. Not even just for those within the Holy City. Easter has universal significance. The message we hear from Philip\u2019s life is that the spread of the gospel is like wildfire into every corner of the world, among all peoples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Spirit is let loose, it can act strangely\u2014beyond and outside of our limitations. It\u2019s like a wildfire, spreading every which way, jumping over fire lines, changing lives, opening doors, shaking the very foundations that we have so long depended on and make us reach out to the \u201cEthiopians\u201d in our neighborhoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What on earth will this Holy Spirit do next? It\u2019s a Spirit let loose!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us pray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gracious and loving God, we pray that your Holy Spirit let loose will prod and push us out into the world to reach out to all people everywhere. In the name of Jesus Christ, who ate with the outcasts and befriended everyone, we pray. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Acts 8:26-40 May 21, 2000 Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco. An angel told Philip to get up and go, ofContinue readingLet Loose<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[20,11],"class_list":["post-876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-donald-ng-sermons","tag-acts","tag-fcbc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=876"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2526,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876\/revisions\/2526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}