Pete's Reviews and Sermons: Connectedness to God

Preached at Christ church, Billericay 28 April 2024

Readings:Acts 8:26-40,John 15:1-8

	Introduction This morning we have heard two readings, one about the vine from the Gospel of John, which talks about our connectedness to God, and the second from Acts. That’s the story of Philip and the Ethiopian. This second story shows us what connectedness looks like in real life. I’ll start by looking at the reading from John’s gospel. Chronologically, we are just before the arrest of Jesus. He is completing his final teaching to the disciples. This section comes immediately after the promise of the Holy Spirit.
	The Vine Here Jesus claims to be the true vine. That’s quite a claim. If we look at Psalm 80 in verses 8-9 it says: You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land. And in Isaiah 5, the theme of Israel as a vine continues: ¹… My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. ² He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. … Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit. ⁷ The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight. The Vine that was Israel has failed to produce good fruit, the disciples would be familiar with these references. Now, Jesus is claiming to be the true vine – the true Israel.
	The vineyard Maybe you have visited a vineyard. It’s one of the things we like to do when we’re on holiday. We visit the vineyard, take a tour, if one is available, and try to learn something about how it all works. Then sample the produce, perhaps bring a few bottles home. Good stock is important, without that you cannot have a good harvest. Careful pruning is still as vital today as it was 2 centuries ago. So, it's no surprise that Jesus then talks about pruning. Whatever branch that doesn’t bear fruit is cut off, and those that do are pruned so that they continue to bear fruit. Jesus is talking about our lives and the activities in them now. He is expecting fruit, not seed. The fruit He is looking for is the fruit of a Godly life – Paul sums this up beautifully in Galatians: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
	Remain in me – Stay connected If we are to produce fruit – if our character is to become more like Jesus, then we must remain connected to Him. If we remain in Him, we will produce that fruit, it is not optional, it is inevitable. Sometimes it will be produced slowly and continue at a steady rate, at other times changes may be observable faster. If we do not remain in Him, we cannot and will not produce fruit. The production of fruit – the move to a more Godly lifestyle, more godly habits, and more godly interactions with those around us, is the only evidence we have of true conversion – and it can be difficult to spot. It can also be faked for a short time, and can be used in an attempt to defraud the faithful. Without this connection, without remaining in Jesus, we can do nothing for God. If we do remain connected there is also a promise – that anything we ask for will be given. We need to understand this as anything we ask for that is aligned with what God wants. We should remember that we are now His friends, not His servants: John 15:¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. Not Remain However, if we do not remain in Him, we are like the (not a) branch that is thrown away and withers. The Greek has the definite article, and probably refers to Judas, who Jesus already knew would betray Him. Conclusion – John So we have seen how the promised Holy Spirit will work in the lives of the disciples, and those who follow them. He gives us a connection to God that it is impossible to have any other way, a connection that we need in order to live a godly life.
	Philip Our Acts reading shows us one way that God might work through us, if we are prepared to let Him. Philip was one of seven deacons selected by the apostles to look after the distribution of food to the neglected widows. When they were chosen they were described as “men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom” (Acts 6:3). The persecution instigated by Saul of Tarsus probably stopped the “daily distribution” with which the deacons were charged. This early inquisition resulted in the martyrdom of Stephen (another deacon) and the Christians being scattered abroad from Jerusalem (8:1). Philip fled to Samaria, where he became a missionary. Ethiopian Eunuch The Ethiopian Eunuch had risen to an important role in the royal household of Ethiopia. We know that he was well off, because he had a chariot (or at least use of a chariot) and he had managed to acquire a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. In the days before printing, scrolls were rare and had to be copied by highly skilled scribes. The Ethiopian had probably been influenced by Jewish settlements in the area and the ideas they talked about. He had become what was known as a God-fearer – a follower of Judaism, but not a Jew. He had been to Jerusalem to worship, but it is not clear what sort of worship he would be allowed to take part in. He would certainly not be allowed in the temple. Deuteronomy 23:1 No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the LORD.
	Philip and the Holy Spirit Philip is told by an Angel to take the desert road to the south. Nothing more than that. We don’t have a description of the angel, or even know if the angel was visible. Philip obeys. Philip then sees a chariot and is told by the Holy Spirit to go up to it and stay close. Once again, he obeys. Reading aloud Now he hears the Ethiopian reading. It was normal in those days to read out loud. In the days before spaces between words, the act of pronouncing each word made the text easier to understand, as more parts of the brain were used to gain the understanding required. In his ‘Confessions’, Saint Augustine remarks on Saint Ambrose's unusual habit of reading silently in the 4th century AD. The practice seems to have declined in Europe in the eighteenth century, so now silent reading is the norm for us.
	Question and timing Anyway, now Philip has his opportunity and asks, “Do you understand what you are reading?”. This is his own question, not one prompted by the Holy Spirit. The timing is perfect as the Ethiopian is reading a part of the text that he does not understand, and its part of the servant song. This is a gift for Philip, so he explains the good news about Jesus, starting with that passage. Could I? / Could you? This made me think, could I do it? Could I explain the good news of Jesus, starting from any random point? Then I remembered that I had had to do just that in one of my selection interviews for training. I clearly did OK, as I got selected, but what about now, could I still do it? - I don’t know. What about you? Could you explain the whole of the good news about Jesus?
	Further Questions The next thing Philip does – baptising the Ethiopian also raised some questions for me, but not apparently for Philip. This man is forbidden from the temple, he cannot take a full part in the worship of God. This doesn’t seem to bother Philip at all. Perhaps he knows his scriptures really well: Isaiah 56:³ Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will surely exclude me from his people.” And let not any eunuch complain, “I am only a dry tree.” ⁴ For this is what the LORD says: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant — ⁵ to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.” The question it raises for me, and for the rest of us, is how do we treat the excluded, either those excluded by some of our scriptures, or by society. Do we, not just this congregation but, the wider church, try in any way to restrict their access to God? And if we do, should we?
	How the Holy Spirit works The book of Acts contains many dramatic events prompted or actioned by the Holy Spirit, we have seen mass conversions, bold disciples, liars dropping dead, and God reaching out to the excluded. The Holy Spirit is not always that dramatic, and really can use anyone for His purposes. While preparing this sermon, the JWs called. I’d seen them coming up the road. I was worried they would break my concentration, but as I walked slowly down the stairs, the thought occurred that I could choose not to engage. The old man was polite and left a leaflet, and I suppressed the urge to respond to what he said. On the way back up the stairs, equally slowly, I was reminded of a previous JW visit that occurred while I was trying, and failing, to prepare prayers for the evening service. On that occasion I had a long discussion with them and returned to the preparation of the prayers, which then came easily. This time I returned to the preparation of my sermon and had not lost my focus. I believe that in both of these events I was guided by the Holy Spirit and so achieved the desired outcome. Conclusion If we stay connected to God, by prayer, the study of His word, and being prepared to listen to the Holy Spirit – in other words, if we are trying to be fruitful branches of the Vine, we will see God do all sorts of things, from the mundane to the dramatic. We cannot tell what will happen, we can only focus on the next step, whether that is to walk down a desert road or a flight of stairs. Then take whatever opportunity is presented. If we are following the Holy Spirit, anything could happen.