Today we are continuing our conversation through the book of Acts. As we talk through Acts 8 today, we need to remember the movements of Acts.

Jesus called his disciples to go to (1) Jerusalem--the God-fearing Jews, (2) Judea--people just outside of traditional Jewish culture, (3) Samaria--people that have been pushed out of Jewish culture, and (4) the ends of the earth--all people far from Jewish culture. The book of Acts is a recounting of this calling and of its being lived out.

While we are still early in the narrative, we have seen the beauty of this being lived out--and we have seen the mess of this being lived out. Remember the recurring theme in the Biblical narrative--God’s engagement with imperfect people and imperfect situations. 

We can be encouraged, focused, challenged, even frustrated and confused by the text in Acts. Walking through this as a community is so helpful.

To build perspective today for where we are going in the text, we are going to talk about our Thanksgiving traditions.

What are some Thanksgiving essentials?

What would you feel or how would you respond if you were transplanted into someone else’s radically different holiday celebration?

Very quickly in Acts, very early in our insight into the early church, we see the complexity of following Jesus. Complexity because the followers of Jesus are people--and not just people, but people from radically different backgrounds with Jesus as the connector.

But these complexities open up some complicated questions: Who is (or who can be) a follower of Jesus? What does it look like to be a follower of Jesus? Where do people start? What comes next? What changes? What stays the same? These questions are very easy if--and it is a huge if--everyone is the same and everyone is perfect.

But they were not all the same and they were not perfect. And we are not all the same, and we are not perfect. So when we see being a follower of Jesus as being an “in or out” world, there can be some dangers and challenges.

When we see being a Christian is an in-or-out world, or with a bounded-set perspective:

In? Believe in Jesus (that’s an important one!). Embrace scripture. Seek to be Christlike.

Out? Don’t believe in Jesus. Don’t embrace scripture. Don’t seek to be Christlike...

How does it affect people when they are told or believe they are outside the circle?

When a group of people share the same bounded set of faith, it creates pride because it’s easy for them to view faith as thinking they have all arrived. No matter how big you write, “All are welcome” on your billboards, the way you view faith is inherently exclusive.

When we think in a bounded-set mentality, our faith becomes something we need to stand up for, something we need to protect. It becomes our job to fix people, and it makes our God very small. In a bounded set, it’s no longer about faith, but rather about agreement. It’s about being certain, because doubt leaves you outside the circle.

If we aren't careful we can start to see this circle start to get smaller and smaller: I believe in Jesus AND I am a Republican (or Democrat)/I go on missions trips/I think abortion is wrong/I speak in tongues/I am affirming/I am in full-time ministry/I value social justice/etc...

Every time we add an “and,” our circle gets a little smaller. “I know I’m a Christian, and this is how I am/what I believe, and you’re nothing like me, so there must be no way you’re a Christian.”

Bounded sets are not evil--it’s helpful to know who you are and what group you belong to, for example with your family and coworkers. Some questions can be answered in a bounded set framework and some can not.

The biggest issue with defining Christianity as a bounded set is that it’s static--you are either in the circle or out of the circle. 

What are the issues with static faith? 

What are some of the dangers of thinking you have everything figured out?

Why do you think bounded set mentalities of faith are so prevalent? 

One of the main reasons is because it simply feels good. Certainty feels good. Knowing feels good. Being a part feels good.

A bounded set is built on what we are against--in order to be in, we need to know who is out. We define the edges by what we are against.

He told his next story to some who were complacently pleased with themselves over their moral performance and looked down their noses at the common people: “Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax man. The Pharisee posed and prayed like this: ‘Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid, like this tax man. I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.’ “Meanwhile the tax man, slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, ‘God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.’” Jesus commented, “This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face, but if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.” (Luke 18:9-14)

Faith isn’t so simple. Believe? What if I have doubts? What if I struggle with some aspects of who Jesus is or don’t know very much about Him? Scripture? What if I haven’t read it? What if I struggle with what is literal and what is figurative? What if I have issues with some aspects of Scripture? And Christlike? What if I don’t know what Christlike is? What if I don’t agree with your perspective on unclear lifestyle issues?

Another response can be to make our circle bigger and bigger and bigger so that enough people are in and only some people are out. But wait--what am I saying? Should we make it bigger? Did we make it too big? Who is supposed to decide this? I am starting to hear Jesus’ words ringing in my head:

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:1-5)

Let’s think about it with this lens--a centered set:

Following Jesus is directional. What if a step towards spiritual reality is a step towards Jesus?

We’ll see in today’s text a man who lived in steps toward Jesus--this Ethiopian man who was pursuing Jesus directionally but had not officially become a follower or been baptized. Faith is directional. Our hearts are directional.

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. (Proverbs 4:23)  Flow--it’s headed somewhere; it’s directional.

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)  Seeking, looking, going--these imply direction.

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7)  Decisions about what to do are made in our hearts; they are determined by where our heart is pointed.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21)  Your heart is not physically there, but it is pointed towards the things you treasure.

I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. (Psalm 119:10)  A heart pointed towards God--it’s directional.

Think about these different perspectives: 

A person who grew up in a Christian household, knows scripture, used to pray a lot, but just doesn’t care anymore. Sure they are close to center, but the direction they are headed is away.

Someone who never went to church, grew up in an atheist home, and has never picked up a Bible, but a friend shared a cup of coffee with them and told them how their faith has motivated them to volunteer at a homeless shelter and that perked their ears. They may be very far away, but they are headed towards.

An agnostic who is passionate about refugee resettlement and sacrifices and gives time and money to meet the need. Maybe, just maybe they are moving closer to Jesus.

Are you saying who you are and what you do doesn’t matter? No! I think we can still miss it, and maybe miss it badly.

I’m reminded of the parable Jesus tells of the two brothers:

“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.” (Matthew 21:28-32)

Again, I have to bring the words of Jesus up:

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:1-5)

So nothing matters? What a person does or doesn't do doesn’t matter? Not at all.

So we should do things? Well... Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount speaks about doing things in order to be seen:

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 6:1)

But then what? Seek Jesus. Walk towards Him.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Abide in Him.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:5-8)

Seek His fulfilment.

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)

Walk towards deeper belief.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. (John 3:16-18)

Here’s a challenging question. Approach it with gentleness:

How do you deal with the tension between God’s love and God’s judgement?

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

In the text now, we are getting farther and farther from Jerusalem and the complexity is building.

Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.” Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”

After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages. (Acts 8:9-25)

This is not going to be a moment to defame Simon, but instead  to seek to walk in his shoes.

What direction do you see Simon going in regards to Jesus? 

What do you think he thought he was doing?

Now feel the tension between this and the next narrative:

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”

The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea. (Acts 8:26-40)

What direction do you see this man going in regards to Jesus? 

What do you think he thought he was doing?

It’s not given to us, but I imagine that the directions Simon and the Ethiopian were going were a bit different. It seems Simon had some direction of “I want to get something good out of this for myself.” It seems the Ethiopian had some direction of “I want to know God and understand Him.” Both were in process, and neither were “in” as we read about them in these moments. 

Now, Saul has recently entered the picture in the Book of Acts. He has approved of Stephen’s stoning. He has been hunting down the followers of Jesus and arresting them. Spoiler alert--Saul is about to become Paul and a huge trajectory change is about to take place in his life. But I bring Paul’s words to our conversation today.

In 2 Corinthians 5, he brings our seeing others to the surface. He had to be thinking about his own process. He had to be remembering his own past:

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:16-21)

Now as the followers of Jesus are outside of Jerusalem, the complexity of following Jesus is really building. But it is not new--it was complex even with the deepest insiders. So we bring this back to us:

What is our responsibility as we connect people to Christ?

What is not our responsibility as we connect people to Christ?

How can we help each other build a healthy perspective of faith? 

How are you challenged to evaluate and even guide your own faith?

Take It Deeper Questions

• Read Acts 8:4-40.
• Who have been heroes in your life? Why?
• What do you see as being Simon’s motive? Does it change? Why or why not?
• What are some potential “rest of the story” outcomes?
• What do you see as being the Ethopian’s motive? 
• What do his motives cause him to do?
• What are some differences inside a person with pure motives vs impure motives?
• How do you steer your motives?
• How are you challenged, encouraged, focused or confused by this text?

Bible Reading Plan

• Deuteronomy 13
• Deuteronomy 14
• Deuteronomy 15
• Acts 19
• Acts 20
• Acts 21