If God can = entrust the Messiah to a world like ours, with all its troubles and = dangers, then why should I be afraid

Chasing Chariots (Acts = 8:26-40)

Rev. = Jennifer E.=20 Barrett Siegal

May 10, = 2009

Old = South Union=20 Church

Come, Lord Jesus, break into our = lives when=20 we need you the most, speak to us, call upon us to do the tasks that you = have=20 for us. Come, Lord Jesus, = and bless=20 us with your presence, breathe your Holy Spirit upon us, and enable us = to be and=20 to do more than we ever could if left on our own. Come, Lord Jesus, come. May the words of my mouth and = the=20 meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our = Rock and=20 our Redeemer. =20 Amen.

You might say = she=92s not that=20 special. In fact, she = would say so=20 herself. She=92s a woman, = a wife, a=20 mother of two daughters. She=92s a=20 healer=97a healer of bodies in her work as a pediatrician and a healer = of souls in=20 her work as a pastor. = She=92s also=20 shy, soft-spoken and demure. = And=20 for years, she just lived her life, juggling the competing demands of = work and=20 family like so many other women, facing the ups and downs that life = brought her=20 way. Nothing out of the = ordinary,=20 really.

But about eight = years ago,=20 everything changed. The = Reverend=20 Doctor Gloria White Hammond was simply minding her own business, = preaching and=20 living the good news of the Kingdom of God, when God sent her off to = chase a=20 chariot. The wilderness = road she=20 traveled took her all the way from Boston to=20 Sudan in Africa. = The=20 chariot she caught landed her in the middle of a war-torn nation and = brought her=20 face-to-face with the brutal effects of civil war. During her first trip in July = of 2001,=20 Gloria was part of a delegation of African-American ministers that = helped to=20 liberate over 6,700 women and children who had been enslaved as a result = of the=20 war. As she witnessed the = realities=20 of modern-day slavery, her life changed forever. And God said to her, = =93Gloria, you may=20 not think you=92re special, but I have work here that only you can = do.=94 So Gloria got to work. Since her first trip to = Sudan,=20 Gloria has returned six times, working to free 10,000 women and children = who=20 were victims of enslavement.[1]

You know, God = didn=92t choose=20 Gloria because she=92s a perfect person, but her willingness to trust = God made her=20 the perfect person to do God=92s work in Sudan. She trusted that God was = sending her to a=20 hot, dirty, violent, hopeless place for a reason, and indeed that was = true. God knew that Gloria was just = the right=20 person not only to bear witness to the atrocities of slavery in = Sudan,=20 but she was also the perfect person to do something about it. As Gloria says of her = anti-slavery=20 mission, =93I=92m afraid but also clear. . . . You do it because = you=92re called on=20 and because you must, not because it=92s comfortable.=94[2]

Philip also knew = something about=20 being called on, and you might say he wasn=92t that special either. His name didn=92t go down in = history like=20 that of Paul and Peter, Mary, Martha, James, John, or even Judas. When we name the major figures = of the=20 New Testament, Philip isn=92t usually at the top of the list. In fact, he=92s only mentioned = three times=20 in the Bible. Just three=20 times! Maybe because he = wasn=92t that=20 special=85

When we first hear = of Philip in=20 the Book of Acts, we find out that he was nominated by the early church = to serve=20 as a deacon. He and six = others=20 helped distribute food to widows in need. =20 You might say that he was chosen to serve in a soup kitchen. It was certainly important = work, but=20 Philip was part of a team. = He=20 wasn=92t in the limelight. = Acts goes=20 on to tell about the miracles and wonders performed by another one of = the=20 deacons, Stephen. It=92s = only a=20 couple chapters later that we catch up with Philip, and this time we = find him=20 fleeing from Jerusalem in order to escape = persecution. He ended up in a city in = Samaria, where he took up residence and started = preaching=20 the good news of the kingdom of God. =20 He wasn=92t ordained as a preacher. =20 He didn=92t have any special training. He just talked about his faith = and told=20 other people what he knew to be true about Jesus. And many people came to = believe because=20 of his witness. But then = he was=20 upstaged again! Peter and = John=20 showed up to baptize all those new Christians with the Holy Spirit. Philip began the work, but = others got=20 the credit in the end.

Now just when you = might start to=20 think that Philip wasn=92t that important, we come to the third story = about him,=20 the one that Terry read for us today. =20 In this morning=92s scripture passage, God sent Philip to chase a = chariot. God took an = ordinary man=20 and sent him out along a wilderness road so that he could preach the = Good News=20 to an Ethiopian Eunuch. = God took a=20 not-so-special man and sent him to an=20 official from the court of the Ethiopian Queen. God said, =93Philip, you may = not think=20 you=92re special, but I have work here that only you can do.=94 So Philip followed God=92s = call and left=20 Samaria on that=20 wilderness road, where he spotted the Ethiopian sitting in a = chariot. And when he caught up to the = chariot, he=20 jumped right in and helped the eunuch to see that God=92s story was his = story,=20 too. You know, God = didn=92t choose=20 Philip because he was a perfect person, but his willingness to trust God = that=20 made him the perfect person to do God=92s work in that time and = place.

So I wonder=97what = chariot is God=20 calling you to chase? = What work=20 does God have in mind that only you can do?

Sometimes when we hear = about this=20 curious thing we know as =93call,=94 we tend to think that God only = calls special=20 people to do God=92s work. = And you=92re=20 right=97God does call special people. =20 Special people are the ones who are ready and willing to do = God=92s work,=20 to chase after chariots. = But=20 special people aren=92t perfect=97they=92re people who are just going = about their=20 ordinary lives like Philip and Gloria, like you and me. Special people aren=92t = perfect, but they=20 are prepared to say yes to God. =20

And then there are the = times we=20 hear about =93call=94 and think that we don=92t have the right gifts and = talents to do=20 the work God has in mind. = Remember,=20 though, that God didn=92t say to Philip, =93I need you to minister to an = Ethiopian=20 eunuch, but only after you=92ve read these books about Ethiopia and the cultural = and=20 religious isolation of eunuchs in first century Judaism.=94 And God didn=92t say to = Gloria, =93I need=20 you to free my people in Sudan but only after = you=92ve studied=20 the history of the country and written a paper on the challenges of=20 post-colonial rule in African nations.=94 =20 No, God called them to serve just as they were. As Martin Smith says in the = book A Season for the Spirit, = =93Finding the=20 Spirit of God in my life [is] not a matter of looking for something I = [have]=20 never had. It [is] a = matter of=20 actively uncovering through faith a Presence in the depth of my being = that [has]=20 been there all along.=94[3] Indeed we don=92t have to wait = to be=20 equipped to do God=92s work. = God has=20 already given us the tools that we need=97if we=92ll only dig deep and = discover that=20 they=92ve been there all along. = And=20 sometimes we only discover our gifts after we jump into the = chariot. So we may not feel ready, but = in fact=20 we=92ve already been given all that we need to do the work God has in = mind.

So again I = wonder=97what chariot is=20 God calling you to chase? = What work=20 does God have in mind that only you can do? God has a call for each and = every one of=20 us. You might not be = called to free=20 slaves in Sudan or = convert=20 Ethiopian eunuchs in Samaria, but God has a call for = you. God has work for you to do = right here,=20 right now=97at home, at work, at church, at the soccer field, at the = grocery=20 store, at Dunkin=92 Donuts, anywhere. =20 God needs you=97God needs me=97to share the love of Jesus Christ = in ways that=20 only we can. So you may = not feel=20 special enough, you may not feel ready. =20 But the only thing that matters is this=97are you willing to jump = in the=20 chariot anyway?