The Catcher
I saw this video the other day, you may have seen it. If not, you’ve seen one like it. Whenever I see these, they always get me. The baseball game is about to start. It’s time for the opening pitch and there’s a boy on the mound, probably 11, 12 years old. Something like that. This is the ceremonial first pitch of the game and you don’t know why or how he got selected to do this.
The catcher behind home plate gets in his stance. He’s got all the catcher’s gear on, the catcher’s mask, the catcher’s glove, all the things. The boy throws the pitch and it’s perfect. Right down the middle! Strike! The catcher makes the catch and stands up.
At this point, the guy who throws out the first pitch goes to the catcher to get the ball and get a picture with the catcher. It’s always a cool moment, getting your picture with the baseball in hand and an MLB player by your side. But then, something happens. The catcher takes off his mask and you realize, this guy isn’t a major league baseball player, he’s just an ordinary guy. Except, he’s not an ordinary guy. You know that because the next thing you see is the expression on the boy’s face.
The catcher is the boy’s father. And the son had no idea, because the boy thought his father was still deployed, serving our country in the armed forces. But he’s home. And when the boy sees his father, and the father sees his son, the two begin to run towards each other. The distance between home plate and the pitcher’s mound is 60 feet, 6 inches. But the speed at which these two cover that distance makes your head spin. They run to each other, they embrace, and it is beautiful.
Love Changes the Speed at Which You Respond
I tell you that story to illustrate this truth:
Love changes the speed at which you respond.
Think about it. We know what would have happened if the catcher had been the everyday catcher for that team. It would have been exciting, but nobody is probably running. Love changes the speed at which we respond.
We experience this every day.
When I get a call or a text from my wife or one of my kids and they need me, it’s urgent, I drop everything and come running. I may not move at the same speed if someone else calls me about something. It’s not because I don’t love them, maybe I do. But love changes the speed at which we respond.
When our kids were younger, they were typically pretty slow to wake up and come downstairs for breakfast. They didn’t love waking up, or waking up early, and the speed at which they came downstairs made that clear. But Christmas morning? They would be ready to run downstairs at 4am because they love opening presents!
Love changes the speed at which we respond.
Motivated by Love to Make an Eternal Difference
Generally speaking, people who make a difference in this world, the kind of difference that has eternal impact, are those people who are motivated by love.
There are a lot of people who have made a difference in this world who have been motivated by fear, money, power, and many other things! But I would suggest that those people who have made and are making an eternal difference have love as their primary motivation. What’s interesting, is that many of these people, these eternal difference makers, you may not know their names. You may never know their names. And that’s also because they are motivated by love, not by fame. They aren’t living for their name, they are living their lives for Another Name!
I want to share the name and the story of one man you may be familiar with, or you may have never heard of him. Truthfully, we know very little about him. But he made an eternal difference in and for the Kingdom of God.
His name is Philip. His story begins in Acts 6.
The church is growing. As the church is growing the needs in the church are growing. One of those needs is caring for some of the widows in the church who need food. The Apostles are aware of the need but they are also aware that they cannot do everything. They are devoted to prayer and to the teaching of the Word of God (Acts 6:4). So they appoint seven men to take on this responsibility and serve the church in this way. Acts 6:3 describes them as:
full of the Spirit and wisdom.
Philip was one of the men who was chosen to help and to serve the church in this way.
Philip was a man described in Acts 6:3:
full of the Spirit and wisdom.
Who Is the Holy Spirit?
Let’s talk about the Holy Spirit.
For many people, the Holy Spirit is unfamiliar, maybe even confusing. So let’s take a moment to be clear about who the Holy Spirit is.
The Holy Spirit is God. We believe in the Triune God. In God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Three distinct persons, so to speak, but ONE God. Everything God the Father is, God the Son is and God the Spirit is. Everything God the Son is, God the Father is and God the Spirit is. Everything God the Spirit is, God the Father is and God the Son is.
The Holy Spirit is God, so the Holy Spirit is Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient, Eternal, and more.
But the Holy Spirit is not God the Father or God the Son. They are distinct. And while I know this can be confusing for some, I don’t want you to be confused. God is three in one. And in that unity, in that oneness, there is relationship, there is love. And here’s the beautiful Gospel story, through Jesus you and I have been invited into loving relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
We see this from the very beginning, God walked in the garden with Adam and Eve. Before sin, they were living in a perfect and loving relationship with God.
Then, sin enters into the story. What does God do? God begins to unfold His plan to redeem His people, send His Son, and make a way for us to enter into relationship with Him again. And the full force of the Triune God is at work to make a way where there seems to be no way. You might ask, why would there be no way? Because, the reality and the gravity of our sin is so great, left in our sin we could never enter into an everlasting relationship with God. So what does God do? God the Father sends God the Son into the world to seek and save the lost (Luke 19). Why? Because, God loves. Because God is love. Because God so loved the world. Because God is not willing that any should perish.
As we read the Gospels we see this story, of how God the Son, the Holy Uncreated One, enters into the story, chose to be born in a manger, so that He could redeem us, reconcile us, and save us from our sins. And that’s what happens at the cross! Jesus willingly lays down His life, defeats sin and death, conquers the grave, and rises victoriously on the third day!
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all tell this story. Each in their own, beautiful way.
But then, Luke tells us what happens next. And just as he described the coming of God the Son in his gospel, in Acts, he tells the story of the coming of God the Spirit!
Not only does the Spirit come, but as He comes, when He comes, we see the Spirit showing up in some very distinct ways. The Spirit fills people who have come to faith in Jesus and been baptized in His name. And the Spirit fills people for a purpose! Acts is the story of what God accomplished through ordinary people who were filled with and led by the Holy Spirit!
Philip is one of those men described in Acts 6:3:
full of the Spirit and wisdom.
This story is about Philip, but truthfully, it’s about the Holy Spirit.
Opportunity in the Middle of a Crisis
After Philip is called to help serve in the church, persecution breaks out in the city of Jerusalem. One of the men called to serve alongside Philip in the church, a man by the name of Stephen, is stoned to death. Killed. He is the first Christian martyr. And when that happens, well… you can imagine what happens next. Christians begin to scatter. You might say the church has hit its first major crisis as this first persecution rises against the church.
Every crisis we face has both elements, danger and opportunity. And that’s true here.
The church is facing real danger, but as the church scatters, there is tremendous opportunity for the spread of the Gospel.
In fact, Luke says…
But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went.
And then, Luke tells us that Philip went to Samaria. (Acts 8:5).
Now remember, Philip was considered to be a man full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, but his first job in the church was to run the food pantry! Then, persecution breaks out and Philip finds himself in Samaria and now, he’s not running the food pantry, he’s preaching the Gospel! As he’s preaching, crowds are gathering! Not only was Philip preaching the gospel, he’s healing people, performing miracles, and casting out demons! (Acts 8:7-8). By all accounts, Philip is having an incredibly successful ministry in Samaria. If you’re in charge, you’re probably going to leave Philip right where he is! He’s doing great! The church is growing. People are coming to Christ. Miracles are happening. As my dad would say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”
But that’s not what God does.
Philip is having a successful ministry in Samaria, and then, this happens…
The Spirit Leads Philip to a Desert Road
26 As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.”
So God calls Philip away from a successful ministry in Samaria to go walk along a desert road? Why?
This move didn’t make sense on paper. Philip is having success in Samaria. Why leave that to go walk down a desert road?
You Don’t Have to Have It All Figured Out to Start Out
But don’t miss what Philip did. Philip was obedient. Luke writes in Acts 8:27:
So he started out…
Even though he didn’t know why, even though he didn’t know what was next, even though he was leaving something successful to step into something that was uncertain, he started out. He was obedient to the voice of God and he started out.
Did you know you don’t have to have it all figured out to start out?
That your obedience is not contingent on you knowing what’s next?
Philip starts out, and then he meets a man from Ethiopia. And then, Philip hears the Holy Spirit say:
Go.
Sometimes I wonder what would happen if we were that in tune with the Spirit of God and that willing to move when God said move. To go when we felt the Spirit of God prompting us to go. To have that kind of courage. To live in that kind of obedience.
29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.”
And then…
When the Spirit Said Go, Philip Ran
30 Philip ran…
When Philip heard the Spirit prompt him to move, He ran!
Why? Because….
Love changes the speed at which you respond.
Here’s what we know about Philip. He loves the Lord. He loves the church. And he loves the lost!
He is a man full of the Spirit and wisdom.
He was willing to be a leader in the church serving those in need within the church. And he was ready to go and preach the Gospel so that those who were lost could come to know the great love of God!
And in this situation, we see it again.
Be Prepared to Share the Good News About Jesus
30 Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.
32 The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter.
And as a lamb is silent before the shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
33 He was humiliated and received no justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?” 35 So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus.
Philip knew Jesus.
AND… Philip knew Isaiah. And he knew how this passage pointed to Jesus!
You need to know Jesus! But you also need to know the Word of God!
There will be moments when God will open a door of opportunity for you, and you need to be ready to walk through it!
Peter once wrote:
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.
Philip was prepared!
The Spirit opened the door.
Philip knew how to walk through it!
Philip shared with this man who was searching the Good News about Jesus!
36 As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?” 38 He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
Jesus Changes Everything
And right here in this moment, Philip, an ordinary man, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, becomes a part of something extraordinary.
You see, the law of Moses clearly states that a eunuch:
may not be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.
But in the same way Isaiah 53 saw the coming of the Messiah as the Lamb of God, Isaiah 56 envisioned this…
3 “Don’t let foreigners who commit themselves to the LORD say,
‘The LORD will never let me be part of his people.’
And don’t let the eunuchs say,
‘I’m a dried-up tree with no children and no future.’
4 For this is what the LORD says:
I will bless those eunuchs
who keep my Sabbath days holy
and who choose to do what pleases me
and commit their lives to me.
5 I will give them—within the walls of my house—
a memorial and a name
far greater than sons and daughters could give.
For the name I give them is an everlasting one.
It will never disappear!
Jesus changes everything. The Ethiopian Eunuch says:
Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?
And the answer is, nothing. Nothing is preventing you from being baptized and entering into relationship with the Lord, relationship with His people, and everlasting life!
When Philip heard the Spirit say “GO,” Philip “RAN.”
Recognize Where the Spirit Is Already Working
Who do you need to run to?
Sometimes we fail to run to people because we’re unsure of what to say or what to do. But here’s what I want you to know: the Spirit is the primary actor in the story. The Spirit was already working in this man’s heart before Philip arrived. And if you feel the Spirit prompting you to do something or say something, have the courage to know the Spirit is already working. You may wonder, how can I know that? And truthfully, you may not be able to.
Have you ever seen the game with three cups and a ball hidden under one? Someone moves the cups around while you watch and try to keep track of which cup the ball is under.
Sometimes, the spiritual life is kind of like that. You may talk to someone, ask them about God, about their relationship with God, if you can pray for them in some way, and you may not get any response, or you may not get the response you were hoping.
Hear me say, that’s ok.
Sometimes, you will have that conversation, and guess what you will find when the cup is lifted, you will find that the Spirit was already working!
But here’s what has to happen. You and I have to grow in our love for the Lord, for the church, and for the lost.
Philip loved the Lord, he loved the church, and he loved the lost.
And when the Spirit said, “GO,” he “RAN!”
Love changes the speed at which you respond.
May the Spirit of God move us to seek and save the lost.
May the Spirit of God move us to make a difference in the lives of others and may we have the courage to follow His lead.
May the Spirit lead us. May we have the courage to follow.
May we recognize and respond to the Spirit of God.
We want to be the kind of people who run towards people because we love the Lord and love those He loves.
We want to RUN because we LOVE.
We pray, “Spirit, Lead us.” Give us ears to hear and courage to obey.
Be Attentive, Be Courageous, Be Ready to Run
Here are three ways to respond:
- Be attentive to the Holy Spirit. Pray: Holy Spirit help me, guide me, and prompt me today to do your will.
- Be courageous and follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Remember, you have to have ears to hear, be willing to obey, and know the Word of God. The Spirit will never lead you in a way that is contrary to the Word of God! Remember that!
- When the Spirit says GO, be ready to RUN.
May we RUN because we LOVE.
Ordinary People, Extraordinary Things
39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Meanwhile, Philip found himself farther north at the town of Azotus. He preached the Good News there and in every town along the way until he came to Caesarea.
What if we did this? What if we ran to share the love of God with those the Spirit is calling us toward. The Spirit of God has always led His people. And the Spirit of God always fills His people, ordinary people like you and me, to accomplish extraordinary things in His name!
Love changes the speed at which you respond.
May we RUN because we LOVE.
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