Here is a trivia question to pursue. There is a movie where Humphrey Bogart plays a ‘hard boiled detective’, classic trope of the 1940’s. It moves fast, so fast that, in the end, a murder, among the several, is left unsolved, is left hanging. What is the name of the movie? It was precisely this idea of unresolution, of being left hanging, that was a part of the sermon this past Sunday.
We were looking at the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch that concludes Acts 8. Our focus on the book of Acts for May is the presentation of the Holy Spirit. So there was an apparent division of divine authority that did not fit so well. One piece fit marvelously. It was the Holy Spirit that guided Philip to approach the chariot of this official of Candace, the Ethiopian Queen. But, the other piece did not.
It says 'an angel' sent Philip into the region in the first place. To follow Philip’s path, he was in Samaria, the upper middle section of the land of Israel. Ministry was going well, bigs guns from Jerusalem, Peter and John, were sent to back him up. With them came the Holy Spirit. Then the angel sends him from Samaria to the wilderness road between Jerusalem and Gaza. The Ethiopian Court Official would take this road down from Jerusalem (up on the central ridge of Israel) to the coast to pick up a ship and go home.
Why the angel and THEN the spirit? There are a number of passages in the Bible where the angel of the Lord is essentially a stand-in for the Person of God we know as “the Father”. Such a being appears to Joshua. But there are other times when the angel is 'just' an angel. One example is from the book of Revelation, where John initially bows down to the angel before him, only to be corrected, that the angel is but a fellow servant.
On the other hand, the Holy Spirit is a progressing figure in the Bible. What I mean by that is the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, is filled with examples of the Holy Spirit coming down upon people. But these are on particular individuals, often for particular tasks or time periods, and the Spirit can be withdrawn. The Spirit can also be tied to specific circumstances, like Samson’s strength be tied (pun intended) to his hair being uncut.
Come the New Testament, the Greek Bible, in the Gospel of John, Jesus promises the Holy Spirit as Jesus’ own continuing presence among us upon Jesus’ return to Heaven. This promise is renewed when Jesus commands the disciples to await the Spirit in Jerusalem when he ascends into heaven. It is a promise fulfilled at Pentecost. It is the Pentecost event that has sent Philip on his ministry tour. It is consideration of the particulars of the Holy Spirit that led to the focus on this passage for Sunday’s service of worship.
It is the presence of the angel that messes up a neat interpretive package. My first “quick fix” interpretive solution is that the Angel is from God the Father, the General, deploying Philip ‘strategically’. The angel sent him to the next field of mission. The Spirit then serves as the local commander, for Philip’s ‘tactical’ deployment. “Go, preach to THAT guy, in the fancy chariot.”
Why did I need to ‘fix’ it? Why did I presume the bible was somehow broken? Am I arrogant enough to think I know better than God why we have the passage sent to us this way? Am I insecure enough to have to find the interpretive ‘fix’?
As I assess my reactions honestly, these were the questions that led me to surrender myself to God's intentions. God is smarter than I am. It is written this way for a reason and I don’t have to be smart enough to ‘untangle’ it or fear that I am weak in faithful if I can’t ‘figure it out’.
It’s enough to know we have the Holy Spirit within us and the angel of the Lord outside of us, guiding us and being God’s presence as we seek to live our lives in God’s grace.
Peace, Pastor Peter
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