DIY Faith Always Stumbles
An old saying sums it up well: "No one goes to Heaven alone, but everyone goes to hell alone." Ain integral part of salvation is being formed in a community.
One of the best business writers out there now is Simon Synek. His book “Start With Why” revolutionized my thinking about motivating people and having the stamina to stay consistent and focused on achieving goals.
One of my favorite quotes from Synek is, “There is a difference between giving directions and giving direction.”
Of course, younger people don’t remember when we needed paper maps to get directions in unfamiliar places. And I can tell you, I am a typical man who hates asking for directions. You can’t know the joy I feel now in having GPS where I don’t have to ask for directions or read a map!
But we all need help determining our life’s direction. Going it alone only means you never benefit from wisdom learned the hard way.
We weren’t meant to get the ultimate direction for our lives by ourselves. We are saved in Community where we have spiritual Fathers and Mothers to help us avoid the pitfalls of our blind egos. We could ignore this humble reality and try to “do it yourself,” but that’s how we got 40,000 different Christian denominations and all the confusion about the Faith we struggle with today!
How do we avoid this dead-end “Lone Ranger” mindset?
Look at our lesson today in Acts 8:26-39:
IN THOSE DAYS, an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert road. And he rose and went. And behold, an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a minister of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of all her treasure, had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless some one guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the scripture which he was reading was this: “As a sheep led to the slaughter or a lamb before its shearer is dumb, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken up from the earth.” And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, pray, does the prophet say this, about himself or about some one else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this scripture he told him the good news of Jesus. And as they went along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What is to prevent my being baptized?” And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught up Philip; and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.
Our dear St. Philip is a busy apostle traveling and preaching the message of the Kingdom of God. He was just in Samaria dealing with Simon, and now we see the Lord sending him south to Gaza.
On the road, he comes across an Ethiopian eunuch. Eunuchs were part of the ancient world’s system of either slaves or servants who carried out specific tasks for a ruler as trusted advisors because they had no family of their own and no extended in-law relations since they were celibate. Eunuchs were usually highly trusted and essential servants to the kings and queens of the ancient world.
So, when Philip comes across this eunuch from the Ethiopian court reading the Book of Isaiah, he begins to understand why the Lord sent him there.
Notice three important insights about this story that informs us how to live today.
First, sensitivity to the Voice of the Spirit only comes when you are serious about your relationship with God. How many opportunities have I missed or troubles have I stumbled into because I didn’t have a close relationship with God so I could hear His Voice? How often have I ignored the wise words of my priest, friends, and family and regretted this later?
Second, obedience opens doors of opportunity. St. Philip’s obedience to the Spirit’s Voice meant he was in a perfect spot not only to help this eunuch understand God’s word and receive baptism but that eunuch went back to Ethiopia with his newfound faith and evangelized a whole nation! Opportunities to serve are ALWAYS beneficial to the obedient as much as, and often greater than, the help one gives!
Finally, we can’t and won’t understand God’s Message ourselves. “How can I unless someone guides me?” This man was humble and wise enough to realize that the passage he was reading would forever be beyond his ability to appreciate without a guide. This same humility and courage are an absolute must if you and I are ever going to fully appreciate the Message of Christ. Everybody (and I mean everybody) needs a guide!
St. Philip is one of the 70 chosen by Christ to establish His Church to share the Good News of Christ with the world. He was from Ceasarea in Palestine and had seven daughters that prophesied. He became one of the original 7 deacons ordained by the Apostles and He was a serious student of the Prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures and he was looking for the promised coming of the Messiah. Knowing the Lord transformed Philip’s life and even allowed Philip to truly know himself as well. He died of old age in Asia Minor, having been made a bishop by the Apostles and sent there to establish and build the Church!
Today, are you trying to “go it alone” spiritually? Without a humble and courageous heart, you will never develop the sensitivity to God’s Voice or the beauty of communion with all the Church you genuinely need to live a Normal Orthodox Life!
P.S. O Holy Apostle Philip, intercede to our merciful God, that He may grant our souls forgiveness of sins.
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Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. He is also the founder of Faith Encouraged Ministries and produces the Faith Encouraged Daily Devotional on Substack. Watch the Faith Encouraged YouTube Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@FaithEncouragedTV
