Teach Me!
Bible Passage:
Acts 8:26-40
Pastor:
Pastor Mike
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Sermon Date:
2010-10-02
Have you ever tried to teach yourself something new? No professional help. No step-by-step guide. No books. No brother-in-law. Just you and the project. Like a deck. No Home Depot workshop. Just buy some wood, some nails, some deck-stain and do it. Or golfing. No lessons. Just buy some clubs, tee it up, and swing away. If you’ve ever been that independent and tried to teach yourself, how’d it go? I once tried to teach myself to breakdance—the dancing where you spin on your head and flip around on the ground. I had a DVD, but that was it. I practiced and I trained and I studied the techniques…and all I got was a headache. Besides rug burn on my face and a few pieces of furniture I kicked over, I didn’t have much to show for my self-instruction.
Did the same happen to you? Did the tree huggers get ticked when your terrible slices ripped through the woods and your divots were deep enough to bury a body? Did your deck end up so uneven it feels like your grilling on a sailboat? You probably found out exactly what I did—if you really want to learn something, someone else has to teach you.
For the last few weeks, we’ve been talking about the blessings of Christian community. God’s design, like fellow bricks in a wall, is meant to support us, restrain us, guide us, forgive us, and encourage us. And today God calls us to teach one another. The concept seems too simple for a sermon, doesn’t it? You teach me what I don’t know. I teach you what you don’t know. And we all “grow in Jesus”. But it’s not that simple.
Just think of Joe. Joe attended Bible study one time in his life, but he has never forgotten the experience. The pastor asked him to read a passage in front of 50 people and Joe couldn’t even pronounce the words. Later, the pastor told everyone to open to Romans and everyone whipped open their Bibles as if they had the page number memorized. Joe flipped through his copy and couldn’t find it. By the time he discovered Romans in the table of contents, someone had already finished reading the passage. Joe’s face turned red. Then the class was broken into small groups and asked to think of Bible stories that dealt with forgiveness. Before the pastor said, “Go,” Joe’s tablemates fired off, “Jesus and Peter.” “David and Nathan.” “Joseph and his brothers.” Then they all stared at Joe since it was apparently his turn, but Joe had no idea. He didn’t even know who Nathan or Joseph were. He felt clueless. As the pastor closed with prayer, Joe promised himself, “I will never put myself through that again.”
Here’s another version of the same problem: At the end of our English Classes, Beth (the teacher) would share some upcoming events with the students. Before dismissing the class, she would always ask, “Do you understand?” And every head nodded. Four seconds later, I would ask in Spanish, “Entienden eso?” (Do you understand?) And every head would shake. It’s funny, but I did the same thing in Mexico. My teacher would speak faster than an auctioneer and ask, “Entiendes?” And I would nod and hope she wouldn’t ask me to repeat what she said.
Now, what do those stories all have in common? Why would I lie to my teacher? Why would a room feel of people do the same thing? Why would Joe feel so embarrassed about his inability to pronounce the name “Habakkuk”? Why would he run away from people who knew much more about the Bible than he did? The answer: Pride. Pride is what makes teaching one another not so simple. Sometimes we would rather look strong and be weak in the faith than look weak and become strong.
So we’re stuck with this dilemma: We know from the divots and the deck and the rug-burn on my face that teaching ourselves doesn’t work. When we try it, we stunt our spiritual growth. But we also know we hate to look dumb. It’s hard to swallow our pride and let other people teach us. It’s hard to say, “I don’t get it. You guys lost me. I don’t know.” So what’s the answer? God’s Word for today has it.
We read earlier the story of a traveling preacher named Philip and a traveling Ethiopian who didn’t know much about the Bible. But God had a plan to bring the two together. Look back in your Bibles/bulletins at the story from Acts 8. Aren’t you a bit jealous of Philip? God says, “Hey, Phil. Walk down that road. See that guy? Go talk to him. He’s has questions about the Bible. Answer them.” Wouldn’t that be great if God did that for you? You’re in Target, picking out the perfect shower curtain and God whispers, “Hey. See that woman there looking at toilet paper holders. She’s thinking about me. Go talk to her.” So you walk over. “Excuse me, miss. If you got hit by a bus in the Target parking lot and died, do you think you’d go to heaven?” (Or perhaps you’d start the conversation a different way…).
So God directs Philip to the Ethiopian and Philip asks the key question. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Everything hinges on this moment. The Ethiopian is an important official. He’s in charge of the queen’s treasury. He’s rich. He’s powerful. But is he proud? Is he too proud to admit he doesn’t understand the Bible? Would his fear of looking dumb rob him of this opportunity for community? Look at v.31—“’How can I [understand]?’ [the Ethiopian] said, ‘unless someone explains it to me?’ So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.” And with that humble invitation, the beautiful dominoes fall. Explanation. Understanding. Faith. Salvation. Baptism. Peace. Verse 39 says, “He went on his way rejoicing.”
That’s what community is supposed to look like for us, too. God has blessed our congregation with a lot of Philips, a lot of people who know the Word well and love to teach it. You might be sitting next to one. And what they can teach us will send us on our way rejoicing. Because they offer more than a pronunciation guide for the strange names of the Bible. They offer us Jesus.
Jesus is the humble Savior proud people like us need. In fact, we are the reason Jesus did what he did in the lesson the Ethiopian read. “He [Jesus] was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” If you don’t know the story, let me teach you. Jesus was falsely accused of crimes he didn’t commit, but he didn’t open his mouth to defend himself. He was completely innocent, but he was led off like a lamb to be slaughtered on a cross. “In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.” What happened to Jesus wasn’t just. It wasn’t fair. So why did it happen? Because God didn’t want to be fair to us. He didn’t want to give us what we deserved for our pride. He wanted to love us instead. God looked at me—so proud, so defensive—and decided to love. He looked at you and decided the same. In this same prophecy, Isaiah teaches us, “[Jesus] was pierced for our transgressions/sins…By his wounds we are healed.” God teaches us today about the gospel. You are healed and cured and cleansed and perfect before God because of Jesus.
The joy and peace we have through that message is what God wants to pour into our lives. He wants to teach you about Jesus through me. He wants to teach me about Jesus through you. He wants us to gather in community and teach one another. So let’s humble ourselves and do it.
Today is the perfect opportunity for you to take that step. Sign up for a small group Bible study. Get into a community where you can ask your questions, learn their answers, hear their questions, and give your answers. Let me give you four reasons why you should:
First—You have questions about the Bible. How do I know that? Because we all do. I’m reading through the Bible with a good friend right now who doesn’t believe in God. And she has questions. Like “Did Jesus’ brother really write the book of James? What does the Apostle Paul mean when he says we need to ‘hand some people over to Satan’? And what in the world is Revelation about?” I’m also studying the Bible with a long-time Eastside member. Guess what? He has questions, too. Like “What’s the difference between Israel and Judah? Does God bring drama into families because of sins of the past? What’s the deal with King Saul and the witch in 1 Samuel 28?” And I read the Bible on my own. And guess what? I have questions, too. Like “Why doesn’t God ever explain why believers had bunches of wives in the Old Testament? Is God okay with me having a cell phone and walking past a poor person? Is it always wrong to watch movies that have unchristian themes if it’s just for entertainment? And what in the world is Revelation all about?” We all have questions. A small group is the perfect place to ask and open the Bible and to teach one another the answers.
Second—You’ll make friends in your small group. Friends who will live in this Christian community with you. We don’t hold hands and sing Kumbaya at small group. No, we make friends who pray for us, encourage us, confront us, forgive us, and teach us. I need those kinds of friends as I grow in faith. You do, too.
Third—Our small group leaders would love to have you whether you can pronounce “Habakkuk” or not. Some of you are afraid you don’t know enough to join a Bible study. The truth is you don’t know enough not to be in a Bible study. And our leaders understand all of us are different in our understanding. If you told Jim or Brad or Anne, “You know, I really don’t know much about the Bible. My questions are probably obvious. Everyone here knows way more than I do, but I want to grow in my faith,” I can guarantee they will not say, “Wow! You are so dumb. Hey, guys, come here and listen to how dumb Joe is. Lisa, grab the idiot-hat from the closet. This guy deserves it.” No one will say that. They’ll say, “That’s cool. I have questions, too. That’s why all of us are here. If you have a question, ask it. If you feel lost, just let me know and I’ll try to give a better explanation. I’m just glad you signed up.”
Fourth and finally—You will be blessed by it. In this Word we find Christ. Our Savior. Our brother. Our comforter. He promises, “[My word] will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” When you get into God’s Word in your small group, God will give you what he gave the Ethiopian—peace, joy, understanding, answers, forgiveness. That’s what makes one night every other week worth it, even if you are crazy busy. This Word, these people, will give you Jesus.
So today is a perfect day for community. In just a moment, we are going to collect our offering. Before the ushers come forward, though, we’re going to give you a few minutes to take this next step and sign up for a small group. Look over the catalogs you got when you came in today. Pick the group that grabs your attention. Fill out the simple sign up card. And drop it in the plate. Let’s take a great step towards community. As the Scriptures say, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers [and sisters] live together in unity!” Amen.
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