Acts 8: Answering God's Call

A few weeks ago in Sunday school we looked at the passage from Acts where Philip meets and speaks with an Ethiopian Eunuch.  (Acts 8:26-39). In this story, Philip follows a call from God and encounters an Ethiopian eunuch who is riding in a chariot, reading the prophet Isaiah. Have you ever noticed how rich this passage is?

I want to focus today on how obedient to God both Philip and the Ethiopian were. 

Verse 26 says, "Then an angel of teh Lord said to Philip, 'Get up and go twoard the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.' (This is a wilderness road). So he got up and went."

That sounds simple. "So he got up and went." But imagine how much power is packed into that sentence. He heard God, so he did was he was called to do. It might as well have Mark's favorite word in it: immediately. No hesitation. No pondering. No wondering why God would send him on a road no one probably travels. Go. So he goes. 

And then there is the Ethiopian. He has traveled all the way from Ethiopia to Jerusalem to learn more about God. He's reading Isaiah (have you ever read Isaiah? Argh!) as he travels. He hears the word revealed to him, and then he jumps out of the chariot and is baptized. Just like that.

Their actions change the world. Christianity is spread. Faith is changed.

Do we do that? Do we hear God's call and respond?