Philip the Boundary-Breaker
Philip begins his ministry serving at the table, as we saw yesterday. But his ministry ended up changing. Before long he was being sent out to tell people about the Good News of Christ. He went from a table-tender to a boundary-breaker.
Just after Stephen died and was buried, we read: "Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralysed or lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city." (Acts 8:4-8)
Jews, Samaritans, and the God Who Breaks Barriers
I say that Philip was a boundary-breaker here, because you may remember that Jews and Samaritans did not get along at all. It's the main reason that Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan.
In that story, Jesus told of a Jewish man who was beaten and left for dead. All the Jewish leaders passed him by and refused to help him. But then a Samaritan came and helped him out. Jesus was teaching His people that your love and service and care should never be determined by race or culture or tribe.
Jesus was saying that Samaritans should serve needy Jews, and Jews should serve needy Samaritans.
Philip must have learned this. Perhaps he was among those who heard Jesus teach this, or perhaps he heard it from the apostles later - but he took it to heart, and thought: I'm going to serve and preach and spread the love of Christ to the Samaritans.
He went down to Samaria and talked about Jesus there. This was brave! Brave for a Jewish man to dare cross into the region of Samaria and speak about his religious convictions.
Are You a Jonah or a Philip?
But Jesus broke the boundaries. Jesus' people are to be boundary-breakers themselves.
This is quite different from Jonah. Do you remember him? God called him to go to a place where the people were not like him at all. In fact Jonah despised the Ninevites! But God called him to go and preach to them, to get them to turn to God and find forgiveness and grace.
Jonah didn't want to. He hated the Ninevites and didn't want them to find grace. He wanted the boundaries to stay up.
Not Philip. He wanted the boundaries to come down, so that even a people who were different to him could encounter the grace of God and be saved.
Are you a Jonah, or a Philip?
Let's be people who don't look down on those who may be different from us. Let's offer them the same good news that changed our lives, even if it means crossing a boundary or two to get to them.
Philip did it. So should we.
The gospel crosses every barrier of race, culture, and tribe - and so should we. Ask God today to show you any boundaries in your heart that need to come down.