Acts 8:29-31 – To Ask and Understand
From Acts 8 –
29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”
30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.
In this week's New Yorker, Jill Lepore took the words of a revered American at a pivotal point in history to task. Reflecting on Congressman Gerald Ford's assertion that the Constitution's phrase of high crimes and misdemeanors set the standard for impeachable offense Ford said that the standard means whatever the vote of Congress says it means.
That has even bigger implications than the removal of a President from office, she argues. To allow each individual to define words, "to dismiss words as meaningless," she writes, is to give up on truth."
I can't question Gerald Ford's commitment to bringing together the nation in meaningful ways. By pardoning Richard Nixon, many people argue that he sacrificed his own chance at reelection so that the country would not be put through further agony. But if Lepore means that Ford's words are taken as a shortcut, a copout from the hard work of agreeing on meaning and working out compromises, I can agree with that.
The principle came home in an interesting way, and not because I or my circle were inclined to debate among ourselves whether Pres. Trump should be impeached. A friend of my parents could not agree to Lepore's meaning, and mine by posting a quote on Facebook because she didn't quite understand what the author was saying. She didn't know, so she, with a Masters in nursing and accompanying experience in her profession, humbled herself and asked in full sight of the Facebook world where I originally posted the quote. Explain to me what this means, she requested.
I did, admitting that any problems in doing so were mine and not hers or the author's. Taking that moment to explain, comprehend, and confirm, to step out in the belief that two people could come to the same understanding at the same time, made all the difference.
Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch in the eighth chapter of the Bible's book of Acts take the same steps. In Acts 8:29, the Holy Spirit puts Philip on the alert. He has a higher priority than agreeing with himself as a one-man Republic where life means what he says it means. By the Holy Spirit's priorities, what other people think, the clarity of their understanding, matters. He cares enough, is obedient enough, to check for understanding.
The other end of the conversation is also essential. The Ethiopian eunuch has pride to protect. The chapter says he was a man of great authority under Queen Candace in charge of Ethiopia's treasury. He had been up to Jerusalem and probably as a eunuch under the Law would not have been allowed to worship there. Yet, if there was wounded pride, the Ethiopian eunuch had more pressing priorities. In Acts 8:31, he asks another human out loud for help in understanding. Like Jill Lepore, like my parents' friend who was my assertive Facebook follower, he believed there was truth to be pursued.
What do we miss by not asking? What do we miss by being satisfied with our level of understanding, or with prioritizing the impression we make on others? What do we miss by not asking the Lord to help us understand Scripture, as well as to understand what our emphasis needs to be, like Philip's, at any given moment? What we miss by being satisfied with fuzziness and fussiness, and then complaining to ourselves about the division in our culture?
29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”
30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.
In this week's New Yorker, Jill Lepore took the words of a revered American at a pivotal point in history to task. Reflecting on Congressman Gerald Ford's assertion that the Constitution's phrase of high crimes and misdemeanors set the standard for impeachable offense Ford said that the standard means whatever the vote of Congress says it means.
That has even bigger implications than the removal of a President from office, she argues. To allow each individual to define words, "to dismiss words as meaningless," she writes, is to give up on truth."
I can't question Gerald Ford's commitment to bringing together the nation in meaningful ways. By pardoning Richard Nixon, many people argue that he sacrificed his own chance at reelection so that the country would not be put through further agony. But if Lepore means that Ford's words are taken as a shortcut, a copout from the hard work of agreeing on meaning and working out compromises, I can agree with that.
The principle came home in an interesting way, and not because I or my circle were inclined to debate among ourselves whether Pres. Trump should be impeached. A friend of my parents could not agree to Lepore's meaning, and mine by posting a quote on Facebook because she didn't quite understand what the author was saying. She didn't know, so she, with a Masters in nursing and accompanying experience in her profession, humbled herself and asked in full sight of the Facebook world where I originally posted the quote. Explain to me what this means, she requested.
I did, admitting that any problems in doing so were mine and not hers or the author's. Taking that moment to explain, comprehend, and confirm, to step out in the belief that two people could come to the same understanding at the same time, made all the difference.
Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch in the eighth chapter of the Bible's book of Acts take the same steps. In Acts 8:29, the Holy Spirit puts Philip on the alert. He has a higher priority than agreeing with himself as a one-man Republic where life means what he says it means. By the Holy Spirit's priorities, what other people think, the clarity of their understanding, matters. He cares enough, is obedient enough, to check for understanding.
The other end of the conversation is also essential. The Ethiopian eunuch has pride to protect. The chapter says he was a man of great authority under Queen Candace in charge of Ethiopia's treasury. He had been up to Jerusalem and probably as a eunuch under the Law would not have been allowed to worship there. Yet, if there was wounded pride, the Ethiopian eunuch had more pressing priorities. In Acts 8:31, he asks another human out loud for help in understanding. Like Jill Lepore, like my parents' friend who was my assertive Facebook follower, he believed there was truth to be pursued.
What do we miss by not asking? What do we miss by being satisfied with our level of understanding, or with prioritizing the impression we make on others? What do we miss by not asking the Lord to help us understand Scripture, as well as to understand what our emphasis needs to be, like Philip's, at any given moment? What we miss by being satisfied with fuzziness and fussiness, and then complaining to ourselves about the division in our culture?
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and understanding. I’m the first, if I don’t understand something, will ask someone more knowledgeable of the thing, to help me understand. My late husband was a scholar of the Bible. He helped me to understand the writings and we spent many evenings discussing the verse and also how it applies to us personally. Since he has been deceased, I have and will continue to ask, so that I might learn. ( we are never to old to learn new things, or meaning of old things) I do appreciate you Brian, you seem to have joy in helping others learn. Thank you, and I enjoyed this blog. Judy Cravens
ReplyDeleteAfter too much self-examination about my motivation, I started an Affirmation file. I'm going to remember the specifics of what I don't do well or of those I disappoint. Since I tend to affirm and encourage pretty well, I'm going to unrealistically expect others to do it as constantly and with as many polished words.
DeleteI don't actually stick things in the file as often as I should, and so I forget them when the next self-criticisms come along. Your appraisal that I enjoy helping others learn went in the file, as did its context. Whether you were conscious of Peter's figure that husbands should wash their wives gently with the Word or not, you're including my best qualities with your husband's brought that to mind. I'm grateful the Holy Spirit translates some of what I write in that way.