When the Spirit Nudges Us Toward Others

Pastor Anthony preaching on “When the Spirit Nudges Us Toward Others.” Scripture focus is Acts 8:26–39. Preached on March 6, 2022.

This is the first sermon of a four-part series on: “From Strangers to Friends.”

Copyright 2022 by Rev. Anthony J. Tang and Desert Mission United Methodist Church.

When the pandemic started, there was so much we didn’t know about the coronavirus. How did is spread? How long did you have to be exposed to it before you became sick? Of those who contracted the coronavirus, how many would not show any symptoms at all, how many would end up hospitalized, and how many would die from it? There were so many questions and so few answers that in many ways, it really did seem like sheltering at home was the best thing we could do.

One very good outcome from the shelter in place is that it gave time for our scientists to develop the vaccine, which really was accomplish in an unbelievably fast amount of time, like nine months, right? Slowing the spread of the virus during that period may have given many people a future they might not have had if they had contracted the virus earlier.

I’ve had some friends tell me about how the shelter at home has been a blessing for them. They have grown closer as a family. Some have played more games together while others have spent more time in the outdoors as a family, taking hikes or going camping.

At the same time, during this shelter-at-home policy, we’ve seen increases in anxiety and depression (admittedly, myself included as 2021 was a bad year for me). We’ve seen increases in neglect of children, increases in domestic violence, increases in anorexia nervosa, increases in teen suicide.

In the spring of 2021, last year, the Survey Center on American Life conducted research and found that nearly half of Americans reported having lost touch with at least a few friends over the past year, and 9% said they lost touch with most of their friends.

So, there are definitely some good things that happened by sheltering at home, and there are also some bad things that happened by sheltering at home. Both are true and that means that we can celebrate the benefits we have gained, and we also want to begin to address the challenges that have come up because of our isolation.

For example, with fewer friends, that means less conversation, less conversation can mean fewer opportunities for our friends to cheer us up, and fewer opportunities for our friends to tell us things that only friends can say, like, “Hey, I love you, and there’s a different way of looking at that problem.” Sometimes only a friend can say “Hey, I love you, and there’s no reason to be worried because no one is trying to get you.” Sometimes only a friend can say, “Hey, it’s okay to calm down because NATO is not trying to encroach upon your borders.” Sometimes people need a friend to say, “Hey, starting a war against Ukraine, killing civilians and turning the entire world against you is not going to end well.” Too much isolation and alone-time is not a good thing.

Is this too soon to make jokes about Putin going crazy? Maybe it’s too soon.

But I still stand by my point. Cabin fever is real and too much alone time is not a good thing for anyone.

And, the skill and ability to make new friends is always important to nurture as social creatures.

When Katherine and I moved to Las Vegas in 2009, it was the first time in our marriage that we had moved to a new city together. We had left our previous church, left our social circles, left our families, left the colleagues, and found ourselves in a new city without really knowing anyone.

We had had the same groups of friends for so long, that we had let relationship building skills go unused for too long, relying on just our existing relationships. So, when we needed those skills, it was difficult to build those muscles up again.

So, I’d like to tell you two sure-fire ways to build up those skills.

First, you have to place yourself regularly where you will see people you don’t know.

Some of you got to meet our previous dog, Pecas, and when she was younger, I would take her out for walks and occasionally walk past folks in my neighborhood. We’d wave and say hello, but never stop to interact.

Over the last two years, with our dog Gary, I’ve been standing in the grassy park north of my neighborhood because he loves nothing more than to stare at the neighborhood. If I try to leave before he’s had enough time, he jumps in front of me to cut off my path as if to say, “I’m not done. Too soon.” So, around sunrise every day, we’ve been hanging out in the park.

And, as a consequence, because Gary likes to stand in the grass, I’ve met Jan and Amy who like to go for walks. Jan reads the same newspaper as I do. I’ve had many conversations with Fidel and his feisty dog, Sugar, and Corinne with her two dogs, Bella and Bruno. There’s Sandra and Roberto. There’s Theresa and her dog, Rupert. Cristobal and Alma and their dog who likes to bark at us when we’re in the grass.

If we want to make friends, it helps a lot to hang out regularly in a public space where you will see people you don’t yet know.

Now, especially if you do not have dogs, it might be odd for you to be hanging out in green belts, but that’s not necessarily what I’m suggesting. For you, maybe it’s hanging out where your interests are, like the yoga studio, the library, the gym, or the coffee shop. What would it look like if instead of rushing back and forth, we took a little bit of extra time to hang out in the places where we want to be? And this also increases the likelihood that you will connect with people who share in the same interests.

Secondly, it helps to ask yourself, “Who does God want me to meet?”

In our scripture for today, and angel of God tells Philip to head south from Jerusalem. Philip doesn’t know why; the angel doesn’t tell him. And isn’t that how God’s nudges usually work? Sometimes, we have the feeling to do something and have no idea of why. On the road, Philip sees an Ethiopian eunuch, who couldn’t be more different from him. This Ethiopian is a different ethnic background and different nationality and being a eunuch means that he was a sexual minority. But none of these differences mattered. The Spirit moved Philip to go and talk to him to initiate a conversation.

Now, there’s one thing in this scripture I do not recommend. Philip walks up, hears him reading from the Book of Isaiah and asks him, “Do you understand what you are reading?” This could easily be taken as a rude comment, so I’d never recommend that opening, and somehow, it still works for Philip because the man invites Philip to sit with him and talk. Amazing.

Philip shares with him the story of Jesus and his relationship with Jesus Christ and they share in this incredible connection. This is the way it’s supposed to happen.

I know that as Methodists, we have often been known to shy away from those moments because we’re used to seeing examples of people acting badly and trying to make converts by hitting people over the head with their Bibles. That’s offensive and that’s not how to share the Good News of Jesus.

But what happens here instead is that the Ethiopian gives Philip an invitation: “Come and share with me.”

The hard part of us is that sometimes we have withdrawn back so much that we miss those invitations. Someone will say to us, “I’m looking for a community, I’m looking for friends, I’m looking for a church, I’m looking for making a spiritual connection in my life.” And we may respond, “Hmmm. Well, good luck with that.” And we miss the opportunity, we miss the moment when the Spirit was moving. When someone tells us that they’re looking for something deeper, that’s the opportunity to tell them, “Can I tell you about my love of Jesus?” or “Let me tell you about my church!” or “Let me share with you about the Good News I’ve experienced in the love of God!” This is that moment when the Spirit nudges two people together and that invitation is shared for two people to connect.

The man gets baptized, and then the Spirit snatches up Philip for a whole new adventure.

So first, we have to respond to the Spirit when it calls us to get out there and be in the public spaces of life and second, we have to listen when the spirit calls us to start a conversation.

If this sounds terrifying to you, just remember when you were a little kid and some loving adult encouraged you by saying, “Hey, those kids look friendly; go up to them and ask them if they’ll let you play with them.” If you remember that experience like I do, it was just as terrifying then as it is now! But we can do it. And even if it doesn’t make us a friend every time, what I have learned in the neighborhood park is that most people are happy to have a friendly conversation.

I hope you would allow me to say as well, as Christians, this is what we do at church. And, this is what we do in our communities.

For those of you who are at home because of compromised immune systems and because you are particularly susceptible to the coronavirus, I know that there are challenges with what I’m suggesting. That doesn’t mean we do nothing. It just means that we have to be much more creative about how we make those connections. That is why I try to remind you every week to reach out to someone whose name or face God has given to you.

As Christians, as Protestants, and as Methodists, our faith in Jesus Christ is not a solitary religion, and it’s not just about what we get out of the experience. It’s about being a part of the kingdom of God and the company of saints, and the cloud of witnesses, because it is often within these connections, that we can hear the Spirit of God speak.