Acts 8: 26-40 (NRSV)
Read Acts 8: 26-40 on biblegateway.com
Verse 26Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a wilderness road.) Verse 27So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship Verse 28and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Verse 29Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to this chariot and join it." Verse 30So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" Verse 31He replied, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. Verse 32Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this: "Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. Verse 33In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth." Verse 34The eunuch asked Philip, "About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" Verse 35Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. Verse 36As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?" Verse 38He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. Verse 39When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. Verse 40But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
Devotion
Magnus Nelson usually began appearing in Hector, Minnesota, in late spring. We never witnessed his arrival, nor did we see his departure. The assumption was that he came by rail. The freight trains would often slow down and even stop at Hector and then hobos would jump from the boxcars and go into the village to beg for a meal.
Magnus, however, was not like any of the other hobos. We never saw him beg for food and he was always alone.
First Lutheran Church was across the gravel street from the tracks. Magnus would come and sit on the front steps of the church and soon the word got out that Magnus was back. He gave a nickel to every youngster who told him a Bible story or listened to him tell a story about Jesus.
This was his all-consuming mission, to tell the story of Jesus to children. His comings and goings, his source of support, and where he called home, were as mysterious as those of Philip. But, like Philip, he lived to tell the story of Jesus. I see a window in our lesson, and in the window I see the hobo, Magnus.
Prayer
Spirit of God, guide us to tell the story of Jesus as you prompt us. Amen.