Answers

Acts 8:27-31 So he [Philip] started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

Questions open. Answers close. This is both incredibly beautiful and necessary and potentially dangerous and disruptive.

In particular, answers are beautiful and necessary because they give us security. They help us feel like we understand things and have something to stand on. It’s sort of like locking the door at night when we go to sleep. But the flip side of that is the potential for answers to be less like locking the door at night and more like boarding things up and never going outside. There’s a balance between safety and fear. In the case of the Ethiopian official in the passage today, answers were super helpful. He just needed some context – something to help him understand the writings of Isaiah. Without those answers, he was unable to engage with what those writings might mean for his life.

What are some areas where you might need some answers or context right now? Who might you go to for that context?