Noel Coward wrote that “mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun.” Well, mad dogs, Englishmen, and evangelists.
Arise and go toward the south. The same Greek expression can mean “at noon.” Whether or not Philip dared the twelve o’clock glare of the Gaza road, going there at all was a crazy thing to do. His forced-march mission to the Samaritans had finally received imprimatur from corporate and with Simon the Magician under a severe no-compete injunction Philip owned the franchise outright. Now he bails out to seek his kicks on Route Sixty-Six.
Arise and go. God likes that line. It is the exact same phrase the Almighty used to shift Jonah, an establishment prophet with at least one royal sermon to his credit, into the role of official evangelist to the Taliban. (Jon 1.1, 3.1) The Lord trots it out again to goad Ananias into sharing the Four Spiritual Laws with the Osama bin Laden of the infant church. (Acts 9.11) Whatever the location of the big and little hands, it’s always high noon when God calls gospel gunslingers to step into the street and face former foes armed only with divine love.
And he arose and went. Philip’s actions exactly mirror the angel’s orders. Like some lunatic bursting the police cordon of an official motorcade he dogtrots to the chariot and asks an insulting question: Do you have any idea what you’re talking about? And instead of being Tasered he finds himself ensconced in the limo giving Bible lessons to a big shot.
And he arose and went. Jonah at first hung fire because the idea struck him as fishy, but God eventually fished him out of his disobedience and Jonah arose and went. (Jon 3.3) Ananias brought the Spirit up to date on current events but ultimately got with the program. God’s called missionaries ventured out in the carcinogenic heat-shimmer of a hostile world and preached saving grace with power.
At what point does God say to you today, Arise and go? What mad dog mission marks you as a foreigner among the savvy native survivors of this present age? You can leave no greater legacy in life than an epitaph which reads, And he arose and went.
Do Not Forsake Me, O My Darling,
Doug
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