📖 Matendo ya Mitume — Somo la Kina — Sehemu ya 3: Wametawanywa Kama Mbegu (Matendo 6:8–8:40)📖 Acts Intensive — Unit 3: Scattered Like Seed (Acts 6:8–8:40)

I. Shahidi wa KwanzaI. The First Martyr

Kitabu cha Matendo kimekuwa kikienea nje kwa duara zinazozidi kupanuka. Pentekoste, yule kiwete kwenye mlango wa hekalu, kukamatwa kwa mara ya kwanza, maombi yaliyotikisa chumba, kifo cha Anania na Safira, kukamatwa kwa mara ya pili, kuchaguliwa kwa wale Saba. Sasa Luka anaelekeza lenzi yake kwa mmoja wa wale Saba — si Stefano mhudumu wa meza, bali Stefano mhubiri, Stefano nabii, Stefano Mkristo wa kwanza kufa kwa ajili ya jina la Yesu.Acts has been moving outward in widening circles. Pentecost, the lame man at the temple gate, the first arrest, the prayer that shook the room, the death of Ananias and Sapphira, the second arrest, the Seven appointed. Now Luke focuses the lens on one of those Seven — not on Stephen the table-server, but on Stephen the preacher, Stephen the prophet, Stephen the first Christian to die for the name of Jesus.

"Na Stefano, akiwa amejaa imani na uweza, akafanya maajabu na ishara kubwa katika watu" (Matendo 6:8, SUV). Simama na uangalie jambo hilo. Stefano alikuwa ameteuliwa kusimamia ugawaji wa chakula wa kila siku kwa wajane. Kwa lugha yetu, alikuwa shemasi. Hata hivyo, Roho Mtakatifu yule yule aliyemjaza kwa ajili ya kazi ile ya utulivu sasa alimjaza kwa ajili ya maajabu makubwa, ishara, na hubiri lililojaa theolojia kuliko yote katika kitabu cha Matendo. Somo hili, marafiki, ni lile tunalojifunza tena na tena: Mungu hakuhitaji uwe na shahada, cheo, au jukwaa. Anakuhitaji ujae Roho. Yeye atakupa jukwaa."And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people" (Acts 6:8, NKJV). Stop and notice that. Stephen had been recruited to oversee the daily food distribution to the widows. He was a deacon, in our terminology. Yet the same Holy Spirit who had filled him for that quiet work now filled him for great wonders, signs, and the most theologically saturated sermon in the book of Acts. The lesson, friends, is one we keep relearning: God does not need you to have a degree, an office, or a platform. He needs you to be full of the Spirit. He will provide the platform.

Upinzani ulitoka katika sinagogi lililoitwa Sinagogi la Mahuru — Wayahudi wanaozungumza Kigiriki kutoka Kirene, Iskanderia, Kilikia na Asia. Walibishana na Stefano na hawakuweza kumshinda. Luka anasema "hawakuweza kushindana na hekima na Roho ile aliyokuwa akisema kwa nguvu zake" (Matendo 6:10, SUV). Kwa hiyo walifanya kile ambacho watu wa kila karne hufanya wanaposhindwa kushinda hoja kwa uaminifu: waliwahonga mashahidi wa uongo na kumshtaki mtu huyo kwa kosa la kukufuru. Walimkokota mbele ya Baraza Kuu (Sanhedrini) — chombo kile kile kilichomhukumu Yesu, kilichokuwa sasa kimewashtaki Petro na Yohana mara mbili, na kilichokuwa kinaishiwa na njia za kuunyamazisha mwamko huu mpya. Nao walimshtaki kwa mambo mawili: kusema kinyume cha hekalu, na kusema kinyume cha torati ya Musa.Opposition came from a synagogue called the Synagogue of the Freedmen — Greek-speaking Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and Asia. They argued with Stephen and they could not win. Luke says they "were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke" (Acts 6:10, NKJV). So they did what people in every century do when they cannot win an argument honestly: they bribed false witnesses and brought the man up on charges of blasphemy. They dragged him before the Sanhedrin — the same body that had condemned Jesus, that had now twice tried Peter and John, that was running out of ways to silence the new movement. And they accused him of two things: speaking against the temple, and speaking against the law of Moses.

Kile ambacho Baraza Kuu liliona kiliwashtua. Luka anakiandika karibu kana kwamba ni jambo dogo. "Na watu wote waliokuwa wameketi katika baraza wakimkazia macho, wakaona uso wake kana kwamba ni uso wa malaika" (Matendo 6:15, SUV). Mstari huo umenigusa siku zote. Washtaki wa Stefano walikuwa wametumia asubuhi nzima wakimsingizia uongo, na hatimaye alipoketishwa ili ajibu, uso wake ulingʼaa. Baadhi yenu mmeuona usoni mwa bibi yenu akiwa kitandani karibu na kufa, au usoni mwa mmisionari aliyerudi kutoka uwanjani, au usoni mwa mhubiri mzee aliyetumia alasiri zake katika Biblia yake. Ni uso wa mtu ambaye amekuwa pamoja na Mungu. Baraza Kuu liliuona, nao ukawasimamisha ghafla.What the Sanhedrin saw shocked them. Luke records it almost in passing. "And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel" (Acts 6:15, NKJV). I have always been struck by that line. Stephen's accusers had spent the morning lying about him, and when he was finally seated to answer, his face glowed. Some of you have seen it in your own grandmother on her deathbed, or in a missionary just back from the field, or in an old preacher who has spent his afternoons in his Bible. It is the face of someone who has been with God. The Sanhedrin saw it, and it stopped them in their tracks.

II. Hubiri Refu Kuliko Yote KitabuniII. The Longest Sermon in the Book

Kuhani mkuu alimwuliza Stefano, "Je! Mambo haya ndivyo yalivyo?" (Matendo 7:1, SUV). Kinachofuata ni hubiri moja refu kuliko yote lililoandikwa katika kitabu cha Matendo — mistari hamsini na miwili ya historia pana ya Agano la Kale. Stefano angeweza kuanza na shtaka la hekalu na shtaka la torati ya Musa. Badala yake aliwarudisha washtaki wake hadi Mesopotamia na kwa Ibrahimu, kisha akaendelea mbele kupitia Yusufu, Musa, jangwa, maskani, Daudi, na mwishowe hekalu la Sulemani. Alikuwa akitega mtego. Mtego huo ulikuwa na makali mawili.The high priest asked Stephen, "Are these things so?" (Acts 7:1, NKJV). What follows is the longest single recorded sermon in the book of Acts — fifty-two verses of sweeping Old Testament history. Stephen could have started with the temple charge and the Mosaic-law charge. Instead he walked his accusers all the way back to Mesopotamia and Abraham, then forward through Joseph, Moses, the wilderness, the tabernacle, David, and finally Solomon's temple. He was setting a trap. The trap had two prongs.

Makali ya kwanza: Mungu hajawahi kufungiwa ndani ya jengo. Stefano alionyesha, kwa nukuu moja ya Agano la Kale kutoka Isaya 66 iliyopiga kama nyundo, kwamba "Yeye Aliye juu hakai katika nyumba zilizofanywa kwa mikono" (Matendo 7:48, SUV). Mungu wa Ibrahimu alikutana na Ibrahimu huko Mesopotamia, kabla Mesopotamia haijawa na patakatifu hata kimoja cha Israeli. Mungu aliyewakomboa Israeli alikutana na Musa upande wa nyuma wa jangwa la Midiani kwenye kichaka cha miiba. Maskani ilihama pamoja na watu. Hekalu lilikuwa ruhusa, si lazima. Baraza Kuu lilikuwa limetumia karne nyingi kumfungia Mungu ndani ya sanduku — sanduku kubwa sana, zuri, la marumaru na mierezi — kisha likalalamika kila alipofanya jambo lolote nje yake. Stefano aliliangusha sanduku hilo kwa nukuu moja.Prong one: God has never been confined to a building. Stephen pointed out, with one hammer-blow Old Testament quotation from Isaiah 66, that "the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands" (Acts 7:48, NKJV). The God of Abraham met Abraham in Mesopotamia, before Mesopotamia had a single Israelite shrine. The God who delivered Israel met Moses on the back side of a Midianite desert at a thornbush. The tabernacle moved with the people. The temple was a concession, not a necessity. The Sanhedrin had spent centuries putting God in a box — a very large, beautiful, marble-and-cedar box — and then complaining when He did anything outside it. Stephen knocked the box down with one quotation.

Makali ya pili: Israeli wana historia ndefu ya kuwakataa wakombozi ambao Mungu anawatuma. Yusufu alikataliwa na ndugu zake, na mwishowe akawaokoa huko Misri. Musa alikataliwa na ndugu zake — "Ni nani aliyekuweka wewe kuwa mkuu na mwamuzi juu yetu?" — na ni katika kuja kwake mara ya pili tu ndipo alipokubaliwa kuwa mkombozi. Mtindo huo unajirudia tangu Mwanzo hadi Malaki. Kisha Stefano akashusha pigo zito.Prong two: Israel has a long history of rejecting the deliverers God sends. Joseph was rejected by his brothers and ended up saving them in Egypt. Moses was rejected by his brothers — "Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?" — and only on his second appearance was he accepted as deliverer. The pattern repeats from Genesis to Malachi. And then Stephen lowered the boom.

"Enyi wenye shingo ngumu, msiotahiriwa mioyo wala masikio! Siku zote mnashindana na Roho Mtakatifu; kama baba zenu walivyofanya, na ninyi ni vivyo hivyo. Ni yupi katika manabii ambaye baba zenu hawakumwudhi? Nao waliwaua wale waliotabiri habari za kuja kwake yule Mwenye Haki, ambaye ninyi sasa mmekuwa wasaliti wake na wauaji wake" (Matendo 7:51–52, SUV). Makali yale mawili yakafunga kwa nguvu. Hekalu walilolifanya sanamu lilikuwa jambo la pili. Mkombozi waliyemkataa alikuwa Kristo. Utetezi wa Stefano haukuwa utetezi hata kidogo. Ulikuwa mashtaka."You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers" (Acts 7:51–52, NKJV). The two prongs snapped shut. The temple they idolized was secondary. The deliverer they had rejected was Christ. Stephen's defense was not a defense at all. It was the prosecution.

III. Kifo Kilichofanana Kabisa na cha Bwana WakeIII. The Death That Looked Just Like His Master's

Baraza Kuu likapoteza utulivu kabisa. "Wakachomwa mioyo yao, wakamsagia meno" (Matendo 7:54, SUV). Stefano, akiwa amejaa Roho Mtakatifu, akatazama juu. Naye akaona jambo ambalo hakuna mwingine aliyewahi kuandika kwamba aliliona. "Tazama! Naona mbingu zimefunguka, na Mwana wa Adamu amesimama mkono wa kuume wa Mungu!" (Matendo 7:56, SUV). Karibu kila mahali pengine katika Maandiko Kristo ameketi mkono wa kuume wa Baba — kazi yake iliyokamilika imekamilika. Lakini kwa ajili ya shahidi wake wa kwanza Kristo alisimama. Alisimama ili ampokee mtumishi wake nyumbani.The Sanhedrin came unglued. "They were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth" (Acts 7:54, NKJV). Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up. And he saw something nobody else had ever recorded seeing. "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" (Acts 7:56, NKJV). Almost everywhere else in Scripture Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father — His finished work is finished. But for His first martyr Christ stood up. He stood to receive His servant home.

Baraza likaziba masikio yao, likapiga kelele kwa sauti kuu ili kuizima sauti yake, likamkokota nje ya mji, likampiga kwa mawe. Mashahidi waliweka nguo zao miguuni pa kijana mmoja aitwaye Sauli. Kumbukeni jina hilo. Mawe yalipokuwa yakimwangukia, Stefano aliomba maombi mawili yanayofanana kabisa na maneno mawili ya mwisho ya Kristo msalabani. "Bwana Yesu, pokea roho yangu" — hayo ni Luka 23:46 kinywani mwa Bwana wake. "Bwana, usiwahesabie dhambi hii" — hayo ni Luka 23:34. "Alipokwisha kusema haya, akalala" (Matendo 7:60, SUV). Neno la Kigiriki lililotafsiriwa "akalala" ni kitenzi cha upole kuliko vyote. Mwili wake ulianguka chini. Roho yake ilipanda juu. Mazishi ya kwanza ya Kikristo yalikuwa kutawazwa.The council covered their ears, screamed at the top of their lungs to drown out his voice, dragged him outside the city, and stoned him. The witnesses laid their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. Remember that name. As the stones came down, Stephen prayed two prayers that mirror exactly the two final sayings of Christ from the cross. "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" — that is Luke 23:46 in his Master's mouth. "Lord, do not charge them with this sin" — that is Luke 23:34. "And when he had said this, he fell asleep" (Acts 7:60, NKJV). The Greek word translated "fell asleep" is the gentlest possible verb. His body went down. His spirit went up. The first Christian funeral was a coronation.

Nina barua mezani mwangu ambayo ninairudia mara kwa mara. Tarehe 15 Februari 1947, kijana mmoja aitwaye Glenn Chambers alipanda ndege huko Miami akielekea Quito, Ekwado. Alikuwa karibu kuanza huduma ya kimisionari ya redio. Kabla tu ya ndege kupaa aliandika upesi ujumbe mfupi kwa mama yake. Hakuwa na karatasi ya kuandikia, kwa hiyo alirarua kipande cha karatasi ya tangazo kilichokuwa na neno moja kubwa lililochapishwa juu yake: KWA NINI? Aliandika ujumbe wake kuzunguka neno hilo na kuutumbukiza katika sanduku la barua la uwanja wa ndege. Saa chache baadaye ndege yake iligonga kilele cha mlima. Hakuna aliyenusurika. Siku chache baadaye, mama yake akiwa bado katika mshtuko, bahasha kutoka kwa mwanawe ilifika. Aliifungua. Lililomtazama lilikuwa ni neno lile alilolitumia kama karatasi ya kuandikia: KWA NINI?I have a letter on my desk that I keep coming back to. On February 15, 1947, a young man named Glenn Chambers boarded a plane in Miami bound for Quito, Ecuador. He was about to begin a missionary radio ministry. Just before takeoff he scribbled a quick note to his mother. He had no stationery, so he tore off a piece of advertising paper that had a single large word printed across it: WHY? He wrote his message around that word and dropped it in the airport mail. Hours later his plane crashed into a mountain peak. There were no survivors. A few days later, while his mother was still in shock, an envelope from her son arrived. She opened it. Staring back at her was the word he had used as a piece of stationery: WHY?

Hilo ndilo swali ambalo kila Mkristo anayeomboleza ameuliza kwenye mazishi ya mtumishi mwaminifu. Kwa nini Mungu anamwacha Stefano afe mapema hivyo katika huduma yake? Kwa nini Mungu anamwacha Glenn Chambers aanguke na ndege kabla hajarusha hewani hubiri hata moja? Kwa nini Mungu anamwacha mmisionari afe kwa malaria, mke wa mchungaji afe kwa saratani, baba kijana afe kwa shambulio la moyo? Kitabu cha Matendo kinalijibu swali hilo kwa njia ya pembeni tu, lakini kinalijibu. Sentensi inayofuata baada ya kifo cha Stefano ni hii: "Na siku ile palitokea adha kuu juu ya kanisa lililokuwako Yerusalemu; wote wakatawanyika katika nchi za Uyahudi na Samaria, isipokuwa mitume" (Matendo 8:1, SUV). Kifo cha Stefano ni kiberiti kinachowasha utambi wa Matendo 1:8. Kanisa halihamii Uyahudi na Samaria mpaka limzike shahidi wake wa kwanza.That is the question every grieving Christian has asked at the funeral of a faithful servant. Why does God let Stephen die so early in his ministry? Why does God let Glenn Chambers crash before he ever broadcasts a sermon? Why does God let the missionary die of malaria, the pastor's wife die of cancer, the young father die of a heart attack? The book of Acts answers the question only sideways, but it answers it. The next sentence after Stephen's death is this: "At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles" (Acts 8:1, NKJV). Stephen's death is the match that lights the fuse on Acts 1:8. The church does not move into Judea and Samaria until they bury their first martyr.

IV. Kutawanywa Maana Yake ni KupandwaIV. Scattered Means Sown

Katika Matendo 8:4 Luka anatumia kitenzi cha Kigiriki ambacho Biblia nyingi za Kiingereza hukitafsiri "walitawanyika." Kitenzi chake cha msingi ni speiro, na mkulima yeyote wa Galilaya angekitambua mara moja. Ndicho kitenzi ambacho Yesu alitumia katika mfano wa mpanzi. Maana yake ni kutawanya mbegu. Kuzirusha juu ya shamba lililolimwa. Luka anafanya mzaha wa makusudi dhidi ya Sauli. Sauli alidhani alikuwa akiuangamiza mwamko huo. Kumbe alikuwa akipanda mazao. Mateso hayakuifanya Injili itoweke; yaliieneza. "Basi wale waliotawanyika wakaenda huko na huko wakilihubiri neno" (Matendo 8:4, SUV).Luke uses a Greek verb in Acts 8:4 that most English Bibles translate "scattered." The root verb is speiro, and any farmer in Galilee would have recognized it instantly. It is the verb Jesus used in the parable of the sower. It means to broadcast seed. To fling it across the plowed ground. Luke is making a deliberate joke at Saul's expense. Saul thought he was destroying a movement. He was actually planting a crop. Persecution did not dissipate the gospel; it disseminated it. "Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word" (Acts 8:4, NKJV).

Hapa ndipo sehemu inayonichoma moyo, nayo inapaswa kukuchoma moyo wewe pia. Matendo 1:8 ilikuwa imetamkwa kwa miezi kadhaa. Mitume walikuwa wameisikia kutoka kinywani mwa Bwana mwenyewe. Pentekoste ilikuwa imepita. Elfu tatu walikuwa wameongezwa, kisha elfu tano. Na kila mmoja wa waamini hao wapya alikuwa bado yuko Yerusalemu. Agizo Kuu lilikuwa jambo zuri maadamu Agizo Kuu halikumtaka mtu yeyote aondoke nyumbani. Ilihitaji mateso — kupoteza nyumba zao, kazi zao, sifa zao, marafiki zao — ili kulivusha kanisa nje ya mipaka ya mji wa Yerusalemu. Mimi mwenyewe nimewahi kuiacha huduma ya muda wote kwa vipindi fulani vya maisha yangu kwa sababu nilikuwa nimekata tamaa. Waamini hawa waliotawanywa, wakiwa na mawe migongoni mwao na mchungaji wao gerezani, waliendelea kuhubiri kila mahali walipokimbilia. Mungu atufanye tufanane nao zaidi, na tufanane kidogo na ile hali yetu inayopendelea Yerusalemu ya starehe.Here is the part that convicts me, and it should convict you. Acts 1:8 had been on the books for months. The apostles had heard it from the Master's own mouth. Pentecost had passed. Three thousand had been added, then five thousand. And every single one of those new believers was still in Jerusalem. The Great Commission was a fine thing as long as the Great Commission did not require anyone to leave home. It took persecution — the loss of their houses, their jobs, their reputations, their friends — to get the church across the city limits of Jerusalem. I have walked away from full-time ministry myself for seasons of my life because I was discouraged. These scattered believers, with rocks at their backs and their pastor in jail, kept preaching everywhere they ran. May God make us more like them and less like the version of us that prefers comfortable Jerusalem.

V. Filipo Huko SamariaV. Philip in Samaria

Mmoja wa watu hao waliotawanywa alikuwa Filipo — si mtume Filipo, bali shemasi Filipo, wa pili kati ya wale Saba. Alishuka hadi mji mmoja wa Samaria, eneo lile lililodharauliwa kuliko yote na Wayahudi wa karne ya kwanza waliojiheshimu. Miaka mia tano ya uadui wa damu kati ya Wayahudi na Wasamaria ilikuwa nyuma ya jambo hilo. Yesu alikuwa amepita katika Samaria mara moja na kumwongoa mwanamke mmoja kisimani. Sasa mtumishi wake alikuwa akirudi kukamilisha kile ambacho Bwana alikuwa ameanzisha.One of those scattered men was Philip — not the apostle Philip, but the deacon Philip, the second of the Seven. He went down to a city in Samaria, the very region most despised by self-respecting first-century Jews. Five hundred years of Jew-Samaritan blood feud lay behind that fact. Jesus had passed through Samaria once and converted a woman at a well. Now His servant was going back to finish what the Master had started.

Filipo alimhubiri Kristo. Kulikuwa na ishara na maajabu. Pepo wachafu walipiga kelele na kuwatoka waliopagawa. Waliopooza na viwete waliponywa. "Kukawa na furaha kubwa katika mji ule" (Matendo 8:8, SUV). Wasamaria, waliokuwa wamefungiwa nje ya hekalu la Yerusalemu kwa nusu ya milenia, walikaribishwa moja kwa moja katika familia ya Kristo.Philip preached Christ. There were signs and wonders. Unclean spirits screamed and came out of the demonized. Paralyzed and lame people were healed. "And there was great joy in that city" (Acts 8:8, NKJV). The Samaritans, locked out of the Jerusalem temple for half a millennium, were welcomed straight into the family of Christ.

Mtu mmoja mjini alimletea Filipo shida. Jina lake lilikuwa Simoni, naye alikuwa ametumia miaka mingi akiwashangaza Wasamaria kwa uchawi. Walimwita "Uweza wa Mungu ulio Mkuu." Mahubiri ya Filipo yalipoienea Samaria, hata Simoni alikiri imani na akabatizwa. Alijiambatanisha na Filipo na kutazama miujiza. Petro na Yohana walipokuja kutoka Yerusalemu kuthibitisha kile Mungu alichokuwa akifanya kati ya Wasamaria na kuweka mikono juu ya waamini wapya, Simoni aliona mitume wakigawa Roho Mtakatifu kwa kuweka mikono. Akatoa pochi yake. "Nipeni na mimi uwezo huu, ili kila mtu nitakayeweka mikono yangu juu yake apokee Roho Mtakatifu" (Matendo 8:19, SUV).One man in town gave Philip trouble. His name was Simon, and he had spent years amazing the Samaritans with sorcery. They called him "the Great Power of God." When Philip's preaching swept Samaria, even Simon professed faith and was baptized. He attached himself to Philip and watched the miracles. When Peter and John came down from Jerusalem to confirm what God was doing among the Samaritans and lay hands on the new believers, Simon saw the apostles dispense the Holy Spirit by laying on hands. He pulled out his wallet. "Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit" (Acts 8:19, NKJV).

Jibu la Petro ni mojawapo ya makaripio makali kabisa katika Maandiko. "Fedha yako na ipotee pamoja nawe, kwa kuwa umedhani kwamba karama ya Mungu yaweza kupatikana kwa mali!" (Matendo 8:20, SUV). Neno la Kiingereza simony (simonia) — yaani kununua au kuuza cheo cha kiroho — linatokana na tukio hili. Kila kizazi cha kanisa kimekuwa na akina Simoni wake. Mtu aliye benchini anayejaribu kutumia matoleo yake kupata kiti katika bodi. Mfadhili anayetarajia mimbari ilegeze ujumbe kwa sababu yeye ndiye anayeandika hundi kubwa kuliko zote. Mhudumu anayechukulia kuwekwa wakfu kwake kama cheti cha biashara. Karama ya Mungu haiwezi kununuliwa, nayo haiuzwi. Petro alimwambia Simoni atubu na aombe msamaha. Kama aliwahi kufanya hivyo, Luka hasemi. Lakini onyo hilo liko ukurasani kwa herufi nyekundu kwa kila karne iliyofuata.Peter's reply is one of the bluntest rebukes in Scripture. "Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!" (Acts 8:20, NKJV). The English word simony — the buying or selling of spiritual office — comes from this scene. Every age of the church has had Simons. The man in the pew who tries to leverage his giving into a board seat. The donor who expects the pulpit to soften because he writes the biggest check. The minister who treats his ordination as a business credential. The gift of God cannot be bought, and it is not for sale. Peter told Simon to repent and pray for forgiveness. Whether he ever did, Luke does not say. But the warning is on the page in red letters for every century after.

VI. Njia ya Jangwani na Yule MwethiopiaVI. The Desert Road and the Ethiopian

Kisha inakuja mojawapo ya sura nzuri kabisa katika Agano Jipya. Malaika wa Bwana alimwambia Filipo, "Ondoka, uende upande wa kusini hata njia ile itelemkayo kutoka Yerusalemu kwenda Gaza" (Matendo 8:26, SUV). Njia hiyo ilikuwa njia ya jangwani. Filipo alikuwa na uamsho unaostawi mikononi mwake huko Samaria — na Mungu akasema uache. Tembea uingie jangwani. Niamini kwa yale yatakayofuata.And then comes one of the most beautiful single chapters in the New Testament. An angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza" (Acts 8:26, NKJV). That road was a desert road. Philip had a thriving revival on his hands in Samaria — and God said leave it. Walk into the desert. Trust Me with what comes next.

Filipo alitii. Alikutana na gari. Ndani ya gari aliketi towashi Mwethiopia, mtunza hazina wa ufalme wa Kandake, malkia wa Wakushi (Ethiopia). Alikuwa amekuja Yerusalemu kuabudu — maana yake alikuwa mcha Mungu, mtu wa Mataifa aliyevutwa kwa Mungu wa Israeli. Sasa alikuwa akirudi nyumbani, maili elfu moja na mia mbili kuelekea kusini, akisoma kwa sauti kutoka gombo la Isaya. Roho akamwambia Filipo, "Sogea karibu, ukashikamane na gari hili" (Matendo 8:29, SUV). Filipo akapiga mbio kando ya gari, akamsikia mtu yule akisoma, akamwuliza: "Je! Yamekuelea haya unayoyasoma?" (Matendo 8:30, SUV). Towashi akasema, katika mojawapo ya sentensi za kweli zinazovunja moyo kuliko zote katika Biblia: "Nitawezaje kuelewa, mtu asiponiongoza?" (Matendo 8:31, SUV).Philip obeyed. He met a chariot. In the chariot sat an Ethiopian eunuch, the treasurer of the kingdom of the Candace, queen of Ethiopia. He had come to Jerusalem to worship — which means he was a God-fearer, a Gentile drawn to the God of Israel. He was now riding home, twelve hundred miles to the south, reading aloud from a scroll of Isaiah. The Spirit said to Philip, "Go near and overtake this chariot" (Acts 8:29, NKJV). Philip ran up alongside the chariot, heard the man reading, and asked him: "Do you understand what you are reading?" (Acts 8:30, NKJV). The eunuch said, in one of the most heartbreakingly honest sentences in the Bible: "How can I, unless someone guides me?" (Acts 8:31, NKJV).

Hebu fikiria maongozi ya Mungu katika jambo hili. Kati ya sura zote za Agano la Kale ambazo angeweza kuwa akisoma alasiri ile, towashi alikuwa akisoma Isaya 53 — kifungu kile kile kinachomweleza Mtumishi aliyeongozwa kama mwana-kondoo machinjoni, aliyetobolewa kwa makosa yetu, ambaye kwa kupigwa kwake sisi tumepona. Alimtazama Filipo akauliza, "Nabii huyu anena habari za nani? Za nafsi yake, au za mtu mwingine?" (Matendo 8:34, SUV). Naye Filipo "akafumbua kinywa chake, akaanza kwa maandiko yale yale, akamhubiri habari njema za Yesu" (Matendo 8:35, SUV). Gari likafika kwenye maji. Towashi akabatizwa papo hapo. Roho akamnyakua Filipo, naye akaonekana huko Azoto (Matendo 8:39–40). Mwethiopia akaenda zake akifurahi — maili elfu moja na mia mbili kurudi kwenye baraza la kifalme ambalo alikuwa karibu kulitikisa kwa habari za Kristo aliyefufuka. Mapokeo yanasema ndiye aliyeanzisha kanisa la kwanza la Kikristo barani Afrika.Imagine the providence of this. Of all the chapters in the Old Testament he could have been reading on that particular afternoon, the eunuch was reading Isaiah 53 — the very passage that describes a Servant led like a lamb to the slaughter, pierced for transgressions, by whose stripes we are healed. He looked up at Philip and asked, "Of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?" (Acts 8:34, NKJV). And Philip "opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him" (Acts 8:35, NKJV). The chariot came to a pool of water. The eunuch was baptized on the spot. The Spirit caught Philip away, and he was found at Azotus (Acts 8:39–40). The Ethiopian went on his way rejoicing — twelve hundred miles back to a court he was about to disturb with the news of a risen Christ. Tradition says he founded the first Christian church in Africa.

Tazama sura moja imefanya nini. Injili imemfikia afisa wa Ethiopia, mtu wa Mataifa mwenye cheo kikubwa kutoka ukingoni kabisa mwa ulimwengu uliojulikana. Matendo 1:8 si kauli mbiu tu tena. Mwisho wa nchi umeguswa. Na ilitokea kwa sababu shemasi mmoja alimtii malaika na akaiacha huduma iliyofanikiwa ili afuate njia ya joto na vumbi kuingia jangwani. Marafiki, Mungu anapoipanga upya huduma yako, huenda haimalizi. Huenda anaipanua.Look at what one chapter has done. The gospel has reached an Ethiopian official, a high-ranking Gentile from the very edge of the known world. Acts 1:8 is no longer just a slogan. The end of the earth has been touched. And it happened because one deacon obeyed an angel and walked away from a successful ministry to take a hot dusty road into the desert. Friends, when God rearranges your ministry, He may not be ending it. He may be enlarging it.

VII. MtindoVII. The Pattern

Sura tatu. Hatua tatu. Masomo matatu.Three chapters. Three movements. Three lessons.

Kwanza: Mungu hutumia watu wanaokufa ili kuzindua mienendo inayosonga mbele. Stefano hakuwahi kufanya safari ya kimisionari. Hakuwahi kuvuka bahari. Hakuwahi kupanda kanisa. Alihubiri hubiri moja, akaomba maombi mawili, akazikwa. Na kwa msingi wa kifo chake Injili iliondoka Yerusalemu milele. Baadhi yenu mnaosoma haya mnahisi kwamba huduma yenu inamalizika kwa kushindwa. Mmechoka, hamthaminiwi, huenda hata mnajiona mmetawanywa. Someni Matendo 8:4 tena. Mbegu inayozikwa ndiyo mbegu inayoota.First: God uses dying men to launch advancing movements. Stephen never preached a missionary journey. He never crossed a sea. He never planted a church. He preached one sermon, prayed two prayers, and was buried. And on the back of his death the gospel left Jerusalem forever. Some of you reading this feel that your ministry is ending in failure. You are tired, you are unappreciated, you may even feel scattered. Read Acts 8:4 again. The seed that is buried is the seed that grows.

Pili: Roho wa Mungu hawezi kununuliwa, kuigizwa, wala kustahiliwa kwa kazi. Tukio la Simoni liko katika Biblia kwa sababu siku zote atakuwepo mtu anayejaribu kuifanya karama ya Mungu kuwa biashara. Likatae hilo ndani yako na ulikatae katika kanisa lako. Roho Mtakatifu hauzwi kwa bei yoyote.Second: God's Spirit cannot be bought, faked, or earned. The Simon scene exists in the Bible because there will always be someone trying to commercialize the gift of God. Refuse it in yourself and refuse it in your church. The Holy Spirit is not for sale at any price.

Tatu: Mungu huendesha uinjilisti wake kupitia waamini watiifu, wa kawaida, waliotawanywa. Filipo hakuwa mtume. Alikuwa shemasi wa kugawa chakula. Naye alipiga mbio kando ya gari katikati ya nyika kwa sababu Roho alimwambia afanye hivyo. Uamsho mkubwa kabisa katika historia umeendeshwa kwa utii wa watu wasiojulikana kwa majina wakifanya kile ambacho Roho aliwaambia wafanye siku ile. Na atukute tukisikiliza, na atukute tukiwa tayari, na atukute — ikibidi — tukiwa tumetawanywa.Third: God runs His evangelism on the back of obedient, ordinary, scattered believers. Philip was not an apostle. He was a soup-kitchen deacon. And he ran alongside a chariot in the middle of nowhere because the Spirit told him to. The greatest revivals in history have run on the obedience of unnamed people doing what the Spirit told them to do that day. May He find us listening, may He find us willing, and may He find us — if necessary — scattered.

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