May 14 - Close Encounter Of The _________

You may remember the Steven Spielberg movie of 1977, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. In it a lineman out on a lonely country road at night has an encounter with a UFO. As a result he feels irresistibly drawn to a further and deeper contact with this other-worldly force. This force will ultimately bring the lineman ,and others who have been called, to a life and world changing encounter.

Interestingly enough, I found that close encounters of the third kind is not just a movie title, but is actually part of a larger classification system developed by a scientist to rate the levels of encounter with beings from other worlds. The system includes encounters of five or six kinds.

I do not want to put an encounter with a UFO on the same level as an encounter with God, but there is a metaphorical similarity with events in our first lesson for today. In fact, it appears that the eunuch had had a close encounter with the Holy Spirit of a much higher kind.

The eunuch is reading the words of Isaiah while traveling back to Ethiopia. Just as he is struggling over a passage about the sacrificial lamb, Philip shows up – prompted by an angel. Philip offers to help the eunuch move into the next stage of his journey (his spiritual journey).

As a result of this encounter the eunuch becomes a Christian and is baptized. A long tradition credits this encounter with the development of the Coptic Christian Church in Ethiopia.

There are many aspects of this story that make it every bit as intriguing as the movie, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind: the angelic intervention, that the eunuch would have been interested in reading Hebrew scripture, the reference to his having come to worship in Jerusalem. There are also unanswered questions: Had he, a foreigner and a person who had been made less than whole, been allowed in the temple? Of all the nations that were represented by visitors to Jerusalem, why did God single out an Ethiopian?

Obviously, none of this was as important as the fact that God sent a disciple to guide the eunuch – to lead him to a deeper experience of his relationship with God - and this resulted in spiritual growth for him which produced great fruit.

Philip opened Scripture for the man. He showed him how the words of Isaiah were lived out by Jesus and brought about salvation, not just for Jews, but for all the world. This opened his heart to the Holy Spirit and grace. It gave him great joy and, if tradition is true, inspired him to become a disciple evangelizing his own people in Ethiopia.

We may too rarely think about the “close encounters of the spiritual kind” we have had. I can attest to the fact that I probably would not have been here today if I hadn't had a close encounter with an Episcopal priest and spiritual director some fifteen or twenty years ago. It was with her God inspired support that I grew spiritually to the point where I could discern my call to the ministry.

Another encounter during those early years occurred when my work led me to meet an intern serving at a Lutheran church in Baltimore. The intern was both female and around my age. This helped me see that neither my gender, nor my age were obstacles to pursing a call to the ordained ministry.

As I look back, I can identify a number of other encounters, and I am sure that just as God continues to send guidance and support through close encounters today, He will send them until He welcomes me to his heavenly home someday in the future. These encounters help me to weather the rough spots in the road, decide which path to take and assure me of His ever-present love.

But, “encounters of the spiritual kind” are not limited to ordained ministers or other “professional” church workers. I'm sure each of you could describe encounters you've had that led to spiritual growth. Such encounters may have lasted a long time or been all too brief. They may have been deeply personal or more superficial. They may have been recognizable as somehow special at the time or understood only years later. They may have been wonderfully pleasurable or disturbing or even part of a tragedy.

That which causes us to feel irresistibly drawn to growing in our relationship with God may come through a teacher, choir director, co-worker, helping professional, family member or friend. Whoever God chooses to use, we will sense that something special, important and Godly has come into our lives, if we allow ourselves to be open to the experience. Somehow, deep inside we will know, as the eunuch knew, that this is the way we are to go.

An important aspect of this experience – one might even say, a proof of its spiritual value – is that the encounter will help us to bear more fruit. Don't worry, that doesn't mean you'll all feel an irresistible call to the ordained ministry. It could instead be greater productivity in ministry you are already doing, another dimension of being loving, or help in finding an area of service that you hadn't considered.

It could also lead you to become more attuned to opportunities to be the one who is the instrument of an encounter with God for someone else. There have been times when I knew God had put me in a particular place, just like He did Philip, and was speaking through me. I knew that what I was saying were not my words, but came from a source of wisdom and knowledge beyond me. I would bet that many, perhaps most, of you have had that experience too.

Sometimes, like Philip, we can see the fruit we bore as we acted on a Godly impulse, but rarely do we get to see the complete outcome and often we are not even aware that we helped. Fran, that Episcopal priest and spiritual director, got to be the preacher at my ordination and placed the stole around my shoulders. But, Mrs. Hucke my junior choir director who helped me grow as a child and Bob, an older member of our youth group when I was a teen who made a shy confirmand feel accepted, were probably totally unaware of the impact they had on my life and faith.

Being aware of this helps me when I feel frustrated because my great hopes and dreams for ministry seem never to be realized. You, like I, can rest in the knowledge that God uses us to help others grow in their faith life, even when we don't get to see the results, even sometimes when we don't even know that someone has had an encounter with God through us.

I don't know about you, but I have no desire to go aboard a spaceship and meet beings from outer space. I have no wish to experience a close encounter of the third or any other kind with space aliens. Having enjoyed the wonder of encounters of the spiritual kind and having been the instrument of such encounters for others, I do hope to continue those more Godly encounters. I pray there will be many for each of you as well. Amen