The reading
Acts 8:26-39
Then 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.) So 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 and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was
reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to
this chariot and join it." So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading
the prophet Isaiah. He asked, "Do you understand what you are
reading?" He replied, "How can
I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside
him. Now 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. In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the
earth." The eunuch asked Philip,
"About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or
about someone else?" Then Philip
began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good
news about Jesus. As 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?" He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of
them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
When 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.
The message
Today’s reading is one of the most important events in the
early church. What happens on that
desert road will shape what the church is (a place for all people) and who
leads it (God). The author of the
Gospel of Luke continues to stress that the kingdom of God is open to all
people in the Book of Acts. It is also a
story of obeying and trusting God’s call (even when you have no idea what is
happening) and the work of every believer to invite and be ready to share their
faith.
To get at those observations, we
need to understand who the cast of characters are in today’s reading. There are two, Phillip, who serves as a deacon
in the early church and the Eunuch who serves as an important official in the
kingdom of Ethiopia. (Since he is not named and I do not want to only identify
him by his country or deformity, I am going to call him Bob) First, there is Phillip. He was one of the deacons of the church that
was selected to help the early church care for those in need (as we heard last
week, this work was nothing more than “waiting on tables”, a job not fit for
the actual 12 disciples of Jesus).
Phillip is deeply faithful and a competent part of the community but not
exactly doing the most exclusive and prominent work. Phillip ends up on this road after a series
of events and visions. Right after seeing
the killing of Stephen for preaching Christ dead and risen for the forgiveness
of sins, Saul, is attacking and persecuting Christians in Jerusalem. He wants to eliminate this group before they
grow any bigger or stronger. We are
still weeks away from his famous conversion on the road to Damascus where he
encounters the risen Christ, comes to believe and changes his name to
Paul. He can do a lot of damage in a few
weeks. Everyone except the apostles flee from the city. Phillip ends up in
Samaria, where he teaches, preaches, and casts out demons. Many people in the
area listen to the word of God and come to believe. After this, Phillip calls in the big guys,
Peter and John come to Samaria to see what is happening, to pray with and for the
people there, and they receive the Holy Spirit.
After this, an angel appears to Phillip and sends him out to the middle
of nowhere. (The isolated desert between Jerusalem and Gaza). Phillip being the good and faithful worker he
is, accepts this bizarre, confusing and dangerous mission. If you wanted to
climb in power and the hierarchy of the early church, this was not the road to
it.
Then we have Bob the Eunuch. In
general, the term eunuch refers to a man who has been sexually altered (the
term has changed meaning a lot over different times and cultures. What exactly
it means here is unclear). In the East they were preferred for important roles
in serving female rulers. Bob is
introduced as a court official of the Candance . This was a title for the queen
of Ethiopia, similar to pharaoh for the leader of Egypt. Based on the time, it is
likely that he served Amantitere, the queen who ruled from a.d. 25-41) Ethiopia
refers to the kingdom of Nubia in the northern Sudan, whose capital was Meroe
(not to be confused with Abyssinia, which was later called Ethiopia and
converted to Christianity in the 4th century a.d). Bob was a convert to Judaism
(otherwise, there would be no reason he was going to the temple to pray). He is very wealthy (he can afford this long,
dangerous journey to Jerusalem, is literate, owns his own chariot and even a very
expensive, rare scroll of Isaiah). Being in charge of the treasury means he has
great power, responsibility and trust in the kingdom of Ethiopia. If you were a
robber hiding on this road, he was the person you dreamed of coming across. If
you were a Christian looking to build the kingdom, he was a great find as
well.
The meeting of Phillip and Bob is
not so smooth at first. To set the
scene, Bob has completed what he came to do, he has prayed in the temple at
Jerusalem. He is now is heading home. His
mind is filled with relief that he made the trip safely, joy at what he
experienced and anxiety about all that has to be done back in Ethiopia. Perhaps he is even worried about having a job
when he gets back (after all, he has been away for a while and things change). Phillip, already confused about what he is
doing there, is now instructed by the spirit to go up to the chariot and join
it. All of a sudden, a stranger comes
out of nowhere, runs up to his chariot and asks “do you understand what you are
reading”. Bob could have easily dismissed Phillip “how
dare you question me like that” or had him killed by a guard as he ran up on
the chariot and appeared to be a danger. Phillip could have been run him over
or merely not seen in the dust.
Instead, Bob answers “No, not really” and they hold one of the first few
Christian bible studies in the chariot. After hearing the story of God’s love
revealed through Christ, Bob wishes to be baptized. While studying the word of God together with
Phillip, after hearing the story of Jesus life, death and resurrection, Phillip
must have mentioned Baptism, perhaps Jesus great commission to spread the word
and baptize all nations in the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit or
perhaps the events at Jesus own Baptism.
After this, Bob notices water in the desert and shouts out “there is
water, what is to prevent me from being Baptized”, what is to prevent me from
entering the kingdom, from publically affirming my belief, from being part of
this Christian community, from being joined to the saving work of Jesus death
and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins, to free me from the bonds of sin
and death.
Phillip could have easily said,
um, time or danger prevents you from being baptized, umm, im just a deacon, this
is not my decision, im not authorized to baptize, im not sure how to do it. He could have said, you are a Eunuch (and
considered ritually unclean) and you are not an Israelite so I’m not sure what
to do with you, it’s not safe to stop here, I don’t have my baptizing robe or
the service book with me. Instead,
Phillip realizes this is why God had him on this road, this was the point of
that odd, nonsense trip. He Baptizes Bob.
Bob becomes the first fully
gentile, non-Israelite convert to Christianity (the Samaritans were seen as
inferior or half breeds but still part of Israel, just a part no one wanted or
respected). This Baptism is one of the
most important events in the early church, helping to shape the decision to open
the church to all people, showing the importance of faithfully following God’s
direction even when it makes no sense and a reminder that all of God’s people
are called to teach and share their faith. Sharing the Gospel is not reserved
for apostles, pastors, or professionals; God has given everyone the word to
share. In many churches today is Good
Shepherd Sunday. The reading is John 10 where Jesus tells the crowds “ I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and
robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will
be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only
to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it
to the full. We are standing all around that Jesus Gate, pointing to it,
showing it to people, inviting them to come and see,
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