He Got Up and Went - April 29, 2018 Congregational Church of Littleton p.1

Transcription

1 He got up and went. Acts 8:26-40 Gary Gumuchian April 29, 2018 Introduction Good Morning. I need a little help this morning with my sermon. You see, there is so much to be found in it, that I still have not decided how I ought to end it. You all will help me out?... Cool. Our protagonist in this story is a second generation Christian leader. Philip was not one of the 12. Rather he was a Hellenist, an ethnic Jew who was culturally Greek. He had been selected as a deacon along with six others, as a response to the problem of, well let's call it an unequitable distribution of charity. People were not sharing in as Christian a way as one would hope. The persecutions had made things a little hot for Christians in Jerusalem, and Philip had left town for Samaria and had been doing some evangelizing there. He had some success, and Peter and John had to get involved. Issue resolved, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem. Before I read the scripture, let's talk about some of the symbols found in this passage. It might help us out. I think if we talk about them in the abstract before reading the passage, we'll have an easier time understanding the passage. For example, Water. Water often implies things are gonna change. Chariots, Chariots are fast and ridden by important people, expect an abrupt change in a leader. Wilderness, God is there in the Wilderness and not much else. It gets real in wilderness. It's where God formed and prepared the chosen people AND its where Jesus went to be tempted before his ministry began. The Road, a road is a place of transience and danger. Furthermore in traditional Christian interpretation the Lamb is Jesus. Ethiopia, Ethiopia was viewed as the southern edge of the world in antiquity. There is nothing South of Ethiopia other than the Ethiopian Sea. So those are just some of symbols found in this passage. Let's see if knowing this enhances our sense of the story. He Got Up and Went - April 29, 2018 Congregational Church of Littleton p.1

2 Scripture Acts 8: :26 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.) 8:27 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 8:28 and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 8:29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to this chariot and join it." 8:30 So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" 8:31 He replied, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 8:32 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. 8:33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth." 8:34 The eunuch asked Philip, "About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" 8:35 Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. 8:36 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?" 8:38 He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 8:39 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. 8:40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. He Got Up and Went - April 29, 2018 Congregational Church of Littleton p.2

3 Body Let's deconstruct this story a little before looking for a message in it The Angel says to Philip, Get up and Go Think about some of your favorite stories from the Bible, which ones involve an Angel of the Lord?....Thank you for that list. Angels show up often in the Bible. This here's a list I put together. An Angel of the Lord: Found and assured Hagar in the Wilderness Voiced the words of God which saved Isaac Was present at the Burning Bush Barred Balaam's Donkey from journeying to the Israelites Accompanies Gideon Instructed Elijah Defeated the Assyrian Army Warned Joseph the father of Jesus in dreams Rolled back the stone of Jesus Tomb in Matthews Appeared to Zachariah about his son, John the Baptist Appeared to the shepherds at Christmas Busted the Apostles out of Prison. And obviously a whole lot more! Angel's speak for God and do God's work, and do so in this story. On the road Phil encounters the Eunuch. There are two understandings of Eunuch, one regarding the position, the other regarding the physical state. An example of being referred to as a Eunuch as a position is Potiphar from the story of Joseph. That 'Eunuch' had a wife. Some translators, when they run into such a use of the word Eunuch may translate the title as official. In the case of this record from Acts, scholars are largely in agreement, we are discussing an individual in the physical state. While the courts of the ancient world may have relied on Eunuchs and they may have been important people, generally speaking they were viewed as lacking honor. They were emasculated. By virtue of being in the courts of officials and rulers, they had the ear of leaders, but often viewed as corrupt. And this Eunuch had been to Jerusalem to worship. This would have have been difficult if he disclosed his lack of a penis. Eunuchs were prohibited from joining the Jewish Community, as it says in Deuteronomy 23:1 No one whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall be admitted to the assembly of the Lord. If the community was aware of his condition, the Eunuch would probably have relegated to the outermost courtyard, the Court of the Gentiles And yet, despite his condition which would exclude the Eunuch from the worship community the He Got Up and Went - April 29, 2018 Congregational Church of Littleton p.3

4 Holy Spirit says to Philip, Go over to the chariot and join it. Things tend to be interesting when SHE gets involved. SHE is wonderful, the Sacred Provocateur, Ruach Elohim, Hagios Pneuma, Kyrios Pneuma, Spiritus Santci, Spirit of God, Breath of God, the part of God which is always closer to us than our own breath. Some of our God Sightings, a practice which has fallen off these last couple years, are visions of the way the Holy Spirit moves in the world today. When Philip approaches the chariot, he hears the Eunuch reading Isaiah and a quick interchange occurs You understand? How can I? Get in and explain it It is important to realize where the Eunuch left off. The part we get from Isaiah is part of Isaiah's suffering Servant passage from chapter 53:7-8. 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 passage immediately preceding the quote found in Acts, and assuredly was what prompted Philip's question of understanding is Isaiah 53:6, All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Eunuch asks who is this about? Philip uses this passage to convey an understanding of Jesus. This is a passage of substitionary atonement, like the Passover lamb. Which leads Philip to tell the Good News, or evangelize, as to who Jesus is. The nice thing about our church, our denomination, is that you are free to, and in fact really ought to, consider who Jesus is to you. And before you go getting all heretical, there is a commonly expressed understanding of who Jesus is found in UCC statement of Faith. In Jesus Christ, the man of Nazareth, our crucified and risen Lord, he (God) has come to us and shared our common lot, conquering sin and death and reconciling the world to himself. The lesson having concluded Philip and the Eunuch arrive at some water. What is to prevent me from being Baptized? asks our man from Ethiopia. Philip finding no cause to deny, baptizes the Eunuch Anyone remember our teachings, either from confirmation or new member classes, regarding Baptism? Would you believe that the core of our teachings and understandings of Baptism are in accordance with pretty much the entirety of Protestantism? According to the World Council of Churches there are two conditions which make a baptism valid, anyone want to guess? Water He Got Up and Went - April 29, 2018 Congregational Church of Littleton p.4

5 In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit And yes, it is our tradition that the pastor do the baptism, but according to the WCC it is only preferred that it be done by minister. If there are exigent circumstances that preclude a ministers involvement, anyone who has been baptized can do a baptism. Baptism is Spiritual mark regarding entrance into the church. It needs only be done once, in fact more than once implies that GOD failed the first time. You want to try to explain that to God? I don't, I have enough to try talk my around... A question to carry with you, does Baptism save you? Some say yes, some say no. Coming out of the water, the Holy Spirit grabs up Philip for more work and the Eunuch went on his way rejoicing. One way to look at this story is as an Etiology regarding the large Christian church which developed in Ethiopia. Etiology means Giving the Reason for something. Well before much of Europe became Christian, Ethiopia was Christian. Today 60% of the population of the Ethiopia identifies as Christian. There are 46 million members in the Ethiopian Church the largest of all Oriental Orthodox churches, other Oriental Orthodox groups you may have heard of are the Egyptian Coptic Churches, Syrian Orthodox, and the Armenian Apostolic. These churches predate Constantine's legalization of Christianity, and in many cases existed outside the boundaries of the Roman Empire. There are another 14 million protestants and about half a million Roman Catholics. And it may have all started with this Ethiopian Eunuch having converted to Christianity while heading home on a wilderness road. Phil finds himself dropped off by the Holy Spirit in Azotus. Old name of Azotus was Ashdod. Ashdod was one of the 5 cities of the Philistines, an ancient enemy of Israel. He spreads the Good News and heads north along the coast to Caesarea, Caesarea, or more properly Caesarea Maritima, was a city rebuilt by Herod the Great in honor of his Roman Overlord, it was the Roman Capital of the province. Philip is taking the Good News to old enemies and the new. Conclusion And now we run into that problem I mentioned earlier. I don't know how I want to end this sermon. What do you get from this story? What would you like more of? Evangelism? Entry into the church? Being inclusive? Loving the other? your enemy? Listening to God? Something else? In other words... how would you like me to conclude this sermon?....listening to God? You got it. He Got Up and Went - April 29, 2018 Congregational Church of Littleton p.5

6 This guy I know, he has this story about an experience he had. He's a lot like me. He's a part time CE director. He went to Andover Newton. He walked into a staff meeting at a church a lot like this one and walking in he just knew he should skip the meeting. It was more than the usual, not-in-the-mood-to-be-there. Many of us have walked into meetings which we anticipated were a waste of time. This was different. He felt compelled, almost agitated, to be somewhere else. But one, he wasn't sure where that somewhere else was. And two, he felt an obligation to go to work. The meeting went off the rails pretty quickly. An issue came up from the staff which had actually been discussed and resolved at the previous Thursday's church council meeting, which some of the staff had been at. But rather than seek to implement what the Council had decided, some of the staff started pursuing other possibilities and coming up with other proposed courses of action. Perplexed, he asked why they were discussing the issue as the council had created a policy to address the very issue six days ago. Some of his colleagues nodded, but others kept the conversation going. Time was being wasted. He again asked, Why are we talking about this? He looked at the pastor for some leadership. The pastor seemed distracted. He looked at other staffers who had been at the council meeting, they had mentally checked out. The admin who had not been at the council meeting said to him, I can feel your anger towards me, and this is totally uncalled for. The odd thing was if he was angry at anyone it was the folks who were at the council meeting. Frustrated and really feeling he should be somewhere else, he silently prayed. God, what am I supposed to be doing? Right now. One word came back to him. One word, as clear as any message could ever be. Target. I know, Target? Really? But he listened. He looked at the agenda for the rest of the meeting. There was nothing which pertained to his ministry or his function. He quietly collected his belongings and said, There is nothing on the agenda which pertains to me, so I think I am going to go. He Got Up and Went. He left the room. He left the building. He left the town. He got in his car and drove to the nearest Target wondering what on earth he was doing, and how angry his boss might be. So he did the obvious. He turned off his cell phone and walked into the store. He grabbed a carriage and puttered around the store. After ten minutes of aimless wandering, he turned into the bread aisle and bumped into a woman who he had gone to high school decades earlier. He Got Up and Went - April 29, 2018 Congregational Church of Littleton p.6

7 They chatted about the usual stuff. What are you doing? Got a family? Where are you living? Remembering how tight she and her sister, who had also been a friend of his, he asked, How's your sister? Oh, came the reply. We don't talk anymore. And then came her story of estrangement, hurt feelings, abandonment, and old wounds still unhealed. After half an hour she said to him, I guess I've been going on for awhile. I haven't talked to anyone about this in a long time. You probably have other things to get to. Thanks for listening. He responded, It's been weird day and I'm happy to listen. Sorry about you and your sister. He gave it a moment's thought and said, I don't like to offer unsolicited advice. But try writing your sister a letter. You don't have to send it. And if you do, she may not read it. But there's nothing lost and much to be gained in the writing. And unlike a voic message or , it is harder to delete a physical letter. It might get tucked into a drawer, but letters tend to linger until the time is right. I might. They parted with well wishes for each other. That was one of the first moments he found himself offering up pastoral care in a very non-traditional setting, the bread aisle at Target. He says he felt further affirmed in his sense of call to be a pastor. He never found out how it turned out with her. He never found out in the same way that Philip never got to find out how it went with his student, the Ethiopian eunuch. Philip would never know the impact he had on the eunuchs life. But he did know to listen to God when God is speaking, and to respond accordingly. Close My prayer for you is that you like Philip, like my friend, get an opportunity to take instruction from the divine, that you recognize it and have a wonderful and wonder-filled Get Up and Went story of your own. Amen. He Got Up and Went - April 29, 2018 Congregational Church of Littleton p.7