We Are Witnesses - Week Four: Philip & The Eunuch

It’s Eastertide (Season of Easter)

We will study from the Book of Acts to learn more about those first witnesses of the Resurrection and what we can apply to our own time and place.

When You Don’t Understand Why People Do What They Do

• "Stole over 1,000 wafers from church because I really liked the Communion wafers and didn’t know where else to get them. I felt really blessed and cursed for a long time."
• "I smell my headphones after wearing them."
• "I  go to the next town over which is about 20 minutes from where I live to buy groceries or pick up stuff at Wal Mart. I could easily do it in the town I live in but then I run into everyone that I don't want to see."
• "If I'm a passenger in a long car ride, I stare at people and don't look away. I'm never gonna see them again so I might as well get a good look."
• "I  pull my nose hairs out when I'm bored."
• "When I walk, I always count the number of steps for each foot and make sure that I step an equal number of times for both feet..."
• "I  argue with myself sometimes, but one side gets a British accent."

But what happens when our lack of understanding becomes more serious and personal? What if the things that we don't understand about someone have more to do with who they are than what they do?

Are we willing to try to understand? What would it take for us?

The story we will read today is the story of Philip and the most unlikely Christian convert—a story of transformative inclusion and grace.

WHEN YOU WITNESS INCLUSION, IT CHANGES YOU

Acts 8:26-40

• A little bit of background on this story

Phillip received an invitation to follow Jesus. It rocked his world. He was chosen by the Rabbi---a fisherman who had washed out of the good schools and the fine religious crowds. The things he heard and experienced can only have been amazing because he naturally wanted someone to come and join him. 

He goes to find his friend Nathanael and tells him that he's found the Messiah, the Promised One. He doesn't try to convince Nathanael, overcome his objections, or persuade him with great theological arguments.  

Instead, he just says, "Come, see for yourself."  He tells him, "Come and join me, walk with me, experience this with me..."  

And it gets better.  Philip was called to go and share the Good News with Samaritans in the land of the Samaritans--where good Jews weren't all that welcomed.  At all. 

So he's there rocking the worlds of a bunch of people that he's not supposed to like but who want to come on his journey with him, and then he receives a vision.  

Let's read from the book of Acts chapter 8 verses 26-40.  This is from the Message: 

26-28 Later God’s angel spoke to Philip: “At noon today I want you to walk over to that desolate road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza.” He got up and went. 

• Samaritans, Holy Spirit & A Wilderness Road, Time of Day

He met an Ethiopian eunuch coming down the road. The eunuch had been on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was returning to Ethiopia, where he was minister in charge of all the finances of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He was riding in a chariot and reading the prophet Isaiah.

• The Ethiopian Eunuch, a bit of cultural background

29-30 The Spirit told Philip, “Climb into the chariot.” Running up alongside, Philip heard the eunuch reading Isaiah and asked, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”

31-33 He answered, “How can I without some help?” and invited Philip into the chariot with him. The passage he was reading was this:

As a sheep led to slaughter,
    and quiet as a lamb being sheared,
He was silent, saying nothing.
    He was mocked and put down, never got a fair trial.
But who now can count his kin
    since he’s been taken from the earth?

34-35 The eunuch said, “Tell me, who is the prophet talking about: himself or some other?” Philip grabbed his chance. Using this passage as his text, he preached Jesus to him.

• The scroll from Isaiah he is reading is incredibly appropriate

36-39 As they continued down the road, they came to a stream of water. The eunuch said, “Here’s water. Why can’t I be baptized?” He ordered the chariot to stop. They both went down to the water, and Philip baptized him on the spot. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of God suddenly took Philip off, and that was the last the eunuch saw of him. But he didn’t mind. He had what he’d come for and went on down the road as happy as he could be.

• “Here is water” - the symbolism is amazing, the inclusion even more so

40 Philip showed up in Azotus and continued north, preaching the Message in all the villages along that route until he arrived at Caesarea.

So, Philip answers God's call and finds himself not only ministering to people he's not supposed to like and who really don't like him but also discovering he's being called to witness to an Ethiopian eunuch.  

And Phillip doesn't bat an eyelash.  It doesn't matter that this eunuch was a Gentile.  It doesn't matter that he was considered unnatural because of his sexual identity.  Philip meets the guy where he is, runs beside his chariot, and then invites him to join in the journey.  

All the barriers blocking fellowship and inclusion were broken down, and Philip and the eunuch emerged from baptism as full siblings in Christ.

So, where might Philip have learned any of this?

Jesus' words about eunuchs: 

Matthew 19:12 - "For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb; and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men; and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom ...

What Does This Story Teach Us?

1. God's grace and Christ's work are without condition or barrier. 

2. You may need help understanding many things, but know that love wins. 

3. Be willing to meet people where they are; let the Spirit do the rest. 

WHEN YOU WITNESS INCLUSION, IT CHANGES YOU.