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Scripture Text (NRSV)

 

Acts 8:26-40

 

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.

 

Comments:

 

I preached on this passage 6 years ago. When I posted the sermon title "A Eunuch Rejoices" someone warned me that there wouldn't be any men in the congregation that day! However, there were. Here are some of the thoughts I touched on. Hopefully there will be more thoughts posted, because I can't repeat what I already said!

Nobody likes to think about eunuchs; men or boys who were purposely castrated to be used in oriental households as servants. In biblical times boys were often sold to be made into sunuchs. And they were good servants because they tended to be docile and as adults presented nothreat to the man of the house. Those who were trusted and responsible could rise to a prominent position of power in a monarch's court. Later, eunuchs were also used in choirs. In fact, the papal choir employed eunuchs or "castrati" up until the beginning of the 19th century.

The eunuch that Philip met was a servant. But he was a well-educated man who could read the scriptures in Greek. And he was a man of great responsibility because he was the secretary of the treasury for the Queen of the Ethiopians.

What was he doing in Jerusalem? According to Jewish law eunuchs were excluded from the assembly of the Lord (see Lev. 21:18-20 and Deut. 23:1). It says that he came to worship. Maybe the law was not being rigidly enforced and he was allowed in. Or maybe he was just watching and reading.

The passage he was puzzeling over in Isaiah makes you wonder whether it struck a personal chord. He had been mutilated in order to serve others, like a lamb silent before its shearers... his life was taken away. Perhaps the eunuch was wondering whether Isaiah was talking about someone like himself.

Philips' words to the eunuch were brief, but it changed his life. Philip began with the suffering servant (something the eunuch could identify with) and told him the good news of Jesus, that is, that God is love.

How can you say "God is love" to a eunuch, someone who has been denied the intimacy of romantic love, and perhaps even excluded from the assembly of God's people? How can you say "God is love" to anyone whose vitality and capacity to love has been negated by the cruelty and selfishness of others?

I'm sure Philip did not say "Smile, God loves you" to the eunuch. Instead, he started with suffering, and told the good news of Jesus who suffered and gave up his life for the life of the world. And that is the only basis on which we can tell anyone (or know ourselves) that God loves us. (This ties in with the epistle lesson from I John). God's love is not dependent on our capacity for remantic relationships, nore even on our ability to get along with others. It is not we who define the love of God, but God who reaches out to us in Jesus Christ.

I think about this eunuch as a symbol of everyone who has been "castrated" by others, that is, robbed of their vitality and life to be molded into someone else's program. We do this ourselves, whenever we are angry with someone and wish they would become docile and "get with the program". But God doesn't treat people like that. True love is a self-giving love, that lets people be their true and vital and powerful selves.

Hope some of these thoughts are helpful. I look forward to hearing some different ideas.

DG in NYC


Thank you, DG, for your thought-provoking post. I like the idea that the eunuch is representative of all thosese who are victims of other people's selfish agendas. In light of recent general conference events, dare we extend that analogy to gay and lesbian Christians who are ostracized beause of someone else's agenda? What about children who are "at risk" (read "misbehaving")because they have been victimized by need adults? How does the church respond with the good news to those who make us uncomfortable with their presence or with their behaviors? The question the eunuch asked is relevant: "What is to prevent me from being baptized?"

RevEv in Kansas


We are still in the season of Easter - Easter is not over yet. But, what does that mean? It means that we are still celebrating the God's grace, the free gift of God's love present with us, undeserved, unearned, free because Jesus Christ paid for it with his life. It is a gift for all - not just for "church folks" but all folks. Especially the outsiders. Who was the Ethiopian eunuch? He was a very black man and a man who would be "safe" as a servant in a wealthy mans household either because he was castorated or gay according to the research I have seen recently.

Risking/including instead of risking/excluding lives out the gospel message of LOVE!!

We do not walk alone. Philip got in and set beside him. Who are the outsiders, the out casts of our communities and congregations. Are we truley ready to "live" and not just "talk" the message of the gospel? Are we ready to provide a place for others to worship, or are we just trying to make our churches places of worship the is just "comfortable" for our selves and our way of living and looking at life?

He was baptized with out weeks of "classes." He was included in!!

If we do not love others who we do see, we can not love God whom we do not see no matter what we say.

Just some thoughts I am working on in regard to preaching this Sunday. It is especially important to me because of what general conference has said about one segment of marginalized people in our society today. A parishioner said, "I can now understand what the blacks and Jews have experienced in their struggle for life." They too were considered "noting but animals, less than human. When will we love our brothers and sisters whom we can see?

Someone once said that they wish pastors would preach more about sin. I am always tempted to ask, Who's sin do you want me to preach about, what you precieve to be some one else's, or what I perceive to be your sin?

God help us to be more loving. The reading in Acts from the early church works so wonderfully well with the Epistle reading this week.

jmj in WI


DG in NYC,

Let me add my thanks for your insights. Were you as specific in your sermon as you are in your notes? I have young children present in my congregation, and I try to be sensitive to their parents' concerns about giving more information than necessary . . .. (One of those young children is MINE!) Also, as I read your comments, I thought of children who are being put on adult drugs (Ritalin, Prozac, Welbutrin) and others to "control" their behavior so that adults can deal with them. Maybe we adults should take the drugs so the kids can deal with us . . . RevJan


Rev. Jan - Regarding children, mine were there too. I figured that if they knew what the word castrated meant, then they were old enough to understand what a eunuch is. If they didn't know, then it would go right by them, and they would have forgotten about it by the end of the sermon. I wasn't aware of any problems on this (in my church at least... which tends to be pretty down to earth).


DG,

Let me add my thanx! I didn't preach this six years ago.Looks like I may this year. I had never thought of the eunich taking it personally. That is so obvious now! Duh.

May I assume the reason you can't repreach it is because the folks took it so to heart that they were completely changed and continue to live by it? Some gloomy days I feel I could repreach a sermon from six months(or weeks, or days)ago and no one would remember hearing it before. Some times I look back at what I've preached band am surprized myself, sometimes even happy that I didn't remember preaching THAT. I like the preachers after sermon prayer that goes,"Lord, if I said it right, help them remember. If I said it wrong, help them forget." But I digress.

The thought that sexuality can seperate us in the world and in the church is sure timely now. Thanx again. tom in TN(USA)


In Ron Crandall's 1999 book The Contagious Witness: Exploring Christian Conversion, he has written a section that he calls P.R.E.P.A.R.E. Evangelism Training. The passage from Acts is not used in his book, but it seems to usefull in illustrating Crandall's model about sharing Christ. The letters in the acrostic stand for Prioritizing your relationship with Christ...Relate as a true friend in Christian love...Explain the reason for your hope...Present the gospel and offer Christ...Ask for a response...Repeat as often as necessary...Enable saving faith to become mature. I'm going to use Philip's encouter with the eunuch as a way of talking about personal evangelism. P. S. I'm a new contributor. KFM


Thank you, DG, for your comments. Very helpful! It helps to think of the eunuch as representing all those whose "life" has been taken away-- and the good news that no matter what people do to us, or influences in this world, that the power of the Christ can heal, restore and renew... that nothing can seperate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ. I imagine the eunuch identified with Jesus' "humiliation" and denial of justice. Also, it strikes me that the eunuch is not referred to by name, but is rather identified by his "deformity" or and "impairment." Don't we do that? Don't we identify people as non-persons by identifying them by their physical condition, etc? That helps us "deal" with them by making them non-persons. Reminds me of "Patch Adams" always trying to remind the other doctors to call patients by their names and not refer to them by their illnesses. Having a name gives us worth, being called by our name helps us be connected and human. Also, here was a man who had riches and position, yet that meant nothing, none of that kept him from feeling a need for something more, and none of that gave him power over his humiliation.... PM, from PA


Greetings in the name of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. PM from PA, I like the insight into the non-personal identities we put on people. Patch Adams is a wonderful example. I resently saw a sermon illustrated with a clip from Patch Adams (the clip was the one where the teacher holds up four fingers and says what do you see. The answer was eight, because in focusing on the PERSON he lost focus on the fingers thus they were doubled). I may be bringing out the video this Sunday.

Thanks, Thom


Can anyone suggest what Verse 8:33b means? "Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth." PM from PA


PM in PA, I think you've hit on a critical portion of the passage. Here's what I come up with. In the Revised English Bible, that part of the verse is translated, both here and in the reference verse of Isaiah 53:8 as "he was cut off from the world of the living." In Isaiah's song of the suffering servant, there is not an explicit reference to castration. In the case of the eunuch, however, there is ample reason for him to discover a new layer of meaning that is, as DG in NYC wisely observes, more personal to him. "Cut off from the world of the living," seems to echo the feeling of Abraham and Sarah before they were able to conceive Isaac. The early Hebrew view of continuity was closely tied to progeny and fertility. Phillip's exposition of the gospel story opens up a different view of continuity, resurrection through Jesus Christ. Infertility, according to Phillip, does not cut us off from God, the source of life, and therefore, does not cut off anyone from the world of the living. Leads to Romans 8, "nothing can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ." Hope this helps, Darkhorse in TX


May 17 Hi there, If I decide to preach on this passage I may focus somewhat on Philip who allowed himself to be led by the Spirit, by an angel of the Lord, and as a result not only brought the Ethiopian into a closer relationship with God but also Ethiopia. There is so much that might have discouraged him from speaking to this foreigner..he was a high court official, a stranger, a eunuch but none of this prevented him from sharing the good news and from not just sharing in word but also in acting, sharing in deed through baptism. Recently the Epistle lessons (I think this week's 1John is no exception) have talked a lot about 'boldness' in love and in faith, and having no fear "perfect love casts out fear". KB in AB


When I think of "guide," I think of the Maine woods, and those men and women who make a living guiding people on wilderness adventures, the Allagash wilderness waterway, etc. If you don't know your way around in the woods, or in whitewater rafting or canoeing, you certainly want someone with experience to guide you. But you also have to do a lot of the work yourself. It's not a free ride.

My first experience with whitewater canoeing (easy rapids) was with my best friend Dick, who taught me the basics on the river. Dick is a much bigger man than I am, so he was always in the stern and I was always in the bow. His basic instruction to me was: "Keep paddling through the rapids." I did, and we succeeded. But I wouldn't have done that trip on my own.

Similarly, in reading and encountering scripture and tradition, we all need guides and mentors, as did the Ethiopian official. We all need to be guides and mentors, as was Philip.

Doug in Riverside


My sermon title this week is "Urban Legends: The Vanishing Hitchhiker." We have our church's baccalaureate service this week so I think it'll be helpful to talk about how we know what is true. I plan to have some fun with some of the legends, rumors and hoaxes people have sent me on the internet. At the contemporary service I'll probably bring up the urbanlegends.com site on the video screen. But the heart of the sermon of coarse will be on how we are learners and how we dicern truth. I plan to follow the Ethiopian's experience of: 1) learning from a fellow traveler 2)seeking to learn about what affects him personally 3) responding to someone who cares for him 4) following where the Holy Spirit leads 5) recognizing the "the past isn't over, it isn't even past" (Hey is that the right quote? Does someone know the origin of that quote? I think Hawthorne or Faulkner.) 6)knowing that there is a responsibility to act on what we know. If I wasn't doing this as a baccalaureate service, I would probably look at it from Phillip's point of view as an evangelist.

All of your comments have been very helpful this week. I've been an observer for a couple years but this is my first contribution.

Dave in IA


In case people aren't familiar with the urbanlegend (or modern myth) of the vanishing hitchhiker, here is one version:

A man is driving on a lonely highway at night, when he spots a hitchhiker ahead of him. He stops, the hitchhiker gets in the car, and they continue along the highway.

As they talk, the driver is struck by the almost other-worldly way in which his passenger acts and appears. His presence is ethereal and unreal and his voice and manner of communicating are fascinating. Suddenly, the hitchhiker starts talking about the Second Coming of Christ and says: 'It's going to happen soon! Be ready!' At this, he disappears. The next day, the driver begins to spread the word about the heavenly visitor and the message he delivered.

The Vanishing Hitchhiker was the title of a book on contemporary folklore that came out almost 20 years ago. Dave in IA


My sermon title this week is "Urban Legends: The Vanishing Hitchhiker." We have our church's baccalaureate service this week so I think it'll be helpful to talk about how we know what is true. I plan to have some fun with some of the legends, rumors and hoaxes people have sent me on the internet. At the contemporary service I'll probably bring up the urbanlegends.com site on the video screen. But the heart of the sermon of coarse will be on how we are learners and how we dicern truth. I plan to follow the Ethiopian's experience of: 1) learning from a fellow traveler 2)seeking to learn about what affects him personally 3) responding to someone who cares for him 4) following where the Holy Spirit leads 5) recognizing the "the past isn't over, it isn't even past" (Hey is that the right quote? Does someone know the origin of that quote? I think Hawthorne or Faulkner.) 6)knowing that there is a responsibility to act on what we know. If I wasn't doing this as a baccalaureate service, I would probably look at it from Phillip's point of view as an evangelist.

All of your comments have been very helpful this week. I've been an observer for a couple years but this is my first contribution.

Dave in IA