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.
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
