"On Our Way Rejoicing" - Acts 8: 28-40

A Sermon by Alex W. Evans, Pastor

Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA

Text: Acts 8:26-40

“On Our Way Rejoicing”

May 2, 2021

            We have a long history of alienating people. When I say “we,” I am talking about human beings. We seem to have an inclination toward social differentiation: we love to feel better than others. Our human history is so filled with certain people dominating and ruling over other people. 

            In the recent year, many of us have re-visited this subject as we have confronted so many layers of racial injustice in our nation. We know we - as Americans - are part of 400 years of oppression and injustice toward African Americans. Though our nation was founded on the principles of liberty and justice for all, 400 years of injustice against Black people is a lot to overcome when those centuries are full of systemic racism, alienation, and oppression. 

            When I say “we,” I have to include my own struggles in this, and recognize my own blindness, and how my life has been so totally shaped by white privilege.

            We - as Christians - have a long history of alienating people. We have to confess how the Church has long promoted exclusion and inequality. It was only 50 years ago that women were allowed to be ordained as officers in the Presbyterian Church. It was only in the last 20 years, and even the last decade, that we have seen the light and worked for equality for gay and lesbian people in the life of the Church.

            And we keep learning how far we have yet to go - because we are so good at alienating, categorizing and classifying people. What do we do with the people at the border? How do we relate to trans people? What do we do with those who are different from us?

            Today we have another story from Acts; it is a fantastic story about God and God’s great concern for people different from us. Our inclination seems to be to alienate and oppress, treat with injustice, or exclude. God seems to have different plans. Listen to this story from Act 8: 

            26Then 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.) 27So 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 28and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.29Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” 30So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 32Now 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. 33In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” 

         34The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 

         35Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. 36As 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?” 38He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 

         39When 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. 40But 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.

            This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

            First - a few insights about the details of this passage. The apostles are in Samaria, which is north from Jerusalem. These Spirit-inspired leaders are on the move with the energy of Jesus. Philip, the apostle in this story, has a particular mission: “the 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.” 

            When the Spirit gives instruction like that, you cannot not sit around. 

            Here is something to note right away in this story: God is not just found in sacred sanctuaries and springtime sunsets; God is also along “the wilderness road.” We should never forget that, especially when we feel like we are on a wilderness road. God is always at work - to transform, to renew. God never lets us go; God keeps showing up in unexpected, even wilderness places!

            Then, the story continues - a fine chariot moves along this wilderness road. The chariot has a driver and a rider, an Ethiopian eunuch. The Spirit says to Philip, “catch him!” Philip, running along, comes next to the eunuch and hears him reading Isaiah, the prophet. (see W. J. Jennings, Luke, pp. 81-90)

            We never learn the name of the Ethiopian eunuch, but we learn he was Secretary of the Treasury under Queen Candace of Ethiopia; and he had been to Jerusalem on a religious pilgrimage. It was on his way home that the high point of the trip occurred. We might call it “a borderland moment.” This is when people of profound DIFFERENCE enter a new possibility of life. This is when something happens to change people who would be ordinarily far apart. They are together in intimate space - borderland - and share a common experience and identity. 

            Philip is a well-known apostle deeply connected to Jesus. This eunuch could not be more physically, socially, or culturally different: he is from Ethiopia - a place considered the outer limits of the known world; he is black; and his difference is also marked by his sexuality, neither unambiguously male nor female. The eunuch - in that day - was really an ultimate slave. This person may reside close to royalty, with some privileges like a chariot, but he is not a man in the traditional sense. He may reside near power - but as a eunuch - he would not have any power. 

            So, this Ethiopian eunuch represents the outer boundary, the far extreme of where God might send the apostles with the message of Jesus’ love and light. Put another way - who would have ever guessed that God’s Spirit would land so significantly in the chariot of an Ethiopian eunuch on some wilderness road? Again - a borderland moment - and God is powerfully present and at work.

            There is that beautiful line from the great spiritual writer, Augustine: “our hearts are restless until they find rest in God.” We should never forget that that applies to all of us - confident or struggling, rich or poor, younger or older, black or white, gay or straight or trans, from near or far, Jewish or Christian or Muslim. Our hearts are restless until they find rest in God.

            The Ethiopian eunuch embodied in the chariot that very longing for God. When Philip ran up, it was a moment filled with divine presence and inspiration: “Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus.” 

            I have thought lots about how you summarize “the good news about Jesus.” There was a man named Jesus, who was different from any other person who ever lived, but who also lived a full life like every other person - walking the dusty roads, sharing meals, experiencing joys and sorrows, gains and losses. This man Jesus - so filled with God’s Spirit - also lived and taught all about God and God’s ways of love. He helped and healed, embodied peace and worked for justice. He cared the most about the sick and the sad, those on the margins. Jesus was who the prophet Isaiah was speaking about - who was gentle as a sheep and innocent as a lamb. He was the one humiliated and slaughtered and hadn't let out so much as a peep to save himself. As for his generation, his time, all you can say was that he belongs to all time and every generation. He embodied the kind of centered, selfless life of God among us, God with us, God saving us, God showing us eternal life. 

            On first learning of Jesus, Helen Keller--that marvelous person originally cut off from all hearing and seeing - who like the Ethiopian had no way to understand unless someone showed her, helped her - Helen Keller, on first hearing of Jesus said, "I knew there had to be somebody like that." (see S. Weiner. Day1.org)  

            Jesus is God with us, God for us, God teaching us how to live, who to love, how to find peace and wholeness. The good news of Jesus intends to send us in a new direction of worshipping and loving, living and serving.

            Somehow, whatever Philip said to the eunuch, it brought life and light! 

            What follows is one of the most amazing baptism stories ever. God has already shown us in this story how much God wants the eunuch: the Spirit sent Philip running after the chariot. The Spirit then provides water along the road. The eunuch said, “Look, there is water, what is to prevent me from being baptized?” 

            The eunuch wants God as much as God wants the eunuch. They will wait no longer for each other. The chariot stops by the side of the road; they descend into the water; and Philip baptizes the Ethiopian. And a new journey begins for everyone! And that - a new journey - is the very point of baptism. We are not lost - but found. Our life is not just a constant wandering - we go with God. We do not flounder - we seek to love and serve God - helping and healing like Jesus. 

            Baptism always intends to re-frame life for all of us - with God and for God. 

            And the story ends - it says Philip is snatched up and sent on to other places for more of the Spirit’s work. And the eunuch - “he went on his way rejoicing.” 

            Could there be a better line? An Ethiopian, . . . a eunuch with peculiar sexuality, . . a slave . . . all symbolizing someone who we assume would be far beyond the interests, expectations, identities of God’s faithful people, . . . is chased down, cared for, nurtured, baptized, . . . and goes “on his way rejoicing.” He is part of the beloved family of God, cleansed and claimed in God’s steadfast love, and he gets to figure out his future in loving devotion and faithful service following Jesus.  On his way rejoicing!

            I think the whole message of this story is to challenge us afresh.  When we are so good and successful at all alienating, at social differentiation, at oppressing others, God has other plans for us. 

            Where are the borderland moments that you need to recognize and enter? Who are the people most different from you that God asks and expects you to connect with? What are the situations, when we want to stay in our safe environs, rooted deeply in our confident assumptions, and God warns us - the good news of Jesus is for all - for life and wholeness and hope for everyone. 

            We always have work to do for God.

            Maybe you have heard this story - A female humpback whale had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, a line tugging in her mouth.  
            A fisherman spotted her just east outside the Golden Gate and radioed for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so badly off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her…. a very dangerous proposition.  One slap of the tail could kill a rescuer. 
            They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her. 
            When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, nudged them, and pushed gently, thanking them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives. She was on her way rejoicing!
            We all encounter people and situations where God asks and expects us to be open to the Spirit - to venture into the borderland moments, even take great risks - in order to bring life and light to the world. 

            The real and certain way to be “on our way rejoicing” is to always see our lives as God’s people, called to help and care, love and serve, and act as instruments of God’s good news. May it be so. Amen

Prayer of Commitment: Holy God, bless us with your Spirit. Remind us that your love covers us. Claim us afresh and challenge us anew so that we can all be on our way rejoicing in loving service and faithfulness following Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN

Alex W. Evans, Pastor, Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA preached this sermon during Sunday morning worship on May 2, 2021. This is a rough manuscript.