Easter 5B, 2024

5th Sunday of Easter, Year B

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

In the last few weeks, we’ve focused on the writings from 1 John. This week’s lesson from John’s first epistle is one of the best we have from St. John, but I want to save it for another time. Today, I want to focus on the lesson from Acts.

In this lesson, we hear how Philip is called by “an angel of the Lord” to go to a particular road - between Jerusalem and Gaza… This is a coastal city that was the Philistine capital, not the area we hear about often in the news today. This Gaza sat “at the intersection of two important trade routes in the eastern Mediterranean. The ‘Way of the Sea’ ... ran between Egypt and Mesopotamia (Africa and Asia). The desert route that connected the Red Sea and Arabia with the Mediterranean also crossed through Gaza—making it a constantly contested city.” [Logos Factbook] This would make it a logical path for an African citizen to travel back home after a visit to Jerusalem.

While we don’t get the name of this traveler from Ethiopia, we do learn a few key characteristics about him: he’s an officer of his queen’s court, he had come to Jerusalem to worship, and he was a eunuch. What do these things tell us?

As an officer of the court, especially as the one “in charge of all [the queen’s] treasure”, he had great resources at his disposal, and would certainly have looked and dressed the part. And given how far Ethiopia is from Jerusalem, such a journey would take weeks on foot or even in a chariot. Why had he come to Jerusalem to worship? Just a few chapters before this, we are told the story of Pentecost, when Jews came “from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5) and many of those had come from “far off” (Acts 2:39). Having worshiped and completed his pilgrimage, it’s time to go home. However, this particular Pentecost celebration was no ordinary annual feast. On that occasion, those present received the gift of the Holy Spirit. That gift is now meant to be taken “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8), and this eunuch is doing his part.

Now since he is a eunuch, it’s important to remember what God’s Law said in the Old Testament about such a person: (Deuteronomy 23:1) “No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the Lord.” That means that he traveled all the way to Jerusalem, and was not allowed to even enter the Temple. And since he clearly was reading the Scriptures, he would have known that before he departed.

We are not told how this Ethiopian eunuch came to faith in the God of Abraham. When the Babylonians conquered Israel and took many of its citizens away, those displaced Jews survived and made homes in the foreign land. When Babylon was conquered, those captive Jews were set free. While some stayed where they were, it’s believed that others moved around. Some certainly moved to Africa, and they brought their faith in the God of Abraham with them. This is likely how the eunuch was introduced to the God of Israel, whose Temple was in Jerusalem. I’m speculating here, but this is the most likely explanation. I daresay a merely curious person would not go to such great pains to make a journey this long.

So the elements of faith are already there. He has already been exposed to the Word of God, and was reading it for himself. He had been so moved by what he had read that he wanted to go to be where God was certainly present: at the Temple of the Lord, where any faithful Jew would go if he wanted to come into God’s presence.

It makes it very interesting that he would have entered Jerusalem as a wealthy traveler, and a member of a royal court (which would command some respect). And yet, because he was a eunuch, he was, as one scholar puts it, “a religious outsider living like a Samaritan in the twilight zone between Judaism and paganism.” [Gerhard A. Krodel, Acts, Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1986), 166.] He would have had to stay outside the Temple, perhaps hoping to talk to someone passing by to ask them questions. Although, once they learned that he was a eunuch, they would likely avoid him, for fear of becoming “unclean” themselves, and also barred from entering the Temple for a time. They could, of course, return after ritual cleansing… something this eunuch would never experience.

His conversion is a prelude to the conversion of the Gentile Cornelius.

Just prior to this scene, Philip had been in Samaria, north of Jerusalem, preaching and baptizing Samaritans (remember: Jews and Samaritans hated each other). But these Samaritans eagerly received the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and also received the Holy Spirit when Philip, Peter, and John laid hands on them. The Gospel was spreading beyond just the nation of Israel. Now we have an Ethiopian eunuch who is converted in this story…not really a Jew but also not a pagan. Luke gives us this story to help us prepare for chapter 10 - the conversion of a Roman centurion - a Gentile through and through.

Philip did not just happen to run into this Ethiopian officer. He was sent by an angel of the Lord, and told exactly where he was to go. Once there, the angel told him exactly which person he was to approach: the one on the chariot. As soon as he got close, it was clear why the Spirit had sent him: to explain the Holy Scriptures to one who was seeking understanding.

The Ethiopian was reading out loud (a common practice of the day) from the scroll of Isaiah, the part we would call “chapter 53, verses 7 & 8”. This is a small part of what commonly known as the Suffering Servant passage. Philip immediately assumes the role of teacher. “Do you understand what you are reading?” The reader with humility acknowledges his need for a teacher. He’s open and eager to learn, and humble enough to invite a stranger to teach him. And he asks a very insightful question: “About whom does the prophet say this: himself or someone else?” You can almost feel the Holy Spirit giving him nudges to point him in the right direction.

I love the next part: “Then Philip opened his mouth,...” as though the words would just pour out of his mouth without any effort on his part. Humorous as it sounds, if these men were as “filled with the Holy Spirit” as Luke tells us, then that’s probably exactly what happened. Philip’s mouth, but the Spirit’s words. Philip told him the Suffering Servant was Jesus of Nazareth, who did suffer and die, but rose again from the grave, and ascended to heaven to be at the right hand of the Father. His suffering was over, and when he returns to judge the living and the dead, all suffering will cease for those he has claimed and who believe in him.

The Ethiopian was so moved by this that he immediately asks to be Baptized. Now remember: the Spirit told Philip “This is a desert place.” Water was scarce. But the Lord provided. And so this eunuch, who was not allowed to even worship among the Jews at the Temple or at any synagogue, was now welcomed into the New Covenant with the Body of Christ in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. And as soon as they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away. (vs 39)

Who do you relate to more in this story? You have the Ethiopian, who clearly believes in God, reads the Scriptures, but struggles to understand. Or do you relate to Philip, who is called by the Holy Spirit to help someone else understand the Scriptures? My hope is that you can relate to both. Or if right now you only relate to the Ethiopian, I hope you will someday also relate to Philip.

Every single one of us needs to be spending time in God’s Word, reading it for yourself, at your own pace, on your own time. This is where God’s Word has real power in your life. This is where God will REALLY speak to you. And it’s very likely that as you do that, you will run into passages and verses that are a little hard to grasp. TRUST ME, I know. Group study is helpful in these cases - sometimes talking with other Christians about what you read is a great way to find insight. You can always bring questions like that to me - I love digging into that stuff. However you approach it, you should expect to wrestle with the Scriptures at times. Once you’re through it, you’ll come out with a deeper understanding of God’s Word and His Will. And that’s what SHOULD come out of it.

If you’re on that journey already, then you might soon find yourself in the role of teacher. Someone might come to you with a difficult passage, and it just might be one that you’ve already wrestled with. And you can now help them with your hard-earned understanding of it.

Paul tells us in Romans 10:17 that “...faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” We know that faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit. If you’re looking for a boost to your faith, open up your Bible. Think about this passage from Acts, and what wrestling with the Scriptures did for this traveler.

But don’t forget that you *might* be called to play the part of Philip sometime. Watch for that opportunity to help someone understand what the Bible has to teach us, and who it points to: the Risen Christ - Jesus of Nazareth. If someone asked you to explain what you believe in 30 seconds, could you do it? I hope you’d look to the Apostles’ Creed first.

This, brothers and sisters, is our calling as Christians - to share the Good News with those who haven’t heard it. We’ve been blessed to have a variety of visitors and new members in the last couple of years…and that’s wonderful, and I’m thankful for all of them. But guess what: all of our new members were Christians before we met them. Every single one. I think we’re a bit off target. Let me offer this to you:

The late Sam Shoemaker, an Episcopalian bishop, summed up the situation this way: "In the Great Commission the Lord has called us to be--like Peter--fishers of men. We've turned the commission around so that we have become merely keepers of the aquarium. Occasionally I take some fish out of your fishbowl and put them into mine, and you do the same with my bowl. But we're all tending the same fish." [Em Griffin, The Mindchangers, Tyndale House, 1976, p. 151]

We have said in our Vision Points that we want to be a Great Commission church. Bishop Shoemaker says that’s being fishers of men. If we’re going to realize that vision, then we must go fishing. How do we reach the unchurched in our community? I invite you to think and pray about that question as we move forward in the months ahead.

I also want to point this out: to be a Great Commission church is the very first of our Vision Points from the Fresh Eyes for Mission summit we did. That did not come from me; that came from you - the members of this church family. YOU said this was the Vision we have for ourselves. A key factor in the Great Commission is sharing the Gospel with our neighbors. We call that “evangelism”. We don’t currently have a chairperson for our evangelism committee. It’s been 6 months since the last vote for Council members, and we still haven’t filled that vacancy. This is not a recipe for succeeding in our Vision. I would ask you to consider and pray about whether God could use you to do this work as we follow His Will for our church family.

This morning, we have heard God’s Word, the Law and the Gospel. God speaks to us in His Word. Shortly, we will come to His Table to receive the Sacrament of the Altar. In those blessed elements of Christ’s body and blood, we will come as close to our Savior as we can possibly be … until he returns. In these moments, listening to the Word and receiving the Sacrament, I invite you to be still and quiet, and listen for how God speaks to you. How will YOU share the Gospel with others this week? What will you say? How will your life put the Gospel on display? Don’t underestimate the impact you might have on someone who’s just waiting to be welcomed to the body of Christ.

I’ll leave you with the wise words of a man from the 1700s, a Lutheran named Count Zinzendorf, who became a leader of the early Moravian church. He offered three guiding principles, and I think they are a great way to think about evangelism:

“1. Be kind to all people. 2. Seek their welfare. 3. Win them to Christ.” (Guiding principles of the Order of the Mustard Seed)

If we can bring those principles to life, our Vision will become a reality in very short order. I pray that we would all find our part to play in that vision.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!