No Buts

Acts 8:26-40

Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Get up and go towards the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ (This is a wilderness road.) 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 and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over to this chariot and join it.’ So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ He replied, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 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.
In his humiliation justice was denied him.
   Who can describe his generation?
     For his life is taken away from the earth.’
The eunuch asked Philip, ‘About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?’ Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. 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?’ He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 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. 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 cheated the lectionary little this week, Church. The passage that Caroline just read for us was one of the assigned options for last week. But when I realized that I wouldn’t be preaching last week, I knew I’d have to bump it to this week. I love this passage so much. It’s just so full of joy, so full of radical hospitality, so full of wisdom and humility, but most of all, it’s full of freedom. It’s such a liberating and precedent-changing and setting story.

Because when this Ethiopian eunuch asks, “What is to prevent me from being baptized?” the answer is quite a bit, actually! This man was certainly in a position of relative power, sitting there, reading Greek—which shows that he was educated. He’s also sitting in a royal chariot (Candance was the Ethiopian word for queen, so this guy was probably one of the queen’s main advisors), but he was still a eunuch. He was thought of as “shorn,” as unclean, he was sexually othered in some capacity. For instance, when it states in the passage that he had gone to Jerusalem to pray, he was likely not actually allowed all the way into the main room of the temple. He was likely ostrasized with the rest of the second class citizens. So what did he read in Isaiah, what did he learn from this guidance from Philip that led him to throw caution to the wind, to disregard any societal, cultural, and religious norms to get baptized, to take part in a sacred ritual that he otherwise would not have thought himself allowed to take part in?

Now Church, have you ever read a passage from the Bible, read a poem, heard a song that just really spoke to you? Maybe you were feeling a little down, maybe you were feeling alone or isolated, and you were able to relate to something and feel some solidarity? Able to feel not so alone, not so forlorn. I remember in college I was going through a tough breakup and all I listened to for months straight was an album by the band the Mountain Goats. It was an album called Get Lonely that was an honest and heart-wrenching breakup album. Maybe it sounds silly, maybe it sounds sad, maybe it even sounds a little unhealthy that I listened to such a depressing album constantly for that span of time, but you know—it helped me to know that I wasn’t alone in my feelings of heartbreak. It helped me to get through that time and come out stronger and wiser. It helped me to really understand some of the feelings I was experiencing and helped me work through them.

I thought about that feeling when I read this passage, when I read the part that describes what the verse in Isaiah the eunuch was reading. For a pretty joyful story, the section of Isaiah quoted here is not joyful: Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, / and like a lamb silent before its shearer, / so he does not open his mouth. / In his humiliation justice was denied him. / Who can describe his generation? / For his life is taken away from the earth. Now, as a eunuch, this man had probably been forced to be this way, without his consent at a very young age, before puberty. He never really had a say in what would become of him. He never had control of his own life. So I imagine he relates to this passage in Isaiah. Especially considering this very curious and earnest question he asks Philip: “And whom may I ask you, does the prophet say this about?” Church, I believe he’s asking this question because he see himself in the sheep led to the slaughter; in the doomed lamb, suffering silently. And I believe that after Peter guides him through the scriptures, he eventually see himself in Jesus. And I believe that Jesus, in his human form, absolutely sees himself in this eunuch.

I imagine the Ethiopian eunuch, this man, had probably gone through life feeling less than. I imagine he had probably internalized a lot of the assumptions, stereotypes and insults that were surely lobbed at him throughout the years, even despite his position of relative power. I imagine that this man walked through life sort of resigned to the fact that in the world he lived in, he would always be relegated to the outer rooms of the temple; that he would always be thought of as strange; that he would always be othered. I imagine this man as living a comfortable, but lonely life. But when he read this passage in Isaiah, about the Jewish people suffering in the Babylonian exile, and then after, when Philip likely guided him to see Jesus as the lamb suffering silently as well, as the savior of all who suffered as every one of us mere mortals suffer, the eunuch realized he was not alone. The eunuch realized that Jesus knew his suffering and welcomed him into his realm, no questions asked, no strings attached.

This eunuch had had a life of being told how to be and what to do. He never had a say. But when he read Isaiah, and when Philip, guided by the Holy Spirit, then guides him through the rest of the gospel, he is liberated. Because there are no caveats here. There are no buts. Philip never says, “But this doesn’t hold true for you because you’re a eunuch.” Philip never says, “But now that you’ve accepted Jesus you won’t be a eunuch anymore.” Philip never says “But you have to change the very nature of who you are to truly follow Jesus.” Philip simply guided him through the scriptures and told him the story of Jesus. When the eunuch saw this miraculous water in the desert, he proclaimed his desire to be baptized and Philip baptized him. It’s such a joyful, simple story. Because for maybe the first time in his life, this man was able to make a decision on his terms. He was moved by the words of Isaiah, moved by the story of Jesus and he made the decision to be baptized.

For too long the scriptures have been co-opted by the loudest voices—for too long, those voices have been claiming that there is only one way to read the scripture, that there is only one way to interpret the scripture, and if that doesn’t work for you, tough, guess you’re a heathen. For too long there has been such a narrow view of scripture, one in which people aren’t allowed to interpret for themselves—one in which people aren’t allowed to question or wrestle or wonder. But how can people who preach and evangelize this way, how can they possibly continue to do so after reading a story like this? A story in which a man othered by the society in which he lived was able to be baptized into this brand new Jesus movement without having to change a thing about himself. He was able to join into a new community of kind, passionate, and compassionate people and he went on his way rejoicing.

Church, the Bible is strong enough, is big enough for us all to find different meanings, for the scriptures to touch us all in different ways. It is strong enough and big enough for certain stories to connect with one person, and a different story to connect with another. The Bible is big and strong enough for us, not to cherry-pick or ignore certain difficult parts of the Bible but rather to question and to wrestle, and to even dislike certain stories and verses (I mean, how do you think I feel about Paul saying women should be silent in church?), but to find joyful, loving, and liberating messages over all. The Ethiopian eunuch was able to feel real solidarity in the prophet Isaiah, and then in Jesus. He was able to understand that what happened his body didn’t matter, his past didn’t matter, his place in the current society he was living in didn’t matter because Philip baptized him into this new community, this new belief system and he was welcomed with open arms.

Now some scholars have tried to claim that the eunuch was the first evangelist of Africa and was singlehandedly responsible for spreading the news in that continent. But there’s no indication of this anyplace in this story or anyplace else in the Bible. And you know, maybe he did indirectly evangelize by just being a joyful new convert out in the world, but I like the story better without any epilogue about spreading the word to Africa. I like this story just as it is—a story about a man feeling resigned to a life he didn’t choose who is granted a new kind of freedom—granted a new belief system that offers unapologetic and radical acceptance and love. I like this story simply being about a person liberated from the constraints and opression of the society, of the culture he lives in. I like this as the story of a person liberated. Period.

I’m sure most of us have felt othered at some point in our lives. I’m sure we’ve all felt like we were just destined to remain on the outskirts. After all, there is no denying that we live in a society of the haves and the have-nots, a world where economic upward mobility has become nearly impossible. There are roadblocks to opportunity and a safe and comfortable life every step of the way. There’s a sort of unofficial caste system in this country, in this world that will always push certain people to the outskirts of society, to those outer courts of the temple. But there’s one place, or there should be one place in this world where we can all feel free to be unapologetically ourselves, where we can be accepted just as we are. And that place is right here. That place is the church.

But here’s the thing—it doesn’t end here. We are commanded to work to make this world mirror the radical hospitality that believe in and that we make real here. We are commanded to evangelize and spread the Good News. Now evangelize has gotten a bad rep, and you know… kind of rightly so. Because like the scripture itself, it’s been sort of co-opted. I think when we think of the word evangelize, we think of that kind of narrow, black-and-white, my way or the highway kind of thinking; we think of evangelizing as forcing a very narrow point of view on others. And I think it sadly has kind of morphed into that in our contemporary world. But look at the way Philip, guided by the Holy Spirit evangelizes—he hears the eunuch reading Isaiah. In these days it was customary to read out loud, so it’s not like Philip was being a creep and peaking over his shoulder or something. He He just hears scripture being read, and he approaches the eunuch and asks if he understands what he’s reading—now maybe that seems a little condescending on the surface, but the eunuch’s response makes me believe he wasn’t offended at all. He essentially asked for Philip to guide him through the scriptures. So Philip isn’t over here forcing his viewpoints on anyone. He’s not in this guy’s face, he’s not invading his personal space without the eunuch’s consent; after all the eunuch, showing his own kindness and radical hospitality invites Philip, (who, mind you, was essentially a houseless itinerant preacher at this point, so he probably wouldn’t have been someone you’d immediately invite into your space) into his chariot. And Philip guides the eunuch, by telling him the story, and telling him about Jesus, who he believes has fulfilled the prophesies of Isaiah. That’s it. He tells him the story and then it’s up to the Ethiopian eunuch to decide what to do with it.

This is evangelizing—it’s paying attention to what’s speaking to someone, what’s giving someone hope, what’s touching someone’s heart and working with them from that point. It’s making sure not to force your own baggage to beliefs or interpretations onto someone. It’s about meeting someone where they are without judgement.

Evangelizing is showing radical hospitality to all, no matter what. It’s being the church out in the world. We’ve all been forced to try to be the church in different ways over this past year. We’ve had to break out of the constraints of this building and we’ve had to model the Good News safely from our homes. Evangelizing is meeting your neighbor without judgment, without malice. Evangelizing is understanding that everyone will read the scriptures differently, that what works for someone won’t work for someone else; and evangelizing is accepting, and loving and embracing the different viewpoints (so long as these viewpoints aren’t harming others). Evangelizing is working to bring the justice, peace, and equality of the Kingdom of Heaven to this earth, in whatever way makes sense for each or any of us. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Amen.