Outside In

By Pastor Tracey Leslie
Scripture:  Acts 8:26-40
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This morning’s sermon may cause some discomfort because this story from the book of Acts deals with two topics most of us would prefer to avoid discussing: our personal biases and human sexuality. 

All of us have biases whether we want to admit it or not.  Even when we consider ourselves liberal or open-minded, there is still – undoubtedly – something about which we have a bias.  Biases are generally subconscious because they relate to how we are raised and enculturated.  I’ve shared with some of you that I was raised in a culture that frowned upon inter-racial marriage.  But I was a curious kid and I asked questions about this and I discovered the following:

• Some ethnic groups were defined as different and others were not;
• The best answer the people around me could give when I questioned this inconsistency was that children of “mixed marriages” would be treated poorly by people because of their appearance.

This eventually led to my internal analysis of two inconsistencies:

• 1, I was a person and so were the people telling me this.  We were among “the people” and;
• 2, I had been raised with the consistent message that people should be treated kindly no matter their appearance.

So, how could it be, I wondered, that the justification to prohibit inter-racial marriage was “people’s” mistreatment of children based on appearance when I’d been told to treat people kindly regardless of appearance?  But this was a strong bias in my culture so it took years for me to come to the conclusion that there was no biblical, scientific or moral rationale for this belief thus making it a bias which, according to Webster’s Dictionary is “a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgment...” yet one which many in my culture of origin still maintain.
 
In addition, as I’ve already mentioned, this morning’s story addresses gender and sexual identity.  And in the church we have a tough time talking about issues of sexuality and gender identity.  I often joke with people – though in truth there’s nothing funny about it – that the United Methodist Church generally only shows up in the news every four years when we fight with one another at General Conference around the single issue of homosexuality.  The United Methodist Social Principles are in the process of being revised.[i]  In the revision, there are 60 principles organized under a variety of topics: Creation, Community, Politics, Economics, and Globalism.  Yet, only one “principle” seems to elicit debates and protests and a lot of hate mail from both sides.  Frankly, I’d just as soon skip talking about it because, as I’ve already stated, it just makes all of us squirm.  But, here it is, in the bible, in the Book of Acts, chapter 8.

So, here’s what I’d like to do this morning – and my sermon is going to be a little different from what it usually is.  I am going to begin by situating this morning’s story within the larger narrative of the Book of Acts.  Then, I’m going to give you information about the understanding of a eunuch in the biblical world.  And, I’m going to give you information about the understanding of church “membership” or “belonging” in the early Church since the title of this sermon series is “Longing for Belonging.”  Then, it’s up to you.  I’m not going to tell you what to think or what to do.  But I am going to ask that – no matter how uncomfortable it makes you – you don’t banish this morning’s message to the dark recesses of your subconscious at 11:30 a.m. today.  No matter how uncomfortable it makes you, please keep thinking about it and – most importantly – please keep praying about it and invite the Holy Spirit to be a part of that.

So, let’s get started…    

If you look in your Bible, you’ll discover that “Acts” is a reduction of this book’s full name: The Acts of the Apostles.  The designation “apostle” comes from a Greek word that means “one who is sent.”[ii]  The author of Acts uses the term “apostle” to refer, most generally, to those 12 men who were originally called by Jesus to follow him and entrusted to continue his ministry.  They are sent, specifically, to be witnesses to Jesus through what they say, do and teach.  They’re told by Jesus that their ministry will begin when the Holy Spirit comes upon them and that it will, in time, extend to the ends of the earth.  If you look at the first verse, the Acts of the Apostles is written to an audience addressed as theophilus, a Greek word that means “friend of God.”  The second chapter of the book takes place on a Jewish holy day called Pentecost when practicing Jews from all over the Roman world would make pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the center of Judaism.  So in just the first two chapters we discover that this is going to be a story about a religious movement that breaks through barriers and boundaries.  Jerusalem was the center of Judaism.  But this Jesus movement is going to go everywhere.  It’s going to be proclaimed in every language imaginable… in fact, on Pentecost, this miraculous thing happens where the Holy Spirit gives these apostles the ability to speak the good news of Jesus in languages they don’t know.  Today we call that “speaking in tongues;” the formal name for it is glossolalia.  There’s a good Scrabble word for you.  And the Holy Spirit will continue to drive this religious movement just as Jesus told the apostles it would because, even the apostles, struggle to accept the level of inclusiveness Jesus has in mind.  For example, in chapter 10 of Acts (which I’ll preach on next week), we meet a guy named Cornelius who is a Gentile and a Roman military leader.  The Holy Spirit brings Peter and Cornelius together because Cornelius has been seeking God through prayer and other religious practices.  But Peter won’t baptize Cornelius until – right before his eyes – the Holy Spirit comes upon Cornelius and everyone in his house and they – just like the 12 Jewish apostles on Pentecost – begin to speak in tongues and praise God.  It has to happen right in front of Peter’s eyes; that’s what it takes for Peter to be willing to baptize Cornelius and his family.  And when Peter gets back to Jerusalem and shares this story, the rest of the apostles are pretty leery and uncomfortable with this.  In fact, the Book of Acts is filled with heated debates of United Methodist General Conference proportions about who is in and who is out.  On and on and on, throughout the Book of Acts, over and over again, the most righteous of Jesus’ followers have to have something completely nuts, radical, what we would deem “miraculous” happen in order for them to welcome outsiders as insiders in this Jesus movement we know as the Church.  And the way in which they are welcomed into membership so to speak – the way their inclusion identified – is through baptism... which I’ll say more about later.
 
So this morning’s story of the Ethiopian eunuch is part of the larger story of the Acts of the Apostles in which the Holy Spirit is instigator and primary actor as these original followers of Jesus carry out (under the Spirit’s power) this Jesus-mission that from day 1, shatters and busts through barriers and boundaries that even those very apostles frequently resist and protest.  Church goes beyond Jerusalem, beyond religious professionals, beyond the Hebrew language, beyond Jews, beyond male leadership, on and on and on.  Church, my friends, in its Spirit-empowered presentation has always been socially and culturally disruptive.  You see, all throughout Jesus’ ministry, the primary friction between Jesus and the religious establishment – the clash that led to crucifixion – was about Jesus transgressing acceptable and often biblically-based boundaries: Samaritans, women, sinners, tax collectors, lepers, Roman military leaders, on and on and on.  This morning’s story in Acts of the Ethiopian eunuch is just one more shocking story in a trail of stories about outsiders becoming insiders and, once again, in this morning’s story, God is driving the action as the story begins, “an angel (or messenger) of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Get up and go…’”[iii]
 
So, what is a eunuch and what does the bible and its culture say about eunuchs? 

A eunuch was a man whose “parts,” shall I say, were not intact.  A man could be born a eunuch or made a eunuch.  Becoming a eunuch could be chosen or imposed upon someone.  In this story we don’t know which it was Eunuchs were considered valuable in government work because they could be trusted to guard female officials or harems.  They were often without hair, had a higher pitched voice and a softer appearance.  They had an ambiguous gender identity and were often viewed with suspicion, fear or disdain for two reasons. 

The first reason is unique to Judaism.  According to Genesis, the Israelites became God’s chosen people when God entered into a covenant relationship with Abraham and the sign of that covenant, that unique relationship was circumcision.[iv]  So a lack of circumcision – for any reason – was viewed as endangering or jeopardizing the covenant relationship between God and the Jewish people.  This becomes a serious point of contention in the apostolic church.  What was known as the Jerusalem Council – which I’ll talk about in two weeks – centered on this issue.  Should Gentiles who became Christians be circumcised?  It was a hot debate.  Peter, perhaps because of what he saw happen at the home of Cornelius, says “no.”  This issue of circumcision continues, however, to rear its head.  Paul establishes a church in Galatia and later, after Paul has moved along other Christian apostles come and assert that Paul’s proclamation of the gospel was incomplete and misinformed and the salvation of Christians in Galatia is in jeopardy if they are not circumcised.  You can read about this in the biblical book of Galatians written by Paul to address this very issue.  So that’s the first reason for critical views of eunuchs. 

The second reason eunuchs were viewed negatively is not unique to Judaism.  It is a cultural thing or we might say a human thing.  Eunuchs were viewed with suspicion because of their gender ambiguity.  It is human nature to want to avoid ambiguity and uncertainty.  We like clear lines of distinction: hot or cold, here or there, up or down, black or white, male or female.  In the ancient world and still today, we’d just as soon avoid any grey areas.  So the Greek rhetorician Lucian said that eunuchs were “neither man nor woman” and pronounced them “alien to human nature”; a harsh condemnation.[v]

So what did Old Testament scripture have to say about eunuchs?  Well, the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy[vi] forbids eunuchs entry into worship.  In Leviticus[vii], eunuchs are forbidden from offering sacrifices to God… although the same is said of those who are blind and lame.  Yet, in Isaiah[viii] in a passage addressed to outcasts, God speaks through the prophet and promises that eunuchs will one day be welcomed into God’s house.  The Isaiah passage makes no judgment about their lack of circumcision but welcomes them into the covenant community. 

And that scripture is, apparently, fulfilled here in Acts.  It is Isaiah that the eunuch is reading when Philip catches up with him.  He has been drawn, fixated quite understandably, on a passage about one who was humiliated and treated unjustly.  The passage of Isaiah the eunuch is reading is one that Christians often interpret and apply to Jesus.  Imagine what it must have meant to that eunuch to learn from Philip that Jesus suffered injustice, judgment and humiliation.  Imagine how he must have been drawn to Jesus; imagine his excitement such that, when they come to a body of water, he blurts out to Philip, “Look, here is water!  What is to prevent me from being baptized?”  That was no abstract theological inquiry.  That’s a question about identity and community; a powerful, personal question coming from someone who had never experienced full inclusion and welcome in the community of faith.  Wow.  And so Philip baptizes him and, no sooner do they come up out of the water than the Holy Spirit whisks Philip off to Azotus.  After all, Philip’s work was done.  The eunuch’s longing for belonging had finally been fulfilled for that was what it meant to be baptized.  To be baptized was to be fully welcomed into the early Church.  On Pentecost day, when Peter preaches the message of Jesus, those in the audience receive the good news of the gospel and are baptized.  We read that “Those who welcomed [Peter’s] message were baptized…”[ix]  In the story of Cornelius I previously mentioned, it ends with Peter saying, “’Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?’ So Peter ordered them to be baptized…”[x]  Peter basically asks the same question this eunuch asks. 

Within the Book of Acts, there is nothing to prevent this eunuch (just as he is and who he is) from being baptized; from being fully and completely included within the Church.  The Book of Acts, from beginning to end, so powerfully reveals that the Spirit of God is always moving and stirring and breaking down barriers.  And it is the job of the Church to keep following the lead of the Spirit; to answer the call; and to offer belonging in contexts of longing.
 
[i] https://www.umcjustice.org/documents/89
[ii]apostolos {ap-os'-tol-os} apostle, messenger, he that is sent
1) a delegate, messenger, one sent forth with orders 1a) specifically applied to the  twelve apostles of Christ 1b) in a broader sense applied to other eminent Christian  teachers 1b1) of Barnabas 1b2) of Timothy and Silvanus 
[iii] Acts 8:26
[iv] Genesis, chapter 17
[v] New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, vol. 2; 2007; Abingdon Press; p. 355.
[vi] Deuteronomy 23:1
[vii] Leviticus 21:16-23
[viii] Isaiah 56:3-5
[ix] Acts 2:41
[x] Acts 10:47-48