Lesson 13: The Phillip Story
I pulled up this 12-year-old devotion to help write about Phillip. Thinking I could not do any better, I just decided to use it. Besides that, because it predates the Trump reign, it reminds us that our problem has to do with more than one human.
Acts 8: 26 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.
The early Church baptized a lot of people. She recorded this one in great detail, because the baptized was our Jackie Robinson, the first outsider. Until this moment, all Christians were Jewish. Then comes this tall, regal man from Ethiopia, a wealthy man who could travel long distances in his Cadillac chariot, an intelligent man who supervised the entire treasury for Queen Candace, an educated man who could read, a religious man, who prayed to our God and wanted to worship in the Jewish temple.
Upon arrival, the eunuch was treated with respect because of his office and welcomed because of his money. But at some point, someone would have to speak to him. At least when he ascended the Temple Mount, his blackness would mark him as an outsider, and someone would step forward to read the rules: “Nothing personal. But this is a ‘Jews only’ place. Please do not be offended. Nothing personal.”
Of course, even if he had been born a Jew he would still be prevented from sacrificing at the altars, because he was maimed, a eunuch. He was restricted to offering prayers in the Court of the Gentiles.
If scholars are right, it was from here that Jesus chased the money changers on Palm Sunday, because their noise made prayer difficult for those to whom he was trying to open the Kingdom. Surely, they returned as soon as Jesus left and would be there disturbing the prayers of this tall, dignified, intelligent Ethiopian. Surely, he would be offended, even though everyone pretended it was nothing personal, just the rules.
Along comes Philip, a Council person in the Jewish Church, hitchhiking on a deserted, lonely road where danger can lurk. The Ethiopian Eunuch rides by in his Cadillac chariot. Philip hears him reading from Isaiah, begins to run alongside his chariot, striking up a conversation, “Hey there! Do you understand what you are reading? I know all about that passage. I’ll tell you what it means, if you’ll give me a ride.”
The passage is about the Isaiah’s Suffering Servant. “Who is this?” he asks. And Philip tells him about Jesus, who was humiliated by people and exalted by God, and how his little group of Jews prays to this true Servant of God.
The Ethiopian is cautious. He has been fooled by pretty words previously. “There is a creek. What is to prevent me from being baptized? Is there any reason I cannot become one of you?” And what could Philip say and do? He baptized this black eunuch. If the first Christians were Jews, the second was a castrated African man. This unnamed Ethiopian eunuch led the way for all of us who feel left out because of our race, our class, our gender, our poverty, our weakness, our education, our beliefs, our clothing, or our mutilation.
The story ends with the Ethiopian going on his way rejoicing, having found the treasure he sought in magnificent Jerusalem on a dusty, lonely road in a creek. Many believe he was the first to preach Jesus’ good news in Africa, where today more Christians live than anywhere else on our modern world.
Fear leads many in our time to demonize outsiders– any kind of outsider. They badmouth Mexican and Syrian refugees, Muslims, African Americans, poor people, gays and lesbians, and on and on. The story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch should make us all stop to consider there are no outsiders when it comes to God’s love.
Let us pray: Fill us with your Spirit, Father, that we might see all people as your children and our brothers and sisters. Grant us the courage to speak up when any are made scapegoats for the problems of our society. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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