Sermon 5/16/2021

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Series: Witness & Wonder (Eastertide)

Text: Acts 8:26-40

Title: The Gift of Difference

Focus: Our differences are our strengths and allow us to increase & enhance our witness

Function: We are called to follow the Spirit into new places, embracing the gift of difference

Acts 8:26-40 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Then 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.) 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.

What is to prevent me from being baptized?

This is a profound, wondering question. It is not theoretical, but personal. And it warrants a bit of an explanation. First of all, to fully understand this question that the eunuch asks, we need to know more about who the eunuch is. So let me give you a little bit of context. This person is identified first as a eunuch, these days understood to be a castrated male but more broadly understood in biblical times to generally represent gender and sexual minorities. Because of their status, eunuchs were often trusted in the courts of women - and we see that this is true of this eunuch who is a highly-placed official in the court of a foreign queen. In the Old Testament, particularly in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, purity laws forbade eunuchs from entering the temple. In general, eunuchs were not fully welcomed in mens’ or womens’ spaces and while they were often able to hold power, their differences were enough to set them apart. The text also describes the eunuch as being from Ethiopia - this descriptor is less specific geographically than we might understand nationality today. To call the eunuch ‘Ethiopian’ is more of an indicator of dark skin color and general geographic location - parts of North Africa that were not Egypt. The reference to “the Candace” - a title given to the queens of the African monarchy of Meroe - most likely places the eunuch as coming from what we would now call Sudan. We know that the eunuch held a very high place at court and therefore had a significant degree of power. We also know that the eunuch had come to Jerusalem to worship and was reading the prophet Isaiah, making it likely that the eunuch was some sort of follower of Judaism, if not fully Jewish. That also tells us that the eunuch was educated and likely wealthy enough to afford a copy of the scripture. From extra-biblical sources, we also have a name for the eunuch: Qinaqis.

As was common in that time, Qinaqis was not reading the scripture silently, but aloud, as the chariot traveled the road. That is how Philip comes to know that Qinaqis is reading Isaiah. Philip is told by the Holy Spirit to join Qinaqis, and then gives Philip a way into the conversation. “Do you understand what you’re reading?”

Qinaqis then invites Philip into further conversation, and this is where it gets really interesting. The text Qinaqis is reading comes from Isaiah 53 and describes a servant of God who has suffered. Qinaqis is curious about the subject - this suffering servant - who is this person? Philip takes the chance to talk about Jesus, God embodied in human form - living and dying and rising again. In other words, the passage that Qinaqis identifies with is also a passage that describes the divine. Qinaqis is so taken with Philip’s witness that when water shows up in the desert, Qinaqis can’t think of anything better than to be baptized - then and there.

Now that we have a little context, let’s revisit that question that Qinaqis asked: “What is to prevent me from being baptized?” Well, Philip could have gone into the purity codes outlined in the Torah. Instead, though, Philip responds by going down with Qinaqis into the water. And there, Qinaqis is baptized. It seems that nothing is to prevent the baptism. Why else would the Holy Spirit have orchestrated this whole encounter?

Each of these people follow the Spirit’s call to cross boundaries in this text. While Qinaqis is crossing boundaries of gender, race, and geography, Philip is crossing his own boundaries of comfort, of race, of religious affiliation. Both Philip and Qinaqis are taking a risk - daring to enter into relationship and conversation with someone very different from them - all for the sake of the Gospel. Philip had the extraordinary opportunity to bear witness to the life-changing Word of God - the grace and inclusion and love of Christ. What an incredible gift. And Qinaqis isn’t the only one who went away changed: they both went down into those holy, transforming waters. Philip is also not the only one who went away to be a witness. Though the scripture doesn’t spell it out, other sources tell us that Qinaqis went on to preach back home. It’s true that Qinaqis was marginalized in Philip’s society, but in the context of the Candace’s court - Qinaqis held power and was able to spread the good news to people in a way and in a context that Philip could not have.

It’s not difficult to see the ways in which Qinaqis and Philip are different. And still, each one of them is instrumental to God’s work in the world. The Spirit is moving and she is not just working through the folks you might expect. No, the Jesus movement needs gender-ambiguous, foreign court officials as much as it needs the apostles. But what does that mean for the church and the world today?

It seems these days that we, like Philip and Qinaqis, are traveling a wilderness road. These are times of isolation, and I don’t just mean from the pandemic. Our country has become increasingly divided and the church doesn’t come away unscathed. So what do we do?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately - what differences among the Body of Christ means for the church. In divided times, we often focus on unity, but it feels disingenuous to talk about unity as though there are no differences among us. It’s true that we hold crucial things in common - particularly our faith in this context. But our similarities don’t erase our differences and our differences do affect how we live as the church. In the Disciples of Christ tradition, difference is something to be embraced. There are no creeds here, no faith statements you have to sign your name to in order to join the church. All it takes is a profession of faith in Jesus. And that leaves a whole lot of room to disagree about things that are very important to us. And yet, the denominational identity statement is not “agree to disagree.” Rather, it states, “We are Disciples of Christ, a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world. As part of the one body of Christ, we welcome all to the Lord’s Table as God has welcomed us.”

What does it mean to welcome all? Is there a difference between unity and wholeness? I don’t know that I have the answers, but I have found one author and pastor helpful as I explore these questions. Layton Williams is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the author of Holy Disunity: How What Separates Us Can Save Us. The first chapter of her book is titled “The Gift of Difference,” and I want to share with you some of what she has to say in that first chapter. Williams writes, “Embracing the gift of difference calls upon us to allow those differences to impact us and the communities we create, and to understand how they already have impacted us and our communities. It’s not enough to simply see difference and say that it is good. It’s not enough to welcome those who are different - whether by identity or experience or otherwise - into our communities. Embracing differences isn’t about grafting new people into our communities like Dr. Frankenstein stitching a new arm onto his monster. The true gift and challenge are that we understand that people different from us are already a part of our collective community. And where we’ve prevented that by erecting barriers, we can’t simply open a door to let in folks we’ve excluded. Our communities must be shaped as much by their experiences and identities as by our own. A community truly made up of diverse people and realities is a community shaped by all the stories it contains, and becomes, by virtue of difference, more than the sum of its parts.”

What does it mean to be a community shaped by all of us? Not just the pastors or the board or the elders. Not just people on one side of the political spectrum. Not just the young people, and not just the old. Not just the sure-in-faith, but also the questioning. Not just the people the church has traditionally accepted, but also the people who have found the church to be a place of closed doors. It takes us all.

I think that our church is at the precipice of becoming something even greater than we have been before. And I don’t say that because I’m in a community of people that all agree with me on the best way forward. In fact, I say that because I know that many of you disagree with me on at least a few things. Our church in many ways mirrors the world around us: we are full of folks who don’t think and believe the same things or in the same way. And yet, I believe that we have the opportunity to set the standard for a beautiful community that embraces difference. We have the chance to be in meaningful conversations about the most difficult and the most important topics. And as intimidating as those conversations can be, I really think that’s what it will take to participate in a movement for wholeness. It’s not about ignoring our differences or trying to get along despite our differences. It’s about loving each other even and especially when we disagree. It’s about listening with open minds and hearts to the person across the aisle or in the pew next to you. It’s about sharing our own stories and feeling heard and understood. It’s about seeing the divine in us all and reclaiming our shared humanity.

If we want to be a witness, as we are called to be by Christ, let us be witnesses not just to the world outside our doors, but also to one another. As Philip and Qinaqis discovered, sometimes the Holy Spirit puts us in proximity with each other so that we can participate in mutual transformation. It starts here, with us. And if we do a good job, think of all the people we can reach outside of these church walls.

So let us come to one another with wonder and curiosity. Let us be witnesses to each other’s stories. Let us participate in the sacraments together. Let us be reminded of the image of God in every person. And then, perhaps, like Qinaqis, we will go from here with a new story to tell. And I hope that each one of us goes away rejoicing.

I want to leave you this morning with part of the preamble to The Design of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), which states:

“Through baptism into Christ

we enter into newness of life

and are made one with the whole people of God.

In the communion of the Holy Spirit

we are joined together in discipleship

and in obedience to Christ.

At the Table of the Lord

we celebrate with thanksgiving

the saving acts and presence of Christ.

Within the universal church

we receive the gift of ministry

and the light of scripture.

In the bonds of Christian faith

we yield ourselves to God

that we may serve the One

whose kingdom has no end.”

May it be so. Amen.