Let’s pray and then we can look together at this chapter.
The chapter starts out with the completion of the story of Stephen. Stephen has just been stoned to death under the authority of Saul (who will soon be Paul). Saul’s persecution of the church accelerates and people are being dragged out of their houses to prison. Philip and Stephen are 2 of the 7 from Acts 6 described as “seven men...who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.” Philip, being a close associate of Stephen, was rightfully concerned about his safety, and, as it says in verse 5: “Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there.”
Verses 6 - 13 describe Philip’s ministry in Samaria with many people believing and being baptized. There is one person who we meet by name, Simon the Sorcerer. SImon also believes in Jesus and is baptized, but is following Philip around amazed by the signs and miracles that accompany Philip’s preaching.
Word gets back to Jerusalem that many people are being converted in Samaria, so Peter and John go to see what is happening. When they arrive, they lay hands on the converts there and they receive the Holy Spirit.
Simon had been impressed by Philip, but this particular display of divine power really gets his attention. He offers to buy this ability from the disciples. Peter rebukes him in no uncertain terms in verses 21-23: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”
Simon asks them to pray for him as an act of repentance? Or is he just afraid? It’s hard to say.
On their way back to Jerusalem, Peter and John preach to many Samaritan villages that they encounter along the way.
In verse 26, we read, ‘Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (as a side note, wouldn’t it be great to have that direct of an instruction from God?!!)
So Philip goes and he meets an Ethiopian Eunuch who is returning from Jerusalem where he had gone to worship and he is reading the words of Isaiah from a scroll:
‘“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”
The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.’
Then they traveled along the road a bit and there was a body of water of some sort and the eunuch asks Philip if he can be baptized. Philip baptizes him and whoosh! he is taken by the Holy Spirit away from there and the Ethiopian eunuch goes on his way rejoicing.
In the beginning of Acts 8, in the account of Philip’s time in Samaria, we see that the gospel is for those who are racially and ethnically different from the Jews.
This was radical news to the first believers, but they had been given many hints and outright examples of this by their leader, Jesus. Specifically in dealing with the hatred that Jews had for Samaritans, Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan and He also demonstrated His acceptance of Samaritans by talking to the woman at the well and then staying for two days in her village to talk to others who wanted to know Him.
The Word in Life Study Bible talks about the implications of this hostility for today’s believers: “There are countless modern parallels to the Jewish-Samaritan enmity—indeed, wherever peoples are divided by racial and ethnic barriers. Perhaps that’s why the Gospels and Acts provide so many instances of Samaritans coming into contact with the message of Jesus. It is not the person from the radically different culture on the other side of the world that is hardest to love, but the nearby neighbor whose skin color, language, rituals, values, ancestry, history, and customs are different from one’s own. Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans.”
The Samaritans were near to the Jews geographically, but far away in their hearts. And even though the Jewish scriptures are filled with stories of outsiders becoming insiders, the Jews of Jesus time missed that point and felt that they were somehow racially and spiritually superior.
Without realizing or recognizing it, we can do the same. We can feel or act superior to our neighbors who are different from us and who we perceive of as “less than.” If we are college graduates, it might be those with less education. If we are well-off financially, it might be those who are poor. If we are Americans, it might be those from other countries. If we are democrats, it might be republicans. If we are Cubs fans, it might be Sox fans! The list of things that divide us goes on and on and on.
The study Bible goes on to ask, “With whom do you have no dealings?” Like Philip, for us following Jesus should take us places we had never thought to go and lead us to talk to people we thought were “outsiders.”
In the story of the Ethiopian eunuch later on in the chapter, we see that the gospel is for those who are considered impure by the Jews.
According to Deuteronomy 23, eunuchs were not allowed to go into the temple. The Ethiopian eunuch that we meet in this chapter is a religious man; he has come to Jerusalem to worship and he is reading Isaiah from a scroll. Most commentaries agree that he would not have been allowed in the temple but would have been able to be at the court of the Gentiles.
The Inter-Varsity Press New Testament Commentary says that “The conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch graphically demonstrates the inclusiveness of the gospel. No apparent obstacle--whether physical defect, race or geographical remoteness--can place a person beyond the saving call of the good news.”
It is so fascinating that he is reading Isaiah 53. The person being described sounds like a eunuch: “he was humiliated, his rights were taken away: And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living.” He is reading about someone like himself who was denied justice and harmed and humiliated. He sees in this description of Jesus someone with whom he can identify.
And Philip, being told by God to be there and talk to this man, doesn’t hesitate. He doesn’t care that he is a eunuch - a sexual “outsider” or an Ethiopian - a racial “outsider.” He talks to him about Jesus and he baptizes him into the body of Christ. No one is excluded from the invitation of the gospel. All are welcome.
A few chapters later in Isaiah 56, we find these words that perfectly fit the situations in Acts 8:
“Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.” And let no eunuch complain, “I am only a dry tree.”
For this is what the Lord says: “To the eunuchs who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant— to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever.
And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer.
...for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
I want to backtrack in Acts 8 to the visit of Peter and John to Samaria to point out something important for those of us who are believers in Jesus: The “insiders” need to reach the “outsiders.”
Peter and John come from Jerusalem to Samaria, not because Philip needed back-up or his work wasn’t complete without them; they come because they are known leaders in the church and their presence would legitimize and confirm the birth of the church in Samaria. It is the responsibility of those in positions of power and privilege to extend inclusion to those who might be seen as “other.”
James Rochford, on his website Evidence Unseen describes it this way, “These important apostles from Jerusalem put the exclamation mark on the inclusion of these non-Jews by stopping and staying with Samaritans throughout the region.”
Just a few outsiders in today’s culture are refugees, those experiencing homelessness, the LGBTQ community, illegal aliens, the incarcerated, and those experiencing mental or physical health challenges.
As I said earlier, the list of things that divide us goes on and on and on. What can we do to become more welcoming, more like Christ - loving God and our neighbor?
Henri Nouwen says that, “We become neighbours when we are willing to cross the road for one another. There is so much separation and segregation: between black people and white people, between gay people and straight people, between young people and old people, between sick people and healthy people, between prisoners and free people, between Jews and Gentiles, Muslims and Christians, Protestants and Catholics. There is a lot of road crossing to do. We are all very busy in our own circles. We have our own people to go to and our own affairs to take care of. But if we could cross the street once in a while and pay attention to what is happening on the other side, we might become neighbours.”
I think this is hardest when we think our neighbors are wrong. It may be easy for us to stand up for those who are disenfranchised, but we are also called to love our enemies. This is a hard word and we all have to know our limits - what is safe and reasonable in our own contexts, but one thing is true for all of us - we can’t use the enemy’s weapons - the weapons of our warfare are not worldly - we must use prayer, the Word of God and love to fight against hatred.
I want to end with a story. I wish it was my story, but it’s not. But it’s such a great story about road crossing and loving our enemies that I am stealing it! It’s from a blog called Urban Confessional: A Free Listening Movement. One of their defining quotes is "BEING HEARD IS SO CLOSE TO BEING LOVED THAT MOST PEOPLE CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE."
The story takes place at the Republican National Convention where the Urban Confessional had set up a Free Listening station. A woman approached the table and said “I don’t usually do this, and I know this isn’t a hot button topic anymore… But, I think abortion is wrong. It’s not a form of birth control, and people who have them should be arrested for murder." Benjamin Mathes, the listener on call at the time, in his own words, “had been Free Listening at the RNC for a few hours, and most people who spoke with me told me about their families, their jobs, and the things that brought them to Cleveland.
No one had opened up about a serious, but controversial issue.
But here she was.
...when she told me [people] should be arrested for terminating a pregnancy, the familiar burn of disagreement started to fire in me. There were so many things I wanted to say. I wanted to change her mind, to argue, to disagree. It's a natural response.
But, if my story brought me to my beliefs,I needed to know how her story brought her to her beliefs.
So, I asked:
“Thank you for sharing that. Tell me your story? I’d love to know how you came to this point of view.”
She seemed surprised by my interest.
“Why? It doesn’t matter. Your sign said Free Listening, so I gave you something to listen to.”
“Give me more to listen to.”
“They should be locked up! It’s wrong. It’s not right to go out and sleep with whoever, then just vacuum away the result like it never happened.”
She paused…then inhaled the entire world.
“And it’s not fair. All I’ve ever wanted to be is a mom. My whole life, I knew I was meant to have children. Then, when I was 18—18!—the doctor told me I’d never have children. My ovaries were damaged, or missing...it doesn’t matter which. I kept it a secret, and when my husband found out, he left me. I’m alone, my body doesn’t work, I’m old…who will ever love me…”
I wondered if she could hear my heart breaking.
“…so, I guess I get upset when I see people who can get pregnant, who can have kids, whose bodies work…who can be moms…and they just choose not to…”
Sometimes, there’s nothing to “disagree” with.
I didn’t need to be right.
I just needed to be there.”
No one is excluded from the invitation of the gospel. All are welcome.
Sometimes we are surprised by where God calls us to go. Sometimes we are surprised by who God asks us to love.
In light of all that is going on in our country and in our world, my challenge to you this morning is to be a listener. To cross the road. To go where the Spirit of God leads you and to bring the good news to whoever is in your path. Those outside will be brought in and miraculous things will happen!
