Philip and the Ethiopian: Welcoming the Excluded
Daily Scripture
Acts 8:27-38
27 … Meanwhile, an Ethiopian man was on his way home from Jerusalem, where he had come to worship. He was a eunuch and an official responsible for the entire treasury of Candace. (Candace is the title given to the Ethiopian queen.) 28 He was reading the prophet Isaiah while sitting in his carriage. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Approach this carriage and stay with it.”
30 Running up to the carriage, Philip heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you really understand what you are reading?”
31 The man replied, “Without someone to guide me, how could I?” Then he invited Philip to climb up and sit with him. 32 This was the passage of scripture he was reading:
Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
and like a lamb before its shearer is silent
so he didn’t open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation justice was taken away from him.
Who can tell the story of his descendants
because his life was taken from the earth? [Isaiah 53:7-8]
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, about whom does the prophet say this? Is he talking about himself or someone else?” 35 Starting with that passage, Philip proclaimed the good news about Jesus to him. 36 As they went down the road, they came to some water.
The eunuch said, “Look! Water! What would keep me from being baptized?” [The best manuscripts of Acts do not contain what is printed as verse 37 in some translations] 38 He ordered that the carriage halt. Both Philip and the eunuch went down to the water, where Philip baptized him.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
Mia Hamm: “Somewhere behind the athlete you’ve become and the hours of practice and the coaches who have pushed you is a little girl who fell in love with the game and never looked back… play for her.”
Hamm played not from duty but from love—for “the little girl who fell in love with the game.” Philip’s meeting with the Ethiopian flowed from the same kind of love—his love for Jesus, not religious duty. Whatever led the Ethiopian to Jerusalem, he was curious about the sacred Hebrew Scriptures in Isaiah. But he needed help understanding what he was reading. Guided by the Spirit (not just human strategy), Philip ran to the carriage to help this seeking man find the meaning of the gospel message.
- Non-religious and nominally religious people need help making sense of what can be a confusing message. Like the Ethiopian, many are open and curious—they just need someone willing to come alongside and explain. Has the Spirit ever nudged you, like Phillip, to share when you hadn’t planned to do it? Do you feel equipped to do so? If not, what could help you grow in confidence and capability? (Click here for ways Resurrection might help.)
- The eunuch was excluded from full temple worship under Leviticus 21:18-20; Deuteronomy 23:1. * But Isaiah—the book the eunuch was reading—said that eunuchs and foreigners should be welcomed (Isaiah 56:3-8). Philip’s prompt baptism of this man carried out Isaiah’s prophetic insight. The eunuch had been unwelcomed by other forms of Jewish faith, but “he is now being welcomed as a member of this new movement.” ** How did this embody the church’s mission? Who in your community has been made to feel excluded that the church is called to welcome?
Prayer
God, teach me how to listen closely for the Holy Spirit’s whispering guidance. Help me have the courage to eagerly obey. Stir within me, Lord, a desire to better equip myself to help curious people make sense of the gospel story, and to welcome those who have been excluded. Amen.
GPS Insights
Darren Lippe
Darren Lippe, who serves as a Couples Small Group co-leader and Men's Group Leader, while volunteering in a variety of other capacities at Resurrection, wrote today’s Insights. He and his wife, Doris, first met in a Resurrection Single Adult Sunday School class in 1997 and were married in what is now the Student Center. They are empty nesters with 2 college-aged sons, Matthew and Jacob.
These past few weeks, the fanfare of the World Cup has been contagious.
- We’ve been following“Freddy the German” as he joyously travels across the U.S. His latest discovery was Taco Bell, declaring that he could eat it every day. An American offered this wise counsel, “Brother, pace yourself.”
- Our FIFA friends have discovered the tastiness of Ranch Dressing. So much so, you can now buy bottles of Ranch Dressing at JFK Terminals while flying out of New York & the TSA had to issue a bulletin to remind travelers to put their bottles of Ranch Dressing in their checked bags.
- And new lingo has entered our vocabulary. Playing on the nickname for typical weight gain of 1st year college students “The Freshman 15,” we now have “The FIFA 15.”
Coincidentally, this same enthusiasm & excitement carries on throughout today’s passage. Let’s take a closer look at one of my favorite scenes from the Book of Acts:
Our selection includes a lot of supernatural activity. The Spirit tells Philip to take a certain road at a certain time of day & later an Angel from the Lord tells Philip to approach the carriage & to stay with it. (The Lord’s Spirit will also mysteriously take Philip away at the end of our scene.)
Our friend, Philip, was a fisherman in the area of Galilee when called by Jesus. Today’s selection is one of Philip’s main scenes in the Bible. Prior to this conversation, Philip was preaching the Gospel in Samaria, which would suggest that he is quite comfortable evangelizing to those who have been deemed as outcasts by the religious leaders of the day. Even more impressively, Philip is so excited by the Spirit’s guidance, he actually runs up to the carriage to see what he should do next.
Our Carriage-Driver is from Ethiopia & is a eunuch. He is a man of some significance, since he has a political position in the government of Ethiopia. He had traveled a great distance to go to Jerusalem to worship. He is literate & is currently reading the Book of Isaiah. I would submit that our friend is quite humble as well, since he does not get upset when Philip asks him if he understands what he is reading.
Philip & our Ethiopian have a fantastic conversation about the Scriptures & Philip builds on this dialogue to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. (Full Disclosure: Every discussion sharing the Gospel is a fantastic conversation.) Our friend sees a body of water & asks, “What would keep me from being baptized?” (Sadly, this gives us an indication that perhaps our friend had been previously denied access to God, either at the Temple or by religious leaders.) Philip baptizes him on the spot.
Our scene concludes with our Ethiopian friend’s conversion to faith, concluding with the delightful phrase via The Message, “…that was the last the eunuch saw of him (Philip). But he didn’t mind. He had what he’d come for & went on down the road as happy as he could be.” (Legend has it, that our friend became the 1st Christian missionary to Ethiopia & converted much of the nobility of Ethiopia.)
So, what might this fun scene mean for us today?
- What if the Holy Spirit is offering us nudges, ala Phillip, even today to volunteer, to sign up for a Bible Study, or to send a note of encouragement to a friend in need?
- Like Philip, are we prepared to share our faith story if we were asked, “So, why are you a Christian?”
- Could we mimic our Ethiopian friend & boldly take that 1st step & join a Bible study to really start exploring the Scriptures? Could we also humbly accept assistance/guidance when it is offered?
- Finally, our Ethiopian friend reminds us that our faithwalk is meant to be joyful. Do we look forward to the respite our prayer time offers us, do we approach our Scripture reading time with curiosity & interest, & are we excited to get to go to worship on Sunday? If not, perhaps we need to tweak our perspective & try new approaches to help us capture (or re-capture) the joy of our spiritual journey.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m working on a screen play about a chubby group of FIFA fanatics as they go on a cross-country quest in a VW van to discover the mysterious Hidden Valley Ranch. The working title is, “The Field of Creams.” Tagline: “Some chase the Championship. These guys chase the Champion’s Dip.”
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Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* F. Scott Spencer, study note on Acts 8:27 in The CEB Study Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2013, p. 234 NT.
** Craig Keener, study note on Acts 8:36 in NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible. Zondervan, p. 9921, Kindle Edition.
