If the 3 ‘Rs’ have been said to be the foundation of learning, then there is a case for saying that the writer of Acts of the Apostles gives us 3 ‘Ps’ as the foundation of Christian identity and mission. For in Acts chapter 8 we read today’s passage about Philip and the eunuch. This is immediately followed, in chapter 9, by the story of Paul’s conversion and acceptance into the Christian community. Then, in chapter 10, we have the story of Peter’s strange dream which leads to his conversion to the full acceptance of Gentiles without demands. Typically these stories are treated separately, as discrete events in the life of the early Church. Yet I wonder. May they not actually be interconnected, as part of one truly remarkable story told by Acts? For in these stories we see something of how the early Jewish Christian sect became a highly engaged and outward looking community of radical inclusion: embracing the outcast, the oppressed and the oppressor, from whatever race, religion or other identity they came. This was a truly extraordinary shift in attitude and practice. Of course the seeds were very much present in the Hebrew scriptures and, above all, in the praxis of Jesus. Yet it still represents perhaps the greatest conversion in all Christian history: beyond, for example, the Church’s turn around on slavery or on the full acceptance and ministerial empowerment of women. No wonder therefore that the writer of Acts gives us three powerful stories to help us grasp the point. Sadly we sometimes divide them off from one another and tend to lose this dynamic. Peter and, especially, Paul’s stories then lose some of their context and bite. In the case of today’s story, of Philip and the eunuch, we can overlook it altogether. To do so may be to miss vital lessons for our mission and Christian self-identity today...
What difference does it make, I wonder, if we see Peter and Paul’s conversions as integrally related to that of Philip’s eunuch? Too often, at least in the Western world since the Reformation, there has been a tendency to view Paul’s conversion as a model, or even the model, for Christian experience and coming to faith. Yet such a highly individualistic and subjective interpretation of Paul’s story is not only foreign to the highly communal world of the early Church. It also distances us from the relationships and ramifications of scripture, and not least Paul’s connection to the eunuch. For they have much more in common than flowing on from one another in the text.
In some ways Paul and the eunuch are opposites which the grace of God brings together. One, as Saul, is the classic insider, ticking all the right boxes: Pharisee, law, nationality, and even Roman citizenship. The other, the eunuch, is the classic outsider: not only of a different race and colour, religious background and cultural practice, but a person of gender variance to boot. He is outside the box: and not just out of one box, but almost out of every box precious to Saul; and, until this amazing process of communal conversion, to Peter and others too. One, though having some privileges in certain circles, is oppressed and excluded, on several levels. The other is the oppressor par excellence, who, in so being, is also oppressing and excluding their own self and acceptance of God’s grace. So the reversals of Saul and the eunuch are like two parts of God’s new jigsaw coming together, which Peter’s dream and own conversion completes. Both need guidance and support in their coming to full faith in Jesus: one through Philip and the other through Ananias; one receiving affirmation, the other forgiveness and healing. In this is the dynamic vision of the new community made manifest. In it we too are given directions for Christian mission.
Today’s story from the Acts of the Apostles deserves much greater missional attention than we can make in a brief address. So let us note but a few briefly for the moment. Firstly, as we see in Philip’s response to the angel, mission is clearly understood as the work of God to which we are called to act in new and flexible ways. Indeed it may propel us down 'the wilderness road' literally and metaphorically. Secondly, it is not the work of a moment. The eunuch has spent time in reflection and study and only then is ready for Philip’s word. My hunch is that something similar can be said of Saul. Major transformations, of whatever kind, are typically not instantaneous. Behind Paul’s conversion is an undoubted huge struggle within himself and with his faith and scriptures. All we see in Acts is the moment when the walls fall down. Thirdly, and linked to this, like the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, we are shown how a journey is both literally and metaphorically the locus of conversion and faith development. In which sense, fourthly, is mission then, as we see it in the story of Philip and the eunuch, a going out from our comfort zones to encounter and sit alongside those who are already on their particular journeys with God: catching up, so to speak, with where God is moving, perhaps is surprising new ways, among perhaps very surprising people?
All of those things and more are no doubt helpful to ponder and act upon. Yet they can also distract us from what is the central message of radical inclusion in which they are set. For we must not simply leave Philip and the eunuch behind and rush off in what we consider to be the footsteps of the new missionary Paul without them. They belong together and there is more to reflect upon.
In conclusion, two further aspects of this passage repay attention. The first is the eunuch himself. Today, in the midst of their own gender struggles and controversy, transgender people have slowly begun to recover the good news for them, and for everyone, in this passage. Of course the eunuch is not exactly a modern transgender person but he is someone of clear gender variance who challenges preconceptions of who and what is valued by God. As we reflected earlier, as the eunuch is an outsider on so many scores, he stands for outsiders in general: not just due to his gender, but religiously, nationally, racially, and as a person of influence and wealth which few early Christians had. This gives deeper meaning to the scriptural reference to Isaiah. The eunuch is drawn to the Suffering Servant. Well, of course, he is! For which outsider, struggling with perhaps profound internal shame, as well as the humiliation inflicted by others, would not be drawn to this figure who conquers and delivers through bearing and transforming all shame and humiliation? The reference in that sense is to Isaiah chapter 53 but this too must be read in relation to what else then appears in scripture. For it is hard not to believe that what really spoke to the eunuch were the passages which followed, especially what we now call Isaiah chapter 56, which speak of God’s radical inclusion of outsiders. Specifically, we have the astonishing prophecy in Isaiah 56 verses 3 to 5: ‘Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely separate me from his people”; and do not let the eunuch say, “I am just a dry tree.” For thus says the Lord: to the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.’
Wow! Do we see? - what the eunuch responded to was this incredible message of liberation: God’s love, hope and hospitality for every outsider; for those who can never quite fit overly neat religious or cultural boxes. Saul’s problem was that he thought everyone should fit those boxes, but for him the walls also had to fall down. For the reality of course is that each of us, to varying degrees, have bits which fit and bits which don’t. We all bear shame and need liberation. God’s love and grace transforms us all.
Finally, let us spare a thought for Philip. Names are so important, aren’t they? - as we find immediately after today’s passage when Saul becomes Paul. Sadly, or perhaps significantly, the eunuch has no name. Yet Philip does, and vitally it is a Greek, not a Hebrew, name. For the writer of the Acts of the Apostles here and elsewhere is showing us that to be Christ’s missionary is to be a bridge-builder, a person of reconciliation: moving in, between, and beyond cultures; helping others find the realisation of God’s amazing promises of liberation and radical inclusive love.
In the name of Jesus, the Suffering Servant and our Risen Lord, Amen.
by Jo Inkpin, on Acts 8.26-40 for college eucharist and gathering of the diocesan Parish & other Mission Agencies Commission, Chapel of the Holy Spirit, 4 May 2017
In some ways Paul and the eunuch are opposites which the grace of God brings together. One, as Saul, is the classic insider, ticking all the right boxes: Pharisee, law, nationality, and even Roman citizenship. The other, the eunuch, is the classic outsider: not only of a different race and colour, religious background and cultural practice, but a person of gender variance to boot. He is outside the box: and not just out of one box, but almost out of every box precious to Saul; and, until this amazing process of communal conversion, to Peter and others too. One, though having some privileges in certain circles, is oppressed and excluded, on several levels. The other is the oppressor par excellence, who, in so being, is also oppressing and excluding their own self and acceptance of God’s grace. So the reversals of Saul and the eunuch are like two parts of God’s new jigsaw coming together, which Peter’s dream and own conversion completes. Both need guidance and support in their coming to full faith in Jesus: one through Philip and the other through Ananias; one receiving affirmation, the other forgiveness and healing. In this is the dynamic vision of the new community made manifest. In it we too are given directions for Christian mission.
Today’s story from the Acts of the Apostles deserves much greater missional attention than we can make in a brief address. So let us note but a few briefly for the moment. Firstly, as we see in Philip’s response to the angel, mission is clearly understood as the work of God to which we are called to act in new and flexible ways. Indeed it may propel us down 'the wilderness road' literally and metaphorically. Secondly, it is not the work of a moment. The eunuch has spent time in reflection and study and only then is ready for Philip’s word. My hunch is that something similar can be said of Saul. Major transformations, of whatever kind, are typically not instantaneous. Behind Paul’s conversion is an undoubted huge struggle within himself and with his faith and scriptures. All we see in Acts is the moment when the walls fall down. Thirdly, and linked to this, like the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, we are shown how a journey is both literally and metaphorically the locus of conversion and faith development. In which sense, fourthly, is mission then, as we see it in the story of Philip and the eunuch, a going out from our comfort zones to encounter and sit alongside those who are already on their particular journeys with God: catching up, so to speak, with where God is moving, perhaps is surprising new ways, among perhaps very surprising people?
All of those things and more are no doubt helpful to ponder and act upon. Yet they can also distract us from what is the central message of radical inclusion in which they are set. For we must not simply leave Philip and the eunuch behind and rush off in what we consider to be the footsteps of the new missionary Paul without them. They belong together and there is more to reflect upon.
In conclusion, two further aspects of this passage repay attention. The first is the eunuch himself. Today, in the midst of their own gender struggles and controversy, transgender people have slowly begun to recover the good news for them, and for everyone, in this passage. Of course the eunuch is not exactly a modern transgender person but he is someone of clear gender variance who challenges preconceptions of who and what is valued by God. As we reflected earlier, as the eunuch is an outsider on so many scores, he stands for outsiders in general: not just due to his gender, but religiously, nationally, racially, and as a person of influence and wealth which few early Christians had. This gives deeper meaning to the scriptural reference to Isaiah. The eunuch is drawn to the Suffering Servant. Well, of course, he is! For which outsider, struggling with perhaps profound internal shame, as well as the humiliation inflicted by others, would not be drawn to this figure who conquers and delivers through bearing and transforming all shame and humiliation? The reference in that sense is to Isaiah chapter 53 but this too must be read in relation to what else then appears in scripture. For it is hard not to believe that what really spoke to the eunuch were the passages which followed, especially what we now call Isaiah chapter 56, which speak of God’s radical inclusion of outsiders. Specifically, we have the astonishing prophecy in Isaiah 56 verses 3 to 5: ‘Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely separate me from his people”; and do not let the eunuch say, “I am just a dry tree.” For thus says the Lord: to the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.’
Wow! Do we see? - what the eunuch responded to was this incredible message of liberation: God’s love, hope and hospitality for every outsider; for those who can never quite fit overly neat religious or cultural boxes. Saul’s problem was that he thought everyone should fit those boxes, but for him the walls also had to fall down. For the reality of course is that each of us, to varying degrees, have bits which fit and bits which don’t. We all bear shame and need liberation. God’s love and grace transforms us all.
Finally, let us spare a thought for Philip. Names are so important, aren’t they? - as we find immediately after today’s passage when Saul becomes Paul. Sadly, or perhaps significantly, the eunuch has no name. Yet Philip does, and vitally it is a Greek, not a Hebrew, name. For the writer of the Acts of the Apostles here and elsewhere is showing us that to be Christ’s missionary is to be a bridge-builder, a person of reconciliation: moving in, between, and beyond cultures; helping others find the realisation of God’s amazing promises of liberation and radical inclusive love.
In the name of Jesus, the Suffering Servant and our Risen Lord, Amen.
by Jo Inkpin, on Acts 8.26-40 for college eucharist and gathering of the diocesan Parish & other Mission Agencies Commission, Chapel of the Holy Spirit, 4 May 2017
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