Sermon on Acts 8: 26-39
Rev. Caela Simmons Wood
First Congregational UCC, Manhattan, KS
April 25, 2021
Several years back, I received a phone call from a clergy colleague. He had just been contacted by a couple that had an unusual request for their wedding and he was calling me for advice because he figured, “As a UCC pastor, I bet you get all kinds of unusual requests because I know y’all don’t have any rules about anything.”
I chuckled when he said that because it’s certainly not the first or last time I’ve heard that sentiment from clergy friends. Word on the street is definitely that us UCC folks don’t have many rules.
After laughing a bit, I gently corrected my colleague and said we aren’t rule-less in the UCC. We may not have bishops or a rule-book, but we do say that Christ is the head of the Church, so we look to that liberating force we call Christ - as experienced in the life and ministry of Jesus AND in one another - to set our agenda and help us make decisions.
You know, some monastic communities live under a rule with a capital R. It’s sometimes called a Rule of Life. The Rule is an ethic for living that spells out for the community how they are to BE together. That kind of Rule sounds helpful, doesn’t it? Instructions for living a life together.
In our tradition, we don’t have a written down Rule, so we have to work together with open hearts to discern it. What I’ve observed in the UCC is that our Rule is Love. Jesus told us the most important thing is to “love God and love our neighbor as ourselves,” and we strive to do our best.
Love sounds great as a bumper sticker, but it can be stickier to put into practice. We aren’t always able to agree with one another about what love looks like in practice. And the world often yanks our fragile hearts in so many different directions.
Earlier this week we held our collective breath as we awaited the verdict from Minneapolis. George Floyd’s sacred breath was violently stolen from him and so many people prayed that there would be accountability for this crime. You could almost feel the collective exhalation of relief when the verdict was announced - and at the same time we know the work of dismantling white supremacy is far from over. The verdict doesn’t bring back Mr. Floyd’s life, nor does it fix broken systems, nor does it prevent future violence against Black and brown bodies and spirits.
Our Conference Minister, Dr. Edith Guffey, wrote powerfully about the complexity of emotions many Black people are feeling in the wake of the Chavin trial. She said,
Yesterday a jury in Minnesota said clearly that One Black Life Matters.
One message, one verdict, that means so much to so many.
It tells us something, doesn’t it?
I am so relieved and so grateful that justice was done.
And yet, while I am grateful, should I HAVE to be?
I am kicking myself for even saying that, today.
Shouldn’t I just be grateful, take the win, sit down and shut up?
Maybe.
But that’s ignoring how deep the wounds of racism run.
just because one cut didn’t kill us we can’t forget the cancer that is ravaging our body.
This is one case, one jury.
Yes, I am grateful.
I am breathing easier, feeling a little more hopeful.
But the dis-ease is still there…
and the journey continues. [1]
People of color have no choice but to stay with these hard realities - the world won’t let them tap out and take a break. Those of us who are white have to make the daily decision to keep showing up - listening, learning, messing up, and staying with the work. How do we all find the strength to keep dreaming and scheming and laboring and sweating with God to build a more just world for all people and all creation?
I think one way we do this is by submitting to Christ’s Rule of Love.
Today’s story from the Book of Acts is a touchstone text for those who desire to submit themselves to this Rule. When I hear this story, I get this Venn-diagram-slash-flow-chart in my head with Love, Freedom, and Openness. But instead of trying to recreate that for you, what I’d really rather do is tell you the story.
While I’m telling it, I invite you to listen for these themes and use your hands when you hear them. You can make gestures like these: Love (hand on heart), Freedom (break chains), Openness (open hands). Don’t worry if it looks silly - no one can see you!
Once upon a time, a man named Philip received a message from an angel. Philip was one of the early Followers of the Way (that’s what Jesus followers were called back then). The angel told him to “get up and go” to a particular wilderness road leading from Jerusalem to Gaza. The angel didn’t say anything about WHY he was supposed to go, just that he needed to go….so Philip listened and he got up and went.
On that same road was a man whose name we aren’t told. Instead, the author of Acts describes him as an Ethiopian eunuch who was a court official of the queen. Now we don’t have precise parallels to these categories in our own culture. To say that he was from Ethiopia meant that he looked different than Philip. He likely had darker skin than Philip did. Chances are good that he was Jewish, because there were many Jews in Ethiopia and we are told he’s on his way back from worshiping in Jerusalem. As a eunuch, the man challenged other folks’ assumptions about masculinity and gender. Many LGBTQ folks in our own time have identified with him and claimed him as their kindred. We do know that because of his status as a eunuch there were some religious rituals he wasn’t excluded from.
But being a eunuch also gave him access to some prestige and power. Eunuchs were often selected to serve as high-ranking court officials. This man is in an expensive chariot and we know he also has access to power as one who has the ear of the queen. The Rev. Simon Woodman describes him as “a complex person: ...he is both at the centre of society, and on the margins; he is wealthy and powerful, but excluded and othered; he is devout and seeking God, but in a religious culture that deems him unacceptable...” [2]
So we have these two men - strangers - on this wilderness road. And, once again, the angel gives Philip specific instructions to “get up and go” over to the chariot and join it. Once again, Philip listens and goes. The two men enter into a dialogue about the scriptures. They are both seekers - wanting to learn and digest and understand more about the movement of God in the world. Though they don’t know one another we can feel the respect, mutuality, and love in their encounter in that chariot.
As they are traveling along and talking about Jesus together, they come upon some water. And the man-whose-name-we-aren’t-told says to Philip, “Look, here’s some water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” Now, some versions of the Bible include a verse here that wasn’t in the original text. In this added-later-verse Philip says to the man, “If you believe with all of your heart, you may be baptized” and the man says, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God.”
We can tell that someone somewhere along the way was nervous about the story as it was originally told - that’s why they added that line. But in the original text, the man simply asks, “What is to prevent me from being baptized?” and Philip doesn’t answer. Instead, the action is the answer as the two men go into the water together .
The text says “he baptized him” and then they emerge from the water together. It’s all done together - both of them experiencing a renewal of their faith through the waters of baptism. Again, we see the mutuality between these two strangers. We see their openness as they listen for the movement of the Spirit. We sense their commitment to following that Rule of love (LOVE), trusting God’s love is big enough for themselves and all people - especially those who society might label as “outsiders.” We feel the freedom they feel as followers of Jesus - freedom to share dialogue, ask vulnerable questions, answer with action.
To walk in the Way of Jesus - like these earlier followers did - is to be rooted in a Rule of Love. Living in this Rule frees us to faithfully imagine new worlds, just like the man did in this story: “Look! Here’s water. What’s to prevent me from being baptized?”
What’s to prevent us from creating a world where accountability is the norm, rather than an occasion for surprise?
What’s to prevent us from tearing down systems that perpetuate the evil of white supremacy? And proclaiming with our actions, not just our words, that Black, Asian, Indigenous, Latino, immigrant bodies, dreams, lives matter and have sacred worth?
What’s to prevent us from reimagining the role of police in our society? And demanding institutions that work for all people?
What’s to prevent us from saying “enough is enough” gun violence? And working together to find creative solutions that lead us towards life, not death?
What’s to prevent us from insisting that our leaders value the lives of transgender youth and adults? Saying “not on our watch” to hateful legislation that harms?
What’s to prevent us from smashing the patriarchy? Looking to women and girls and nonbinary humans in all their glorious, beautiful diversity to lead us?
What’s to prevent us from working together across the globe to heal our planet? Making sustainability the norm instead of an afterthought?
Rather than answer these questions with words, may we answer them like these two men in Acts did: WITH ACTION.
Open to the Spirit’s voice when she says “get up and go.”
Following Christ - that prophetic, inspiring, troubling, “liberating force” who comes to set all captives free.
Rooted in God’s Rule of Love which leads us into new life together.
May it be so.
NOTES:
[1] https://www.kocucc.org/news-events/one-black-life-matters
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