Philip and the Man from Ethiopia

We say we believe in One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.   Beginning from Jerusalem the men and women who knew Jesus, who heard his stories, who had breakfast with him, whose lives were changed because they came to see the world and to know God as he did became just such a Church.

Today we hear the story of Philip and the nameless man from Ethiopia.  Beginning in Jerusalem Peter and James and John and the rest proclaimed the Good News of Jesus to those who thought he was dead.  Peter and company healed the sick and debated with the authorities.  The community began to practice Radical Hospitality, laying out their lives for one another.  Giving generously of their wealth so that all might eat, so that all might be warm and dry, the faithful trusted that they could work miracles with loaves and fish.  The signs and wonders of Jesus began to be enacted by others, spreading the hope we call Eternal Life to a wider and wider circle of faithful witnesses.   

The community of believers was growing so rapidly that the inevitable tensions of human life emerged and more help was needed to oversee the practical and pastoral needs of the flock.  The Eleven named seven more – that magic number seven which indicates fullness and plenty – they laid hands on seven more prayerful, wise and well respected people and one of those seven is Philip.  These seven would see to the needs of the widows and orphans so that the Eleven could focus on preaching and teaching.  But what the Eleven thought they were doing didn’t quite turn out to be what God was doing.  Through the Eleven God poured the Spirit of Evangelism, of Teaching, of Prophecy into Steven.  He was not just a pastoral specialist, he was sent out, sent on a mission to bring the lost lambs to the knowledge and love of God.  Beginning from Jerusalem the one church reached out its branches beyond the bounds of faithful Jews. 

At the beginning of the episode we hear today in Acts Philip is in Samaria, an area north of Jerusalem sharing the Good News with people who are not quite Jewish, people who are categorically mongrel dogs from a Jewish point of view.  Jesus walked through Samaria and loved the people there.  The Woman at the Well became one of the first Apostles, one of the first to gather the community to hear the Good News that all people are loved by God.  In Samaria there was an eagerness to hear more about Divine Love Incarnate and Philip was well received.  As his work was prospering the Angel of the Lord whispers to him – get up and go.  You have made a good start – now let it grow.  You are needed elsewhere.  The angel sends him to the wilderness.  And you remember who else goes out to the wilderness ….

Philip sees a Royal Chariot pulled over to the side of the dusty road.  The attendants are standing around waiting.  The horses are munching on the low brush.  The heat is unbearable.  In the middle of this lonely and perhaps dangerous wilderness the man in charge sits, engrossed in his scroll.   The Angel of the Lord nudges Philip – go and talk to that man.   

Who is this guy in the chariot?  He is not a Jew even though he has just made a long pilgrimage to be in Jerusalem for the celebration of the Passover.  He can read, he has money, he has position.  He is an upper middle class guy with all the comforts available in the first century.  And yet he is cut off.  He is cut off from his people because the God of the Hebrews has called his name.  He is cut off from the Temple because he is not whole.  His body has been mutilated and he is not even allowed onto the temple property.  He can never become a member of the Jewish faith.  He is cut off, in the wilderness between worlds. 

There he sits reading the Prophet Isaiah, the prophet who says that All God’s people are to be called home.  The Prophet Isaiah describes the suffering servant as the one who bears the pain and suffering of many, and who made intercession to God for the transgressors.  Through the one who suffers the will of God prospers and many are made righteous.  (Is 53: 10-12)  The Prophet Isaiah holds the Key to Jesus’ ministry.  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18)  The man in the chariot is hungry to know more.  His thirst, his yearning, leads to baptism and baptism results in total belonging.  He is marked as Christ’s own forever.  Philip gives the man the best gift and this is on his way.  The New Apostle heads south to Ethiopia, another anointed one, another apostle, the bearer of Good News of the Risen Christ.  Through Philip and through this unnamed man made whole by Christ the tendrils of the church reach far and wide.

Today we are yearning to become more and more the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church that we pray for.  This Church is not a building.  The One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church is a family, a household of faith.  We long to become ONE so that we cling to that which unites us, the Saving life death and resurrection of Jesus.  Here in this part of the ONE church – the Episcopal part, the Trinity Claremont part - we lean toward ONEness by reaching our out hands in love to other Christians even when they hurt us.  

We long to become more and more HOLY  through meditation and study of the scriptures, especially the Gospel accounts.  We long to join that crowd of witnesses who know how God’s love has changed our lives and can tell the story of our own salvation.  We long to join the choir of angels who sing God’s praises both in Gregorian chant and New Orleans Jazz. If you believe and I believe and we together pray the Holy Spirit must come down and set God’s people free.

We long to be more and more CATHOLIC – but not catholic in the Roman style where obedience to a princely authority is the measure of grace.  We long to be more CATHOLIC in the universal embrace of all those we touch in our daily lives, and all those who join us in our weekly prayers.  We long to see God’s image reflected in many colors and shapes and accents, so that we see not as the world sees, but more and more we can see the cut off ones, the Eunuchs of this world, as our very own siblings.  

We long to be more and more APOSTOLIC.  Pick up that red book from the rack right in front of you.  Pick it up.  You are holding the Whole Christian tradition in your hands.  Ancient prayers.  Baptismal promises.  All the Psalms, even the obnoxious ones.  Every Sunday we say the prayers together until they get down into our bones.  Once God’s amazing grace settles down into your bones you take it with you wherever you go.  And indeed, this House of Prayer is a way station on the Apostolic journey on which YOU are sent.  Sit, breath, open the scrolls and receive the blessing, share the Good news, and the human worries, and then GO into the world bearing that Good News to those desperate ones who think they are cut off.  Go and tell them that God does not abandon us or the world God loves.

You are the Apostle of the Good News that Claremont so needs to see and hear.  Go.