The Ethiopian

One of the most striking and attractive things about the early church was its diversity.

It's one of the reasons why it had such a massive impact on the Roman Empire for some

couple of centuries of its existence.

Because for the first time in history, you have a community that was made up of people

that historically have been divided, uneducated people right alongside high-level Jewish people,

slaves right alongside their former masters, Jews right alongside Gentiles, wealthy right

alongside the poor.

And what makes me the more amazing is that this was happening long before diversity was

something people cared about or valued or pursued.

And in fact, I think you could make a strong case that the reason people care about it

so much today is a direct result of the impact of the Christian church on the Roman civilization.

The diversity was not a value in the first century.

In fact, the earliest Christians, if they had been left on their own devices, if they had

their way, Christianity arguably would have remained a small, mostly Jewish sect.

So there is this historic question that presents itself to us.

What happened?

What happened to catalyze what has become a global movement?

And the short answer to that question is the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit happened.

And then all of the early Christians had to scramble to catch up with what God was doing.

The resurrected Jesus, as we heard in John's Gospel reading just a moment ago, promised

that before he departed he would send another helper, the Spirit of Truth, who would be with his disciples, and be with and empower the church in its mission.

And that's exactly what happened.

But it went way beyond what they could have even imagined.

Willie James James, in his commentary on the book of Acts, says that the clearest evidence of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts is, quote,

that the disciples of Jesus rarely, if ever, go where they want to go or to whom they would want to go.

The Holy Spirit compelled them to go to the very people that they would least like to go to, people they would never have gone to on their own.

And Jennings says, quote, that drive to cross boundaries and borders is what marks the presence of the Spirit of God.

So we think about a Spirit-filled church.

And I don't know what you think about when you hear that phrase, a Spirit-filled church.

Maybe you think about people speaking prophecy or speaking in tongues or being slain in the Spirit or being healed by the Spirit.

Fair enough.

But according to the book of Acts, a Spirit-filled church is one in which people are compelled to cross boundaries and borders

and go after those who would be considered in that society to be the other, the unreachable, the unclean, the untouchable.

And so the book of Acts is full of unexpected Holy Spirit-driven encounters.

And we're going to look at one this morning in Acts chapter 8.

Acts 8 · chapter mention

This encounter that A.J. read about just a moment ago between a traditional Jewish man.

He was a colonized, he was probably spoken Greek, he was a Greek name, but he's a traditional Jewish man.

And a gender-nonconforming black African.

So we're going to look at this encounter and then we're going to look at some of the implications for us.

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for your word and we thank you for your spirit.

And we know that we need to be careful what we pray for you.

Because if we pray that you could show up, you might actually show up.

And if we pray that you would speak to us, you might actually speak to us.

And if you speak to us, we might actually have to respond.

And if that happens, then Lord, it clearly means that we're not in control.

So with fear and trembling, we ask that you would speak to us this way.

That you would manifest yourself.

That we would joyfully who would push control to you.

We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

So let's look first at this encounter in Acts chapter 8.

Acts 8 · chapter mention

This passage opens with Philip.

Philip is one of the deacons.

First appointed to care for the poor in the church in Jerusalem.

One of the original deacons.

And he's also clearly a very gifted evangelist.

And so God sends him to the road that connects Jerusalem to Gaza.

And a version of that road exists today.

And he sits in there because he wants him to meet a man who is coming.

He's returning to Ethiopia from Jerusalem.

Now we don't know this Ethiopian person's name.

But we do know that he was very successful in his career.

He's a highly ranking official in the court of Candace.

The queen of Ethiopia.

The fact that he has a chair atonym finans is probably very

high status.

But we're told in pretty very important detail that this man is a unit.

That was the price of his success. If you were a male commoner, the only way that you could serve in such a high level job would be to allow yourself to be castrated. That would mean that the royal men of the court would know that you wouldn't be a threat to the royal women of the court.

So it was the price of admission to those higher status positions. But these days, we would probably refer to someone like this as gender non-conforming. This is a person who had sacrificed everything for his career. He had given up the possibility of a family, he had given up the possibility of children, and yet despite all of his success and status, when we meet him, he's still very much unfulfilled.

He's unfulfilled. And you know, you see this a lot of people, once they have attained success in their lives. I've read so many interviews over the years. People, everyone from Tom York, the front man of the band Radiohead, one of my favorite bands, to Kevin Durant, the NBA star, right?

You, again and again and again, across various fields of confessions, you see people saying verses of the same thing. Now, I was struck because these two men in their interviews said almost were made of the same thing.

Basically, I thought when I got to where I wanted to be, I thought when I attained success, everything would be different. I thought it would finally fill the void. But now that I'm successful, I realize the void is still there.

Judd Apatow, the successful film director says in his interview, there's a great distraction in thinking, when I get to the top of that hill, it's all going to be awesome.

And then when you get to the top of the hill, you're like, oh, well, I guess now I really have to deal with my problems, because that didn't work at all.

People think that when they attain that successful life and they reach that plateau, everything's going to be different, and they realize it's not. And that brings a lot of exclusion.

And so this Ethiopian official is in a stage of his life where he is beginning to realize that no amount of success is going to fill the void, and so he's starting to wonder about God.

Now, in his own country, the people worship his son. But somewhere along the way, he has heard about the God who made his son, and that's the God he wants to know.

He knows enough to know that the God of the Bible isn't like any of the other gods in Ethiopia or any other nation for that matter.

He had started to want to know more, so he had gone to great lengths to obtain a written copy of the book of Isaiah, which would have been a scroll at that time.

No verse or chapter reference. It just would have been a long, written scroll, very rare, very valuable, but somehow he had gotten his hands on a copy.

It had actually gotten the point in his life and in his seat where he had decided to risk it all to know this God.

And so he had decided to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, which is about a 500-mile journey.

This would have been incredibly expensive. This would have been incredibly dangerous.

There's a good chance that you wouldn't survive a journey like this.

He would have had to probably leave his job, his entire community, for several months, risking never seeing him again.

And you can imagine the people in his home country, when he told them, his family, when he told them that this was his plan,

they probably thought he was out of his mind.

You know, the ultimate midlife crisis for this man.

And yet he barks at this time.

Because he's really going to risk it all for the chance to finally meet this God.

And so imagine he travels that 500 miles and he makes it.

He finally gets to the gates of the temple and he can't wait to finally come in.

And they arrive at the temple and all their hopes that the fulfillment he's seeking is finally going to be found.

But of course we know what would have happened.

Because we know what Deuteronomy chapter 23 verse 1 says.

Deuteronomy 23:1

That no eunuchs are allowed in the temple.

So 500 miles on the road, he would have pulled up to the temple and he would have been told,

no uncertain terms, your kind isn't welcome.

Now I don't think any of us in this room can really imagine what that would have felt like.

But it's a kind of rejection on such a deep and such a personal level.

It's a kind of rejection that could potentially destroy a person.

We can't imagine.

We can only ponder what this man might have felt.

Because this man couldn't change who he was.

He couldn't change the decisions that he had made.

And it very much seems as though this man is doomed to remain an outsider rejected by God forever.

So I believe, this is why this man is reading Isaiah.

Because I think he is looking for anything that might offer hope or might offer some answer.

And if he's reading in Isaiah, and he's reading, he's scrolling for Isaiah,

he would have come across Isaiah chapter 56, which would have grabbed his attention.

Isaiah 56 · chapter mention

Because that is where it says this,

Let not the eunuchs say, Behold, I am a dry tree.

For thus says the Lord,

To the eunuchs who hold fast my covenant,

I will give in my house and begin 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.

Can you imagine what he would have felt as he's riding back,

still reeling from the rejection,

and he's reading these scriptures,

and he comes across those words.

This man had gone to the temple,

he had the door slammed in his face,

but here God is saying,

One day,

eunuchs,

outcasts,

people like him,

are not only going to be welcomed into God's family,

but once they're joined to God,

they will never be cut off.

It's going to be an eternal union.

And in that relationship,

they're going to be given something better than sons and daughters.

They're going to be given eternal inclusion in the house of God.

An eternal family.

And so you can imagine his next day.

And he's thinking,

How?

How is this possible?

How could the temple say no?

How could the law of 1b3 say no?

And yet this scroll is saying,

At some point the answer will be,

it resounding in eternal yes.

So he would have rolled back and scrambled,

right?

Again,

no chapter or verse references.

He would have been rolling back,

trying to figure out,

how,

how,

when does this happen?

What makes this possible?

And so he would have gone back,

just a few,

what we consider to be chapters.

He would have gone a few back,

and he would have come across Isaiah chapter 53.

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

And this is the passage that he happens to be reading,

he happens to be reading,

when Philip comes upon him.

This is the passage that explains how a dog can make such a promise.

And here's what this passage says.

Surely he has worn our griefs,

and carried our scars.

He was wounded for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our indignities.

Upon him was the punishment that brought us peace,

and by his wounds we are healed.

All we like sheep on a string,

have turned everyone to his own way.

And the Lord has laid upon him

the iniquity of us all.

Somehow,

this person

is going to take on

all of the iniquity of the world.

He's going to make it possible

for people to come to know

God personally.

And so,

this man would have said,

who in the world is this?

Who would voluntarily take on

the grief of the world?

Who would become an addict?

Who would become like a unit?

Who would become like a leper?

Who would become like a criminal?

Who would become like someone who is unclean

in order to allow a person like me in?

Who would quietly and obediently

trade places with outcasts?

Who would do that willingly?

So that the outcasts

could be invited into the house of God

for eternity

while he is slaughtered.

And he's waiting,

and he's like,

who in the world can this be?

And that is precisely

when Philip comes alongside him.

See, in those days,

whenever he's not read aloud,

it's normal to read aloud

when you're reading.

So this official would have been

riding a dog,

reading aloud,

and Philip literally comes alongside him

as the Spirit commanded him to do.

And I almost believe

as chariots come along,

and Philip comes running up beside him,

and he hears him reading,

and he goes,

do you need help understanding that?

Do you know what you're reading?

It's kind of a funny scene.

But you can imagine

that the chariot's stopping

and then fighting full of love,

and the words almost tumbling

out of this Ethiopian man's mouth.

He can't even get the words out fast enough.

You know,

who is this?

Who is this person?

Is it Isaiah?

Is it somebody else?

Who is it?

And you can imagine Philip

catching his breath.

I can tell.

His name is Jesus.

And he loves you more

than you can possibly imagine.

And this man here,

at the door,

slammed in his face

by the law in Jerusalem.

In that moment,

finds another door opened

in the person of Jesus Christ.

Philip would have shared

the gospel with him

his invitation to become

a member of the household

of God.

By faith,

all you have to do

is put your faith in Jesus.

Allow his forgiveness

and righteousness

to become your forgiveness

and righteousness.

And so this Ethiopian man

comes to faith in Jesus.

And the transformation

is so immediate

and so radical

as they go along the road

that he looks

and he sees some water

on the side of the road.

And he immediately says,

well,

if all of this is true

and if I've come to faith,

why can't I be baptized

right now?

Why would I care

so much about that?

Well, that's what baptism is.

See, baptism is the symbol

that marks you

as a member

of the household of God

forever.

It's a symbol

of this promise.

And he says,

I want that mark on me.

I want that symbol on me.

I want the whole world

and I want to know

that now I have

this room.

Now I have

a community.

Now I belong.

And so

they stop the chariot

and they go down

and they water both of them

and they baptize them

right in there

right on the side of the road.

And it's,

you know,

Christian tradition

actually says

that this Ethiopian eunuch

is the one

who then brought

the gospel to Ethiopia

and he shared it

with the queen

and with the court

and that they began

to come to faith

and tradition says

that through him

and in the court of campus

the rest of the,

the,

the,

the,

the seeds

of the Christian gospel

were planted there

in Ethiopia.

It's an amazing story.

What does it have

to teach us?

I think there are

implications here

first for

those of us here

who are Christians

who desire to share

our faith

or maybe

who think we should

desire to share

our faith.

It gives us

a completely different way

to think about

sharing our faith.

I think most people,

certainly most Christians,

are very popular

with the idea

of evangelism.

A lot of people

don't even like

the word evangelism.

in our culture

I think religion

is seen as very much

a private thing.

Something that you're

very much expected

to keep to yourself

and trying to foist

your beliefs

on other people

is seen as to be

very rude

or unacceptable behavior.

I want to make you

clear that's not

what we see happening

here.

This Ethiopian official

is already

spiritually open.

He is already

searching for something

more.

and Philip

doesn't foist

the gospel

on him.

Philip gives him

the gospel

the way you might

give water

to someone

who's dying

of thirst.

He offers him

the gospel

the way you might

offer food

to someone

who's dying

of starvation.

And I would suggest

that that is always

how the gospel

has been to be.

the gospel

is always

good.

See, sharing

our faith

isn't about

techniques.

It's not about

getting the right

arguments.

Good arguments

help.

It's not about

manipulating you.

Sharing our faith

is primarily

about paying

attention

to what the

Holy Spirit

has already

done.

The Holy Spirit

is the evangelist.

And evangelism,

sharing our faith

is about paying

attention to what

the Holy Spirit

is already doing

in the lives

of the people

right around us.

And as I think

about some of

the most gifted

evangelists I know

and some of you

were in this church,

they are,

they are,

without exception,

people who seem

to have a heightened

sensitivity to what

the Holy Spirit

is doing in people's lives.

And they're willing

to respond to that.

See, if someone

is not open

to the gospel,

there's nothing

that you or I

can do to change that.

But when the Holy Spirit

is working

in someone's life,

often, often,

it doesn't immediately

look like that.

Often it presents

itself as disillusioned

or unfulfilled

longings

or times of grief

or times of struggle.

In some way

or another,

that person

is coming to realize

that the things

that they have

built their life

from,

the places

they have put

their house,

that that's

working anymore.

It's not working

the way they thought

it would.

Right?

They've realized

that success,

as we said,

didn't fill the void.

Now, as Joe

D'Apatole says,

now I have to figure

out how to solve

my problems

another way.

Or they've realized

that marriage

didn't solve

their problems.

Or they've realized

that politics

can't solve

the hardest problems.

Or they've realized

that science

can't answer

our deepest questions.

Or they've realized

that they're not

the good,

upstanding

considering the person

that they thought

they were.

Maybe they've had

a major moral failing

that cracked

into the truth

just enough

for them to take

one hallmark

glance

at the person

they were playing.

Right?

The Bible's

comment,

he writes,

says that there

are certain features

of human life,

certain things

that matter

to people

everywhere,

in every culture.

Things like justice

and beauty

and freedom

and truth

and relationships

and Wright

calls these

broken signposts

because he says

that every society

and every individual

cares about these things.

We all know

these things matter

and the reason

is because that's

how God made us.

They're part of

the human vocation

and yet in each case

no matter how hard

we try

we can never

attain these things.

and he says

how can we explain

that for all

of human history

we care about

these things

and yet we've

never been able

to attain them.

And he says

the reason is

because apart from God

they are not attainable

and so their

broken signposts,

the longing

for these things

is meant to point us

to the God

who makes them

ultimately possible.

And so understanding

this helps us

understand that evangelism

sharing our faith

is really just about

learning how to listen.

It's about learning

how to discover

where those

qualities are

in the lives

of people around us.

So a conversation

about the gospel

might start out

as a conversation

about injustices

or about music

or a great film

or a really hard

to do

or the loss of a job.

And we have to be able

to listen very carefully

when we are in conversation

with people

to be genuinely

interested,

genuinely curious

while at the same time

listening to the Holy Spirit.

Because the Holy Spirit

is the one

who can help us discern

how and when

it's appropriate

to begin to tell people

about Jesus

the way Philip does.

How and when

we need to have

the courage

to take that next step.

And it does take

the courage.

It takes listening

to the Holy Spirit

and it takes courage.

We're not told

what Philip is thinking

but he very well may be

thinking something like

if I tell this guy

about Jesus

is he going to laugh

me all the way

or is he going to

kick me out of his chair?

He doesn't know

how this guy

is going to respond.

He's just responding

to what the Holy Spirit

is prompting him

and he's leaving

the outcome

in God's hands.

So that's the first

self-implication

is just how we think

about sharing

our faith.

If we put ourselves

at the center of it

we've already lost

our way

but if we understand

that the Holy Spirit

is at the center of it

and that our job

is to listen to

and respond to the work

of the Spirit

it totally changes

how we think about it.

The other implication

is this

it's an implication

for our community.

You know I don't think

we can overlook

the fact that

this Ethiopian man

is someone

who we would consider

today to be

gender non-conforming.

You know honestly

if he lived today

in a place like D.C.

he would probably

include himself

in the LGBT community

because he would believe

that would be a place

where he could find belonging.

And

this may not seem

like the central

point of the passage

but I actually believe

that Luke intentionally

includes this story

in Acts

to illustrate

how the gospel

was going to the ends

of the earth

to the least likely people

because in the first century

Jewish imagination

right

the Ethiopian community

was about as ends

of the earth

as you can imagine.

And I think that Luke

includes this

because he's

he's wanting us

to understand

that when Jesus

sends his followers

to the ends of the earth

to bring the gospel

to the earth

to bring the gospel

to the earth

and if that actually happens

it means the church

is about to become

a whole more diverse.

So here's the question

for us to wonder.

There's clearly a place

for this Ethiopian man

and people like him

in God's family

and people like him

and people like him

to come to church

and he's like

to be a place

in our church.

Right?

A lot of people assume

that the only way

LGBT people

will ever go to church

is if the church

completely revises

its theology.

but that's not

in fact true.

The biggest study

done

was the largest

study ever

on the religious

backgrounds

of people

in the LGBT community

who have left

the church

found a very surprising

statistic

that among

gay-lisping people

who left the church

only 15% left

for theological reasons

which means

85% left

for other reasons.

many of them

felt there was

no place for them.

Many of them

felt that they would

never be able

to really belong.

And if one of them

is somebody

who's got a really

good work on this,

Mark Yarhouse

has done an enormous

amount of work on this.

His research was published

in a book

called Costly Obedience.

And he cites a study

that found that

LGBT people of faith

are two and a half times

more likely

to attend a church

with a traditional

sexual order.

And we've actually

seen that

in some instances

in our own church.

Right?

And I'm so thankful

for those of you

who have come to call

Advent.

Right?

And so Mark Yarhouse

has some accepted people

who have made that decision

and some of them

are in heterosexual marriages

and some of them

and many of them

are sacral and celibate.

And he's done all kinds

of measures

of their well-being

and he's found

across the board

they tend to be

more spiritually engaged

more matured

in their faith

more committed

to the church

than the kind

of average person.

He says across

most measures

of well-being

they're doing fine

except the biggest

threat

the biggest challenge

that is faced

by someone

who makes that decision

is the struggle

to belong.

It's the ability

to develop deep

and meaningful friendships.

It's the,

it's coming to a place

where you really feel

like you're part

of the community

and not always

on the outside

looking at you.

And so that leads

to increased anxiety

in relationships,

increased fear

of abandonment,

depression,

loneliness.

I believe that part

of what it means

to be a spiritual

community

is that no one

feels like an inside

regardless of their

sexuality,

their age,

their life stage,

their marital status,

their class,

their race.

I would love for our

church to be known

throughout the city

as a place where

we're just as committed

to hospitality

and ensuring

that people belong

as we are

to biblical ethics.

As a place where

if you're serious

about following Jesus

you will never have

to do that alone.

You'll never have

to worry about

gunning it out

by yourself.

But for this kind

of thing to be true,

not only do we have

to pray for the Holy

Spirit to lead us

the way He has been

leading His church,

since He came

2,000 years ago.

But for this to be true

you have to be willing

to follow the Holy

Spirit,

wherever the Spirit

leads us,

regardless of the

borders or boundaries

that we may have

to cross together.

Let's pray.

Lord, we recognize

that a religion

that we control

is in many ways

a lot more appealing

because we get

to determine

exactly who we want

to.

And we know

that is something

that is in us

as human beings,

a desire for comfort

that has gone back

to the beginning

of our origins.

that is in us.

We want to be in control.

And we know

that your Holy Spirit

is here to remind us

continually,

among other things,

because this is your

church,

it's not our church,

and that you are the

one who is desiring

in the world now

to call all people

to yourself.

Lord,

and that you're able

to reach people

in ways that no one

is ready to be

and found.

And that right now,

we're at work

in the hearts

and lives

of people

all around this city.

And those people

need to know the gospel

and they need

a church home.

And Lord,

we pray

that your Holy Spirit

would disturb

and challenge

and disrupt

those of us

who need it,

who are clinging

to our comfort,

who are clinging

to our desire

and convenience

and predictability.

Lord,

that you can catalyze

in our community

a movement

of the gospel

out of the way.

Lord,

I pray that that

would be a movement

of your Holy Spirit

and we can't

engineer that.

It's something

that you have to do

again through us.

And I pray

that you're blessed

to those here

who do feel

like they are

on the outside of the way.

And I pray

that in whatever ways

we have eradicated

those walls

that you tear

those walls down.

Lord,

I pray that you

repent

if and if that

is necessary

to make it so.

We pray this

in Jesus' name.

Amen.