UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST in SIMI VALLEY
Fifth Sunday of Easter - May 18, 2003

Anne G. Cohen
Acts 8:26-40

For Our Reflection:
No loss by flood and lightning, no destruction of cities and temples by
the hostile forces of nature, has deprived man [sic] of so many noble
lives and impulses as those which his intolerance has destroyed.
- Helen Keller (1880-1968) American memoirist, essayist, lecturer


             The Lover and the Eunuch on the Road

Philip is a Greek / Hellenistic name meaning "Lover of Horses."
Philip was born Jewish, a "Lover of God."
Philip is one of the first twelve followers of Jesus and is among the
remaining eleven post-resurrection Apostles, a "Lover of Jesus,"
messenger of the Good News - Christ/Messiah Among Us.

As the number of disciples in Jerusalem is increasing rapidly, Philip is
one of seven disciples - all with Hellenistic names - chosen and
commissioned by the Apostles to be missionaries.  They are sent out to
tell the story, preach the Gospel, baptize people into the faith, and
establish Christian communities - out "to the ends of the earth."

Philip begins his preaching career in Samaria - among outcasts who have
a reputation for adaptability - who tend to absorb non-Jewish practices
into their lives - and are often accused of corrupting the purity
Judaism.  They might have been the very first Unitarians - but that's
another story.  This story is about Philip who, not surprisingly, has
great success communicating the Christian message here.  Many Samaritans
are baptized and believing communities flourish.

Philip, having proved himself effective, is sent by God's higher
messenger (an angel) to a wilderness road where "the ends of the earth"
meet one another.  He is prompted to intercept a chariot in which a man
is reading aloud to himself from the Jewish book of Isaiah.

This is their connecting point, their common ground.
Philip is invited into the chariot and a conversation begins.
And what a conversation it is...

Page Two

Philip, Hellenistic Semitic man, born Jewish and circumcised, a working
class follower of Jesus, now itinerate preacher - meets -
a dark African (Ethiopian or Nubian) Eunuch, converted Jew banned from
worshiping in the temple, rich and powerful court official for the queen
of a distant land.
Talk about your cross-cultural experience.

The Eunuch is returning home from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.  The
passage he is studying is Isaiah 58:7-8.  Philip offers his commentary -
some Midrash perhaps - and relates that ancient text to recent events:
the Jesus Movement, his own experiences as a follower, a survivor, a
witness, a recipient of the Holy Spirit and a commission by the
Community.

But the conversation is far more than the words exchanged - only a few
of which are recorded here.  The story is about the conversation
between Semitic skin and African skin,
between Jew by birth and converted Jew,
between Hellenistic Hebrew and Ethiopian,
between circumcised Lover and Eunuch deprived of his sexuality since
childhood,
between working class man from the stables and wealthy treasurer from
the palace,
between an eye witness to the resurrection and the next generation,
between one end of the earth and the other,
between a man empowered by a faith community and an angel of God and a
man empowered by a rich and powerful Queen.

The things that they must have learned from one another would have burst
open all kinds of doors in their minds.  Philip was not the only teacher
here - 'nor even the one in the chariot who understood most the
liberating message of the story he was telling.  It was the EUNUCH who
saw no impediment to being baptized immediately into the Christian
community.  In our translation, Philip agrees and, at the next body of
water, does the ritual.

There are translations of this passage that add these words:
And Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may."
And [the Eunuch] replied, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of
God."

But those words are later additions to the text.  And what do those
added words do to the story?  They create an impediment to membership in
the Beloved Community that is supposedly open to all. 

Page Three

These words add a secret code which must be known and attested to before
you can be baptized.  These words wrestle the agency and empowerment
away from the Eunuch who sees no impediment to baptism - and delivers
power back to Philip.  Philip is given the leadership role.  He gets to
set the rules, establish boundaries around something that, in the
original story, is free.

In the very first CENTURY people were messing with the message and
forming an exclusive club out of a radical, empowering movement.  To
this day, there are a hundred - a thousand - impediments to belonging
and contributing to a believing community of faith.  Most of these
impediments are so familiar, we don't even notice them - unless they are
impediments to us - personally.

Many churches deny membership to the non-baptized or to those baptized
in the wrong denomination.  In most churches, newcomers must attend
orientation meetings, classes about the true faith, experiences designed
to convert and convict the individual to a particular form and language
of faith.

In most churches, children are excluded from full membership - even if
they WERE baptized - until they go through confirmation.  Membership is
often denied to those who will not profess a certain creed or say "yes"
to certain questions.  Usually, new members cannot serve in leadership
positions until they have been members a full year.  And leaders -
members of an inner circle - are expected to give more money, time and
energy than the others - although the benefits are not necessarily
defined.

In many churches, you may not serve Communion if you are not Christian
or not baptized or not a member or not ordained.  You may not RECEIVE
Communion if you are not Christian or not baptized or not a member or
not ordained.  If I am an alcoholic and all that is served is wine, I
find that to be an impediment to Communion.

Many churches exclude people if they are practicing or non-practicing
homosexuals, singles practicing sex before marriage, adulterers,
divorced heterosexual couples - although I have yet to see someone
excluded because they beat their spouses or children.  Only recently
have I seen repercussions for clergy sexually abusing children and other
parishioners in their care.


Page Four

I watched a homeless, mentally ill man be sent out of a sanctuary "until
he could come back in a suit."  I've seen churches put gay clergy on
trial, find them guilty of being as God made them and therefore unworthy
of their ordination.  And I am personally aware of at least two
transgender persons who feel excluded from the life of the church
because of prevailing attitudes about their transformations, one of whom
was stripped of ordination - not because of the surgery - but because
she remained married to her wife and kept their family together - thus
giving the impression of a lesbian relationship.  How twisted is that?

And if you look around this room, you are not going to see too many
rich, Ethiopian Eunuchs among us.  Why is that?  Our Communion table is
open to everyone, lack of baptism is not an impediment to membership,
all sexual orientations are welcomed and affirmed, and no creed or faith
language or particular behavior is demanded.  But what are the
impediments in this place - to people of darker skin, different classes,
a wider spectrum of opinion, cultures foreign to us?

Why are founding members framed on the wall and later members are not?
What stories do long-time members know that short time members have
never heard?  Are there secret codes that we speak without
self-awareness - codes like a mission statement or core values?  Are
there songs that we sing without music that leave newcomers embarrassed
and tuneless?  Are there rituals that we do without explanation -
mysteries to all but the initiated?

Why do the youth prefer the youth room to worship?  Why do we prefer to
keep them there?  What brings people here and what drives them off?  And
what have we learned from those who have come and gone - that is
valuable to our understanding of community, of God, of the story we tell
repeatedly in various forms?

What might we learn from people we meet on the wilderness road - people
from the ends of the earth with a foreign bearing, a love of God and a
thirst for meaning?

There ARE NO impediments to the love of God, to the gift of Grace, to
membership in the Beloved community - except the ones that we have
created.  It is our job to raise our own awareness of them - to
dismantle them - just as we are so fond of doing with weapons of mass
destruction.

Page Five

May Nature's waters baptize the earth with Divine love.
May we perceive that baptism in every corner of creation.
May we meet an Ethiopian Eunuch on the wilderness road - who will teach
us more than we ever thought we could know - about the love of God.


*************************

BULLETIN

Music for Gathering
Welcome and Perspective on the Day
Musical Preparation for Worship - A Time for Centering

+ Call to Worship                  
In a cry of mother-pain,
and wrapped in quickening love,
the Spirit's waters broke
and the universe
surged in a primeval response,
pushing its way into existence.
Unfolding to the east and running to the west, time found its span;
drawing out to the north and flowing to the south, life found its girth;
in every person and in every place, the world was washed in richness;
through the whole universe, the Spirit laboured with her creation.
We are birthed through these waters and called to these waters again
in one God, one faith, one Baptism.

+ God's Hymn to Us -I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry  Hymnal#351

+ Opening Prayer (unison)
Creator God, water is a symbol of life.
All of creation needs water in order to live.
Jesus came to be living water for all people.
We are called to offer a cup of cold water in your name
as a way of welcoming others and as a reminder to us
that all of your people are worthy of our love and welcome
just as they are worthy of yours.
Help us to share your love, we pray in the name of the living water.
Amen.

Time for Silent Reflection
            One:     My soul waits in silence.
            All:      God is my rock and my fortress. 
                     I will be at peace.
            Silent Reflection
            The Assurance of Good News (unison)
God is in this place - and in every unlikely place we might imagine.
See the face of God around you - lined with worry and suffering,
crinkled with joy and relief, open with childlike enthusiasm, weeping
with grief.  God is in this place.  Blessed be!
            Sung Response
                        "Hallelujah. God be praised!"

Conversation with Our Children          The Secret Code

Reading from the Christian Acts of the Apostles    Acts 8:26-40  

Teaching and Proclamation     The Lover and the Eunuch on the Road

Intercessions, Celebrations and Encouragements
      Call to PrayerBe still and know that I am God  Hymnal # 743
      Time for Silence
      Our Joys and Concerns and an Offering of Prayer
      Sung Response      In Solitude   Hymnal #521 vv.1 & 2

We Offer Our Gifts So That Our Lives May Be Our Prayer
            Offertory
Prayer of Blessing for Those who will benefit by these Gifts.
Those who Receive and Those who Give  (responsive)

When you find yourself lost and alone,
may you be comforted by the God who created you
and whose beloved child you are.
            Amen.
When dry winds parch your soul,
may you be refreshed by Christ, the living water.
            Amen.
When you do not know where to turn,
may you be guided on sacred paths
by the gentle breath of God's Holy Spirit.
            Amen.

+ Hymn of Blessing  Child of Blessing, Child of Promise  Hymnal #325

+ Commissioning (unison)

Be bold in the claiming of the gospel for the whole creation.
Be brave in the lifting up of the life of God in every place.
Be firm in carrying the holy name of Christ into the palaces of worldly
power.
Be gentle in the understanding of yourselves and one another.
And may the songs of the Creator sound with love in all the earth,
the tenderness of Christ cover the wounds of the people,
and the truth of the Holy Spirit rise free in every age.  Amen.

+ Sung Response                             Hymnal # 236
Halle, halle, halle - lu - ja,  Halle, halle, halle - lu - ja,
Halle, halle, halle - lu - ja,  Halleluja, halleluja.

+ Postlude

 WORSHIP NOTES:
The cross marks (+) in the order of service are an invitation for
those in the congregation who are able to stand to do so.
The New Century Hymnal or "Hymnal" has a black cover.
The Chapel Songbook is a blue, looseleaf notebook.
Call to Worship is from Seasons of the Spirit Curriculum,
Congregational Life, Lent, Easter 2003 p.104
Opening Prayer Ibid.
Conversation with Our Children  Ibid. p.106
Prayer of Blessing and Commissioning Ibid. p.107 Adapted -
from Prayers for Life's Particular Moments by Dorothy
McRae-McMahon, published in Australia and New Zealand