It's a Stretch - Easter 5B Sermon

“It’s a Stretch”

Easter 5B

May 6, 2012

Acts 8.26-40

The book of Acts, though called the Acts of the Apostles, should really be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit. As seen in today’s text, it is God’s Spirit who moves the action along, roughly along three lines: from Jerusalem to Rome, from Jew to Gentile, and from Peter to Paul. The Holy Spirit gradually but steadily stretches the boundaries of the newly formed resurrection community of Jesus. It’s a story where the community of faith is constantly pushed to wrestle with new questions as it works out in concrete ways what the life death and resurrection of Jesus Christ means today.

In the story of Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch, we have a rich and tantalizing text. Though Philip has been preaching to the Samaritans, those despised by the Jews as unclean, God, first through an angel and then through the Spirit, pushes Philip toward an encounter with someone even further outside of his normal circle of influence. Unlike the Samaritans, it wasn’t the Ethiopian’s nationality that was the problem. Ethiopians though dark of skin could convert to Judaism. No, it was his sexuality, or lack thereof, that kept him in the outer fringes of the temple life, literally cut off from the community of faith.

The Ethiopian is struggling with a text from Isaiah and Philip comes alongside to struggle with him. My guess is that, until the Ethiopian asked the question, Philip probably had not seen Jesus in this text. Yet, he does so and begins to tell the story of Jesus Christ, good news for everyone, not just Jews. We are not privy to their conversation, but something must have been said about baptism, because the Ethiopian spies some water and asks, “What is to prevent me from being baptized?” That’s one of those questions that assumes the answer: there should be nothing to prevent the Ethiopian from God’s love and grace, but he has been excluded so long that he wants to be sure.

So, here in the book of Acts is another demonstration of the wideness of God’s grace and mercy. It’s a story that has been called the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch but, as some have rightly observed, it could also be called the conversion of Philip. Why? Because Philip is stretched even farther than he imagines. For every boundary that God’s grace pushes, there is someone or a community that is stretched. Unfortunately, we don’t always respond well to those boundary-stretching people God brings us. Yet, I’ve found that, personally and as a pastor, through struggling with people and their questions, God has stretched me in more profound ways than I could ever have possibly imagined.

Some people don’t always have the best theological reasons for bringing their children to “get done” in baptism, but I’ve been stretched to understand that the Spirit is working in them, too. My understanding of sexuality and relationships has been stretched by getting to know women in committed relationships who seem to love Jesus as much, if not more, than I do and are trying to be faithful to themselves and God. My understanding about who should commune at the table has been stretched by children who seem to “get” Communion in ways I never anticipated.

I was recently contacted by a pastor who wondered if someone, who will soon be living in a halfway house in Mankato, would be welcomed at Grace. My initial response was, “Of course,” but then I paused to think about it, not because this person wouldn’t be welcomed, but because I wondered how we would be stretched in the encounter and how we would respond. I still don’t know, but I trust you and God in the process. I think we are being stretched by our families in our midst, to meet them where they are in all of the complexity of their lives and not to force them into our preconceived notions of church.

Like Philip, the Holy Spirit is moving us to places where we wrestle with others about questions of faith and life, and in the process, God is stretching us to see new possibilities. As we saw with our 125^th anniversary, God has stretched this community of faith before in many ways and will do so again. Where is God stretching us as a church today; where is God stretching you personally in your life? Wherever that is, God’s Spirit is working to bring new life lived in God’s grace. What is to prevent us from being baptized anew? Indeed, there is nothing God can’t handle as God’s Spirit works in, with, and through us. Amen.