Scripture Readings: Acts 8:26–40 | Psalm 22:25–31 | 1 John 4:7–21 | John 15:1–8
“God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.” (1 John 4:9). What is the Gospel? How many of us would feel comfortable answering that question if someone asked us? But really, what more important question is there for Christians to have an answer for? The word “Gospel” simply means “Good News”, and goodness knows our world today is in real need of some good news… especially the Good News that we Christians have to share. And yet, a lot of us Christians struggle to put into words what exactly this Good News is that we believe in. We might have a sense of it, but still feel uncertain and hesitant when it comes to actually discussing it. And so, it makes sense for us, from time to time, to step back and make clear in our minds what the Good News is all about. And that is what our Scripture Readings this morning invite us all to do. Our first reading from the Book of Acts tells of the meeting of two strangers in the days after Pentecost. But before we explore the story in detail, we should take a few moments to get a clearer picture of who these two strangers in the story were: first, there is Philip, one of the first Christian deacons, a follower of Jesus Christ the Risen Lord, who was entrusted with the responsibility of take care of the widows and other vulnerable members of the growing Christian community. Philip had just been in Samaria, the region north of Judea, where he was at work telling them about Christ, God’s Messiah, and ministering to them in Jesus’ name. The second stranger is an Ethiopian eunuch, someone who fit into neither the male or female categories of the day, either a eunuch from birth, or because of surgical procedures later in life. In the ancient world, eunuchs were often chosen to serve in important positions within royal courts, and given great responsibilities… and as we heard today the traveller in our reading was a court official in charge of Queen Candace’s whole treasury. On top of that, they were likely well educated, which can also be seen as they were reading the Scriptures when Philip met them, hungry to understand the meaning behind the sacred writings of Israel’s prophets… having traveled from Ethiopia to Jerusalem to worship the Living God. But in Jerusalem, they would have been made conscious of the fact that they were an outsider. Despite their achievements and honour back home in their own community, as a Gentile and a eunuch, they would not have been able to enter the main courts of the Holy Temple. And yet, even as they returned home, they were still hungry for more… eager to draw closer to the Living God… reading through the scroll of Isaiah, and trying to understand the story… struggling to make sense of it all. How many of us can identify with them at times? How many of our neighbours are in the same boat? Struggling to make sense of what this God Story is all about… and what it has to do with them? This is the reality of so many of our neighbours in Canada today. Not many can make sense of the story of Scripture… and why it’s supposed to be Good News… especially young people. And that’s really no surprise. For most families, at least a few generations have already gone by without much connection to a Church community… and the stories they’re hearing and seeing in the news don’t often seem all that appealing. And many Canadians, including some of us who attend Church, don’t really have a hot clue what to make of the Bible… writing it off as irrelevant, or worse… as a source of prejudice, injustice, hatred, and fear. As part of the problem our world is facing today… not part of the solution. Who will help them understand why we see the Christian story is truly Good News… not just for those of us already in the know, but Good News for everyone! Turning back to Acts, we find a sign of great hope for our neighbours: even though we might not always see them… or understand their questions and struggles… God sees them. God understands. Even though we might miss the opportunities we have been given to connect with them, God Himself is reaching out to them. God Himself is seeking to meet with them and connect with them. And even though it might mean we get carried away to places and situations that we may never have dreamed of, or desired, God Himself can use, and longs to use us His people to help our neighbours come to know the Good News He’s given us to share. And so, here in Acts Chapter 8, we hear that Philip is led by the Holy Spirit away from a busy and fruitful ministry with the Samaritans, to what seems like the least likely place to make a difference… to a deserted road in the middle of nowhere… in the wilderness… on the road to Gaza. This place-name calls up all kinds of images from recent events… stories of terrorism, and retaliation… of brutality, and bloodshed… of innocent lives lost, families and whole communities destroyed… cycles of violence unchecked. Another part of our broken human story where we turn our backs on our neighbours… close our hearts to strangers… and think the only way forward for us and our “side” is to wipe out or beat down the “other side”. But in Acts, something else happens on the road to Gaza: the Living God brings two strangers together… two people separated by personal, cultural, ethnic, and gender differences… and instead of division, we find fellowship. Instead of prejudice and fear, we find hope and understanding. Instead of barriers, we find freedom… and a welcome into a new family. Instead of the same old broken story… we find the Good News coming to life. And we find God Himself bringing it all about. We find the Holy Spirit of God tell Philip to go talk to this stranger, and so he does, and finds them eager for someone to help explain what the Scriptures were trying to say, so he invites Philip to join him. Acts 8:35-39, “Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.” What might have seemed at first to Philip as a random encounter with a complete stranger, had become the beginning of a whole new life together as siblings within the family of God. The Spirit sent Philip to the right place, at the right time, and with the right words to help somebody that God loves, and that Jesus died to save, come to believe the Good News, and be baptized into Christ’s family. Though the eunuch still had all sorts of questions, and struggles, the Living God new them, and God wanted them to know the Good News of God’s rescuing love for them. And thankfully, Philip knew the story too, the story of how Jesus of Nazareth died and rose again, fulfilling the hopes and promises of Israel’s Scriptures and prophets, which point to God’s great world-wide rescue mission. And with the help of the Holy Spirit, Philip shared this story and somebody’s life changed for good. The eunuch responds to the Good News with faith, is baptized, and then set loose to go home again and share this Good News with their neighbours back home in Ethiopia. What would they say to them? What is the Good News they shared? We don’t have their words. But the question returns to us here in Gondola Point: What would we say? Here’s what I would say, and what the Christian Church has proclaimed since the beginning: The Gospel, the Good News, is WHO JESUS IS, AND WHAT JESUS HAS DONE. I’ll say that again: The Good News is WHO Jesus is, and WHAT Jesus has done. Everything else flows from this… the story of Jesus Christ the Risen Lord is the Good News. It’s a story that begins in the very beginning… and weaves its way through the whole broken story of humanity, reaching out to, and embracing all of us, everyone, in order to lead us all into God’s life together… challenging all our assumptions about how to relate to our neighbours and strangers, and even ourselves… and sharing with us the Good News that God sees, and understands, and loves us, and longs for us to love one another too. And that in Jesus, and what Jesus has done for us all, we can let God’s love lead the way. A great place to start when it comes to telling this story, and learning how we can respond to it faithfully, is our second reading today, from the first letter of John 4:7-12, “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.” This is the Good News of Jesus Christ that we have all been entrusted to share with our neighbours. Regardless of who we are, or where we come from… or how far off or excluded we might feel… or how many questions or struggles we may face, the Living God loves us… and He has sent His Son Jesus to be the atoning sacrifice for us all, to set us free from our sins… to bring us life, and to make it possible for us to truly share God’s love with one another. The Good News is Who Jesus is, and what Jesus has done: God’s Son, who died and rose again to save our world through love. Everything else we say and do as Christians either explores and shares this story… or it’s missing the point. Of course, the point of reflecting on the Gospel, and seeking to understand the nature of the Good News is not just about having the right answers… knowing the right words to say… it’s about entering into and growing deeper in this life-giving connection and relationship of love that this Good News points us to: restored fellowship with the Living God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and with our neighbours, who are all created to bear His image. And this connection changes us… it has an effect on our lives, and who we are becoming. On the choices we make, the ways we related to those around us, and the corner of the world we inhabit. Philip was where he was, and responded the way he did, because of His ongoing connection to God. He knew and trusted in the Good News, and was ready to follow the Holy Spirit’s lead, even if it seemed strange at the time… and so God worked through Philip to share the rescuing love of Jesus with the Ethiopian traveler. There’s a great word for this special connection with God that’s used both in first John and in our Gospel reading today: Abide. Abide. To remain with… not just for a moment, but for a lifetime. Not just knowing about, but living alongside. If we truly want to grow… and to help our neighbours come to know the Good News meant for them… Good News they really do need… like branches attached to a vine, we must abide in Jesus. We must share our lives with him. John 15:4-5, “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” And turning back quickly to 1 John 4:13-16, “By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” The Good News is WHO Jesus is, and WHAT Jesus has done. And if we want this Good News to take root and bear fruit in our lives, then we must abide… remain in Jesus, believing in the love of God for our broken world that Jesus Christ has made known to us, and putting that love into practice with one another, and with anyone God puts in our path… knowing that God sees, and understands, and loves them, and longs for them to believe this Good News too. Amen.
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Rev. RObRev. Rob serves as the Priest-in-Charge at St. Luke's Gondola Point, and as the School Chaplain at Rothesay Netherwood School Archives
September 2024
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