On the Sunday before last I preached on the latter part of Luke’s gospel where the Risen Lord met with the two disciples from the Emmaus Road and the other disciples gathered in Jerusalem and proceeded to open the scriptures to them beginning with Moses and the prophets concerning himself. There he demonstrated the essential continuity in the whole saving work of God and how it continued on in the mission of the church to the whole world. I said that not only is Resurrection the fulfillment of the Saving Work of God but it is also the Springboard of the Mission of the church.

Today’s readings build on those insights. We begin with the familiar account of the encounter between the Ethiopian eunuch and Philip the Evangelist. In the narrative immediately preceding this encounter we hear of Philip proclaiming the gospel to the Samaritans, a marginalized group mentioned by Jesus in such parables as the Good Samaritan. To observant Jews the Samaritans were heretics. Today we find Philip again working with one man who embodied two bases for marginalization. The Ethiopian eunuch was treated by Jewish law as being unclean on two accounts: his foreignness and his being a eunuch. What the text means by Ethiopian was not the country which we call Ethiopia today. The Greek simply means “one with a burnt face” and more likely refers to the Sudan, south of Egypt. Nevertheless this man who was banned from the inner courtyard of the Temple was coming up to Jerusalem to “worship”. He was probably a Jewish proselyte or convert. It is often assumed that he is a Gentile and that the text is about the beginnings of the Gentile mission. But this man was a worshipper of God but one suffering several inhibitions in his religious practice. What we have here among other themes is the fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 56 that predicts the day when foreigners and eunuchs who obey the Lord will be welcomed into the house of the Lord “for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples”. The beginning of the Gentile mission is dealt with in the next chapter of Acts in the encounter between Peter and Cornelius.

But what I wish to focus on in this passage today is the way in which the encounter unfolds. We are told that the Ethiopian eunuch was reading the prophet Isaiah while riding in his chariot. Contrary to our habit of reading silently the ancients would have read aloud. They spoke the words they read. I don’t suggest you attempt the method on the subway. However the tradition continues today in the recitation of the psalms and scripture when you say the daily offices alone. If you chance upon me reading morning or evening prayer without a congregation you may think me muttering to myself. In fact I would be reading aloud although in a soft voice. It is into that process that the Spirit urges Philip to enter.

So Philip came alongside the chariot and invited himself into the man’s devotions, assisting him in understanding what he was reading and expanding on it. Philip’s action is familiar to us from the account of the Emmaus Road in Luke 24 when the Risen Lord drew alongside the two disciples and began to open the scriptures to them. You may remember I referred to this “shape of ministry” in the sermon two weeks ago when Jesus “opened the scriptures” to the gathered disciples following the Emmaus narrative. In the incident before us today there is a question and answer session between the Ethiopian and Philip. This is a classic catechesis or way of learning. Is it not true that we learn best from our questions. One of the delights in preparing people for baptism and confirmation is to respond to the questions which are asked. Rather than presuming this is what people want to know you in fact begin where they are and build from there. So it is in this early example of Christian catechesis. Some of you will remember learning the Catechism when you were young. It is simply a series of questions and answers. Look in the Book of Common Prayer on page 845 and you will find the Outline of the Faith commonly called the Catechism. Following this dialog we are then told that “Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture (the one the Ethiopian was reading) he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus.” The difference of course from the Emmaus Road is that this is not the Risen Christ but the Evangelist Philip. But what is crucial is that Philip is acting in the Spirit of the Risen Christ. It is the Spirit who is present in the encounter from beginning to end. The “angel of the Lord” sends him towards the Gaza Road; the Spirit urges Philip to engage the Ethiopian; and it is the Spirit who “snatches Philip away” at the end for other evangelistic work.

Here we have the clue to our participation in the community of the Risen Christ, which is the church. The challenge to us who believe and who celebrate the Resurrection is to go out in the power of the Risen Christ and to proclaim the good news it signifies; good news filled with hope and peace and future. The other difference from the Emmaus passage which seems to give shape to this encounter is that it leads not to the eucharistic like meal at Emmaus when Jesus was revealed in the “breaking of the bread” but rather to baptism. The Ethiopian having heard Philip’s proclamation of the gospel says “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 to the water, and Philip baptized him.” By baptism the eunuch participated in and was identified with the Spirit of the Risen Christ. That is what we are on about this morning as we celebrate Erick’s baptism. He has begun his catechesis and is requesting baptism like that man long ago. The situation of which we hear in the various accounts is Acts is of a dynamic one brought about by the Resurrection and the outpouring of the Spirit of the Risen Christ at Pentecost. That is illustrated again at the end of the story of the Ethiopian eunuch when Philip is snatched away by the Spirit to continue the work of evangelism, proclaiming the good news right along the coast of modern day Israel, from Azotus to Caesarea.

Staying with that theme of the shape of Philip’s evangelism, that is getting into the chariot alongside the Ethiopian, listening to and responding to his questions, like the Risen Christ did with the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus, I cannot help but point out that the word John’s gospel uses for the Spirit is “Parakletos” which the NRSV translates as “Advocate”. We heard those familiar words earlier: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth”. Growing up most of us were more familiar with that word being translated as “Comforter” (as in many hymns) or maybe “Counsellor”. However the term “Advocate” while having unhelpful legal overtones nevertheless captures something of the sense of the Greek term “Parakletos” which literally means “one called to the side of” or one who stands alongside another in support and encouragement and advocacy.

What I see here is a way of acting that replicates the model we glimpse both in the Emmaus passage and in today’s first reading about the Ethiopian eunuch. The Spirit of the Risen Christ is one who comes alongside where we are now and travels with us in all our doubts and questions and struggles illuminating our situation with light and life and hope. Here we have a wonderful model for our evangelism. Evangelism is not thrusting some truth which only we have down the throats of others deemed to be ignorant but rather it is a developing relationship based on mutual respect which includes a sharing of truths and spiritual insights. It is from that mutual and loving self-giving of one to the other that spiritual growth and new insight will develop.

Today we rejoice in the Risen Christ; in the gift of the Spirit which enables us to participate in the Risen life through baptism and to share that life with others. We rejoice in the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch who presages the church’s ministry of inclusion; and we rejoice in our own baptisms and in that of Erick which we are about to celebrate.   Amen

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