A Lonely Desert, a Deacon, and a Eunuch...

Thursday of the 3^rd Week on Eastertide

Acts 8:26-40

·    A lonely desert road to nowhere…

·    An angel-led, Job-description busting,

deacon named Philip…

·    And an Ethiopian Eunuch…

Sounds like the beginning of a very off-color joke!  But I gotta love it when the scriptures give us just such a story.

The ideal community of Acts is…SURPRISE…not ideal.  There are divisions.  The Hebrews and the Hellenists are arguing over how the food distribution for the widows ought to be handled (review Ch. 6).  The answer is the very specific job description of the freshly chosen 12 deacons: 

       While you are serving at table make 
       sure the food is distributed justly!

What about the Ethiopian Eunuch?  The details are telling:

-A court official, in charge of the “entire” treasury

     =a Big Job

-Travels in a chauffeur driven Chariot

     =of high status

-Returning from worship, passing his time reading Isaiah

     =pious, literate and wealthy enough to possess a scroll

Then the almost preposterous scene…alongside the chariot (is it moving?) is Philip, clearly going beyond his job description, asking the question:  Do you understand what you are reading?

The Eunuch invites Philip to enlighten him.  There is an Emmaus Road experience where everything falls into place and makes sense.  Baptism is the logical next step.

It is in those times of barren aloneness when I just might find the time and space to trouble myself.  To allow for all the unanswered questions to “un-do” me.

There are lots of things that seem like barriers.  For the Eunuch it was his status, his wealth, being in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a desert without water.  For me it is distractedness, preoccupation with image and affirmation, fear of losing control (albeit mythical control)…to name a few.  For the Ethiopian Eunuch all the barriers are overcome…an oasis appears!

That’s my takeaway from this bizarre story…how do I become a little more like the Ethiopian Eunuch in terms of receptivity and how do I become a little more like Philip in terms of generativity?

We should read this one on a Sunday!