Bible Text: Acts 8: 26-40 and Matthew 28:19-20 | Preacher: Rev. Jenn Geddes
In a resource for this particular Sunday from the Atlantic Mission Society, a subcommittee of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, I came across this story.
“Elva’s feet I imagine that being a missionary in the 21st century is a real challenge. But that mostly comes from my pre-conceived notions of what a missionary is. It’s funny how I still think of a missionary as a David Livingstone-esque person. Someone who loves the Lord with such vigour that they are willing to travel to remote or uncharted areas. In Livingstone’s case he was not only a Christian but a doctor and explorer. Or maybe I imagine someone as powerful as Eric Liddell who was not only an Olympic athlete but missionary to China where he worked as a school teacher and minister. His passion for the Gospel caused him to be imprisoned by the Japanese in 1943 and even then he continued to run a school for the children in the internment camp. I think it is a challenge to even think of the term mission in the 21st century because we are also coming to terms with some of the darker sides of mission, particularly when it is tied so deeply with cultural conversion as well as evangelism. How do we define mission today? What is a missionary in the 21st century?
hit the floor. At age 101, and still living on her own, this isn’t as easy for Elva as it once was. But as her feet hit the floor, it is time for a little daily prayer…a prayer of thanks for seeing yet another new day, then giving the day over to God, asking for strength to live, by grace, through it, whatever it may bring. “Grant me peace about the things I can’t change,” prays Elva, “and may your Holy Spirit come both to my body and my brain!”
Elva’s heart of faith gives her perspective on the physical limitations of the daily life that she now faces but also orients her outwards, towards others, finding ways to connect, share a laugh, and offer encouragement and support to those around her. At her age, Elva knows that life brings bumps and hurdles but she also knows that faith in God can accomplish miracles. There is much cause for wonder and amazement at God’s presence at work in the ordinariness of daily life. She feels connected to Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit. This opens the lens of her life to the larger world and the world’s deep need. Elva’s faith-inspired wisdom is a gift of healing to those who find their days overwhelming or disappointing. Hope begins with just one small step forward, and so, in the gift of friendship and words of encouragement, a burden is lightened and a shadow is lifted in someone’s life. She is a missionary”.
As those who gather around Jesus and are called to live as Christ’s body in the world, it is significant for us to recognize that it is the Holy Spirit that empowers us to do this. Fundamental to the early church is the calling to live out God’s love in the world, reaching out and allowing God’s love in Jesus Christ to transform lives. Transformation has always been a part of a missional purpose, but it strikes me that instead of focusing on one’s notion of a traditional missionary that we should look at the many ways in which we are given opportunities to be missionaries, to develop and make connections, in our very living.
Time and time again the New Testament bears witness to the presence of a power that imparts people and their living in life-changing ways. This power seems to be present as those who have been touched by God’s grace and love come into contact or connect with one another. The story of Philip meeting the Ethiopian official is just one such story.
We meet Philip as the earliest followers of Jesus face the first wave of persecution against them and the good news they boldly declare. Stephen has been stoned to death and hatred is all around. Philip flees northward from Jerusalem into Samaria, where he quickly garners a following as he proclaims Jesus as the Christ, and is empowered with gifts of signs that reveal the Holy Spirit’s presence in wondrous ways. In the midst of being a missionary to the people of Samaria, Philip is moved in heart and body to go to Gaza. No purpose is given…Philip is just sent.
Along the roadway Philip encounters a stranger. This stranger is nameless in the biblical story, but he hails from the country of Ethiopia, where he holds a position of status in the royal court of Candace, queen of Ethiopia. This court official has made the long, arduous trip from his home to Jerusalem to worship in the temple, an indication that this man has spiritual awareness and thirst. No doubt his pilgrimage suffers a disappointment, for by the strict Jewish law, no eunuch of any nation is welcome to worship in the Temple. Imagine being a minority already, being an Ethiopian in Jerusalem, imagine being a eunuch, a choice that he likely did not make for himself but was made for him at a very young age, imagine making this long trip, only to be turned away at the door. However, the official from Ethiopia perseveres in his pursuit of understanding Israel’s faith and worship in the one identified as “the God of the heavens and the earth”. Somehow he obtains a scroll of Isaiah that he is reading in his chariot when Philip happens upon him along the road. In answer to Philip’s query, he is reading words but does not understand their meaning. At this stage in the story I feel we could all identify with the eunuch. I know from our discussions in the Revelation Bible study that there are many passages in which we can read the words but are completely confused.
Philip identifies this interaction as a gift of the Holy Spirit, and an opportunity for connection, as Philip responds to the invitation of the official to join him in his chariot, and explain to him the words that he is reading. Philip sits down beside him and begins with this passage from Isaiah. Now understood in light of Jesus’ arrest, trial, death and resurrection, Philip begins to tell him the good news of God’s love that has come to be present in human life, in Jesus Christ. This is great news, particularly to this official, for in Philip’s witness, the man discovers himself to be included within the realm of God’s grace and love. It no longer matters that he is from Ethiopia, a gentile, and a eunuch, for he is simply a child of God. Philip, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, transforms this situation by including this eunuch in the community.
The Ethiopian official, we’re told, goes on his way “rejoicing”, carrying with him the scroll of Isaiah, the witness of Philip, and the truth of his baptism as he becomes embraced, and accepted, in the household of God, through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ.
As we celebrate Mission Awareness Sunday today, we are reminded of the power of God to change and transform lives, bringing release, new life, renewed hope and deep connections. God’s Spirit is always at work, opening lives to hear the message of God’s love, and enabling people to take risks in reaching out to others in faith that is rooted in, and built upon the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The words written at the end of Matthew came to be known as the great commission in the nineteenth century. It became the primary ‘mission text’ and it is very clear why. However, like most passages of scripture, there can be radically different applications and interpretations depending on one’s culture, beliefs, or norms. It can become dangerous when one’s context influences the word of God and for centuries we used this passage as a way of declaring that God ordained cultural genocides. But read within the context of Philip’s story we realize it is about witness, transformation and connection. Not only was Philip able to interpret and explain a difficult passage but the Spirit also placed a desire for such knowledge within the Eunuch, well before this encounter.
Philip’s witness reminds us of the importance of a vital faith that is trusting and accepting of the Spirit’s leading. The journey of the Ethiopian official reminds us that God draws all people to the Divine Heart, even when such people may not fit the neat categories of our human ways and thinking. The encounter of Philip and the official together cause us to reflect on the gracious ways of God that beget new beginnings in the midst of human giftedness and vulnerability. God’s Spirit works wonders in wilderness places, along a desert road, with two strangers who become connected together in a life-giving way through faith in Jesus Christ.
Maybe we don’t all think of ourselves as missionaries, at least not in the traditional sense, and maybe we don’t always have such powerful encounters like Philip, but we are reminded of the empowerment of God’s Spirit leading us to new relationships and transformation every day, showing us that we are missionaries. Amen