At first blush, Philip seems to be the hero of this remarkable story in Acts, being willing to expand the circle of the Jesus-following community. Philip offered baptism to the Ethiopian eunuch, a gender-variant foreigner from a racial minority. But Pastor Joanna Harader (of Peace Mennonite in Lawrence KS), invites us to take another look at the Ethiopian eunuch, and find a resilient and insistent faithfulness that has survived every possible barrier or attempt to cast out. Blessed be the resilient ones who show up for worship and community, in the face of marginalization. Blessed be the insistent ones who claim Scripture as their own, when it has so often been used against them. Blessed be the faithful ones who stare down the real possibility of rejection in order to ask the challenging questions and disrupt the status quo. “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized???” [Sermon begins at minute 31:20]
Series: Narrative Lectionary - Year 3 - Eastertide
Permission to podcast the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-726929. All rights reserved.
- Come Walk With Us - Text: Zulu, South African traditional, trans. Gerhard Cartford © Lutheran World Foundation; Tune: South African traditional, Arrangement © Peace of Music Publishing AB, admin. Walton Music Corp. Text: English tr. © Lutheran World Federation
- Because the Words We Wait To Hear - Text: John Thronburg; Tune: Jane Marshall © 2003, Wayne Leupold Editions
- We Will Walk with God - Text: Xhosa, traditional Swazi, trans. John Bell; Tune: traditional Swazi, transcr. Swedish Youth Exchange project © 2002 WGRG, Iona Community
Additional Resources:
- Moons Prayer, by Michael Bade, used with permission
- Scripture: Acts 8.26-39
- Land Acknowledgement: Real Rent Duwamish:https://www.realrentduwamish.org/
- Blessing our Offerings: http://tinyurl.com/SMCoffering
- Prayers: included words from “This is how we’ll make it,” a prayer by Rev. Mihee Kim-Kort, from A Rhythm of Prayer, ed. Sarah Bessey.
- “The Ethiopian Eunuch,” a conversation with the BK Apologist, Alfredo Valentin, and the Tru-ID Apologist, Adam Coleman - https://youtu.be/CtUKlodzizc
- Queer Virtue, Rev Elizabeth Edman, http://www.queervirtue.com/
- Image: “Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch,” Herbert Boeckl (1952 – 1960), fresco of the Seckau Apocalypse in the Angel's Chapel at Seckau Abbey, Styria, Austria; image licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
