5th Sunday of Easter

May 14, 2006
Text: Acts 8:28-40, John 15:3-5

ABIDING IN CHRIST – GO ON YOUR WAY REJOICING!

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God…” (I John 1:1, 2)

Beloved, by this test we know that the Spirit of God was also riding in the chariot with Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. “There was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.”

What a royal deal life had dealt him! Or, what a raw deal life had dealt him! What do you think? Consider the thoughts of superiority that would have tempted him. He was after all a man of education and means and high office.

The name “Ethiopia” is from a Greek word meaning “sun-burned faces”. The region referred to by the word “Ethiopia at that time meant the land south of Egypt, including the region of present day Sudan. It was also called Cush or Nubia and was considered the end of the world by some of the classical writers. Sudan is the region of the present day refugee crisis of Darfur. Hundreds of thousands have died and millions have been displaced in just three years, since Sudan’s Islamic government began an ethnic cleansing campaign.

Your brothers and sisters in Christ in the Sudan are systematically persecuted and constantly under the threat of death from violence or starvation. Permission to build churches is routinely denied. Apostasy, converting from Islam to Christianity is legally punishable by death. God help us to wake up to such suffering of fellow believers throughout the world! God help us to comprehend the wondrous freedom we have yet today for weekly worship, for giving our first priority gifts for the spread of the Gospel, for loving our neighbor in Christ. We may not have this same freedom a decade from now, but still today we do. Apart from Christ we can do nothing of eternal significance. But in Christ, we bear much fruit.

As there is bleak poverty today for so many in the Sudan so also in the time of our text! Many in that region then called “Ethiopia” scratched out just enough to keep alive, to keep from starving. But not the man in our text! He dressed in fine clothes. He rode from city to city in a government vehicle. He ate fine food. He was literate and well refined. He had freedom to come and go, even to Jerusalem to worship. In comparison with the poor multitudes of his day, what a royal deal, he had! Who wouldn’t desire what he enjoyed?

Or, what a raw deal! What do you think? He was, after all, a eunuch. Candace was the title for the queen in Ethiopia, like Pharaoh was the title for the ruler in Egypt. Oriental rulers often employed eunuchs in high positions. When this criterion was utilized, the servants were given no choice in the bodily mutilation forced upon them. Yes, this man had someone else’s fortune to manage. Yes, he traveled in style. But he would never have the riches of his own children to love. His position of power and prestige was actually pitied by many of much lower status. He was a dry tree. He would never be a fruitful branch with a family of his own. In comparison with the simple blessings of family and daily bread, what a raw deal he had! Who wouldn’t feel sorry for this poor rich man?

What do you think of this man reading aloud in his chariot; royal profiteer to be envied or un-lucky slave to be pitied? This question applies to our station in life too, for the temptations are the same. We are tempted to think of ourselves as superior to others because of intelligence or education or possessions or the power we exercise. Such haughty thinking is evil. It makes us a dry tree strangled with pride. It chokes out the bearing of fruit in Christ Jesus.

On the other hand we may be tempted to think of ourselves as inferior to others. Because of what has been cut off from us in this life we may consider our life second-rate. Instead of deep contentment for what God has given us our hearts can be filled with dripping complaint for what we feel we’re missing. Disappointment and drudgery in the days and duties of life can leave us feeling deprived, even depressed. It can make us a dry tree, choked with self-pity. What do you think?

No enough of your thoughts and enough of my thoughts. Hear again God’s thoughts which are higher than ours! “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

See how God cares about this one! The Holy Spirit sent Philip to enlighten this one Ethiopian concerning the Christ-centered focus of the Old Testament. Because of bodily mutilation, he could not be a full proselyte to Israel (Deut. 23:1). He could only be a proselyte of the gate, limited to the outer courts. But, he did have access to the Greek version of the prophet Isaiah. A few chapters after the one he was reading aloud in our text the prophet speaks of foreigners who hold fast to God’s covenant (Is. 56). Their sacrifices will be accepted on God’s altar for His house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples. More pointedly God also speaks there of eunuchs. “Let not the eunuch say, ‘Behold, I am a dry tree.’ For thus says the Lord: ‘To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.’”

What an amazing promise to this one who would never have sons and daughters to carry on his name. “I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.” Any astute reader of Isaiah would know that it all depended on the suffering servant described in the words that fell on Philips ears. “Like a sheep he was led to slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. You know the surrounding verses that the eunuch would also have read – “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities…” “All we like sheep have gone astray…and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

Dear Christians, the Ethiopian treasurer asked the right question! Who is this wonderful person? He knew Isaiah didn’t fit the bill, nor did any group of human beings, such as Israel. Who is this suffering servant led like a sheep to the slaughter for our transgressions? Who is this loving man who gives gifts to the childless that are better than sons and daughters? Who is this promised one who gives an everlasting name that will never be cut off?

Then Philip opened his mouth and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. The Ethiopian would have already heard some reports of Jesus. He was traveling from Jerusalem which was in an uproar over Jesus. Stephen had just been stoned and Christians fled for their lives (Acts 7). A man named Saul had not yet been converted (Acts 9) and was hunting down Christians to put them to death. The eunuch would have known something about Jesus and it wouldn’t have been good. But, He did not yet know Jesus.

Then Philip opened his mouth and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. What Philip did when he opened his mouth is what your pastor should do when he opens his mouth; he told him the good news about Jesus. It is what a father and a mother should do in daily prayer with their children, tell them the good news about Jesus. No matter what Scripture is the starting point, the ending point is the good news about Jesus. The Son of God has come into our flesh! He is the center of Scripture! He is the fulfillment of all God’s promises! He is the Good Shepherd. He is the vine apart from which you and I are dry trees, fruitless branches.

When the traveling sermon had ended, the eunuch said, “See here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. Telling someone the good news about Jesus includes telling them about the washing of rebirth that comes in holy baptism. For this man, so deeply instructed in the Old Testament, for this man who had worshiped amid God’s sacrifices in the Jerusalem temple, for this man who was only missing the key of the Messiah’s identity, nothing now prevented his baptism.
The Holy Spirit opened Philip’s mouth to proclaim Christ. Jesus was the lamb led to slaughter. Jesus came in the flesh from God. The spirit of the antichrist denies this and offers dozens of spiritual substitutes. But this man was set free from the pagan idols of Ethiopia. As Philip proclaimed Christ, the Holy Spirit opened the Ethiopian’s heart to receive Christ. In that desert place they found a bit of water. There Philip baptized him in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. He was given an everlasting name which would not be cut off. He was given a name better than that of sons and daughters. He could no longer say, “Behold I am a dry tree”.

And the eunuch…went on his way rejoicing. That which earthly treasures and status could never give him, he received with water and an everlasting name. He went on his way rejoicing. While sons and daughters were denied him, he was given a name better than that of sons and daughters. He went on his way rejoicing. He was no longer a dry tree, but a fruitful branch abiding in Christ. He went on his way rejoicing.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. They are from the world and the world listens to them. In other words, they are attractive and respected. They can be exciting and captivating. They can delight your senses and make your heart sing, at least for a while. But they will always run dry in the end.

This is so because they operate with the spirit of the antichrist, that is, many things and anything “instead of” Christ. Instead of Christ in the flesh, how about academic snobbery or sexual pleasure or material comfort or leisurely distraction? Instead of Christ in the flesh, how about something more spiritual, like angels or crystals or meditation? Instead of Christ in the flesh how about something more practical, like human kindness and common sense and good works. Why not any of the popular philosophies instead of this troublesome Christ who says, “apart from me you can do nothing”?

Reflecting on the mystery of the cross of Christ, Dr. Martin Luther warned against the reality of such antichrists. He said, “there is no other way to heaven than taking up the cross of Christ.” He continued, “On account of this we must beware that the active life with its good works, and the contemplative life with its speculations, do not lead us astray. Both are most attractive and yield peace of mind, but for that very reason they hide real dangers, unless they are tempered by the cross and disturbed by adversaries. The cross is the surest path of all. Blessed is the man who understands this truth.” Dear Christians, the Ethiopian eunuch understood this truth and went on his way rejoicing. He couldn’t follow his dreams. He couldn’t change his station. As his duties carried him along, he didn’t always have peace of mind. But He did have peace with God. That’s why He went on His way rejoicing.

You also have peace with God. Jesus says to you in this very hour, “Already you are clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” Already you are clean! Despite sins of self-importance or self-pity, you are clean! Such is what the love of God in Christ makes you! The Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. He has come in the flesh to make you clean. Abiding in His love you may have confidence for the Day of Judgment.

No matter how dried up you feel, in Christ you bear much fruit. No matter how alive and fruitful you feel, apart from Christ you can do nothing. When indifference threatens to smother your soul, remember that you are clean in Christ. When dark thoughts of despair weigh you down find your rest here, for you are clean in Christ. When weariness tempts you to stop testing the spirits, remember that you are clean only in Christ. Remember the Ethiopian’s question, “How can I understand unless someone guides me?” There are countless spiritual guides today offering to guide you to inner peace, personal fulfillment and spiritual insight. They speak from the world and the world listens to them. But He who is in you is greater that he who is in the world.

“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit…

History tells us that the eunuch’s home region confessed the Christian faith from the 4th to the 6th centuries. In the 7th century it was conquered by the Muslims. Tradition tells us that the Ethiopian eunuch baptized the Queen of Ethiopia and that future generations of Ethiopians were told of Christ through his witness. We don’t know for sure if that is true. We do know for sure that he continued on his way rejoicing! God so bless you, in Jesus’ name, Amen.