The Legend of Philip and the Eunuch: A Sermon

Originally written as an assignment for Campbell. It received such high praise from the professor I thought I’d share.

Acts 8:4-8; 26-40 (NRSV)

I would like to look at our scripture reading today as a story. As in all stories, there is first and foremost a teller of the story followed by a number of characters of greater or lesser parts. There is a setting, or stage, where the story takes place and at least some description of the surrounding area, or props if you will. Finally, there is the purpose of the story; that is, what point our storyteller is trying to get across to us.
Let’s start with our cast of characters. Our main character is Philip, and he is the only one actually named in the story. Philip is a disciple of Jesus of which we know little of. He is not one of the three favorites (Peter, James and John) nor did he have a gospel named after him (Matthew and John). We first meet him in the John’s gospel when Jesus finds Philip in Galilee and asks Philip to follow him. We are told that he was from Bethsaida, the city where Peter and Andrew were from and we are also told that Philip found Nathanael and told him that the Messiah had been found in the person of Jesus. John also makes it clear that Philip did not hesitate to follow Jesus, unlike his friend Nathanael.
Philip next appears with Jesus and disciples prior to the feeding of the 5000. Jesus asks Philip about buying bread for the crowd and Philip answers him that there is no way they had enough money to buy bread for a crowd that size. Next, Philip appears in John’s gospel after Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem when two Greeks approach him to ask to see Jesus. Philip then gets his friend Andrew and together they ask Jesus for these men to speak to him. As we can see, Philip does not play much of a talked about role during the ministry of Jesus and we don’t see him again until this passage from Acts.
Our next character in our story today is an unnamed eunuch on his way home from Jerusalem. We are told a few things about this man. First, he is a Jew. We know this because we are told that he has been to the temple in Jerusalem to worship and he is reading a scroll of Isaiah. Apparently this man was of high standing for we also know that he was in charge of the entire treasury of Queen Candace of Ethiopia, which would have made him also very trustworthy. What else can we discern about this man? I would venture to guess that he was humble. He is approached by a stranger, Philip, admits that he doesn’t fully understand what he is reading, and then invites this stranger into his chariot with an open and questioning mind to hear what Philip has to say.
Minor characters in our story include an unnamed angel, the Holy Spirit, and a crowd of Samaritans whom we are told listened to Philip with one accord. There is, however, one more very important character here. Any professor of literature will tell you that the narrator of any story is also a character in the story. In this case we have the writer of both the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts (originally written as one document) whom we will call Luke out of convenience even though we do not know for sure who actually wrote it. Luke is the most important person in the story because he is the one that reveals to us exactly what he wants us to see and hear. He knows ahead of time what is going to be said by the other characters and how they will respond. Our story teller is not recording history here, he is giving instruction. He is an evangelist with an agenda.
So, you may be asking yourselves why I say that this is story, not history. Do I believe that this did not actually happen and that Luke just made it up? Not necessarily. But, I do believe that Luke embellished the story for his own purposes. Let me explain what I mean. First, and most importantly, our two main characters, Philip and the eunuch, are behaving very out of character as we might expect knowing what we know about them already. Based on prior knowledge about Philip, we might conclude that he was not a very assertive individual. He follows Jesus without question, unlike his friend Nathanael. He has little to no faith in Jesus’ ability to feed the masses in spite of having seen miracle after miracle performed by Jesus. And, he is apparently too timid to approach Jesus with the request of the Greeks without first getting support from Andrew. Does this sound like the same man who could preach to great crowds in Samaria of all places? Does this sound like someone that would approach a high official of the queen in his chariot?
Likewise so is our eunuch. Here is a man of high social standing, probably educated, with servants at his command. Are we to believe that he would allow a stranger of lower rank to get that close to his chariot, much less invite him in, not to mention asking him to baptize him? No, in my mind all of these things sound very unlikely. But that is not the point. Perhaps something similar did occur, but that in retelling it exactly the way it happened served no purpose or was so boring that no one would bother reading it twice, much less remember it and reflect on it later. Enter the story teller. Now we have an event worth noting.
For many of us, at least for myself, when we read a story, be it fiction, history, the Bible, or any other work that includes characters, we are invited by the author to put ourselves into the minds and places of the characters we are reading about. If a character is thinking something, we are told what they are thinking. If they are feeling something, again the author tells us what that feeling is so that we can share in it with them. This is what good story telling is about. And, often times, if the author is very good, we learn a little something about ourselves by experiencing others, even if for a short moment.
So, with that in mine, let us immerse ourselves into the story and live out the plot from “within” the characters minds. Let us imagine that it is we ourselves reciting the lines, viewing the scenery, acting according to the script. How well can we relate to what is being said and done? Are we like Philip? Are we usually pretty timid when it comes to our faith in Jesus; following the same routine without question, not asking hard questions, reading about miracles without actually believing that those kinds of things actually happen anymore, just in Bible stories, never really approaching Jesus on our own without first relying on someone else to go with us? Do we believe in angels? Do we listen to the direction of the Holy Spirit? Do we step out of our comfort zone or social class to tell someone the good news about Jesus? How does it make us feel when we read about that person (ourselves) in this story turning into the great hero Christian? Through the story we get to feel what it is like to take action and fulfill our duty as missionaries for Christ. We get to teach the scripture, win a new soul for Christ, and be protected by the Spirit. Feels good, doesn’t it?
Are we like the eunuch? Are we successful and educated, secure in our position within society? Do we wear a badge of importance and hold a high income job? Do we show our faith in the same way, going to church in a big fancy car with an entourage of underlings? Do we avoid associating with those of lower class than ourselves for fear of how we would be viewed by our peers? Do we read the Bible and claim to understand it when in fact we are just too proud to admit we don’t? Perhaps we have never let Jesus in our lives because we never allowed anyone to get close enough to us to share him with us. How does it feel now from this perspective to read about this hero eunuch? Here’s a man we can relate to that allowed himself to be open to a stranger of lower class without fear of social rejection. Here is a man that is willing to admit that he doesn’t know everything in spite of his position and education. Here is a man that could humble himself to step out of his comfort zone and admit that he needs Jesus and be baptized. Feels good, doesn’t it?
We need story tellers like Luke. We need people to give us a glimpse of how things could be if we just let it happen. Is the story true or fiction; historically accurate or highly embellished? I don’t know and I don’t think it matters. I think what does matter is that it serves the purpose of the evangelist well and gives us a chance to give pause and reflect on our own lives. No matter how we view our real-world lives, either boring and unremarkable or important but lacking, perhaps this little story should give us hope; hope that with the help of the Holy Spirit we too can be heroes for Christ and tell others our story.
Amen