The Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 6, 2012

Acts 8:26-40

An angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to this chariot and join it." So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" He replied, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:

"Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,

and like a lamb silent before its shearer,

so he does not open his mouth.

In his humiliation justice was denied him.

Who can describe his generation?

For his life is taken away from the earth."

The eunuch asked Philip, "About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?" He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.


   This wonderful story is organized around three questions from a very unexpected person, a court eunuch, employed by the queen of Ethiopia. 
   First he asks, "How can I understand, unless someone guides me?"  The Ethiopian man needs help bringing scripture off the page and into life. Tom Long, a professor of homeletics, says he needs someone who not only knows scripture, but also knows the God of scripture. He needs someone who understands the words, but also understands the One to whom the words bear witness. We all need that. At the same time, we can all be that person for someone else. Who has mentored you in this way? Whom have you mentored? 
   The Ethiopian then asks, "About whom does the prophet say this, himself or someone else?" He is asking a crucial question in a subtle way: "Is this a story concerning someone else, in the distant past, or is it still happening, and does it concern me?" Philip shows how the words of Isaiah describe God at work, now and in the future, in the person of Jesus Christ. Scripture may be written in the past tense, but it is never just about the past. Scripture witnesses to God at work in the past, so that we can learn to recognize him at work in the present, and be confident he will continue to work in the future.
   Finally, he says, "Here is some water. What is to prevent me from being baptized?" From a narrow, human perspective the answer is "Plenty!"  He is from the wrong background, the wrong race, the wrong sexual status (eunuchs were not allowed to sacrifice in the temple), and he serves the wrong royalty. But the answer of the Spirit is "Nothing. Nothing prevents it." Notice this does not mean there are no requirements at all: the Ethiopian man has listened to Philip, his mentor, and been guided into understanding. On the basis of that understanding, he has decided to put his trust in Jesus, and to become part of Jesus' people: he has made a commitment. In this beautiful little scene of Christian teaching, we see what it means to be ready. Baptize him Phil!

John 15:1-8

Jesus said, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples."


   In these later Sundays of Easter, we switch from accounts of encounters with the risen Jesus to teachings which help explain the significance of the resurrection for the disciples and for us. In this portion of John, one of the things Jesus is trying to convey is that the disciples can join Jesus in his new risen life. They can be part of his flock, they can be branches of his vine. Resurrection is new life for them, as well as for Jesus.
   Notice that Jesus says he is the vine, and we are the branches. He does not say he is the root, or the trunk, or the stalk; he is the whole vine. And we aren't branches of him so much as we are branches in him. He isn't just the trunk of the vine, giving support and nourishment to the independent, separate branches. The relationship is much closer than that. He is the whole vine, and all the branches are united in him. The best word to describe this sounds a little old fashioned, but I can't think of a better one: we abide in Him, and He abides in us. 
   Jesus' words about pruning and cutting will ring true to all the gardeners out there. But they can sound harshly judgmental in our ears. How do we tell who is a good branch and who isn't? My short answer is: we don't, God does. There are people who try to cut themselves off from God; it is the tragic side of our free will. But is anyone ever completely lost to God? I try to avoid the temptation to speculate much about this, and leave it to God. And anyway, there are lots of places in my own life that are unfruitful, places in me that could use a darned good pruning, please. I try my best to remember that, and offer it up to God, when I'm tempted to start judging my fellow branches.