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“YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT?!?!?” for BCCC 042918

“You Want Me To Do What?!?!?” By Rev. Sharon Lee MacArthur

For Berkeley Chinese Community Church April 29, 2018

Acts 8:26-40 Then 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 alamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open hismouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Whocan describe his generation? For his life is taken awayfrom 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.

<<sermonslide 1 – Philip & EthiopianToday’s scripture reading reminds me of something that our former conference minister Mary Susan Gast used to say often about radical hospitality – “When we practice it, it means the “they” of today become the “we” of tomorrow and we shall be forever changed.”

Most “titles” or headings about today’s passage talks about the conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch…but it seems to me that there are several conversions….it all depends on your point of view –

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<<SERMONSLIDE 2 – ESCHER PRINTYou know about points of views, right?Like this Escher print – Is it of white geese flying east? Or black geese flying west?

<<SERMONSLIDE 3 – LOLOr how about LOL?To someone who communicates with textmessages – It’s Laughing out loudBut to someone with some health challenges, <<SERMONSLIDE 4 – LOL = living on lipitor

it might mean Living on Lipitor.

You get the idea – So about our story today – who’s being converted?It IS about an Ethiopian Eunuch who gets baptized – that’s pretty obvious – it’s he who is being converted!<<SERMONSLIDE 5 – baptism of eunuch

But you know what – God is involved! The Holy Spirit is involved and when that happens there are surprises…

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<<SERMONSLIDE 6 – philipSo here we have Philip - he was a deacon in the very first church in Jerusalem. He did ministry – cared for people. But before Philip could really got very far or deep into this, the persecutions against these new Christians – followers of Jesus - started and the church disbanded for a time. Soldiers were going door-to-door, searching every house in Jerusalem for Christians, and dragging men and women off to jail. If you were lucky, you got the word in time and fled the city. Philip was one of those lucky ones. He went to the city of Samaria and started preaching. He must have been pretty good at it – maybe he was a kind of 1st century Billy Graham! He must have had the right moves, the right words, and he had miracles—Philip was a star! He was also a man after Jesus’ heart, because he wasn’t afraid to cross the line into Samaria, where no self-respecting Jew would be caught dead in those days; in fact, Philip was the first disciple to leave the old neighborhood. Peter and John, back in Jerusalem, heard about Philip’s success, that this rookie among their deacons had actually persuaded the Samarians to accept the word of God and all these Samarians had been baptized…mission impossible? But the reports were true: Philip the rookie had indeed converted a whole city of Samarians. Who would have thought?!It was a major coup for the Christians, their first big missionary success. BUT can you imagine when God originally called Philip to Samaria?Philip must have balked! He probably thought or maybe even said aloud – “You want me to do what?!?!? Go to Samaria?!?!? For real? We have to remember that the Samarians were the untouchables back then! They were not a part of polite society! Asking Philip to go to Samaria is like asking a pillar of Piedmont high society to go and preach in East Oakland hoods!

But Philip understood that God meant what He said…SAMARIA!So he went! AND He converted a whole city! Philip was really on fire! God has his back! After such a success - maybe he couldn’t wait for his next preaching gig. Maybe an even bigger city!!!<<SERMONSLIDE 7 – Angel came to Philip

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And then the angel of the Lord came to him with a message!

Maybe he was expecting the angel was going to say something like: Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to continue north to the biggest urban challenge yet: the city of Caesarea… you know the big thriving port city. WRONG – the angel said… “The wilderness road. Jerusalem to Gaza. Desert. High noon. Be there.”“WHAT?!?!? You want me to do what???!?!?<<SERMONSLIDE 8 – stunned emoji

Can’t you see him? Mouth wide open, stunned, you could have knocked him over with a feather. But he was a servant of God, and a deacon and so he didn’t argue …but maybe he was thinking –- wait, this must be a mistake, - didn’t you read the report about my converting all of Samaria?- don’t you think I could really contribute more if you sent me to a major metropolitan area where there might actually be some people to listen to me?Maybe he even asked some of the questions aloud…But no – Philip was to go to The wilderness road from Jerusalem to Gaza….in the Desert…high noon said the Angel… Be there.

It must have been such a blow for an up-and-coming missionary like Philip to hear these words: maybe disappointing, maybe even downright insulting.

Because your efforts in that city were so successful, Philip, we are assigning you to a deserted stretch of road without a single village! What kind of logic is that – no wonder Philip must have thought – What?!?! You want me to do what?!?

Totally illogical, right? What a waste of talent. No human being in their right mind would do such a thing. OK - this is our cue to immediately suspect that God is involved.

In the Bible, and often in real life, God is usually behind the really insane ideas.<<sermon slide 9 - Screen Shot Philip (repeat of 6)Scholars tell us how obedient Philip is, and I suppose they’re right: he does go where he’s told. He doesn’t pull a Jonah move, by getting on a boat so God has to send a big fish after him.

But do note that Philip is not what you would call proactive in this story. He’s on that wilderness road, like he’s supposed to be; he sees the man in the chariot, but does he

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approach him? NOPE - not until the spirit orders him to.

Do you suppose Philip was pouting because even he would have to be suspicious of a scene this ludicrous. What? You mean he’s not the only one on this road? Someone else is there, too? What a coincidence! And, hmmm, that person is an Ethiopian eunuch, and he is reading aloud from Isaiah? Who else would concoct this but God?! It sounds like The kingdom of God is like a shepherd, who leaves ninety-nine sheep so he can go look for one that was lost.

Philip was a preacher; he was close to God – he knew Jesus – maybe he should have seen it a mile away: The kingdom of God is like an Ethiopian eunuch, sitting in his chariot, in the desert, at noon, reading aloud from Isaiah.

But Philip just sits there until the Spirit pokes him. And he asks the eunuch, “Do you really understand what you’re reading?”

Can you imagine someone asking you - Do you really understand what you’re reading? They aren’t exactly kind words, right? They aren’t even polite if you look at the man Philip is talking to.

<<SERMONSLIDE 10 – screenshot Ethiopian Eunuch

Look at him: the man is an Ethiopian – this means that he was striking (Ethiopians were considered the most beautiful of all people in the ancient world);

- the man has a chariot and a scroll – this means that he was rich since only rich people had those kinds of thing;

- he’s the Queen of Ethiopia’s treasurer…he’s in charge of all her money, this means that he was powerful.

- Beautiful, rich, powerful, and—a eunuch, a castrated male, this means that in the eyes of Jewish law, he was a mutilated outcast, forbidden to even enter the temple.

- No one was allowed to talk with him, or have a meal with him, or even touch him, no matter how beautiful, rich, and powerful he was.

AND Peter says to this EUNUCH, “Do you really understand what you are reading?” Philip probably didn’t want to read or to even talk to this man. But Philip was a deacon; he was all about kindness and social justice. He fed widows. He served the poor. He preached in Samaria, which took guts!

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BUT preaching to a eunuch basically rocked his world. It challenged everything had been taught. How do you preach to a eunuch and still be a follower of Jesus? Maybe he didn’t even know how to be kind to him. This WAS a wilderness place – literally and figuratively.

AND did you hear the eunuch’s reply: How can I, without someone to guide me? WE can read between the lines

- How can I, when you won’t let me in your church? - How can I, when you are so afraid of me that you won’t even talk to me? - Do I really understand what I’m reading?! - No! I’m sitting here in the wilderness, trying to make sense all by myself, in my

chariot, and I’m stuck here—unless, of course, you’d like to climb up and sit beside me and teach me.

Philip is invited by the Eunuch! Philip doesn’t exactly volunteer for the job. But he doesn’t say no, either. It’s hard to, when there’s a live person right in front of you, and a Spirit that keeps bossing you around.

If we stretch out our antenna - we might catch Philip taking a deep breath and muttering, “Okay, Lord; if you’re going to go to the trouble of these special effects, I guess I’d better play along, but next time, give me a break - give me a city!”<<SERMONSLIDE 11 – Philip & eunuch in chariot

So Philip the deacon, the rookie preacher, sat beside the Ethiopian eunuch, and they read Isaiah together…Philip told the eunuch the good news about Jesus, and it turns out Philip was a good preacher this time, too…really good. So good, in fact, that the eunuch lifted up his eyes, and he saw water in the desert. Did you get that?! He saw water – in the desert! <<SERMONSLIDE 12 – water in the desert

And while Philip was mulling that one over, the eunuch turned to him and said, “What is to prevent me from being baptized?”

Hmmm - I guess the eunuch really did understand what he was reading. He understood

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so well that he believed the impossible: that God loved HIM, an Ethiopian eunuch, sitting in a chariot in the desert reading Isaiah with a nervous, pouting, confused guy called Philip. God loved him, exactly as he was, and all he had to do, now, was show up at the font to be baptized…Because that’s what baptism is: the mark that God loves us, not because of anything we do, but because of who we are.What a miracle!

- Two guys sitting in a chariot in the middle of a desert, reading the Word of God together.

- Two guys deciding that maybe the world was bigger than they’d imagined. - Two guys realizing that nothing can separate us from the love of God. - When you can see that, you can see springs of water in the desert. Look, here is

water – in the middle of the desert! What is to prevent me from being baptized? Philip knew there was a time to preach and a time to shut up and wade into the water, and this was one of those times. Because he finally understood what he was reading, too, once he climbed up into the chariot. Reading scripture with the eunuch changed Philip’s life, and it changed the church, too.

Philip saw there wasn’t anything to prevent this man from being baptized. There never had been, except for Philip himself. The Ethiopian Eunuch was baptized!<<SERMONSLIDE 13 – Baptism of Ethiopian

The spirit is surprising…God is surprising…all previous logic flies out the window…when the spirit happens – it’s an opportunity to leave our fears behind and follow for transformation is about to happen.

And what does all this have to do with us? with you and me? with BCCC? with our families and loved ones? With UCC?

Well - I believe that the Holy Spirit is continually nudging and pushing and stirring things up...sometimes we recognize it, sometimes we don’t and sometimes we don’t want to recognize it. The Holy spirit at BCCC? Yes, indeed – we have history folks!

<<SERMONSLIDE 14 – Once upon a time

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Once upon a time, decades ago, many folks were inspired by Martin Luther King and others to work toward a reflection of God’s diverse creation everywhere.

This included within the UCC.<<SERMONSLIDE 15 – screenshot ucc

You see the leadership of the United church of Christ which was pretty much white at the national level, at the conference level, at the association level. <<SERMONSLIDE 16 – screenshot ucc Gen synod

Some of these folks who were inspired to change this were of Asian heritage. The idea for a special caucus was born at our sister church in El Cerrito – at Sycamore. <<SERMONSLIDE 17 – Julia & mary

Julia Estrella and Mary Tomita were the midwives. They brought the resolution to the General Synod in 1975 and Pacific Islander and Asian American Ministries was recognized and thus began the transform the UCC. <<SERMONSLIDE 18 – recognition of paam

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<<SERMONSLIDE 19 – paam logos

<<SERMONSLIDE 20 – BCCC early PAAM participants

In the early days – there was Dorothy Wong and Rose Lee and Helen Chun and Pearl Chinn from BCCC who were part of this work – and I’m sure there were others. Both Dorothy and Rose have served as national moderators of PAAM - Rose is still with us and actively serving as treasurer of Northern Cal PAAM – She is also revered as PAAM’s historian – a sort of living institutional memory of PAAM! <<SERMONSLIDE 21 – later BCCC PAAM participants

And in the more recent days – others of us have participated in PAAM’s mission – of supporting each other in living and claiming a theology that might be slightly different because of who we are and ensuring the PAAM voice is heard and honored in all settings of the UCC and beyond. PAAM has worked hard on the transformation of a white UCC into a multi-ethnic and inter cultural UCC! We have PAAM leaders in every setting of PAAM. Many of you have come to PAAM’s music festival – held here and in other churches and even at PSR… <<SERMONSLIDE 22 – PAAM events.

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the face, voice and sound indeed the very fabric of UCC is indeed changing! <<SERMONSLIDE 23

And it all began with a little idea germinating over 40 years ago that maybe was met with “You want me to do what?!?!?

<<SERMONSLIDE 24

It’s an inspiration to us, isn’t it?Transformation doesn’t happen overnight – Transformation of the church and God’s world has in the works for over 2,000 years. The radical hospitality of Jesus passed onto Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch and to so many more…

And to us – but perhaps we don’t know it yet. <<SERMONSLIDE 25 – new beginnings

We’ve had our new beginnings conversations and have been talking about new ways to do ministry and being open to a new settled pastor who God will lead to us. We have named elephants in the room, we have dared to openly speak about our differing understandings of what God is calling us to be and do in this part of the world.All this seems to me that we are being prepared for another surprise that God might have for us – It might be an outrageous request – like asking Philip to go to the desert!

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It might be something that seems to be a mission impossible – like asking Julia and Mary to transform a body of UCC leadership from white to multi-color.Whatever it is – we’ll probably mutter, “You Want us to do what?!?!? <<SERMONSLIDE 26 – you want me to do what ears

And if we can dutifully follow that call – we’ll be another of God’s instruments in transforming the church - indeed the world - into God’s Dream!<<SERMONSLIDE 27 – God’s dream

May it be so…

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