A New Church for New Generations ~ Acts 8:26-40 ~ Contemporary Worship Celebration

There is no time in your life that is more exciting—and at the same time more scary—than the day when your name is called, and you come forward, dressed in your cap and gown, to receive your high school diploma.

Graduation day is always going to be exciting—because, let’s face it: school’s out!  You have successfully completed childhood!  Now it’s time to party with our friends; time to celebrate the freedom of becoming an adult.

But the excitement will always be short lived.  When we graduate from high school, we also graduate from the familiar world we’d always known; most especially the people with whom we’d shared our lives.  You start college or trade school; you begin a new job or you enter the military, and you’re all alone in a brave new world.

That was my experience when I began my freshman year at Grove City College in the fall of 1999.  I’ll never forget the day I moved into the dorm—because the first thing I noticed about my new dorm-mates was how large they were, compared to my 5’ 9”.  I’d never seen that many large men in my whole life.  And my roommate was no exception—although he didn’t sound that burly on the phone.

I realized how far in over my head I was when the R.A.s gathered us in the common area to introduce ourselves to each other.  My heart fell out of my chest when they said, “tell us your name, where you’re from, and what sport you play…”  One by one, they said it: “football team; basketball team; soccer team; baseball team.”  I’d never played any sports in my life—unless you’d count bowling… 

So when it was my turn, I’ve got all the eyes of all the large men on me, and I tell them, “My name’s Jim, and I’m in the marching band.” Everyone stared at me in silence—until some random voice finally said “cool.”  And they moved on.

But let me tell you—as scared as I was that I wasn’t going to fit in, those guys became some of my best friends.  Not one of them ever mistreated me because I was different.

Our God relates in the very same way to those who are outsiders to the Body of Christ in the world.

Over ninety percent of the people in this country believe that God exists—but fewer than a third ever go to church.  So many people who never hear the Word, receive the sacraments, and belong to the community that is the Body of Christ…  Yet God is not content with this status quo. 

God’s heart burns with compassion towards all who do not believe, even the atheist.  God’s love knows no bounds—so God is always doing something new to break down the barriers that keep people from living in the love of Christ.  And God will not stop until everyone’s in.  That’s why God is always doing new things, to bring outsiders in. 

That is what we see happening in the story we just heard from Acts.  An Ethiopian Eunuch (who happened also to be a royal official of the queen) is on his way home from worshipping God in Jerusalem.

The Ethiopian eunuch was a black man—and because of that, there would have been no question in anyone’s mind that he was a Gentile; an outsider…  And even though Gentile converts were permitted to participate in worship at the temple—he would not have been allowed.  The Law of Moses strictly forbids any man whose member had been maimed from coming into the assembly of the Lord.

The fact that he was a royal official of the queen of the Ethiopians would not have mattered.  His kind could not enjoy full membership in the community.  His kind worshipped God on the outside of the temple…

He was an outsider—and he knew it.

But God is about to change all that…  God’s love is so vast that it can never be contained within the boundaries we human beings are so fit to create.  God has a plan for him—as well as for his fellow Africans—that they learn the truth that they are not outsiders to God.  They too, have their place in the community of Christ.  So God goes out in pursuit of the Ethiopian eunuch.  God does this by sending in a man by the name of Philip.

They meet up on the road.  These two vastly different men, from two different worlds, welcome each other.  They read the Word of God together, and right then and there, the Ethiopian becomes the first African to be baptized.  How exciting it is to think that Christianity continues to spread so rapidly in many African nations that they cannot build new churches fast enough.  It’s all because God did something new—God used two ordinary people to it. 

So often we make the mistake to think that faith is found only in churches.  That’s wrong.  With most people not going to church, it’s not outrageous to think that there is more faith among outsiders.  The only difference is that faith has not been kindled yet by the ministries of Word and Sacrament that you and I are called to proclaim. 

People are outsiders—and their faith remains un-kindled—for more reasons than I can ever name here.  There are, of course, the prejudices we all have about those different from us, be they real or imagined.  But there are so many more walls: the people who are poor and disadvantaged, who don’t own “nice church clothes” or the ability to put a gift in the plate.  There are the people who believe God could never love someone like them because of the sins they’ve committed.  There are those who’ve known so much suffering and pain in their lives that they cannot find any way to believe in God at all—and yet they want, they want, to believe that God exists and that hope is real.  The greatest challenge of our time—and our God-given duty—is to join Jesus Christ as he tears down the walls and the boundaries, so that the whole world hears that he is Lord; that his love is unconditional; that the forgiveness of sins and the promise of God’s kingdom is given freely to all apart from our worthiness and deserving.  Everyone has their place in the Body of Christ.  So what new things is Jesus doing to ignite the faith of the neighbors?

The church belongs to God, but it exists for everyone.  It is God’s gift to you and me, to nurture you in your faith.  But you’ll never really know the beauty of this gift, unless you give to it your dreams, your visions, as well as your time and talents—to reform and renew it, so that the least, the lowliest, and the lost of our neighbors may become our brothers and sisters in Christ.  God’s going to use you just like God used Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch to do this.  Your church is not a building or an institution.  It is the arms of Jesus Christ, opened in love and acceptance of every stranger and every sinner.  The power of the Holy Spirit is upon you to make it happen; to make the walls disappear so that the love of Christ touches every heart and every home.

You are sent into the world just like Philip—because God has plans to build a new church out of new generations who will believe.  We’re not without tremendous challenges in our time, but they are no match for the power of God that lives and breathes in people like you and me.  There will always be God—and therefore there will always be the Church.  We can be that church, by the help of God and the Holy Spirit.  Let’s be made new.