Questions

It’s OK to have questions. Of course, children have lots of questions. Anyone who’s been a parent or been around children knows that some of children’s questions are off the wall, and some are unanswerable. “Why is the sky blue, Daddy?” Unless you’re an atmospheric chemist, and even if you are, you’re likely to answer, “Because it is.” Teens have lots of questions, too, as they wrestle with issues of personal morality and identity. How do we answer when a teen asks, “When can I start having sex?” Or, “what should I do with my life?” As adults, we too have questions. About ethical issues: “Should we continue to have capital punishment?” In times of disaster: “Why did God allow…?” Despite our extensive confirmation materials, our confirmands still had questions – lots of them. And just when we think we have most of life’s big questions answered, many of us find that in midlife we start asking questions again: “Is this all there is?” and “To what am I called?” It’s OK to have questions. It’s necessary to have questions and to seek the answers to our questions. We must not be afraid of expressing our doubts and asking questions. Ultimately it’s the only way to continue growing, most especially to continue growing spiritually.

The Ethiopian eunuch had questions. Beginning with Easter day, our first Scripture readings have been from the Book of Acts, the sequel to the Gospel according to Luke. As you’ve probably guessed, The Acts of the Apostles, to give the book its full name, is a record of the outward expansion from Jerusalem of the earliest community of the followers of Jesus. What is more important, Acts details the transformation of the Way from a reformist Jewish sect into a distinctly inclusive community that welcomed people of all classes and ethnicities and that enabled followers of both genders to assume leadership roles. Our readings in Easter tide come from the first part of the book and encourage us to consider the question of what it means to be an Easter people, a people living with and into the resurrection of Jesus. Although we hear selections from Acts every Easter tide, it’s worth reading the whole book for yourself, especially if you want to get a sense of the questions with which Jesus’ earliest followers struggled.

Today we heard the story of the encounter between Philip the Evangelist, as tradition now calls him, and a royal official from Ethiopia. An aside: this Philip is not to be confused with Philip from Bethsaida in Galilee, one of the twelve apostles, who appears in the gospels. We encounter Philip the Evangelist only in Acts, as he is commissioned one of the “seven” to take charge of the charitable work of the community, in an encounter with a sorcerer named Simon, in this story, and in Acts 21, where he is at home in Caesarea Maratima.

As we heard, impelled by the Spirit – another important player in this story – Philip flees the persecution of Jesus’ followers in Jerusalem and heads down towards Gaza. Presumably on foot, he hears a man reading aloud – as people commonly did in the ancient world – from the prophecy of Isaiah. The man, an Ethiopian and a eunuch, welcomes Philip into his chariot. Philip asks a leading question, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And then the Ethiopian begins to ask questions.

Let’s look at those questions. Answering Philip’s opening question, the Ethiopian says, “How can I understand unless someone guides me?” Now, this eunuch is a wealthy, important man, in what was, in the ancient world, a wealthy and important country. He could actually have been an Ethiopian Jew, or, more likely, one of what were then called “God-fearers,” gentiles who embraced the monotheism and ethics of Judaism but did not undergo circumcision. Whichever he was, and though he had come a long way to reach Jerusalem, as a sexually mutilated man, he could not be admitted to worship in the temple. If he knew his Scripture, he knew that Deuteronomy 23:1 was absolutely clear on this point: “No one whose testes are crushed or whose member is cut off shall be admitted into the congregation of the Lord.”

But the Ethiopian was not reading Deuteronomy, he was reading Isaiah. Isaiah 11 had assured him that God would redeem God’s people from all over the earth. God had also declared through Isaiah that, “As for the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, who have chosen what I desire and hold fast to My covenant – I will give them in My House and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters” (56:4-5). So which is it? Is he, as an Ethiopian and a castrated man, welcome in God’s house or not? He needs help in understanding the Scripture in front of him.

As do we in reading Scripture. Like the Ethiopian we too may discover that Scripture offers us different, even contradictory, perspectives. Like him, we too need to know the historical and narrative context of what we read. More important, we too need informed guides -- good teachers or books – who help us to understand Scripture. Even if we fervently believe that the “Holy Scriptures … are the Word of God,” and that they “contain all things necessary for to Salvation,” we still need help in understanding how to pattern our lives after the teachings of Scripture.

The Ethiopian was reading the passage from Isaiah about what we have come to call the “suffering servant.” Christians now commonly see this passage as foretelling Jesus’ crucifixion. But the Ethiopian did not know this yet, and so he rightly asked, “About whom does the prophet says this, about himself or someone else?” In hearing about the humiliation and injustice suffered by Isaiah’s servant, could the Ethiopian also have been wondering, “Does this Scripture also apply to me? Does it speak to the humiliation and injustice that I, as a mutilated male, have experienced? Is there good news also for me?” Indeed, there is. As he heard Philip’s explanation, as he heard the “good news of Jesus,” and especially as he heard that the community of Jesus’ followers welcomed all comers, surely he came to understand, that, even in his condition, there was welcome and acceptance among those who strove to “abide in Jesus.”

And is that true for us? Do we hear the good news of Scripture? Although we always need to remember that the Scriptures were not written yesterday, we also need to remember that Scripture is never solely about the past. The good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection and of God’s love for all of God’s children should also be cause for rejoicing for us.

Encouraged by what he has heard, the Ethiopian then asks, “What is there to prevent me from being baptized?” Conceivably, there could have been several real obstacles, especially if the Ethiopian was a gentile and thought he would have to convert to Judaism. As a foreigner, he would be very far away from the center of the Way, which was still in Jerusalem. As a sexually damaged male, he was unwelcome in traditional worship settings, and as the finance minister of the queen of Ethiopia he was clearly loyal to a foreign power. Can you imagine the Ethiopian’s joy when Philip replied, “Absolutely nothing?” Can you imagine the overwhelming sense of God’s grace that he must have felt when he and Philip came up out of the water? Foreign and damaged though he was, he was now irrevocably a part of God’s household, forever a member of the Body of Christ.

All of us have been baptized. Perhaps instead of the Ethiopian’s questions we might ask, “What is to prevent me from taking the next step in my spiritual journey?” Perhaps you need to ask yourself, “What is to prevent me from being confirmed?” What is there to prevent me from reaffirming what was done for me as a child? What is there to prevent me from making an adult commitment to the church or from renewing the commitment I made when I was baptized? If you have been confirmed, perhaps you need to ask yourself, “What is to prevent me from seeking to take my baptismal vows more seriously?” What is to prevent me from taking the risk of leaving my comfort zone and taking another step in my journey of faith?

It’s OK to have questions. No, it’s necessary to have questions. Questions, and even doubt, are integral parts of the faith journey of an adult. To continue to grow in faith, like the Ethiopian, we need to continue to ask our questions, as we confront the Scriptures in Bible study, as we study theology, as we try new forms of prayer, and as we engage in ministries that stretch our understanding of the world around us. We need to open ourselves to the leading of the Holy Spirit and trust that the Spirit will continue to guide us into answers to all our questions. Most important, we need to trust that God’s grace abounds, and that all of us are embraced and welcomed into fellowship with Christ – wherever we are on our journey of faith.