Enabling Faith
Acts 8:26-40
Introduction
I have often felt like the story of the Ethiopian eunuch is one of the strangest in Acts. It’s not the picture of Philip running alongside the horse drawn chariot, listening to what the man was reading. Nor is it the way the Holy Spirit takes Philip away immediately after, making it sound like he was almost teleported.
Here is what I struggled with. This passage looks like the Ethiopian is the first Gentile to become a believer. But in Acts 10, it looks like Cornelius is the first Gentile to become a believer and it’s Cornelius’s conversion that really throws the church into crisis. So who was the first Gentile to be converted?
Technically it was the Ethiopian. But there was a difference between the Ethiopian and Cornelius. The crisis that erupted over Cornelius was not about whether Gentiles could follow Jesus but if they could do that without converting to Judaism. And the required step for males to convert was circumcision. For the Ethiopian as eunuch, that was not possible. For Cornelius, he could have but did not, thus creating a huge issue.
But that then leaves us the question of why is the story of the Ethiopian even shared? This passage is found in the middle of a section about welcoming outsiders. Everything else around it is a major step. If the issue is not that the Ethiopian was a Gentile, what marginalized group does he represent?
I am going to suggest that the Ethiopian represents people with disabilities. You may not have thought of the Ethiopian as a person with a disability but he was. How is being a eunuch a disability? After all, Roman Catholic priests voluntarily choose a life of celibacy. But in the ancient world, being able to continue your family line was the most important thing you could do. The loss of children, either through death or the inability to conceive was a terrible thing. There was a stigma to being either a eunuch or a barren woman.
Unfortunately for eunuchs, probably because they were men, there were added limitations. We are going to take a short tour of the Old Testament to understand the significance of this story.
Eunuchs in the Bible
Since we encounter the Ethiopian eunuch while he was reading the Scriptures, it is appropriate that we look at what the Bible says.
In Leviticus 21, we find a passage that gives regulations for temple priests. One of the restrictions is that placed upon priests has to do with disabilities. It lists a number of disabilities, which would include eunuchs. We are told that none of them are allowed to offer sacrifices in the temple. To our modern sensibilities, that sounds very unfair. It gets worse.
Only a portion of one of the twelve tribes were priests and so these limitations would affect only a few people. In Deuteronomy 23:1, we are told that no eunuchs are allowed to enter the assembly of the Lord, which is the gathering of worship. This affects not just those who choose to become eunuchs but those born that way and those who had it done to them against their will. If that is all that we had, we might question God’s goodness when it comes to people with a certain disability. But things get better.
In Isaiah 56, we read this prophecy:
“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose what pleases me
and hold fast to my covenant—
to them I will give within my temple and its walls
a memorial and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that will endure forever.” (Isaiah 56:4-5)
This is given right before a prophecy of the welcoming of foreigners. What is being said here is that despite previous limitations, a time is coming when eunuchs will be welcomed in and given a special blessing. While culture might say that sons and daughters are the greatest blessing, there is a better blessing in store for them. The name that people longed for was a long line of descendants. God would give these people a name based on their relationship with them.
Because the book of Isaiah was on a scroll and it would have been easier to unroll from the end to get to these later chapter, the Ethiopian would have had to pass through the Isaiah 56 prophecy on his way to get to the Isaiah 53 passage he was reading when Philip found him.
God fully welcomed the Ethiopian as he was. He did not get healed first. He was acceptable the way he was. Isaiah 56 was being fulfilled in him.
This is not just about the specific condition of eunuchs. Eunuchs are an image for all disabilities that may separate some people from others. As we have looked at the Scriptures, we have journeyed from restrictions to prophecies of hope to full acceptance. This is very relevant.
Disabilities in the Church
In many ways this is the story of many people with disabilities in the church. For some people, they are excluded from leadership. Some congregations are fine to have people with disabilities around but do not give them any leadership roles. It may not be out of any malice, people with disabilities are just not on their radar. Some might not think people with disabilities are qualified for leadership.
In some instances, it goes much farther. We saw a passage where eunuchs were excluded from the assembly of the Lord. Sadly, there are cases of people with disabilities being asked not to attend worship services. If we heard of people of a certain ethnicity being asked to leave, our society would be outreached. And yet I have talked to parents who have been told not to bring their children with disabilities because it might disrupt the show they trying to put on for Sunday mornings. This does happen.
But there is hope. Isaiah 56 spoke of a time when those who were excluded would be included. The story of the Ethiopian eunuch reminds us that the time is now. All we have to do is catch up to what God is already doing.
A study done a few years ago revealed that 22% of Canadians have at least one disability. That means that if 100 people showed up to church on a Sunday, we would expect that at least 22 people would have disabilities. It is likely that most congregations don’t meet that level, even taking into account invisible disabilities.
Unfortunately, many people with disabilities do not feel welcomed or included. They may feel either pushed to the sidelines or have demands for healing being forced upon them.
The story of the Ethiopian tells us that people with disabilities are fully welcomed into the church, on equal grounds with everyone else. How can the church take a different view?
This requires not just welcoming people and making the building accessible. It also means including people in the full life of the church, including ministry and leadership. Every person has some gifts, no matter what their abilities.
Conclusion
Let’s take a moment, as we conclude, to think of this Ethiopian. What was he religiously before meeting Philip? He was not a Jew, because it was impossible for him to convert. But he was reading from the Hebrew prophets and so was obviously interested in their God. He was someone who had a longing to know God but he was doing it as someone from the outside looking in. He was excluded and was stuck on the margins.
But then Philip came along and explained to him about Jesus. The prophecies of Isaiah were being fulfilled in their day. Those who had been excluded were now being included. The welcoming of the eunuch, representing people of all disabilities, was a part of what God was doing in welcoming all outsiders, from the Samaritans to the Gentiles.
Now we are here in the 21st century. The experience of people with disabilities has changed. But the church is still playing catch up. We as a congregation are trying to be fully welcoming and inclusive. But there is always room to grow.
