+ In the Love of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Does anyone remember last Sunday's reading from the Acts of the Apostles? {{Congregational Response}} [Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch] What happened in the story? {{Congregational Response}} [An angel of the Lord tells Philip to get on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza. As soon as he gets there he sees an Ethiopian eunuch in a carriage reading from the prophet Isaiah. When the Ethiopian eunuch asks Philip about whom Isaiah is talking, Philip tells him about Jesus. Suddenly the eunuch says, "Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?" (Acts 8:36)]
In this morning's story from Acts [10:44-48], Peter asks virtually the same question, "Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people?"
This morning's reading is the conclusion of the longest story (10:1-48) in the Acts of the Apostles. The story begins when an angel of God appears to a Roman centurion named Cornelius. The angel tells Cornelius to send some of his men to Joppa to find Peter. The next day, Peter has a vision, and in the vision something like a picnic tablecloth comes down from heaven, and it's filled with food which even today Jews consider to be unclean. But the most amazing thing happens, the Lord tells Peter to eat it. Peter says, "No, it's not kosher!" But the Lord says to Peter, "What God has made kosher, you must not call unclean." Well, we know Peter was an Episcopalian because God has to do this three times before Peter can accept this change!
While Peter is trying to figure this out, the men from Cornelius arrive, and Peter goes with them back to Cornelius. And to make this longest story short, Peter begins telling Cornelius and all the other Gentiles about Jesus. And that's when this morning's reading begins. "While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word." Now I don't know why the Holy Spirit interrupted Peter. Maybe the Spirit had heard one sermon too many, but I think it was just to remind Peter who was in charge. But Peter gets the point, and asks, "Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people?"
These two stories have four things in common:
First, both of these stories are about outsiders. The eunuch was part of the Jewish diaspora, but he was damaged goods physically, so he was forbidden from participating as a member of the Jewish congregation. And the Gentiles by definition weren't Jewish, so they were the ultimate outsiders.
Second, both of these stories are about God's initiative. God is at work in the life of the Ethiopian eunuch even before Philip comes on the scene, and God is at work in the life of Cornelius before Peter comes on the scene.
Third, neither of these stories takes place in church! They take place in the world― on a highway and in a house. The Ethiopian eunuch didn't show up at St. Philip's Episcopal Church for the Nine O' Clock Service; no, he was commuting. Nor did Cornelius decide to attend St. Peter's Episcopal Church after finding it on the Internet; no, he was relaxing at home on a quiet afternoon.
And fourth, both of these stories are about outsiders who become insiders by being baptized because you can find water just about anywhere!
There's one more thing these two stories have in common: they challenge us.
First, these two stories challenge us to ask ourselves, who are some outsiders we know?
Second, these two stories challenge us to realize that God is already working in the lives of these outsiders we know, so that we might make a difference in their lives.
Third, these two stories challenge us to consider how we might meet these outsiders on their own terms and on their own turf.
And fourth― well, we don't have to worry about fourth if we get to third, because we've got plenty of water here!
Now, as card-carrying baptized insiders, let's turn to our Gospel this morning. And like our stories from the Acts of the Apostles, this Gospel is all about God's initiative.
Here's God's initiative Part 1: "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love." Love is a chain reaction that begins with the Father. The Father loves Jesus, Jesus loves us, and . . .
"If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." The Father loves Jesus, Jesus loves us, and we are to love one another. Love is a chain reaction beginning with the Father and continuing through us. As St. John writes in his 1st letter: "We love, because God loved us first" [1 John 4:19].
Here's God's initiative Part 2: "You did not choose me but I chose you."
We open every Vestry meeting with prayer and a devotion by one of our Vestry members, and last Tuesday Martha Gates did our devotion. She read to us from Anne Lamott's book Grace (Eventually). Anne talks about a game she likes to play in Sunday School, called "Loved and Chosen." She'll ask, "Is there someone here wearing . . . ." And then she'll describe what one of the children is wearing, and when the child realizes she's the one and raises her hand, Anne tells her "You are so loved and so chosen!" And then she'll describe the next child's clothing, until all the children know that they are so loved and so chosen. And that's what this morning's Gospel is almost all about: "We are so loved and we are so chosen!" And it's all God's initiative!
But although this morning's Gospel is almost all about being loved and chosen, here's God's initiative Part 3: "And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last." And this is the greatest challenge of all.
When Jesus says, "I appointed you" it's the same verb he uses for "laying down his life." In other words, just as Jesus gives himself for the sake of the world, so Jesus gives us for the sake of the world as well. Jesus appoints us to "go" in the same way that Philip goes to the Ethiopian eunuch and in the same way that Peter goes to Cornelius, to meet people where they are. And Jesus appoints us to bear fruit in acts of love.
In their book, Emerging Churches, Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger warn us about the danger of becoming "consumer churches":
"Consumer churches present a relationship with Jesus as the answer to [life's problems]. Thus, Jesus is turned into a product that satisfies needs. The problem is that . . . the gospel is primarily about God's agenda, not ours [p. 138].
". . . Rather than focusing on God, spiritual consumers [turn] attention on themselves as they [seek] spiritual goods to help them construct a life with minimal commitment or belief requirements" [p. 157].
"Consumer churches" forget that fruit is meant to be consumed. My brothers and sisters, because we are loved and chosen, let us go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. Amen.
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