Our scripture lesson today is not only a story of conversion, it’s a story of inclusion.  We don’t talk about eunuchs much, but we know that in the ancient world, certain men were castrated so they could work as guards and servants in the palaces and harems of kings and queens.  This must have been a fairly common practice, because it’s mentioned more than once in the Old Testament.  For instance, Deuteronomy 23:1 specifically prohibits men who have had their genitals altered from entering the assembly of the Lord.  While some eunuchs rose to positions of authority—the man in our scripture lesson today was in charge of the treasury for the queen of Ethiopia—they struggled socially in the ancient world, and they had been historically barred from participating in Jewish worship.

But, 700 years after the book of Deuteronomy was written, the prophet Isaiah spoke a new word from the Lord about eunuchs.  “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 endures forever.”  The prophecy goes on to include foreigners who love the Lord, and talks about how they too will be accepted and included.  Isaiah envisions a time when God’s house “will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”  Old barriers like ethnicity, gender, physical abilities and such will not be a factor anymore.

The story of Philip preaching to the Ethiopian eunuch builds on Isaiah’s vision and brings it into the early church.  As Jesus ascended into heaven, he gave his disciples a mandate:  that they would be his witnesses, first in Jerusalem, then in all Judea, in Samaria, and eventually to the whole world.  This spread happened quickly, in part because the new Christians began experiencing persecution and had to flee Jerusalem.  Philip went to Samaria and began sharing the gospel with the people there, and many people became believers in Jesus.  It made sense that the first wave of sharing the gospel beyond Jewish people was with Samaritans, religious first-cousins if you will of the Jewish people.

But remember, there was a great deal of animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans.  So right away we are seeing how the good news of the gospel breaks down divisions between people.  Philip was so successful in Samaria that you would think God would send Philip to another densely populated place.  But God wanted Philip to travel south on the road to Gaza.  This was a real wilderness road, and there probably weren’t many people to preach to!  But Philip listened to what God told him, and lo and behold, he met what we might call a “seeker”—someone who wants to learn more about God. Philip knew the man in the chariot was a seeker because he was reading scripture aloud and was questioning who it was talking about. God prompted Philip to engage the Ethiopian official in conversation—a conversation that led to conversion.

Remember when Jesus said, “And you will be my witnesses, in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”?  Philip got the privilege of being part of each widening circle of God’s gracious work.  He was there for people hearing about Jesus in Jerusalem and Judea.  He was there in Samaria.  And now he’s there at the ends of the earth.  At least figuratively.  Ethiopia was a region in Africa, and it was also a figurative way of saying the very end of the earth.  Like how we might say boondocks or Timbuktu.  God had intentionally sent Philip on a journey where he would encounter this person from Ethiopia, and set the early church up almost immediately for fulfilling Jesus’ mandate of being a witness for Christ even to the ends of the earth.

The conversion of the Ethiopian official was significant for three reasons.  One, he was the first Gentile convert.  He was what was called a “god-fearer”—he worshipped the God of Israel, but he was not Jewish.  He was the first fully non-Jewish person to be baptized into the Christian faith.  Second, his skin was black.  The most commonly mentioned feature of Ethiopians in Jewish and Greco-Roman literature is their dark skin.  And third, the man had other physical differences.  His voice was high.  His arms were smooth and had no hair.  His facial features were more rounded, and he had no beard.  This person presented differently to the world than any other convert recorded to date.  But when he asked Philip, “What is to prevent me from being baptized?”, Philip responded by saying, “Absolutely nothing.”

Can we get an Amen! to that?  This story is so important because it shows the ever-expanding, inclusive vision God has for God’s people.  It makes real the picture painted by Isaiah, of eunuchs and foreigners being made into an everlasting name that endures forever.  God’s house is to be a house of prayer, not just for a certain kind of people, but for ALL people.  All ethnicities.  All skin colors.  All genders.  All physical makeups.  Everyone is to be included in God’s expansive kingdom of love.

And everyone includes you!  Aren’t you glad about that?  It’s easy to forget what a blessing and privilege it is to be included.  To know you are loved, and welcomed, and accepted–not everyone enjoys those blessings!  Not everyone feels like they can come walking into a house of worship on their own, and be received and celebrated.  Those of us who do know that first-hand have a lot of praising God to do!

But until everyone knows about God’s inclusive love, we also have work to do.  This is why the United Methodist Church added something important to our membership vows:  faithfully to participate in the ministries of the church by our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service, and our witness.  We added the word “witness” to our membership vows because Jesus calls us to be his witnesses wherever we are and wherever God sends us.  We are to be witnesses of God’s inclusive vision, where eunuchs, foreigners, people who present differently and speak differently and think differently are welcomed and embraced and valued.

One of the ways Lima has sought to live that out is by becoming a Reconciling Congregation.  This means, as a congregation, we disagree with our United Methodist Church’s official position on human sexuality, and we want the church to be affirming and inclusive.  It’s been almost three years now since we took our vote and adopted our statement of inclusion, which is printed in our bulletins every week.  We took that vote by mail because it was during the pandemic, and we didn’t really get to have a big in-person celebration.  So we have scheduled a special Sunday, October 8th, to celebrate our third anniversary of being a Reconciling Congregation, and our 190th anniversary of being a church.

One of the reasons to celebrate turning 190 is to look toward turning 200!  Did you know Lima will have its bicentennial in 2033?  Two hundred years of witnessing to God’s inclusive love in this community.  There has been tremendous change in that time. Just think:  the first generations of Lima’s members came to worship on horseback or in a horse-drawn carriage; now some of our members come to worship via the internet.  It’s mind-blowing!  So much has changed, and yet so much has stayed the same.  Lima is a congregation that wants to extend the love of God to all persons, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, skin color, socio-economic status, education, background and the like.  None of those issues are barriers to the Spirit of God, because everyone is created in God’s image.  Everyone matters.  Everyone has something special to contribute.

I love how the prophecy in Isaiah says, “And let not any eunuch complain, ‘I am only a dry tree.’”  Everyone has a unique gift to share and a way to serve the kingdom, but how can everyone understand that if no one explains it to them?  How can people find their footing in God’s household if no one welcomes and champions them?  Thank God Philip listened to God’s leading and went down that desert road!  Thank God Philip didn’t just get stuck on that verse back in Deuteronomy 23 but instead followed the lead of the totality of scripture.  Thank God Philip took the time to share with just one more person the good news of God’s inclusive love.

All of us have come to worship today because someone somewhere down the line shared that welcome with us.  Most likely it was several someones.  And most likely, it was someone with whom you had some differences.  Different generations, different gender, different views on right and wrong.  But despite the differences, those people reached out to you and offered you a priceless treasure:  the gift of knowing you are loved, accepted, valued, gifted, called.  Someone explained it to you.  And what I’m wondering today is, who are you explaining it to?  How are you being a witness of God’s inclusive love?

As Oscar Hammerstein wrote, “A bell’s not a bell ‘til you ring it, a song’s not a song ‘til you sing it.  Love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay.  Love isn’t love until you give it away.”  Today in worship, we are making a point to thank people for the many ways they are witnesses to God’s inclusive love.  Did you know that if you support Lima Church financially, you are helping to provide meeting space to bereaved parents twice a month?  Talk about people who often feel abandoned.  You are providing a welcoming, inclusive home to people who have suffered terrible loss.  Did you know that if you support Lima Church with your prayers, you are helping to undergird the ministries of a church that hosts four different 12 step meetings every week?  That’s a witness!  Did you know that if you use your gifts to keep the church running smoothly, you are making it possible for people from all walks of life to enter our building or enter our worship services virtually and know for certain that they are loved and valued?

Thank you for your witness!  Thank you for all the ways you support the work of Lima Church.  Together we are shining the light of Christ in our world.  But I hope the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch will challenge you today to think about doing more. The Spirit of God is at work, but most times, it takes “God with skin on”—regular people like Philip, like us—to connect with seekers in order for them to come to know Christ.

Is there someone you can think of who is seeking?  Who is wondering if they fit in, if they matter, if they are loved?  You probably won’t be able to tell because you overhear them reading scripture.  But if we ask God, God will lead us to them. What if every person in this church did that?  How can they know unless someone explains it to them.  If you feel ill equipped as an evangelist, simply remember how it feels to be welcomed and celebrated, and offer that to someone else.

And you know what?  Offering that might not even take any words at all.  Last year, the Eddystone United Methodist Church received a grant from the Lima endowment fund to help renovate their parsonage to house a refugee family.  In January, we made the parsonage project our mission of the month.  It’s been a long wait, but a family from Odessa, Ukraine has now moved in!  The mother is Olga, the father is Igor, and the daughter is Mosha (these are not the correct spellings but are the correct pronunciations).  The pastor there, John Lafferty, who also works here at Lima as our finance person, told me this family is so very thankful for the support they have received from Lima!  But since they only speak Russian, they have to use the translation app on their phones in order to communicate their gratitude.  We don’t speak Russian, but we didn’t need words to tell them they are loved and welcomed.  God helped us find a way to welcome this new family to Delaware County.  Isn’t that amazing?

Jesus calls us to be witnesses in Lima, in Delaware County, in our country, and even to the ends of the earth!  There is no end to how the Spirit of God is moving in ever expanding circles to help everyone come to know they belong, they matter, they are treasured.  God expanded the circle to include you.  How will you pass that gift on to someone else?  Amen.