Today’s Scripture
Reading (December 12, 2017): Acts 8
Franchises can be a hard
way to make a living, especially if you are a creative individual. Franchises
tend to want to steal away that creativity. Everything has to be done in a
precise manner. The dream of the franchise is to make every one of its
locations the same. Visiting a McDonalds
in Miami, Florida, or Toronto, Ontario, Canada, or in London, England,
according to franchise logic, should be as close to the same experience as
possible. There should be no differences in the menu;
the décor should be highly similar if not identical, all so that the franchise can deliver the expected experience
to the customer who walks in the door. Yes, in a global franchise there are
local differences, but if at all possible, these are to be minimized, no matter the cost.
Essentially the Christian church, at this point in time, was an unofficial
franchise of Judaism. It was unofficial because
the Jews did not give its approval to the Christians to exist, and yet it was a
franchise because it was understood that
to be a Christian, one had to first become a Jew.
This is the reason why the act of
circumcision became such an essential
issue in the early church. Circumcision, for a male, was part of the “cost of
entry” into the Jewish faith. So as long as Christianity remained a franchise
of Judaism, circumcision, and adherence
to the food laws and the purity laws of the Jews was part of what it meant to
be a Christian. All of this would change with the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15),
but as Philip meets with the Ethiopian eunuch, all of these expectations were
still in effect.
So, as
the eunuch stops by some water and asks Philip “What can stand in the way of me
being baptized?” the answer is simple, at least for a Jewish franchise. It is found in Deuteronomy – “No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may
enter the assembly of the Lord” (Deuteronomy
23:1). The
fact that the Ethiopian Eunuch was a eunuch was enough to disqualify the
official from identifying with the Judaism – and by extension, the Christian
Church. Baptism was forbidden by the Mosaic Law.
Of course, Philip didn’t see
it that way. The Christian Church was so much more than just a Jewish
franchise. There was a radical hospitality evident within the fledgling church,
and the early Christians appeared
hesitant to keep anyone out, which apparently included eunuchs. It is this
hospitality that should be an essential
part of who we continue to be, especially
as we draw nearer to Christmas. I am reminded
of something that Rachel Held Evans wrote.
"Don't tell anyone, but sometimes I wonder
if the best thing that could happen to this country is for Christ to be taken
out of Christmas--for advent to be made distinct from all the consumerism of
the holidays and for the name of Christ to be invoked in the context of
shocking of forgiveness, radical hospitality, and logic-defying love. The
Incarnation survived the Roman Empire, not because it was common but because it
was strange, not because it was forced on
people but because it captivated people" (Rachel Held Evans).
Evans describes who it is that we are supposed to be – a community
that is evidenced by shocking
forgiveness, radical hospitality, and
logic-defying love. It was these three things that Philip gave to the Ethiopian
eunuch. It should still be what anyone
receives when they come into contact with the Christian Church, our essential
nature summed up in forgiveness, hospitality, and
love.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Acts 9
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