August 1, 2014
Another Apostle, Another Act
So, an
Ambiguities passer-by sent me a
recording of a sermon on the Tower of Babel passage and the story from Acts about Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. The
point seems to have been that the Babel-onions built the city
and the tower to defend themselves by keeping others out; contrariwise, Philip
did not defend Jewish Christianity from this eunuch from Ethiopia, the servant
of the Candace, a foreign queen. The faith does not need defending; it needs
people like Philip, who responds to the eunuch’s question, “What is to prevent my being baptized?” by saying,
in effect, “Nothing,” however many things he
might be able to think of. We are
not about building fences but tearing them down. (Clearly a political as well
as a theological statement in this day and time.)
I
don’t know about any of that, but the story — I was reminded of it and how
much I’ve always enjoyed it. In the TRV it goes like this. If the YouTube icon below doesn’t work, click here.
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