Fifth Sunday of Easter (Acts 8:26-40)  05/06/2012

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From my earliest days of school I can remember learning about the Pilgrims of the Bay Colony and their struggles to live in a land that was new and foreign to them. Growing up in New England, the story of how these early settlers survived their first winter through the generosity and instruction of the native people they encountered created powerful images of two worlds coming together for the good. In thanksgiving for the bountiful harvest that was granted to them through the grace of God, these early Pilgrims took time out of their day and they ate turkey, they watched football and took a nap late in the afternoon…oh wait, that was last year! The first Thanksgiving was a bit different from the celebrations of today, but the Pilgrims of nearly four centuries ago did share something with pilgrims that set out on journeys today – pilgrims are in search for the grace and love of God as it is to be found in our world. Last Sunday at the forum we heard stories and saw many wonderful pictures of the mission trip to Cuba; and although the journey was a mission trip, the experience was also a pilgrimage to a special place where God’s grace is to be discovered among the people of Cuba…and this discovery cannot help but transform the traveling pilgrim. This morning in our Sunday forum we were introduced to the J2A pilgrimage to Belize. For the young men and women of the J2A class, their pilgrimage comes as a continuing element of their growth and development as young Christians. And this is the very idea of pilgrimage: a pilgrim sets out on a journey to discover things unknown, marvel at mysteries never experienced, and ultimately, to imagine how all these wonders point to the grace of God. The pilgrim sets out on a journey confident that the road traveled will provide a unique experience and foster the growth and development of one’s faith.

Our first reading this morning is a fascinating story of a traveling pilgrim hoping to discover the grace and love of God as it is to be found in Jesus Christ. In the world of 1^st century Palestine, the land of Ethiopia was the land beyond the known world; and the traveling Ethiopian eunuch was a foreigner as foreign as one could be. This story is one of my favorites in the New Testament; the story is full of exotic images, complexities of differing cultures and countless lessons for the listener to consider. The intriguing pilgrim was a man of great power (the Queen’s Minister and responsible for her entire treasury); he was a man of superior knowledge (reading from the prophet Isaiah – a time of history where few people could read and write); and he was a man of prestige (seated upon his great chariot). Yet with all that he has, he was still seeking to understand what he was reading; he was searching for what he did not know. And he needed help…he could not find what he was looking for all by himself. The Spirit of God responded to the Ethiopian pilgrim and sent Philip to help him understand the good news of Jesus Christ.

The Ethiopian eunuch was searching, but he needed someone to help him. Pilgrimage is an intensely personal journey, but one is never a pilgrim all alone. We seek God in many personal ways but we always seek God in the midst of community. “Do you understand what you are reading?” said Philip. “How can I, unless someone guides me?” said the man. (Acts 8:30-31) The Ethiopian minister was open to the Word of God, but he understood that he needed help to discover God in new ways. “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” said the Ethiopian pilgrim. (Acts 8:36) The eunuch and Philip went down into the water together and the man was baptized, because you cannot baptize yourself…you need someone to be with you on your journey in Christ. Pilgrimage is an intensely personal journey, but one is never a pilgrim all alone. Saint Benedict was so convinced of the community’s responsibility to the pilgrim that he made hospitality to the traveler one of his most important practices. Kathleen Norris, a poet and well-known author, once explained the Benedictine practice of hospitality to pilgrims in this way: “Hospitality is a tool that keeps us focused, not on ourselves, but on ‘the divine presence [that] is everywhere’ (the Rule of St. Benedict, Ch. 19) Benedict trusts that in the play of hospitality, in learning how to give and to receive that which we cannot truly give or earn, we will be brought closer to the mystery of the Incarnation.”[i] Philip was sent by the Spirit of God to travel with the Ethiopian eunuch and help him understand the good news of Jesus Christ. As brothers and sisters of the Body of Christ, we represent the incarnation of God’s hospitality to the pilgrim, and we are sent by the Spirit just as Philip was sent to the traveling Ethiopian.

A few weeks from today, on Sunday, June 3^rd, the young men and women of the J2A class will make a presentation about their upcoming pilgrimage to Belize. I ask you to put this important Sunday forum on your calendar and invite you to come and listen to these young pilgrims. I encourage you to hear their thoughts about their upcoming pilgrimage. Listen to their words and consider how you might be a pilgrim too. Our lives, as Christians, are defined by pilgrimage. Sometimes we are pilgrims as we leave our comfortable homes and search for God in distant places; places that may be foreign and strange, but we are confident that the Spirit of God has called holy men and women to help us and they are waiting for us when we arrive. Sometimes we are pilgrims as we live out our daily lives closer to home; living as aliens to this earthly place as we wait and wonder about our heavenly home with God. And as we wait and wonder about all that God has given us, we encounter other pilgrims on their way; and we serve as the holy people who the Spirit calls to guide them in their pilgrimage. In this season of Easter, may you hear the Spirit of God, get up and go…and proclaim the good news of Christ. AMEN.