Based on Acts 8: 26-40 The Ethiopian Eunuch

This was a dialogue sermon preached by two clergy.
Reverend Southwell-Sander’s words are in italics. Dr. Taylor’s are in plain text.

How many preachers does it take to change a light bulb?

I don’t know. How many?

Two. One to change it, and the other to say “Hallelujah! I see the light!”

Okay, here’s another one. How many United Church of Christ preachers does it take to
change a light bulb?

I don’t know. How many?

Twelve.  One to look up the word “light” in Greek. A second to write a commentary with
illustrations of light and darkness. The rest to form an ecclesiastical council to pronounce
on whether the light has been correctly applied to the situation.

Preachers often get a bad press, sometimes deservedly. I remember the tirade of a
character in Anthony Trollope’s Barchester Towers:
“There is, perhaps, no greater hardship at present inflicted on mankind in civilized and free countries, than the necessity of listening to sermons. No one but a preaching clergyman has, in these realms, the power of compelling an audience to sit silent, and to be tormented. No one but a preaching clergyman can revel in platitudes, truisms and untruisms… He is the bore of the age….”

Whether or not you ever feel such tedium – and we hope you don’t at Old South – we
want to offer some thoughts about the very important role that the listener plays in
preaching.

The two of us are not only preachers … we are also listeners. We hear and read sermons all the time. We travel to hear great preachers when we can, and we have both also heard our share of less than exceptional preaching.

We want to suggest that it is the congregation’s role to listen for the Word of God … even when the vessel communicating that Word is as flawed and unexceptional as any preacher on a bad day.

We think it will take two of us to accomplish this … because we hope to model in our sermon a kind of conversation…

… a give and take, speaking and listening, listening and inquiring …

…that we hope is engendered by the art of preaching …

… and by the art of listening to sermons.

The story we have just heard provides an intriguing example. Let’s listen to it again:

On a desert road, miles from anywhere, Philip sees an exotic chariot drawn by a pair of magnificent Arab horses. Seated in the chariot, dressed in luxurious court robes, is an Ethiopian eunuch. He is reading aloud, and as he reads, Philip can make out the familiar words of the prophet Isaiah.

Intrigued and curious, Philip approaches the chariot and runs alongside. “Do you understand what you are reading?” he asks.

 “How can I,” the Ethiopian responds, “unless someone guides me?” Eagerly, he invites Philip to join him in the chariot.

Then Philip unfolds the story of the good news of Jesus.

As Philip preaches, the Ethiopian eunuch begins to hear a word of welcome and acceptance he had not expected.

You see, eunuchs were not permitted inside synagogues; the Old Testament says as plain as day that there is no room in God’s family for eunuchs. Not only that, but he will never have his own family. Over and over again the Bible describes children as a blessing. But this man can never receive this blessing.

He has been to Jerusalem to see if they would let him inside the Temple. The Bible says clearly: Do not let him in!  Yet, here he is, reading in Isaiah that God welcomes the outcast, the stranger and the alien into his house. Isaiah even proclaims that being welcomed into God’s house is better than having thousands of sons and daughters.

The Eunuch wants to know: Am I really welcome? Is there is a place for me in God’s family.

Philip tells the Eunuch the story of Jesus’ welcome to lepers and tax collectors, to sinners and prostitutes, to the lame and the broken, to the childless and those who mourn.

As Philip preaches, the Ethiopian hears the story of Jesus speaking directly to him. He feels himself being invited into the house and family of God. Pointing to a nearby lake, he asks Philip, “What is to prevent me from being baptized into this family?”

Philip thinks for a few moments. He considers the fact that eunuchs were not allowed inside synagogues. But Jesus tended to disregard such rules. Moved by the man’s faith and hope, Philip baptizes him there and then.

It’s such a wonderful story. I can hear how Philip and the Ethiopian are both engaged in active listening. They listen to the scripture. They listen for its meaning. They listen to each other. They listen for the voice of God. And they also listen to the yearning in their own souls.

It is your listening that turns preaching from being a monologue into a conversation… even though outwardly it looks and sounds just like a monologue.

Whenever we walk into church on a Sunday morning, we come bearing questions … just as the Ethiopian Eunuch did: How can I understand?

Am I welcome here?

 What it is this Good News?

How shall I respond?

It is the role of the listener to actively engage in this sort of conversation during the sermon.

An example of active listening comes from England in the eighteenth century. John Wesley’s hearers engaged actively in the conversation. In response to the Good News they heard they practiced good works. Indeed, Wesley’s followers “became known for pioneering work in prison, legal, and workplace reform; civil rights; the abolition of slavery; and public education.”

I think of the example of Martin Luther King Junior.  In common with many African-American preachers, Dr. King’s preaching was conversational. He and the congregation spoke back and forth to each other. The congregation would respond by repeating phrases, shouting Amen! and Alleluia!, humming and singing aloud and encouraging the preacher. If the preacher began to falter, or lose his way, or even lose his nerve, the congregation was there to urge him on, to help him. Preaching is not a solo performance – it is a communal event.

This kind of response helps the preacher hear how the sermon is being received, what needs emphasis or development, and, yes, when the preacher should end. It helps the listeners enter into the spirit of the message.

Even in more reserved churches, such as Old South, the people in the pews can participate, carrying on an internal conversation with themselves and with the preacher during the sermon, and then conversing with others after worship.

The purpose of rising each week to this same task – to the preaching of and listening to sermons – is so that, together, we can imagine into existence an alternative world … a world in which the claims of the gospel ring true.

A world in which mercy and grace are free. A world in which hope is born on strong wings. A world in which the risen Christ is Sovereign, rather than weapons and tyrants. A world in which Eunuchs and outcasts find welcome. A world in which death is not the last word.  A world in which justice and righteousness are inseparable.

I can be helped to imagine that world and to create that world if I open my story to be permeable to the stories of the Good News. For example, did the re-telling of the story of the Ethiopian eunuch help you enter into the world of that story?

Did you perhaps experience empathy with the Ethiopian?

Could you relate to Philip’s predicament?

Were you helped to see what a significant moment this was in the life of the early church?

Did you find yourself asking: What does this mean for me? The Ethiopian official knew exactly what it meant for him. He had to make a commitment – he had to be baptized then and there. Many who heard Reverend Hurmon Hamilton last week were moved to respond generously to help the work of Roxbury Presbyterian Church in its underprivileged community.

Shortly after worship we heard the news that we had raised more than the $5000 dollars that was our goal. Clearly, that was a conversational experience!

My response will not always be as clear as that, but after each sermon, can I somehow or other express clearly what it has spoken to me – what I have heard? Sometimes I find it helps to talk it through with others.

How often do we talk about what we have heard with others in the Fellowship Hour

 …or with family or friends?

… or even talking it through with oneself in a time of quiet reflection?

The journey that each listener makes on hearing the Word of God preached will be different. All preachers have probably experienced someone reminding them of a sermon heard, but when that person says what the message was for them, it was not at all what the preacher had in mind!

But that is fine! That listener has gone on her own journey and heard the word of God speaking directly to their life here and now as that Ethiopian did.

Indeed, it has been said that there are as many different sermons heard on a given Sunday as there are people in the pews. For we each listen through the filter of our own life and story and journey.

The stories of Jesus tell of countless individuals and of whole communities who, once they had listened actively to Jesus, responded with changed lives.

They received forgiveness.

They accepted healing.

They shared their possessions.

They welcomed the stranger.

They worked for peace.

They practiced reconciliation.

They arose in courage.

They visited prisoners.

They comforted those who mourned.

They sheltered orphans and looked after widows.

In these ways they turned the sermon into a conversation.

They earnestly listened for God’s Word ….

And then, having heard it, they spoke it with their lives.

With God’s help, may we be seen and heard speaking God’s word with our lives.
 
 

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Copyright © 2005, Old South Church and by author.
Excerpts are permitted as long as full accreditation is made
to Old South Church and to the author.