The Road to Nowhere- Kristin Ream

Many of you know that I’ve spent this year taking classes at Princeton Theological Seminary, working toward my Certificate in Youth Ministry. Partly I’m studying for my own curiosity, partly because it’s extremely helpful in my job, and partly so that I can continue to eat dinners with the rest of the Sell family. 

I am mostly kidding on that last point, however I’m surprised at how much more i can contribute to the random theological debates now that I have a little bit of “formal” training.

Karen asked me to preach on this Sunday about 3 months ago- and I had just finished a course taught by Dr. Eric Barretto, a professor of New Testament at Princeton Seminary. He taught a lesson specifically on this passage, and it’s been bouncing around in my head ever since. What I’m saying is, I knew that this would be the passage that I’d preach on- since May- but if you follow me on social media- you know that I’ve only been writing this sermon since Tuesday. 

I will say that there are two potential upsides to my procrastination. One- You’ll also get my sparkle-brained connections from my experiences at Montreat last week and Two- it’s probably not going to be lengthy. 

Dr. Barretto had me hooked from the beginning of this lecture, because he titled it “The Road to Nowhere.”  I was intrigued. Most of my class lectures up to this point had left little to the imagination- things like theological hermeneutics 101… but the road to nowhere? This sounded like something that my story-loving brain could sink into. 

We quickly dove into the text- and Dr Barretto paused almost immediately to give us some background on Phillip.

What I found out was this- when this angel appears to phillip, he’s just being a regular guy, doing his job. I picture him as a nice guy… probably because all of the one phillip’s that i know are pretty great.

Now, Phillip’s job had nothing to do with travel to exotic locations- in fact, Phillip was a Deacon of the early church. His job was to make sure that everyone was fed equitably.

Phillip was chosen for this important job because some of the widows of one part of the city had been being neglected- and so his job was to wait on tables and make sure that everyone got the same amount.

So- the angel appears to Phillip, and says- “At noon, take[a] the road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) “  And then verse 27 says, So he did. 

I don’t know how much you know about waiting tables. But usually walking a desert or wilderness road- isn’t a part of it. Phillip doesn’t say- Hey wait! That’s not in my job description. He doesn’t say- Let me just grab a buddy that knows the way to go with me. He doesn’t say- I’m sorry, i’ve already hit my hours for this week. No… verse 27 says So He did. 

I really admire Phillip at this moment. I’ve spent a lot of time recently ruminating on wilderness roads. I’ve been thinking about the things that we are called to do that are “outside of our job description.”  The kind of things that nag at the back of your brain until you go ahead and do something about them. The things that make biblical waiters wander wilderness roads, or modern day aerospace engineers move across the country and open breweries, or senior high youth directors agree to preach sermons on sundays.

I don’t think i had quite the right words for this feeling until last week’s conference at Montreat. If you read your messenger this week- there was a link to this song in my opening article. Our keynote speaker, Ann Russ, described the Joy that comes from God as this Spark of Creation. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1gZ6hH67Bw

Isn’t that just gorgeous? I aplogize in advance for the fact that you’ll be singing this for the rest of forever. Sorry,but I’m not sorry.

But, the more i have thought about it, the more I think that THIS same spark that’s is God’s Joy, is also the spark that leads us on these roads to nowhere. The spark of the little leftover God stuff. The very spirit of God that calls us to follow it to places we have not gone.

Ok, back to the story. So,while Phillip is on this road, he meets an Ethiopian Eunuch. The context of this story lets us know that this Eunuch has wealth and power. 

There are many extraordinary things about this Eunuch. He’s obviously powerful- he’s in charge of the treasury. We know he’s wealthy too. He’s being driven around in a chariot while he’s reading Isaiah. My professor made the joke here that texting and driving was obviously a bad idea even in biblical times. He’s actually READING the text, which is also unusual in a time when most of the people were illiterate. 

The eunuch would have also been one of the only recorded black men in scripture, and because he’s a eunuch- even his gender is ambiguous. Eunuchs were made in biblical times so that there would be absolutely no question about legitimate heirs to the throne, especially because these persons often became so close to the royalty they served.

So just for a minute i want you to picture this scene. There’s our friend, Phillip, who is just following this god- nudge on a road going nowhere, and this powerful eunuch appears.The spark then tells phillip- “approach the carriage and stay with it.” Now I can just picture Phillip running to catch up with this carriage. I don’t know why I assume that he’s also not a marathon runner in his spare time, but I picture phillip as being out of breath when he finally catches up to this carriage. Breath coming in spurts he gasps out- “do …you…. really understand… what….. you’re reading?”

And this extraordinary man, does another extraordinary thing. He doesn’t look at this breathless waiter and do a “girl..please…” instead… he says… “How can I, unless someone guides me?”

How can I, unless someone guides me? And then… i have to believe that  it just hits phillip. That moment when the spark turns into a flame and he knows exactly what he’s doing in the middle of nowhere. Turns out, God was already ahead of him. Phillip begans preaching to the Eunuch, and deciphering the scriptures. 

The Ethiopian then notices that they are beside the water and he says- what is to prevent me from being baptized? 

Um… we’re going to pause our recounting of the story again… because there’s a lot actually. There’s the fact that he’s likely a gentile and no gentile has been baptized before.  He’s an outsider. He’s non-gendered. He’s in the middle of nowhere. There's the fact that there with him is not like one of the stars of the new testament– he’s there with phillip, the waiter. 

Is this a test? This extraordinary man waiting to see how phillip answers? 

But then, the text goes on to say Both Philip and the eunuch went down to the water, where Philip, the ordinary guy, gets INTO THE WATER with this extraordinary man, and baptized him.

Friends. The answer to the question- what is to prevent me from being baptized? It’s nothing. No- THING.  There is nothing that we can do that will separate us from the love that is God’s. Not even in the middle of nowhere.

Now, I know you’re wondering, okay Kristin, I’m unlikely to meet a eunuch on the road anytime soon. Not looking to baptize anyone today.  How is this text relevant to my life, at all?

Well friends- you remember that spark? The little god-dust that is left behind in each of us? Sometimes that spark flares up at really inconvenient times. 

Sometimes you’re looking at the spark going- (hypothetically) Why on earth would I move my two small boys back across the country and do something risky like open a brewery?

Or maybe your spark leads you down a path towards helping out with the blessing box or the food pantry. 

Maybe your spark says “you know, you’d be real great at hanging out with senior high youth.” 

Sometimes you get the nudge that says “start that conversation… now is the right time.”

God may call you down a wilderness road. God may call you to a place where you think– why on earth would i go there God, you’ve never been there. 

Professor Baretto ended his lecture in a way that is still echoing in my mind.  He said-

So, maybe you’ll go confidently down this wilderness road and you’ll encounter someone that needs to hear the good news, or better yet we will encounter someone who shows us something new about the shape of gods grace. And there’s water and celebration and there’s baptism, and as you look back on the road that brought you here, you’ll realize that god paved every one of those steps along that road. And you’ll realize the middle of nowhere? 

God brought us to the middle of nowhere to show us that god makes what we think is nowhere…. 

God makes nowhere his home. 

God resides there.  

So my friends, where is your nowhere? Where are those sparks that are nudging you outside your job description? Where is god calling you?

The promise is this…. Wherever we’re going- God will already be there. He’s already made his home there, and he’s ready for you, just exactly as you are. 

July 23rd sermon preached by Kristin Ream