Ethiopia Grafted into the Vine / Acts 8:26-40 / Pr. Ted A. Giese / Sunday April 28th 2024 / Season Of Easter / Mount Olive Lutheran Church

Mount Olive Lutheran Church / Pr. Ted A. Giese / Sunday April 28th 2024: Season of Easter / Acts 8:26-40 “Ethiopia Grafted into the Vine”

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

        “Like a sheep He was led to the slaughter

               and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,

               so He opens not his mouth.

        In His humiliation justice was denied Him.

               Who can describe His generation?

        For His life is taken away from the earth.”

        And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in Your sight O Lord. Amen.

Grace peace and mercy to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Good Christian Friends. How easy it is to fall into the temptation that we are the ones at work in growing the kingdom of God. That somehow the growth of the kingdom of God is based on our elbow grease, our graciousness, our mercy, our steadfastness, our generosity. The chisel, the hammer, the plane and the lathe, the saw, they cannot take credit for the work of the carpenter any more than the spoon, the measuring cup, the mixing bowl and the pan, the oven, likewise cannot take credit for the work of the baker. And so it is with the Vine and the Vinedresser of our Gospel: The branches apart from the Vine can take no credit, without the Vine they wither and die and only with the Vine do they produce fruit. And so today we hear Jesus say of Himself, “I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”[1]

If you are caught fretting about your part in the production of the fruit of the Vine, repent, remember what Saint Paul says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”[2] We are but instruments in the hands of the Lord we are not the one who takes credit for the fruit; which brings us to the Deacon Saint Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch from our first reading today. It is neither Philip nor the Ethiopian who work faith that day but the Holy Spirit through the Word of God and the Sacrament of Baptism that brings about the fruit of faith.  

He had a high position; he was wealthy compare to his fellow Ethiopians, but there was a trade-off; you see in those days his work as a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of all her treasure came with a personal sacrifice his voluntary gelding, which is castration: that’s what it means to be a eunuch. He was not alone. This was a practice at that time in many lands around the world; in doing so it was hoped that this would quell a man’s desire for power and make them more subservient to those they served. As a result of this trade-off he would no longer be capable of fathering children or establishing a personal lineage or dynasty and therefore he would be no threat to his Master. In this case to his Queen.

This is not an insignificant point for two reasons 1) he through his conversion and baptism becomes part of a family, part of a everlasting lineage, part of a continuing dynasty that is not restricted to biological conception; and 2) his entry into this family is not one dependant on being born into it and this is important because it means that anyone can become a Christian, this is not a faith restricted to Jewish people alone. Here we see that the promises of God extend beyond what might be expected. Not long from now will be Ascension Day and Grace Lutheran Church will be inviting us all to join in celebrating Jesus’ Ascension unto the right hand of His heavenly Father, each year we remember this 40 days after Easter Sunday, this year it will be on Thursday May 9th at 7pm over at Grace Lutheran Church. This is the Day where we hear Jesus say to His remaining disciples “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”[3]

10 days later, after the Day of Pentecost, these things start to take place, Peter and the Twelve, now including Judas Iscariot’s replacement,[4] become instruments of God in the hands of the Holy Spirit and thousands are brought to faith and are baptised,[5] but here in the Book of Acts we see that the deacons also baptised and the Holy Spirit worked through the Word of God and the Sacrament of Baptism to bring this Ethiopian man to faith in Christ. This is evidence of what Jesus said when He said, “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” and for his part this Ethiopian then returns home to Ethiopia and the kingdom of God increases; a branch is grafted into the Vine, and fruit comes from this faith and from this baptism, more fruit than the accountant of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians would ever be able to count, more treasure than this overseer of treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians would ever be able to catalogue. (As an aside the Christian faith in Ethiopia was well established centuries before the peoples of northern Europe came to faith in Christ Jesus. They were long grafted in before the Germans and the Scandinavians. If you have German or Scandinavian background back when we were still worshiping trees and involved in pagan activities these Ethiopians were already well established as Christians)

Our introit today from Psalm 145 says, “The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”[6] Here we see the nature of the LORD described in that passage hard at work. The LORD doesn’t leave the Ethiopian man in confusion, cut off from the Vine and by extension He doesn’t leave the Ethiopian people in confusion, cut off from the Vine. In His gracious mercy the LORD first promised the coming of Christ through men like His prophet Isaiah whose book of the Old Testament this Ethiopian was diligently studying. And then in His gracious mercy the LORD when the time was right sent for the Lamb of God, Christ Jesus, His Eternal Son,[7] the one who while dragged through an unjust series of trials on the way to His death and Crucifixion “opened not His mouth,” the very embodiment of the Lamb “led to the slaughter” prophesied by Isaiah, the one who “like a lamb before its shearer is silent.”[8] You’ll remember that Jesus hardly said a word while on trial and while Almighty in every way went meekly to His death for your sake, for Philip’s sake, for this Ethiopians sake, for the sake of all people.  

Our introit also says these prophetic words, “All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD, and all Your saints shall bless You!”[9] After having the word of the Lord explained to him, after being taught, after being baptised what does the Ethiopian do? Scripture says he “went on his way rejoicing!” Yes “all Your saints shall bless You!” Remember what we find in the Revelation of Saint John: Saint John says, “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!””[10] Already here in the opening days of the Christian Church, following the Day of Pentecost, we see the addition of the Ethiopians, one of those peoples counted in that great multitude that no one could number. Yes, “the LORD is good to all, and His mercy is over all that He has made.”[11]

Not much longer after this passage from the Book of Acts takes place do we have Saint Paul—one who himself was broken off of the Vine of Christ by anger and hatred and yet by the gracious mercy and love of God was grafted back into the Vine of Christ by Christ Jesus Himself and the Holy Spirit—writing these words to the Gentile, non-Jewish Romans the very people who had swung the lash, who mockingly crowned Jesus with thorns, who had driven the nails into the hands and feet of our Lord the Vine, saying to them, “But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in His kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.”[12]

So you are not to resent the wild olive shoots grafted into your church, neither are you to pass judgment on the branches that are now broken off in unbelief because “even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted [back] in, for” as Saint Paul says, “God has the power to graft them in again.” And so we come full circle: The chisel, the hammer, the plane and the lathe, the saw they cannot take credit for the work of the Carpenter any more than the spoon, the measuring cup, the mixing bowl and the pan, or the oven likewise cannot take credit for the work of the Baker. And so it is with the Vine and the Vinedresser of our Gospel: The branches apart from the Vine can take no credit, without the Vine they wither and die and only with the Vine do they produce fruit. And so today we hear Jesus say of Himself, “I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” We are to rejoice with the Ethiopian Eunuch as he rejoices in the LORD; we are not to think too highly of our part in the conversion of anyone, or in their growth as Christians, that fruit of the Vine is the LORD’s not yours. You are the fruit, He is the Vine. Be glad that your salvation is not based on your hard work, on self cultivation, on self pruning, on self fertilising. Remember Jesus’ advice to His disciples and to all of us, “when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”[13] If the chisel, the hammer, the plane and the lathe, the saw are to say anything to the Carpenter that is what they are to say; if the spoon, the measuring cup, the mixing bowl and the pan, the oven are to say anything to the Baker that is what they are to say; if the work gloves, the work boots, the pruning hook and the sheer, the shovel are to say anything to the Vinedresser that is what they are to say “we are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty,” so too for the branch and the wild olive shoot, so to for you and for me, so too for the Deacon Saint Philip and so too for the Eunuch our saintly Ethiopian Brother in Christ. Dear ones, when in your life you’ve made it about your own efforts, return to the Lord, abide in His forgiveness and you will be forgiven; remember you will find no rest in yourself apart from Christ Jesus and you will certainly find no rest in the World apart from Christ Jesus: He is the Vine and today we are invited to rejoice with our Ethiopian brother and with all who have been made part of the Vine, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.    

Let us pray:  Lord have mercy on us, Christ have mercy on us, Lord have mercy on us, “take our minds and think through them, take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire; for the sake of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Amen.

[1] John 15:5
[2] 1 Corinthians 3:6–7
[3] Matthew 28:18–20
[4] Acts 1:12-26
[5] Acts 2:41
[6] Psalm 145:8
[7] Romans 5:6
[8] Isaiah 53:7
[9] Psalm 145:10
[10] Revelation 7:9–10
[11] Psalm 145:9
[12] Romans 11:17–24
[13] Luke 17:10

Photo Credit: Main photo montage of Rembrandt and workshop - Baptism of the Eunuch (1631) from Wikimedia Commons.