Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?’”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, August 12, 2021
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
There was one big thing keeping the Ethiopian Eunuch from being part of the Jewish faith. He was sexually “other.” Having been anatomically altered and no longer able to follow specific requirements for participation in temple worship, he was excluded. It didn’t matter that he believed in God, that he wanted to learn more as he studied an Isaiah scroll in his chariot. He had been declared unworthy.
In Jesus, this changed. Boundaries evaporated. Walls disappeared. Oppression was the thing declared unworthy, not any human being. All that was needed for this eunuch was water, plain and simple. Philip did not question the eunuch’s request. The water was there. The man was willing. Jesus’ love was all-inclusive. And baptism happened.
How inclusive are we now of those who do not fit into our long-held notions of gender and sexuality? Perhaps we need to be reminded that such things have no place in Jesus’ love. Perhaps we need to be reminded that all we need is water, plain and simple.
Where do my ideas about human gender and sexuality come from? Do I feel conflicted in my faith when challenged to be inclusive?
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