King Duncan
President Abraham Lincoln once summoned an Army surgeon from the state of Ohio to the White House. The major assumed that he was to be commended for some exceptional work. During the conversation Mr. Lincoln asked the major about his widowed mother. "She is doing fine," he responded.
"How do you know?" asked Lincoln. "You haven't written her. But she has written me," Lincoln continued. "She thinks that you are dead and she is asking that a special effort be made to return your body." At that the Commander-in-Chief placed a pen in the young doctor's hand and ordered him to write a letter letting his mother know that he was alive and well. (1)
We're never too old for our mothers to worry about us. Some of us may have mothers who are a little obsessive in their worries, but that's all right. This is the day we salute our Moms. And if, like that Army surgeon, you have been neglecting your mother, this is the day to reach out and let her know you care.
Speaking of mothers and writing letters, there is a wonderful story about the writer Romain Gary. When Romain was just an infant, his father abandoned his mother. Romain's mother, Nina Kacew, decided that she would make any necessary sacrifice to give her son a comfortable childhood. In addition to her career as a stage actress, Romain's mother worked half a dozen odd jobs so that her son could have all the advantages that wealthier families gave their children. On a daily basis, she reminded Romain that he was special, that he was important, that he would accomplish great things in life. Romain grew up with a determination to succeed in great endeavors, in order to honor his mother for her sacrifice and devotion.
In 1938, Romain Gary enlisted in the French air force. He trained to run bombing flights, one of the most dangerous positions in the military. But Romain believed that so long as he carried his mother's presence with him, no enemy could harm him.
All throughout the Second World War, as Romain served in Libya, France, Morocco, England, and Africa, his mother's encouraging letters followed him. In each letter, she reminded her son of her love and she urged him to have courage in his missions. Many times, Romain Gary came close to dying, but he pulled through because he was determined to return home to his mother and to make her proud. By war's end, he had earned three of France's highest military commendations: the French Cross of the Liberation, the Croix de Guerre, and the Legion of Honor. He had all three medals pinned to his jacket the day he returned home. His dream was to present his medals as a gift to the mother whose encouragement had helped him to survive the war.
Imagine Romain Gary's surprise when he learned from neighbors that his mother was dead--and that she had died not long after his enlistment into the army. How was that possible, considering all those letters that he received from her? Romain's mother, Nina, had been very ill, but she had hidden this fact from her son. Knowing that she didn't have long to live, Nina had written almost three hundred letters addressed to her son in the few short months before her death. Then, she entrusted these letters to a friend, with instructions that the friend would send him at least one letter each week until the war's end, so Romain would not know until he came home that his mother was no longer alive. Perhaps if Romain had known his mother was dead, he would not have been so determined to live himself. (2)
Romain Gary went on to become a celebrated author and diplomat. And he remained forever indebted to his devoted mother whose letters inspired him long after she was gone. What a beautiful story of a mother's love. And a parable as well. We might consider the scriptures as Christ's love letters to us telling us that we are not alone until that time when we are reunited with him.
Today we come to a story about a man who was wrestling with a passage of scripture, a man who probably needed to know that God loved him. The man was an important official in Ethiopia. He was in charge of the treasury of Candace, queen of that country. But there is something else that was significant about this man. He was a eunuch. This is important only because eunuchs were often victims of discrimination, particularly by the Jews. According to Deuteronomy 21, "The eunuch shall not have a place in the congregation of the family of God."
That seems like a cruel teaching. After all, he could not help being what he was. A eunuch would certainly not have chosen his situation. Why would God hold something against a man which he could not help?
This man had traveled perhaps 500 miles from Ethiopia to Jerusalem for the purpose of worshipping God. He was evidently searching for meaning, for purpose. Surely God's grace was sufficient for a man such as he. Now he was on his way home, by chariot, from Jerusalem. We know he was wealthy because his chariot had a driver. The scripture says the Ethiopian was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah. He couldn't have been reading if he had been driving. It's interesting that he was reading Isaiah. There is a place in Isaiah where the Lord says, "To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant--to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off."
That seems like a clear contradiction to Deuteronomy. There will come a time, according to Isaiah, when the eunuch will be honored. When will that day be? When the Messiah comes. And who is the Messiah? That's right, Jesus. But that was not the passage from Isaiah with which this Ethiopian was struggling when our story opens.
The story opens with another man--a man named Philip, a deacon in the church in Jerusalem, who was out in the desert. What was Philip doing out in the desert? Two reasons. First of all, he had been driven out of Jerusalem by the persecution of the early church led by a man named Saul. Yes, this is the same Saul who later becomes the apostle Paul. Fearing for his life, Philip ventures to the country of Samaria where he has great success preaching the Gospel of Christ. But now he's left even that behind to go out into the wilderness. Why? Because, the Spirit has led him into the wilderness. And why would the Spirit do that? It is so that he can share his faith with the Ethiopian eunuch.
Luke tells us that Philip saw the Ethiopian reading the scriptures and he ran up to the man's chariot. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked.
"How can I," the man said, "unless someone explains it to me?"
So the Ethiopian eunuch invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Here is the passage from Isaiah that the man was reading: "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter . . ." It was a passage predicting the suffering of the Messiah. The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" Then Philip began with that passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" And he gave orders to his driver to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. And this Ethiopian eunuch became the first Gentile to be baptized into the Christian community.
When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. Now, why would the Spirit lead Philip to this particular man? We might say it was to show that God's love covers every person, regardless of his or her race or situation. But there's another reason: this was also clearly part of God's plan for spreading the Gospel to all the corners of the earth. This man became a Christian and when he went back home, he undoubtedly shared what he had found with others. The Ethiopian church is one of the oldest churches in existence. It traces its roots back to this conversion out in the wilderness. It's a marvelous story of Christian evangelism.
It's good to be reminded on this Mother's Day that we are all one family regardless of our situation. As someone has said, "God doesn't have any stepchildren." Regardless of our race, regardless of our family background, regardless of who we are or what we've done or anything else about us, in Christ we are children of God. That's why Christ humbled himself and came into our world, to let us know that we belong to God.
Stephanie, a 46-year-old woman in San Diego, California was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 30. Her mother flew out to be with her so her husband could continue going to work and to help take care of their baby.
Together, she, her mom and her husband read about different treatments and figured out a course of treatment for her. They decided on radiation. As predicted, her hair fell out. Stephanie had always had thick, wavy black hair--a source of pride and a trait she got from her mother, who, by then, wore her hair short, but it still looked great.
One morning, Stephanie was tying a scarf around her head when Mom walked into her bedroom. She had a scarf tied around her head also, and Stephanie made a comment around their being mistaken for twins. At which point, her mother removed her scarf. Stephanie gasped. Her mother had shaved her head as well. Her mother smiled and said, "There's strength in unity." (3) She had shaved off her beautiful black hair out of love for her daughter.
You do understand, don't you, that this is what the incarnation is all about? Christ identified with our suffering. He took upon himself our burden. It makes no difference whether our need is physical, emotional or spiritual. Whether it is caused by our own misdoing or whether is caused by the irrational hatred and bigotry of another. We are all part of God's family. God loves us as God's own children.
And God gave his Son in our behalf. There was no other way that God could show us the depth of His love for us, except through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Let me tell you about a man from an earlier generation named Olin T. Binkley. Olin was born and reared on a poor mountain farm in Western North Carolina. His parents, having only a grade school education, dreamed that their children would go to college. They surrounded Olin and his siblings with love and they sought to give them the discipline they needed to succeed in life. Olin led his class every year in school. Upon graduating from high school, he received a partial scholarship from Wake Forest University. That, with several hundred dollars he had earned working every odd job he could find, was all he had to start college.
Unfortunately when Olin came home for the Christmas holiday the first year, he brought along his trunk. He told his parents he was out of money and would not go back to college until he had earned considerably more. His mother urged him to reconsider and made Olin promise not to unpack his trunk yet.
At breakfast on the morning he was to go back to school, Olin turned over his plate, after grace, and was shocked to discover fifty silver dollars. He looked at his father; he was eating; he knew nothing about the money. He looked at his mother. Tears were flowing down her cheeks, and love flowed from her eyes. The smile on her lips was a tremendous encouragement for him to go back to college.
Then he looked at his mother's folded hands on her down-turned plate. They were stained black. Black from countless hours of staying up at night, picking fifty dollars worth of black walnuts to help her son gain an education.
Olin went back to Wake Forest, took a part-time job and finished at the top of his class. He went on to graduate school and earned his doctorate. He became a seminary professor and a seminary president. Olin was driven with the love and determination of a poor mountain mother who had picked fifty dollars of black walnuts. (4)
There is not a mom or a dad in this room who does not daily make sacrifices for their children. Therefore it is not difficult for us to imagine God making the ultimate sacrifice for God's children.
This is the good news of God's love for each of us whomever we may be. Philip saw a man struggling with the scriptures as he rode in his chariot. He was not put off by the fact that this man was an Ethiopian or that he was a eunuch. He only knew that he was a child of God and as such was in need of the Gospel. The Gospel is for all people, whatever their situation. The Gospel is for you regardless of your situation. Christ came into the world to share your burden. Christ died that you might one day know his glory.
_________________________________________
1. Illustrations, http://www.cybersaltlists.org
2. Alison Leslie Gold, Fiet's Vase (New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher, 2003), pp. 62-69.
3. Memories and Stories About Mothers, Collected by Louise Betts Egan (Andrews McMeel Pub., Kansas City, 2003).
4. Mack R. Douglas, How to Win with High Self-esteem (Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing, 1994).
President Abraham Lincoln once summoned an Army surgeon from the state of Ohio to the White House. The major assumed that he was to be commended for some exceptional work. During the conversation Mr. Lincoln asked the major about his widowed mother. "She is doing fine," he responded.
"How do you know?" asked Lincoln. "You haven't written her. But she has written me," Lincoln continued. "She thinks that you are dead and she is asking that a special effort be made to return your body." At that the Commander-in-Chief placed a pen in the young doctor's hand and ordered him to write a letter letting his mother know that he was alive and well. (1)
We're never too old for our mothers to worry about us. Some of us may have mothers who are a little obsessive in their worries, but that's all right. This is the day we salute our Moms. And if, like that Army surgeon, you have been neglecting your mother, this is the day to reach out and let her know you care.
Speaking of mothers and writing letters, there is a wonderful story about the writer Romain Gary. When Romain was just an infant, his father abandoned his mother. Romain's mother, Nina Kacew, decided that she would make any necessary sacrifice to give her son a comfortable childhood. In addition to her career as a stage actress, Romain's mother worked half a dozen odd jobs so that her son could have all the advantages that wealthier families gave their children. On a daily basis, she reminded Romain that he was special, that he was important, that he would accomplish great things in life. Romain grew up with a determination to succeed in great endeavors, in order to honor his mother for her sacrifice and devotion.
In 1938, Romain Gary enlisted in the French air force. He trained to run bombing flights, one of the most dangerous positions in the military. But Romain believed that so long as he carried his mother's presence with him, no enemy could harm him.
All throughout the Second World War, as Romain served in Libya, France, Morocco, England, and Africa, his mother's encouraging letters followed him. In each letter, she reminded her son of her love and she urged him to have courage in his missions. Many times, Romain Gary came close to dying, but he pulled through because he was determined to return home to his mother and to make her proud. By war's end, he had earned three of France's highest military commendations: the French Cross of the Liberation, the Croix de Guerre, and the Legion of Honor. He had all three medals pinned to his jacket the day he returned home. His dream was to present his medals as a gift to the mother whose encouragement had helped him to survive the war.
Imagine Romain Gary's surprise when he learned from neighbors that his mother was dead--and that she had died not long after his enlistment into the army. How was that possible, considering all those letters that he received from her? Romain's mother, Nina, had been very ill, but she had hidden this fact from her son. Knowing that she didn't have long to live, Nina had written almost three hundred letters addressed to her son in the few short months before her death. Then, she entrusted these letters to a friend, with instructions that the friend would send him at least one letter each week until the war's end, so Romain would not know until he came home that his mother was no longer alive. Perhaps if Romain had known his mother was dead, he would not have been so determined to live himself. (2)
Romain Gary went on to become a celebrated author and diplomat. And he remained forever indebted to his devoted mother whose letters inspired him long after she was gone. What a beautiful story of a mother's love. And a parable as well. We might consider the scriptures as Christ's love letters to us telling us that we are not alone until that time when we are reunited with him.
Today we come to a story about a man who was wrestling with a passage of scripture, a man who probably needed to know that God loved him. The man was an important official in Ethiopia. He was in charge of the treasury of Candace, queen of that country. But there is something else that was significant about this man. He was a eunuch. This is important only because eunuchs were often victims of discrimination, particularly by the Jews. According to Deuteronomy 21, "The eunuch shall not have a place in the congregation of the family of God."
That seems like a cruel teaching. After all, he could not help being what he was. A eunuch would certainly not have chosen his situation. Why would God hold something against a man which he could not help?
This man had traveled perhaps 500 miles from Ethiopia to Jerusalem for the purpose of worshipping God. He was evidently searching for meaning, for purpose. Surely God's grace was sufficient for a man such as he. Now he was on his way home, by chariot, from Jerusalem. We know he was wealthy because his chariot had a driver. The scripture says the Ethiopian was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah. He couldn't have been reading if he had been driving. It's interesting that he was reading Isaiah. There is a place in Isaiah where the Lord says, "To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant--to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off."
That seems like a clear contradiction to Deuteronomy. There will come a time, according to Isaiah, when the eunuch will be honored. When will that day be? When the Messiah comes. And who is the Messiah? That's right, Jesus. But that was not the passage from Isaiah with which this Ethiopian was struggling when our story opens.
The story opens with another man--a man named Philip, a deacon in the church in Jerusalem, who was out in the desert. What was Philip doing out in the desert? Two reasons. First of all, he had been driven out of Jerusalem by the persecution of the early church led by a man named Saul. Yes, this is the same Saul who later becomes the apostle Paul. Fearing for his life, Philip ventures to the country of Samaria where he has great success preaching the Gospel of Christ. But now he's left even that behind to go out into the wilderness. Why? Because, the Spirit has led him into the wilderness. And why would the Spirit do that? It is so that he can share his faith with the Ethiopian eunuch.
Luke tells us that Philip saw the Ethiopian reading the scriptures and he ran up to the man's chariot. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked.
"How can I," the man said, "unless someone explains it to me?"
So the Ethiopian eunuch invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Here is the passage from Isaiah that the man was reading: "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter . . ." It was a passage predicting the suffering of the Messiah. The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" Then Philip began with that passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" And he gave orders to his driver to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. And this Ethiopian eunuch became the first Gentile to be baptized into the Christian community.
When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. Now, why would the Spirit lead Philip to this particular man? We might say it was to show that God's love covers every person, regardless of his or her race or situation. But there's another reason: this was also clearly part of God's plan for spreading the Gospel to all the corners of the earth. This man became a Christian and when he went back home, he undoubtedly shared what he had found with others. The Ethiopian church is one of the oldest churches in existence. It traces its roots back to this conversion out in the wilderness. It's a marvelous story of Christian evangelism.
It's good to be reminded on this Mother's Day that we are all one family regardless of our situation. As someone has said, "God doesn't have any stepchildren." Regardless of our race, regardless of our family background, regardless of who we are or what we've done or anything else about us, in Christ we are children of God. That's why Christ humbled himself and came into our world, to let us know that we belong to God.
Stephanie, a 46-year-old woman in San Diego, California was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 30. Her mother flew out to be with her so her husband could continue going to work and to help take care of their baby.
Together, she, her mom and her husband read about different treatments and figured out a course of treatment for her. They decided on radiation. As predicted, her hair fell out. Stephanie had always had thick, wavy black hair--a source of pride and a trait she got from her mother, who, by then, wore her hair short, but it still looked great.
One morning, Stephanie was tying a scarf around her head when Mom walked into her bedroom. She had a scarf tied around her head also, and Stephanie made a comment around their being mistaken for twins. At which point, her mother removed her scarf. Stephanie gasped. Her mother had shaved her head as well. Her mother smiled and said, "There's strength in unity." (3) She had shaved off her beautiful black hair out of love for her daughter.
You do understand, don't you, that this is what the incarnation is all about? Christ identified with our suffering. He took upon himself our burden. It makes no difference whether our need is physical, emotional or spiritual. Whether it is caused by our own misdoing or whether is caused by the irrational hatred and bigotry of another. We are all part of God's family. God loves us as God's own children.
And God gave his Son in our behalf. There was no other way that God could show us the depth of His love for us, except through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Let me tell you about a man from an earlier generation named Olin T. Binkley. Olin was born and reared on a poor mountain farm in Western North Carolina. His parents, having only a grade school education, dreamed that their children would go to college. They surrounded Olin and his siblings with love and they sought to give them the discipline they needed to succeed in life. Olin led his class every year in school. Upon graduating from high school, he received a partial scholarship from Wake Forest University. That, with several hundred dollars he had earned working every odd job he could find, was all he had to start college.
Unfortunately when Olin came home for the Christmas holiday the first year, he brought along his trunk. He told his parents he was out of money and would not go back to college until he had earned considerably more. His mother urged him to reconsider and made Olin promise not to unpack his trunk yet.
At breakfast on the morning he was to go back to school, Olin turned over his plate, after grace, and was shocked to discover fifty silver dollars. He looked at his father; he was eating; he knew nothing about the money. He looked at his mother. Tears were flowing down her cheeks, and love flowed from her eyes. The smile on her lips was a tremendous encouragement for him to go back to college.
Then he looked at his mother's folded hands on her down-turned plate. They were stained black. Black from countless hours of staying up at night, picking fifty dollars worth of black walnuts to help her son gain an education.
Olin went back to Wake Forest, took a part-time job and finished at the top of his class. He went on to graduate school and earned his doctorate. He became a seminary professor and a seminary president. Olin was driven with the love and determination of a poor mountain mother who had picked fifty dollars of black walnuts. (4)
There is not a mom or a dad in this room who does not daily make sacrifices for their children. Therefore it is not difficult for us to imagine God making the ultimate sacrifice for God's children.
This is the good news of God's love for each of us whomever we may be. Philip saw a man struggling with the scriptures as he rode in his chariot. He was not put off by the fact that this man was an Ethiopian or that he was a eunuch. He only knew that he was a child of God and as such was in need of the Gospel. The Gospel is for all people, whatever their situation. The Gospel is for you regardless of your situation. Christ came into the world to share your burden. Christ died that you might one day know his glory.
_________________________________________
1. Illustrations, http://www.cybersaltlists.org
2. Alison Leslie Gold, Fiet's Vase (New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher, 2003), pp. 62-69.
3. Memories and Stories About Mothers, Collected by Louise Betts Egan (Andrews McMeel Pub., Kansas City, 2003).
4. Mack R. Douglas, How to Win with High Self-esteem (Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing, 1994).
