There’s a section of Acts chapter 8 that contains one of the most interesting – and strangest – stories in the New Testament. It’s Phillip’s encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch, someone who would indeed be seen as “other” from the point of view of those who consider themselves “normal” practitioners of religion. A spiritual seeker, the Ethiopian man would have been barred from the Hebrew community. How do we treat people who are “other”? How is being a disciple of Jesus about embracing “otherness?”
A movie to consider in light of the story is Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, a 1994 Australian comedy about three “drag queens” who cross the Australian outback, and the differing responses to their “otherness” that they experience.
Sermon on April 29, 2018. Acts 8:26-40. The Rev. Dr. Jeffrey A. Vamos preaching.
