- Chapters: - [[Isaiah 56]]:3-8 - [[Acts 8]]:26-40 # Out of the Way! [[Charlie Skrine]] preached on [[Isaiah 56]]:3-8 and [[Acts 8]]:26-40 in the [[To the ends of the earth]] series. The sermon follows the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch as the second "hard-easy" test case in [[Acts]]: after the [[Samaritans]], here is someone who worships the [[God]] of [[Israel]] and has an open heart, yet appears to face an even greater barrier to full inclusion. The core argument is that, because [[Jesus]] has fulfilled the temple and paid for sin, the way to [[God]] is through [[Jesus]] now, not through the temple; therefore nothing can stand in the way of those who come to him. > [!note] Simon's note > - [[Acts 1]]:8 -- "To the ends of the earth" > - Two "hard-easy" test cases: > - Last week, the [[Samaritans]] > - Worships [[Israel]]'s [[God]] > - Open heart > - But separated from [[Israel]] for 1000 years and worship in a different temple > - Today's [[Ethiopia]]n eunuch > - Worships [[Israel]]'s [[God]] > - Open heart > - But excluded from [[Israel]]'s temple as per [[Old Testament]] law # Camping and the right to be here The sermon opens with an extended camping illustration. In [[England]], wild camping depends on not being moved on by the landowner; in [[Scotland]], the legal right to camp changes the whole experience. The question is whether church feels more like furtively putting up a tent in Dorset or sleeping soundly with the right to be there. That image frames the sermon pastorally. The issue is not merely whether someone can slip in unnoticed, but whether they truly have the right to belong among [[God]]'s people. > [!note] Simon's note > - Unlike in [[England]], it is legal in [[Scotland]] to camp wherever you like > - Unlike what some churches may have the tendency to do, [[Jesus]] has a plan to encourage everyone to be welcome # The temple problem The Ethiopian official has much that seems encouraging: he has travelled from [[Ethiopia]] to [[Jerusalem]] to worship, he is reading [[Isaiah]], and he is eager for help understanding Scripture. Yet he has what the sermon calls a temple problem. In the [[Old Testament]] law, eunuchs were excluded from the assembly of the [[Lord]]. That matters in the flow of [[Acts]], because [[Acts 7]] has just raised deep questions about temple theology: who has the right to be near [[God]], and where is his true dwelling? Skrine presses the implication for the church building itself. However temple-like a church may look, with pillars and sacred-looking space, the Christian answer is that no part of the building and no class of people has a superior holiness. The true access question is answered by [[Jesus]], not by sacred geography. # The way to God is through Jesus now, not the temple [[Philip]] finds the Ethiopian reading [[Isaiah 53]], the prophecy of the servant who is led like a sheep to the slaughter and humiliated in a miscarriage of justice. The Ethiopian asks the right question: who is the prophet speaking about? For centuries, that question remained unresolved. But [[Philip]] can now begin with that passage and tell him the good news about [[Jesus]]. The rejected, slaughtered servant is [[Jesus]], who offered the final sacrifice and paid in full for what keeps human beings away from [[God]]. The sermon states the first major conclusion plainly: the way to [[God]] goes through [[Jesus]] now, not through the temple. > [!note] Simon's note > 1. The way to [[God]] is through [[Jesus]] now, not the temple > - [[Philip]] quotes [[Isaiah 53]] # Nothing can stand in your way The Ethiopian then moves quickly from a question about the book to a question about himself: "Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?" Skrine presents this as the right move for hearers too: Scripture should not remain abstract if it is speaking directly to one's own exclusion, welcome, sin, and hope. [[Isaiah 56]] answers the question with astonishing directness. Only a few pages after [[Isaiah 53]], [[God]] promises eunuchs who hold fast to his covenant "a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters" and "an everlasting name that will endure forever." The promise is not bare permission but permanence, belonging, and joy in [[God]]'s house of prayer for all nations. Because [[Isaiah 56]] follows [[Isaiah 53]], the sermon argues that all the promise awaited was the death of the servant. Now that [[Jesus]] has died and risen, the answer to "What can stand in my way?" is: nothing. > [!note] Simon's note > 2. So nothing can stand in your way > - [[Deuteronomy 23]]:1 specifically excludes eunuchs, but [[Isaiah 56]] just one page over from where he was reading foresees a change in this, brought about by [[Jesus]] > - sample prayer in [[Acts 2]]:38 The Ethiopian's baptism is therefore a sign of changed signs. Without blood, now through the washing of water, he is received as one who belongs. He goes on his way rejoicing because he is no longer locked out: he has the right to be there. # Application Skrine applies the passage first to anyone who thinks [[Jesus]] is not really for them. He mentions people on a [[Christianity Explored]] course who had assumed [[Jesus]] was just for English people. The Ethiopian official answers that fear: [[Jesus]] is not English, and he welcomes this African man in [[Acts 8]]. The invitation is not culturally narrow; it is worldwide. The action called for is simple: turn one's life over to [[Jesus]], receive forgiveness, and be baptized. The sermon echoes the pattern of [[Acts 2]]: repentance, forgiveness, and the gift of the [[Holy Spirit]]. The sermon also applies the passage to the church. If [[Jesus]] says nothing stands in the way of those who come to him, then believers should welcome one another as members together of the body of [[Christ]] and children of the same heavenly Father. The closing encouragement returns to the camping image: those who belong to [[Jesus]] can "sleep soundly" knowing they have the right to be here. # Final takeaway [[Jesus]]' plan is to go everywhere and get everyone. The Ethiopian eunuch's joy shows what the gospel announces to every Gentile, sinful, different, or excluded person who comes to [[Jesus]]: the way is open, the barrier is gone, and nothing stands in your way.