The Baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch

Acts 8:26-39

Last night I attended a soiree at the local art museum. J is a member and I got to go along for the ride. They had an exhibition of Salvatore Rosa, a 17th century Italian artist that I have never heard of. As we moved from room to room, I was struck first by the dramatic size of many of the paintings in the exhibition.

But then I came to this painting: The Baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch by St. Philip. Now, I am not a connoisseur of art nor have I even really studied it. But this painting not only caught my eye, it transfixed me. I sat on a bench opposite for a good half hour in the midst of the crowd and just soaked it in.

I have always love the story of the baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch. It is the story of some of the earliest evangelization in the history of Christianity. Having grown up in the segregated South, I loved the idea that some of the earliest Christian acceptance and hospitality was offered to African people, long before the first Europeans (Lydia).

There is so much going on in this story and in this painting. The people of Ethiopia had been Jewish for over a thousand years--since the time of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. There was no color barrier in ancient Israel. Just as there is no color barrier in Mecca on the Haj. Middle Eastern peoples on the whole do not find the color of one’s skin a matter for exclusion. And it is interesting that the appearance in Rosa’s painting shows a light-skinned man as the eunuch. There is an Nubian looking child in the painting but the eunuch, the nobleman has the same countenance as the other European-visaged individuals in the painting.

But there were things that could keep a person from the altar of God. Leviticus, although originally addressed only to the ‘sons of Aaron’, the priestly class or tribe of Israel, finally became the cause to exclude those were seen as defective from the Temple in Jerusalem. Eunuchs were excluded even though they might be devout and righteous in the face of God. They were considered defective, like lepers, like epileptics, women, boys under the age of 12, the lame and the blind. All those who made people feel icky or uncomfortable were denied access to offering their gifts at the altar of God.

However, before the face of Christ, Philip makes it clear, all were welcome. Like in Isaiah 56:3ff, no longer would those who had no power to change what they were, be denied access to the God who had made them.

Eunuchs in the ancient near eastern world were not necessarily those who were castrated. They were also men who were not attracted to women who were made keepers of the king’s harem. The word in Hebrew cariyc or sares, is used for eunuch or court official. They were important to the running of any middle eastern court. It was the place were gay men were not only welcome, they were necessary for the continuation of the regime. Yet in the Temple in Jesus’ day, people like the Ethiopian eunuch were excluded from offering their gifts even when they were faithful.

This is the image that the Church has taken on in the past few years. It is my contention that the Church, historically, was the place where Gays and Lesbians and Bi-sexual persons could find solace and community. This does not mean that I believe that religious life was rife with perversion or misconduct. Quite the contrary. Religious life was a place where people who were not desirous of having and raising children found a place to live lives worthy of the call of Christ without the constant pressure to reproduce or protect the family lands. Religious life was a place where one was safe from being called into combat or from being a commodity to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. The Church was one of the few places in the various societies throughout the Middle East, Greek and then European where the poor had access to education and advancement for both straight and gay persons.

As I sat and took in Rosa’s painting, I felt that I could hear other lgbt persons throughout the centuries rejoicing in this portrayal of the Ethiopian Eunuch. The welcome is there. We are no longer “a dry stick”. We are people whose nurture and gifts are needed in today’s Church. We are those who have the kind of compassion that is needed to embrace those who feel icky or fearful in our presence.