Below is the text of Rev. Maggie’s sermon for the Duluth-Superior Ecumenical Pride worship service on Sunday, September 6, 2026. The texts used for this service were not the regular RCL texts, and were instead: Acts 8:26-40 (Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch) and Matthew 5:1-12 (The Beatitudes).
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“What is to prevent me from being baptized?”
What a loaded question this is.
It is heavy with curiosity, hope, caution, and fear. No other character in scripture asks about baptism in quite this way—with such emotionality, and an assumption that the answer could very well be: “You don’t belong.”
When this story is right next to Jesus’ blessings—his promise that the poor in spirit will inherit the kingdom of heaven, that the mourning will be comforted, and the peacemakers will be children of God—right next to all those beautiful promises, it might be easy to overlook the story from Acts.
After all, there are some strange elements in the story: a wilderness road, the word eunuch, and holy-spirit inspired teleportation. (Turns out the Bible is for Trekkies too.)
And while Jesus has beautiful and inspiring words for us this morning, I think that this encounter between Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch teach us what these words look like when embodied in a real human encounter.
When Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled”, this is what it looks like. When he says blessed are you when you are reviled and persecuted, because God knows a different version of your story—this is what it looks like.
But why is that? What is the significance of this baptism, this conversation? By this point in the book of acts, thousands of people have been baptized, so why does it matter that Philip is brought here, to this person, for this conversation? Why is it recorded, and what significance does it have for us, thousands of years later?
There are many reasons, but for me, on the day when we celebrate Pride in Duluth and Superior, the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch is crucial because it is the story of how a gender-ambiguous individual became an apostle.
Now later tradition gives this person a name, Simon, so while we discuss this, I might use Simon’s name, just because it is easier than saying “The Ethiopian Eunuch” a million times. And I like Simon, because it might be Simon or Simmone, both ways and in between. The tradition did us a favor in that regard.
So, In the ancient world, eunuchs were a kind of third-gender, not male or female, but in between.
They were often enslaved, and faced rude stereotypes about their sexuality and their bodies. Because they were often enslaved to or employed by powerful women, they might have access to education, power, and wealth—like Simon did—but it came at a significant cost, one that they did not choose to pay.
We should always be cautious about applying modern words and concepts to ancient cultures, because there are always significant cultural differences that we can’t even begin to understand. So, I don’t think it is entirely fair to use modern terms for gender identity to describe Simon, or to use different pronouns, like we might for gender nonbinary people today.
However, disclaimer about modernity aside: this is a person who did not fit into a clear gender category, and whose experience of the world was deeply shaped by being neither truly male nor female.
And we get a sense, based on what he is reading from the prophet Isaiah,[1] that his experience of the world has included humiliation, suffering, and being denied justice.
I imagine that he finds solace in Isaiah’s words. He reads here from the most painful portion of the song of the suffering servant, where a servant of God is derided, humiliated, and lead to death for the sake of God’s people.
But, only a few chapters later, this same suffering servant finds vindication in God’s restorative justice, where all are given full membership in the assembly.
And, this is crucial: Isaiah explicitly mentions eunuchs, saying that they too will be given an everlasting name and lineage.[2]
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
And, Simon is more than just a victim of a world that doesn’t value him: he is a spiritual seeker, discerning, curious, hospitable, and humble. Simon has a lot to teach all of us.
He has wealth and power in his home, but in his spiritual curiosity, he approaches scripture with humility. He asks for help from a complete stranger—a pretty weird dude who just appeared out of nowhere and came running up along his chariot.
Any other person with access to vast wealth and a chariot might believe that he’s already got it all figured out, but Simon asks for assistance—and then he provides hospitality. He invites this weird stranger into his chariot and they interpret what they read together.
Together, they discuss, and Philip begins to explain how Jesus has come to bring Isaiah’s vision about, how those who suffer and are humiliated by the cruel powers of this world are not alone or devalued.
They are instead a part of God’s own life, through Jesus Christ who also suffered and was also humiliated, but came out the other side. Healing, wholeness, and love are available to all through Jesus, and all that is required to participate in this good news is baptism.
They see water, and then Simon asks that loaded question—that question that is heavy with the emotions of one who has never quite fit: What is to prevent me from being baptized? From participating in this vision of God’s redemption, from being among you all as a follower of Jesus? Is there a barrier for me?
Philip doesn’t answer. They just go down into the water, and he is baptized right then and there. What is to prevent them? Nothing.
As everyone in this room knows, there are a lot of Christian voices in the church these days that try to say otherwise.
This is a clear, scriptural foundation for fighting back.
Philip does not treat this person any differently than he treats other people who are seeking knowledge of God. The reality that this individual is not quite male or female is never considered a barrier to full participation in new life in Christ, nor is it an issue of any kind for becoming a messenger to Ethiopia.
Simon’s desire to become a disciple was more important than his sexual status, his race or ethnicity, or his relationship to wealth and power. What mattered most was that he was devoted to Isaiah’s restorative dream for God’s people, and discovered with awe and wonder that Jesus was making this possible right here and right now.
This is a story for all of our siblings in Christ who do not fit into clear gender binaries, or into clear heterosexual categories. People like you were here from the very beginning, building the Jesus movement at its roots. People like you were mentioned by Jesus, Isaiah, and others in our ancient scriptures.
You are and were incredibly important members of the body of Christ. You matter and you are not invisible. You have always been here.
One version of Christian practice and theology might tell you that you don’t belong, but there is another vision, one that I would argue is stronger and truer to the scripture itself.
In that vision, the one that we attempt to live into at St. Paul’s, those on the margins find a true place in God’s redemptive work, not because they are made to fit, but solely because they are hungry for healing.
In that vision, those who suffer do not suffer in vain, but will find hope on the other side.
In that vision, those who mourn are comforted, and those who hunger are filled, and those who are persecuted find themselves in the new kingdom of God.
So, for anyone who feels like they are on the margins, or a rouge datapoint in a parabola, stories like this remind us that God has had a place for you, too. And moreover, God is going to try and reach you—so that you too can participate, as the person that you truly are, in the good news of God. You don’t have to fit into any stereotypical category before you can be called into this radical, lifesaving, healing love. You also don’t have to fit into the stereotypical category of “Christian” or “religious” before you can be caught up in the hope and awe of what God is doing among us.
What is to prevent you?
Nothing.
Amen.
[1] He is reading Isaiah 53, though the translation is different from our Bibles today so an exact citation is difficult.
[2] Isaiah 56:3-5