Acts 8:26-39

Dear congregation,

"But he went on his way rejoicing" - this is how the reading from the Acts of the Apostles ended and with it the story of the chamberlain from Ethiopia. Nothing better could have happened to him. Nothing better could have happened to a person than that it was said of him: "He travelled his road cheerfully. Full of hope. There is a path that can be travelled. The future lies open before you. Curious about everything that may come.

Cheerful means more than just being in the best of moods for a brief moment. Cheerful goes deeper than the feeling we describe as being in a good mood. Cheerful is what we call the person who has found inner peace, who radiates serenity.

It is perhaps best described by the word contented: someone who is at peace. Such cheerfulness, such contentment proves its worth in situations where there seems to be nothing to be happy about. Anyone who has ever met a person who radiates such joy and happiness, such inner contentment, will have experienced it: Happy people are precious to their surroundings.

So we hear from the chamberlain at the end: "But he went on his way cheerfully." You almost want to envy the man. Being cheerful is not something you can do. You can do a lot of other things: you can make sure that you can enjoy something, you can create a good mood, you can buy a few pleasant hours with money. But happiness, contentment? In any case, the chamberlain has already done a lot in his life, indeed, we can say that he has certainly made something of his life. Right up to the position of finance minister to the mighty queen of Ethiopia is what he achieved. He may have paid an inhumanly high price for this enormous social advancement, however.

He was a eunuch. This was to prevent the risk of illegitimate royal offspring. To be crippled so centrally - a great sacrifice for a career. This empty spot in the chamberlain's life was his most sore spot. And I ask myself: what price are people sometimes prepared to pay today when it comes to climbing to the top of the career ladder... what doesn't have to fall away alongside? Health? Marriage? No children or at least not enough time with them? Be that as it may, the longer he goes on, the more the chamberlain seems to be missing something in his life. The chamberlain wants to do something for his soul. That is why he turns to religion. He spares neither expense nor effort in his endeavours; as is his way, he pursues this cause energetically and on a grand scale. He travelled 3000 kilometres on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. And yet - where our story begins, we see him return without success: He is sitting on his travelling carriage, reading a book of the Bible. He reads aloud to himself, for sometimes it is better to read to yourself in order to understand - and yet he understands nothing. And yet, in the end, he finds what he was looking for when it says: "But he went on his way rejoicing." And our story tells how this turn of events unfolds. It allows us to participate in the stages that mark this turning point and these are not random, but obviously necessary on the path to faith. Firstly, there is an encounter. Philip crosses his path. And this does not happen by coincidence either, because an angel of God sends him on this journey on a street where not many peopleusually pass by. Philip meets the treasurer and hears him reading and speaks to him: "Do you understand what you are reading?" The path to faith, the living contact with the Bible, is usually not a one-person endeavour. You have to be approached, you need others, the congregation. On the other hand, this also requires the seeker to have the courage to ask for help. I believe that many of us find the first, i.e. helping, easier than the second, i.e. asking for help. And yet the truth is: as a lone fighter, you might make it as far as the finance minister, but it is difficult to achieve the joy of faith on your own. However, it is very important to realise that the fellowship that has developed between the chamberlain and Philip does not in itself bring about a turn to faith. Yes, it is important that people turn to each other, accept each other and listen to each other. That is a first step, yes, but if we only feel comfortable and accepted by each other in our congregation, if the person seeking counselling only experiences enough human acceptance in pastoral care, then that is not the step that turns the tide of need. Philip cannot be the other person's comfort in life and death! No, the fellowship between the two - as important as it is - needs a theme under which both can find each other.

And this theme, the one that finally gets to the chamberlain's heart and leads him to faith, is the message of God's devotion.

It talks about how God has made His way to us; how He seeks and finds us precisely where our lives are unbearable: in suffering, in the entanglement of guilt, in a life that is constantly overshadowed by the power of death. And God's devoted love reaches so far that He finds us precisely there, where no human being, least of all ourselves, who can still help us, who takes our place, who shares our distress with us in order to free us from the clutches of guilt and death.

Philip begins with this message from the Bible, but he then goes further, not just with general words, but by personally speaking the good news to the chamberlain. It says: "He began with this word from the Scriptures", and then: "he preached the gospel of Jesus to him". We no longer learn the content of this continuing testimony, but we can guess what it meant for the chamberlain to hear: "You are not lost. You are His beloved child. Even with all your ugly sides, with all your mutilation and longing, with all your restlessness. You are wanted by Him. Your soul will find peace with Him. Your life is not meaningless, but is secure in God's kind love, with which he means you just as you are now." Philip's human devotion may reach its limits at some point - God's devotion is boundless. He is there for ever and ever, and that is why He alone is comfort in life and in death. There is one last point to mention. The chamberlain could have heard all this, it could have gone to his heart the moment he heard it and inspired him inwardly - and then?

What about tomorrow? The chamberlain seems to sense this, which is why he takes the final step, i.e. he draws conclusions from what he has heard: He draws the necessary conclusion from what he has heard:

"See, there is water, what is there to stop me from being baptised? "The chamberlain no longer wants to break off contact with God. He now wants to continue living with this good news. And precisely when he senses God's closeness and is ready to draw conclusions and adjust his life accordingly, it says of him:

"But he went on his way rejoicing." Amen