May 22, 2022 Sermon
Sermon title: "Lydia Gets Baptized"
Scripture: Acts 16:9-15
(Other lectionary choices include Psalm 67, Revelation 21:10 & 22 and 22:5, and John 14:23-29.)
Acts 16:9-15
9During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.
The Conversion of Lydia
11We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, 12and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. 13On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. 14A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. 15When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home." And she prevailed upon us.
The sermon title is, "Lydia Gets Baptized", and you might be thinking, "What's so great about Lydia?" We'll try to answer that question later. But first, I want to talk about this vision that Paul had: a man of Macedonia asking Paul to "help us". Remember that at this time, Luke is traveling with Paul. We know that because the writer of Acts - presumably Luke - says "we" and "us" in today's Scripture reading. So, the person telling the story is with the group, not a narrator in the third person. The writer doesn't say, "They" went someplace....the writer says, "We" went someplace. In the second verse of what we heard this morning, "When he had seen the vision, WE immediately tried to cross over...."
Something else......at least one commentator I read suggested that the man telling Paul in the vision to come "help us" may have been Luke himself. Remember that Luke was a Greek, and Macedonia is a part of Greece! A retired minister friend of mine thinks that as Paul and the group were falling asleep that night, maybe Luke said, "Let's go over to Macedonia". And Paul, in between being fully asleep and in the process of falling asleep, heard that, and maybe concluded the next morning that he had had a dream or a vision. I know this is all conjecture, but you've been there before, haven't you? You watched some TV program just before you fell asleep, and you ended up dreaming about it! That has certainly happened to me! My retired minister friend acts this out in a wonderful way, and I wish you could see him do it! He does a good job acting out the part of being half asleep and falling asleep!
In any case, the group sets out the next day, "being convinced", says the Scripture, "that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them." When they finally arrived at Philippi, we are told that "We remained in this city for some days." Luke doesn't say so, but perhaps the group was waiting for some guidance from the Holy Spirit. Sometimes life is that way, is it not? We feel called to do something - such as the vision Paul thought he had - and then things aren't so clear, and we have to wait. That could be what's going on here. They were in an important city, Philippi, but there was no obvious guidance as to what to do next.
But the Apostle Paul was a man of action, and on the sabbath he and the group headed out of the city, "where we supposed there was a place of prayer." Paul's usual practice was to head to the synagogue and preach the Gospel to all the Jews who would listen. Apparently there was no synagogue in Philippi, so he went to the next best place: the riverbank where women had gathered, presumably to wash clothes in the river. There was a woman named Lydia there, and we are told that she was "a worshiper of God", which is the way the New Testament refers to non-Jews who had converted to Judaism. We are told that she listened eagerly to what Paul had to say.
A couple of interesting things here: first of all, it's a bunch of women that the Apostle Paul runs into, and he does not discount them. He preaches to them. What's more, a successful businesswoman named Lydia likes what she hears and decides to be baptized into the young Jesus movement. We are told that she was a dealer in purple cloth. That means she had some money! Why do we think she had some money? Because anything purple was expensive. To get the color purple, one had to get oysters which had a purple pearl in them, as I understand things. And getting the purple color from that pearl was an expensive process. So, Lydia was a woman of means. Then what's the big deal about her being baptized? She is the first convert in Europe, and she becomes an early pillar in the church at Philippi - and that church becomes famous for its faithfulness!
A couple of sermons ago I mentioned how much the Old Testament valued hospitality. Did you hear what happened at the end of today's Scripture lesson? She invited the disciples to her home! And they accepted! Lydia practiced hospitality!
Last week I quoted from a Lutheran minister named Jeanne Warner. I'm going to do so again this week! She points out that even though Paul considered himself the Apostle to the Gentiles, whenever he went to a new place, he always sought out a synagogue. Apparently there wasn't one in Philippi, and the reason may have been that you needed ten adult men (that's called a minion) to hold a service. So, probably there were not enough Jewish people in Philippi to form a synagogue......or at least not enough Jewish men in town. But Paul was seeking a religious community, and he found it at the riverside. And he was seeking an opportunity for prayer. In the words of the Rev. Jeanne Warner, "Paul wound up in Philippi because he responded to direction from the Holy Spirit and a vision from God, not because of his well-thought-out mission plan. After getting there he waited for further direction and, when none seemed to come, he sought out a community of faith and prayer. As a result of seeking God's direction, Lydia became the first convert in Europe...."
Is there anything in this story for us? The Rev Jeanne Warner seems to think so! She says, "How often, as we sit in council or committee meetings, do we ask the question, 'What do we want to do?' or 'What mission are we interested in pursuing?' or some other question that belies our need to control the mission of Christ's church? How seldom do we approach our mission decisions with prayer instead of demographics or budgets? And when our well-laid plans don't seem to produce results, how quick are we to get frustrated that God didn't bring our ministry to bear fruit? The story of Lydia's conversion is interesting in many ways, but the power and significance of the story for us, I think, is on the reliance of God's direction by Paul and his colleagues through the guidance of the Holy Spirit."
Does any of that apply to us here? I don't know. But I hope our ministry and mission will always be guided by the Lord and not by our own need "to DO something"! Amen.
Pastor Skip
