A reading from 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.
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.
Word of God, word of life.
I also refer to John 14:23-29.
-----
Throughout Easter, we have been following the apostles and
the early witnesses of the resurrection throughout the book of Acts. This is particularly fitting, despite
our current gospel readings from John, as we are in the year of Luke and Acts
is commonly understood to be the sequel to Luke—part 2, if you will.
Last week God broke down barriers of clean and unclean,
expanding which bodies and which people belong in the body of Christ. This week Paul and those he was with
prepared for a trip to Asia, which was pretty close by as far as their
traveling was concerned. That was
the plan, at least. Until God
intervened. Then things really started
to rock ‘n’ roll.
After a few rebuffs of their attempts to make it over to
Asia today’s reading begins. A
Macedonian pleads with Paul for help and so off they go. They set sail and travel through many
cities and towns until they arrive in Philippi, a Roman colony. This is Paul’s first venture into what
is now known as Europe, so they tread lightly. They are outside their comfort zone and beyond the
geographic boundaries they had envisioned for their work and evangelism.
Before this trip they had been retracing the steps of their
first journey and planning to reach out a bit inland, but with no mind to set
sail and head all the way over to Macedonia.[1] That was just too big and too far.
Don’t get me wrong.
They loved Jesus and everything, but Macedonia was more than God, or
maybe just this movement, could handle.
They needed to keep it small right now and just stick to local
concerns. They had forgotten that
God’s yes is bigger than any no.
They were thinking and planning small, not expecting too much, even
though, as people learned of Jesus and experienced God’s love, they were
responding.
Thanks be to God for the Holy Spirit.
Literally.
Paul and Silas and their group are convinced by Paul’s
vision from God that Macedonia is the place to be. So it is that they end up in Philippi. They hang out for a few days, getting
their feet under themselves, maybe a bit unsure of where to begin in this new
place.
The Sabbath eventually rolls around and they know what to
do: find a place to pray. So they
head to the water. What better
place to pray and worship our God who promises to be with us through it all? Our
God who starts by coming to us in the waters of baptism and showering us with
love.
After all, in beginning, the Holy Spirit, the breath and
wind of God sweeps over the face of the waters (Gen 1:2) and God begins
creating, giving birth to the whole cosmos—all of creation, which we also
celebrate, right here in our sanctuary.
I love that our old baptismal font continues its roll,
carrying and nurturing creation, by supporting one of our many plants,
reminders of God’s goodness in creation.
In Easter, especially, we give thanks for our baptisms. We celebrate the water and rivers that
give us life. We gather with
Lydia, the other women, Paul, and his group. We gather each week for prayer and, like Lydia, Paul, and
the others, we are transformed.
Lydia becomes the first European convert. Long before Emperor Constantine not
only legalizes, but enforces Christianity throughout the Empire, Lydia, our
mother in the faith, is captivated by stories shared by the waters of a
loving God. And her response, the
heart of what it means to her to follow Jesus, is to open her home in
hospitality for what will be only the first of many times to come.
This
rare woman—head of household, dealer in purple cloth (the color for royalty),
follows Jesus, whose words in the gospel remind us, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
Lydia
opens her heart to this different kind of peace and opens her home; and she
will never be the same and neither will the world. For those of us who trace our faith and our ancestry back to
Europe, Lydia is the one we can ultimately give thanks for. Without Lydia, there might not have
been any European converts. Paul
and the group he was with might never have branched out into Macedonia and
eventually Rome itself.
In
their encounter with Lydia, Paul and the apostles’ small vision of what could
be possible goes up in flames.
Lydia has received the spark of faith and the Holy Spirit kindles the
flame in her. That flame continues
to grow and spread throughout Europe, despite the persecution to come, and
eventually it connects with our own ancestors and with us.
Paul’s
vision was too small for God, but it felt manageable. It was doable. Maybe
that’s how we need ministries to begin in the body of Christ.
“Of course we’ll let the Lutherans come worship with us!”
“The Presbyterians seem open enough.”
“A couple old t-shirts would be good material for some diapers and maybe a few quilts.”
“A couple old t-shirts would be good material for some diapers and maybe a few quilts.”
“I wonder if people would buy our pies if we sold them for
mission support.”
“What would happen if we had a picnic and made flyers for it
in Spanish?”
Oftentimes our vision is small and simple, and God kindles
the flames of faith and before we know it, our faith, our world, and our
mission are wider than we could have imagined. We start small for many reasons. We start small because we can only do so much, because we’re
nervous about what we’re doing, because we want to test the waters before
diving right in. We start small
all the time, but God rarely leaves us that way. What would happen if we
weren’t quite so afraid or unsure, or maybe even just a bit more open to the
Holy Spirit’s nudging?
Throughout Luke and Acts, God is about busting us out into
life, wholeness, and resurrection TODAY. God is about the ministry and mission
in this world and for this world.
God is about the sparks ignited in us and used to kindle the flame of
faith in others.
Marianne Williamson spoke for God when she said,
“Our deepest fear is not that we
are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are
powerful beyond measure.
It is our light not our darkness
that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be
brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve
the world.
There's nothing enlightened about
shrinking
so that other people won't feel
insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the
glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's
in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own
fear,
Our presence automatically
liberates others.”
That is the heart of Jesus. Big dreams for even the smallest of situations. Big dreams for the hardest and the
worst of situations. It starts
small in the waters of baptism, claiming us as beloved, fanning the flame of
faith into a whole world of beloved children. It starts with the bread and cup of communion, feeding us
here today and kindling the flame to feed the world. God dreams big.
God’s dreams are big for a persecutor of the church named Saul, who
became Paul. God’s dreams are big for
a dealer in royal cloth named Lydia, who brought Christianity to Europe. God’s
dreams are big even for God’s own son.
Jesus knew the life to which God had called him.
Jesus knew the cross was coming.
And Jesus knows God is bigger.
God’s dreams are big for you and for me and the ministry we
share.
And we know that God is bigger.
Because we know in this Easter season that Christ is
risen!
Christ is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
Christ is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
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