Easter 6 (C) + Lydia, audacious woman + 5.1.16

(http://www.shawnaatteberry.com/2014/03/17/
lydia-buisness-woman-and-home-church-pastor/)

M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

(Acts 16:9–15; Ps. 67; Revelation 21:10, 22–22:5; John 14:23–29)

I want to sing the praises of audacious women. In England, where I was born, it was well understood that a woman, if she wanted to appear well-born, should be soft-spoken and calm in demeanor. If too loud or gregarious, you run the risk of been seen as low-class, or worse, American.  J

Jewish culture at the time of Saint Paul was not all that different. We know this, ironically, because it is said that Macedonian woman, by contrast, were known to be a lot freer and a bit wilder than others in the greater Mediterreanean and Levant region where Paul and his companions traveled.[1] And this is the same region where Paul meets Lydia and her household; her companions at prayer. And we can imagine the scene. Here are Paul and his companions, and they approach this group that they have heard have gathered for Jewish prayers. And they see Lydia, a foreigner, even in those parts. She may be loud. She is likely visibly wealthy, because we know that she sells cloth, the cloth of the imperial elite, a cloth colored by a purple dye only created at that time by certain shellfish, and so very rare. Perhaps she is even wearing a bit of the cloth herself. And, to match her clothing, dyed by the creatures of the sea, she has a name that echoes a land across the sea from Macedonia. Lydia.

And what is she doing, but leading worship! Wow. Now this is an interesting thing. She is a worshipper of the God of Abraham, but she is not constrained by following all of the Law of Moses as she is a gentile, a non-Jew. And so, although the Jewish worship leaders were traditionally men, here is a woman, a gentile, leading worship.

And this is all very interesting, because we have to remember that Paul and the apostles have come to spread the Good News and likely to form congregations of Jesus-followers in Macedonia and beyond. But Paul at least, came from a very strict Jewish religious background. He would have heard a saying by the rabbis: "It is better that the words of the Law be burned that be delivered to a woman."[2] But clearly Paul was able to look past that element of his training, because he approached this group of faithful by the river in Philippi, listened, and began to preach. And something marvelous occurred: Lydia and her household were baptized. A branch of the church was born.

Looking at this passage, I learn many things, both from Paul and from Lydia. One thing I learn from Paul is how to follow the Holy Spirit, even when she leads me into unexpected places. I also hear how to be open to other people so that the Holy Spirit can act. Because if we look at the couple of verses right before this passage from Acts, we see that Paul had a different plan. He wanted to go to Bithynia, but the Holy Spirit prevented him. How? We do not know, but he felt that closed door. Although we know that the Holy Spirit’s work is to spread the Good News around the whole earth, it was not Bithynia’s time, it was Macedonia’s. And so, a man appears to Paul in a dream. How do we know he is Macedonian? I am not sure, but sometimes we just know things in dreams that are not obvious in reality. Paul gets the message, and he follows. This is important, I think, because I know there have been times when I have found myself pounding against an obviously closed door, unable to see what God would have me do until I set aside my agenda and looked to God in prayer, trying to learn about God’s plan for me. God always knows better. So we need to learn from Paul and notice closed doors, or times when the Spirit might be protecting us or just directing us to something better.

Another lesson I learn from Paul here, is that we have to remain open to the Spirit of Jesus in every person, including in the unexpected persons. Despite his very strict religious background as a very devout Jew, and all the presuppositions about women and foreigners from his culture, Paul is able to look past his background and see a companion in Christ in Lydia. Even though she is filling a worship role traditionally filled by a man, the Holy Spirit opens Paul’s heart to sit down and worship and to build the church together with her. In this way, the Holy Spirit does not just open Lydia’s heart, but Paul’s also, in this exchange. And it ends in baptism, and new beginnings.

Looking to Lydia in this exchange, I learn many things from her, also. One is how to be open-hearted and to listen closely to my companions in the faith. And another is hospitality. Here she is, near the river, worshipping with her household and perhaps some friends. She enjoys a solid position in her community, from what we can tell, and is probably well-off from her sales of the finest purple cloth. Like other Macedonian women, she most likely enjoys a certain level of independence. She is in her domain. But she is open. Open to Paul and the apostles when they approach, travel weary and hungry for the familiar prayers of their people. And since she is open to including Paul, the Holy Spirit is able to work in her heart and let her truly hear the Good News of Jesus, the news that Paul brings. And she is baptized, the first non-Jewish woman to do so, and so is her household, as would have been the custom. From Lydia we learn how to be open to the movement of the Holy Spirit and its work in our hearts.
We also learn from Lydia about hospitality. She says: “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And they said, “And she prevailed upon us” (Acts 16:15). Lydia’s faithful response is to open her home to the apostles. Now this was not just a nice thing to do. This action did not just give the apostles a place to stay and continue their ministry in Phillip. But here are Paul and the apostles in a strange city, and we know that the inns of that time period were great places not only to lose what little money they may have had, but they were also places where prostitution and other vices abounded.[3] Not a good place to stay prayerful and focused on following Jesus. So Lydia provided a haven. But it was not just that. Because we know that the early church was formed in houses, just like Lydia’s, so we can imagine that the first church in Philippi began there, at Lydia’s home. And between that small house church and others like it, the entire church of Christ which now spreads all around the world, was born.

So let us never think that a small church cannot be part of something big that the Holy Spirit is doing. Because Lydia and her household, Paul and the apostles were a part of the Holy Spirit’s big project of spreading the Good News of Jesus all those years ago. And we can be a part of that now. May we be open to the Spirit and to new people like Paul, and may we also be open the Spirit and hospitable like Lydia. And may the Jesus movement continue, with a little help from audacious women and men with open hearts. Amen.

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[1] V.K McCarty, “’The Lord Opened her Heart:’ Lydia as an Example of Early Christian Ministry”, accessed at: https://www.academia.edu/5151515/_The_Lord_Opened_her_Heart_Lydia_as_an_Example_of_Early_Christian_Ministry_by_V.K._McCarty (29 April 2016).

[2] J.D. Davis, “Sermon: Lydia: A Model of Service and Hospitality - Acts 16,” http://www.lifeway.com/Article/sermon-lydia-model-service-hospitality-acts-16.

[3] Ibid McCarty.