sermon excerpts: "In the Name of the Mother" - Acts 16: 9-15

... So much of life is regaining that sense of God shining in us. Sometimes we do things that cause that light to dim; sometimes disheartening things happen to us. The apostle Paul experienced a rift in his team when he and his long time colleague Barnabas had a very pointed difference of opinion over another member of their company, and they parted ways.

The gospel was at a crossroads. Paul and his remaining companions then attempted to make their way east into Asia, what we call Turkey. The verses before our reading this morning say that the spirit of Jesus prevented them. There aren’t any details saying exactly how the spirit barred their entry, but it’s a pretty sizable obstacle to overcome when the spirit of Christ stands in your way.

It would be easy to be downhearted and discouraged. Soon after this setback, an alternative presents itself. It was a dream that prompted Paul and his companions to venture into northern Greece, into Europe and thus God’s work is done. Although I wonder how Paul knew it was a Macedonian in his dream – what exactly do they look like?

Not only does this story begin the spread of Christ’s ministry in a whole new region, we make note of the shift from third person accounts of “him” and “they” to the first person telling using “us” and “we”. As the gospel is shared with Gentiles as it moves beyond the rites and regulations of Jewish purity and tradition, more emphasis falls upon the work of the Spirit and the assembled community.

Paul with his companions, Silas, Timothy and Luke, who is the writer here, finds quick success. Lydia meets the apostles and her acceptance of them along with the subsequent baptism of her household sets the stage for the Christian message to flourish in difficult times. Different from Paul’s dream, because she is a Macedonian woman, she is the first European to convert to Christianity and a new branch of the faith family tree begins to bud and grow. Is it that far a stretch to say that she was the mother of the church?

She pledges the lives of household to Christ and goes one step further. Lydia offers hospitality. She invites this band of foreign wanderers into her own home. Like Shane Claiborne and his friend Michelle with the shine-less prostitute, Lydia embraces the needs of others as her own and gives what she could.

Granted, as a person of power and wealth, and we know this because of her business. The supply and sale of purple coloured fabrics and furnishings was a luxury enterprise. Only the very wealthy could afford the pricey colour of royalty and prestige.

So it was not a financial hardship to billet a missionary group from Jerusalem. But there was a significant cost to her reputation and credibility. She sides with a band of strangers preaching a very strange message of power and might through humbleness and service, believing a story of a saviour who died, rose again and disappeared into heaven.

It’s bad business to join forces with crackpot outsiders. With her hospitality, in giving shelter, food and lodging, Lydia turns away from the pressures of popular opinion, of mob mentality and lives into her new life. She recognizes that a meaningful life is more than income and honour in society; she wants to be part of something grander and greater than any human business.
Paul and his band of friends arrived on the scene and conveyed a sense of family and togetherness that she saw and wanted. They did not have much among themselves but did not need much. They had their faith, trusting in God’s grace and abundance.

We don’t do as well. We like to know what’s going to happen next. We like to have safety nets. But like any mother or caregiver knows, at some point we have to let go and just trust that we’ve done our part, that things will have have to take care of themselves.
Who knows what awaits us? Did Paul predict that his detour into Europe would be so well received? Did Lydia know that she would give birth to a movement that has extended its reach across oceans and continents and centuries?

Do we really believe that God’s love shines up on us? Do we know what we need to do to restore the spiritual shine in our own lives, or more importantly, in the lives of those around us? Where are the opportunities for hospitality and witness that we’re overlooking or walking past?