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5/25/2025 0 Comments May 25, 2025: Lessons from Lydia Sixth Sunday after Easter
New Testament Reading Acts 16: 9-15 The Gospel: John 14: 22-31 Do you ever have those moments when you are listening to someone but are only half present, maybe nodding your head to be respectful but not taking it all in? It might be the To Do list that is going through your head or an encounter that you just had -good or bad - that you can’t quite shake off, but enough to cause a distraction so you really cannot take in what the person in front of you is saying? Maybe we even assume what the person is saying or asking based on experience, rather than fully listening to them in the moment and are already preparing our response while they are still speaking. I think we have all had those moments both as the listener and as the speaker. For the speaker, it is frustrating not to be heard, to feel like you do not matter as much as whatever is in the other person’s head at the moment. As the listener, we often feel guilty when we realize that we have zoned out and have to decide whether we admit that and ask a question or just keep nodding and hope that the issue was not that important and that nodding or acting engaged will work for now. In those moments as zoned out “listeners”, we are not ready to receive whatever information is being shared with us. It’s not the right time. The speaker would either need to wait for a better, more receptive time to discuss the matter or do something that really gets our attention - like crying, screaming etc. I feel like this is what Jesus is saying to Judas (not the betrayer) in answer to his question, “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us but not to the world? Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” It’s not that the Word of God is only for some or that Christianity is some kind of exclusive members-only club, it is that we humans are not all ready to receive and really take in God’s Word at all times. Jesus knew that taking out Vegas-style flashing billboards or spreading memes around the world saying something like, “I, Jesus, am the way, the truth and the light: follow me” was not going to work. Jesus knew that people had to be ready to listen, ready to really converse with God and that comes in different places and times for all of us. Some people go to church their whole lives and the Word never penetrates, they never figure out how to open up enough to let God in. Others never go to church and yet have encounters with God in creation, in their living rooms, in what they read or through the words and lives of others. There is no one way to let God in but it begins with making space for wonder, for questions, for calming peace and for love. It begins with surrender: not having to have all the answers, not thinking that God can fix everything. It often begins as a nudge, a gentle push towards something greater than yourself, greater than this present crisis or moment. Following this nudge is what creates the opening that lets God’s love in, lets God make a home with us. Lydia of Thyatira felt that nudge. She was a seller of purple cloth. A cloth only purchased by the rich or royal. Tyrian purple, a dye derived from marine molluscs, was costly compared with the less expensive and reddish local dye, known today as Turkey red. Thyatira was known for its craftsmen’s Guilds where Lydia was likely a prominent member because not everyone was able to make and sell the expensive purple cloth. We also know this because the scripture notes that she was head of her household (no mention of a husband here) and all of her household followed her into Baptism. Her house was also large enough to support multiple guests when she later invites Paul, Silas, Timothy and maybe even Luke, who is believed to be the writer of Acts, in to stay with her. She was likely not a Jew but a Gentile who adhered to Judaism and was there worshipping along the river at a place of prayer when Paul came. We do not know if this place of prayer was a building or merely a gathering place used for prayer along the river. However, note who was there as the scripture says, “we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there.” I find it intriguing that Paul had a vision of a man in Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us” yet Paul and company are led to the women by the river. I am not sure if this denotes a bit of misogyny on Paul’s part or maybe Luke’s that it takes a vision of a male pleading to get them there, but either way, any feeling like that left once they were there as Paul baptized Lydia as his first convert in Philippi, beginning her journey as a leader in the church there. A number of other women will also be part of Paul’s ministry team in the future. By the way, Lydia is the region that this woman is from and not necessarily her given name, but she becomes prominent none-the-less. We know that Lydia felt the nudge because the scripture says, “The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.” It was after that listening that she offered herself and her whole household to be baptized by Paul. Lydia was at the river in the place of prayer so she had readied herself for the nudge, but she still needed the Lord to open her heart so that she could actively listen to Paul, so that she could truly receive the word of God. And when she did, she showed her love for God by being baptized and making room for God in her heart and home. She shows this literally by inviting Paul, Timothy, Silas and probably Luke too, to come into her home, to stay with her and to share in her hospitality. This experience began Lydia’s real listening journey with God. Her home essentially became a sanctuary for God’s people and a place of worship. We know this because later while still in Philippi, Paul and Silas were thrown into jail for their work yet later, after an earthquake helped set them free, they returned to Lydia’s home where in Acts 16:40 it says, “After leaving the prison, they went to Lydia’s home; and when they had seen and encouraged the brothers and sisters there, they departed.” So what lessons can we learn from Lydia? First we learn that we have to do our best to be open to listening for God or for feeling God’s nudge. Lydia was by being down at the place of prayer by the river and opening herself to the possibility of God entering her heart and home. By being present in that moment, as she listened to Paul teach about Jesus, she made room for God to “open her heart”. If she had not been actively listening, there would not have been room for God to open her heart. We won’t hear God or feel God’s nudge every time we are actively listening, but creating quiet moments of opportunity whether in church listening to a hymn, scripture or a sermon or taking a walk in the garden or woods, or talking with a friend, work to be present in a way that might just invite God to open your heart. Lydia also teaches us that once we open our hearts to God, we are called to change. Lydia gets baptized into the faith community and she brings her whole household into that community of faith as well. Once we are changed, we are called to be welcoming. Lydia opens her home and shares what she has with the disciples, like we are called to share what we have with the poor and those in need whether that means delivering meals on wheels, creating disaster kits, or volunteering where it is needed. Lydia shows us that we are also called to work. In Lydia’s case, she essentially becomes a female disciple who helps build the community of believers in Philippi. We might be called to be a leader in this church as a trustee or deacon or to work for peace and justice in Jesus’ name whether that means protesting injustice or helping the marginalized with our talents or treasures. This woman Lydia, this dealer in purple cloth, is mentioned just those two times in Acts, and her only words are words of humble welcome, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home” yet we can learn so much from her and her ministry. I like to think that if she were here among us today she would say, ”Make room for God and watch how God’s love transforms you.” Amen. Pastor Michelle Fountain
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5/18/2025 0 Comments May 18, 2025: The New Commandment Fifth Sunday of Easter
New Testament Reading Acts 11: 1-18 The Gospel: John 13: 31-35 Have you ever seen the COEXIST bumper stickers? They have a crescent moon for "C" which represents Islam, a peace sign for "O," the Hindu Om symbol for "E," the Star of David for "X," a pentacle for the dot of "I," a yin-yang symbol for "S," and a Christian cross for "T". In other words, this bumper sticker advocates for coexistence of religious or belief systems. Similarly there is a Practice TOLERANCE bumper sticker that expands this a bit further:
These bumper stickers are often in a rainbow, which adds the further idea of tolerating all in the LGBTQIA+ community as well. So the Tolerance bumper sticker advocates for tolerance of all religions and belief systems, native peoples, genders and gender identities, sexual preferences and science with a focus on peace. I imagine we could keep going: adding that we should coexist or tolerate different ethnicities, nationalities, races, physical and neurological abilities, political beliefs and systems, etc. And WE SHOULD coexist with different belief systems and all peoples no matter who they are, where and how they live, and what they can or cannot do. But coexist implies a separateness and tolerance sounds condescending: like someone is just barely putting up with people who are different from them. I have always struggled with both of those bumper stickers because the bar seems too low. And yet, I also understand that the world would be a better place if everyone could at least coexist and tolerate those who are different from them. But Jesus asks us to do more than that. The new commandment that he gave the disciples and us is to “Love one another” not to “coexist” or to “tolerate” but to love one another. Looked at in context, this invitation might appear exclusive to a very small group. This scripture takes place on the night of the last supper where Jesus is having a private dinner with his disciples, therefore, Jesus is telling his disciples to love one another. By the way, he says this after Judas, his betrayer, has already left. So this “Love one another commandment” could sometimes be interpreted as love your fellow disciples, love your fellow Christians of this particular denomination, or, if you expand it: love only those born in the same country as you or those who look like you etc. In other words, the command to love could be seen as only for those in your inner circle, whatever that may be, as the disciples were for Jesus. Sadly, some Christians follow that model with a narrow definition of who is allowed in or who is “saved” and who is out. Some even want our country to follow that exclusionary model. But it is so clear from the way that Jesus lived his life, that that is not what he meant. Jesus showed love to people who were disabled, healing them. He showed love to prostitutes and sinners, forgiving them. He showed love to taxpayers who skimmed off the top, forgiving them and changing their ways. He showed that we should accept foreigners and that we should help all in need in the story of the Good Samaritan. He showed the inclusion and potential of women with Mary and Martha and many other women. Jesus’ life was all about expansive, inclusive love as is shown by the fact that he had to multiply five loaves of bread and two fish to feed 5000 people who came to hear his message. Jesus telling the disciples to love one another may have been the starting point though. The disciples did need to love and support one another in order to continue Jesus’ ministry when he was gone. It is sometimes a challenge to do that even in close groups and families: think of sibling rivalry. In a small group there is often someone jockeying to be the leader, to have the most power, and thus pushing others into subsidiary roles. Jesus knows all of this could and likely will happen so he tells them to “love one another” as a new commandment. It is a place for them to start. It will support them eventually, with a bit more pushing from Jesus, to get out of the boat and start preaching and teaching after Jesus is gone. And that is what Peter is doing when he is in Joppa in our Acts scripture today. He has had a strange vision where forbidden foods were offered in what felt like a trick but the Heavenly voice said, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” As the vision ends, three Gentiles appear. Cornelius, who had been told by an angel to send men to bring Peter, had sent them. Peter knew from the vision that he was to do something but then the Holy Spirit confirmed it. As he says, “The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us.” “Not to make a distinction between them and us” is key. Jews did not eat or hang out with Gentiles yet the Holy Spirit is showing Peter how to broaden his view of the commandment “love one another”. He says, in a longer version of this story in Chapter 10:28, “God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean.” Now as he sat with the Gentiles, sharing a meal and teaching them, the Holy Spirit came down on them, likely in tongues of fire similar to the disciples' experience of Pentecost. This was truly a confirmation that Peter was doing the right thing by expanding his idea of community. When he was later questioned by the Jews for his actions among the Gentiles, he responds saying, “And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” We could ask ourselves the same question when we find ourselves judging or excluding others in thought or deed. Who are we to hinder God? Through Moses God gave us the first ten commandments: You shall have no other Gods but me, you shall not make and worship idols, you shall not use the name of God as a curse word, take a day of rest and keep it Holy, honor your parents, don’t murder, steal or cheat on your partner, don’t lie, and don’t covet what is not yours. These are still great commandments for today but they were not enough. With the exception of honoring the sabbath and your parents, they were all “thou shalt not” messages. God sent Jesus to tell us what we should do as we hear in the new commandment to “love one another” and also in Matthew 22: 37-40 “'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. ' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” And finally in Matthew 5: 43-45 we learn “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[a] and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” “Love one another” - this inclusive commandement could not be more clear backed up with the evidence of Jesus’ life and teaching. But how do we do it? How do we love people who are so different from us, who think differently and act differently? We remember first that God loves them too, just as Peter learns of the Gentiles. We remember that we can love people even when we do not always agree with them or like their actions. But maybe, by loving them, we can grow to understand them better and even that dislike could change. Or maybe by the action of loving one another, we can learn to listen better, make connections and compromise more to make this a more loving world for all. Loving one another means leading with love in showing kindness even and especially when it is hard. Leading with love means helping when people are in need no matter who they are. Maybe we need a new bumper sticker that combines Jesus’ commandment with the Nike motto: Love One Another, no exceptions: Just do it! Amen. Pastor Michelle Fountain |
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