EASTER PEOPLE: LYDIA – FAITHFUL TO THE LORD

By Dr. Eric C. Stumpf, Senior Pastor

St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church – Munster, IN

May 8 & 9, 2010  + Easter 6 + Acts 16:9-15

            Let us pray:  Heavenly Father, we thank You for opening the door of faith to many faithful women throughout the ages – Sarah, Deborah, Ruth, Esther, Elizabeth, Mary, and Lydia.  Guide and bless women today to be equally receptive to Your Word.  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, son of Mary, Amen.

The Setting

            The setting of our text this morning is in the book of Acts.  Acts is volume two with the Gospel of Luke as volume one.  Luke dedicated this records to a Theophilius, and tells of events before and after Jesus’ birth, his three years of ministry, his death, burial, resurrection and ascension.  Acts, volume two, is also dedicated to Theophilius, that’s why we can be sure they are together.  Acts begins with the Ascension, which we will observed with a service this Thursday evening at 7:00 PM, then to the giving of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, again observed two weeks from today.  Luke then records the mission work of Peter and then later Paul.  Paul occupies the latter portion of acts with four missionary journeys.  Our text takes place during the second journey.  All this took place less than twenty years after Jesus’ resurrection.

            Paul set off from his home base of Antioch, the great Gentile center of Christianity, and headed through his hometown of Tarsus into Asia Minor.  He was heading northwest and it seemed wherever they went something was prohibiting them from staying and sharing the Word of God.  This must have seem frustrating to Paul and company as they finally ended up at the northwestern port city of Troas.  Near by was the site of the famous Troy and the famed Helen who beauty launched a thousand ships, as the English playwright Christopher Marlowe once described.  But here a different vision from God launched a movement even great and far living.  A man was seen by Paul dressed as a Macedonian, the province just across the Aegean Sea, calling him to come.  God’s vision now because the fulfilling destiny for Paul and his fellow missionaries.

            Luke is a great travel storyteller.  You can almost see the deep blue waters the ship plows through, the bright blue sky and radiant sun shining down as they pass the many islands in the Aegean to the port city of Neapolis.  The Macedonian city, Philippi, named after the father of Alexander the Great and now an important Roman colony, looked to be a promising destination.  But when they got there they didn’t find a Jewish synagogue or even a few Jewish families.  Their search only turned up a small group of women meeting along the Gangitis River as it passed under the Roman highway, the Engatia, where the colony’s entrance gate stood.  They were not put off by what seemed like a very small start, but shared the good news of Christ.  One lady called by the familiar designation of a Gentile who was interested in and open to the teaching of God, listened closely.  Lydia was a dealer of purple dye, a very expensive a costly commodity sought by the wealthy who wore purple cloth as a fashion statement of their importance. Because of this she was wealthy enough to offer hospitality to Paul’s company.  She came to faith and was baptized and became a partner in ministry with Paul.  That ends our text, but the story goes on.

            Paul stayed and ministered in Philippi.  One day a possessed slave girl was freed of her possession, but she also lost her ability to be a fortuneteller.  Her owners took out a warrant to arrest Paul.  He and his friends were publically beaten and thrown in jail.  That night an earthquake threw open the prison doors and the jailer, who thought the prisioners had escaped was about to kill himself.  Paul assured him no one escaped and share the good news with him.  He and his family came to faith and were baptized.  The next morning the city officials thought they could just release Paul and tell him to hit the road, but Paul said he would not go without an apology, for you see it was against the law to beat a Roman citizen.  The officials were alarmed and apologized publically.  Paul’s status was enhanced and he returned to Lydia’s home.

Vision?  God’s Vision Is the Way!

            Our text told us that Paul had a vision from the Lord to go to Macedonia.  When Paul and his friends were traveling northwest through Asia Minor, Paul was following his own vision of what he was to do.  Go forward, preach the Gospel, gather those who believed into a fellowship in Christ, the Church.  But things did not go the way Paul planned.  Again and again they were prevented from doing what they hoped to do.  Paul could have given up and returned to Antioch or pushed against those forces that prevented him from preaching.  It was not according to Paul’s time and plan but God’s time and plan that God imparted a vision to Paul.

            When it comes to visions, God is the author and source of worthwhile visions.  While Paul was certainly doing the Lord’s bidding which he received on the Road to Damascus, God wanted Paul to go through a door and do his called work in another location.  Often God’s approach is not what we expect or we thought would be the best approach.  During our Staff devotions this week, we were reminded that Gideon was called by God to raise an army.  Gideon had his idea of what he needed, God had his plan, which was different.  Through a series of events God whittled down Gideon’s 32,000 man army to 300 to face the Midianite army.  God’s victory was clearly God’s victory, not the size of Israel’s army or the importance of Gideon.

            When Paul came to Philippi all he found were a few women and not even Jewish women.  Yet, from the faithfulness of one woman Lydia, the Christian church grew and flourished under God’s grace through Paul and a host of others to eventually encompass the whole of Europe.

What Does This Mean?

            Today is Mother’s Day.  The text does not tell us if Lydia was a mother, although she had a household, so she could have had a family.  There is nothing said about her qualities as a mother, but there is two things of importance from our text we could use for Christian motherhood.

            First, the few women and Lydia by the river looked like a very small and inconsequential beginning in the eyes of most people.  Yet, God who is in charge of the affairs of mankind had great big plans in mind.  By God’s grace alone working through the Word taught by Paul the church came into being in that location and thrived and grew to the benefit of others for their eternal salvation.  In the world’s eyes the family may be of small consequence, but in God’s eyes they are the place He blesses and uses Christian parents to nurture children to know Christ as Lord and Savior.

            Second, Lydia was faithful.  A faithful Christian mother is no small thing, but a great blessing to her husband and to her children.  In a world that often despises and ridicules the family, God working through the ministry of a Christian mother is a shelter and nurturing bless worth more than any amount of money or possessions.  Faithfulness does not come out of ourselves, but is the work of the Holy Spirit through the word in the hearts of his people.  Just as Paul’s teaching brought Lydia to faithfulness, and so was a blessing to her household, so it still is today.  No greater means to that end can be found than in the fellowshipping in God’s Word, seeking that Word to guide the Christian mother in her life – not the fads and whims of a sinful world.  To that end we ask God to bless the house where Jesus Christ is all in all.  Amen.

SDG