Sunday, February 10,
2013
Paul traveled throughout ancient
Greece, what is now called Turkey but was then Asia Minor, and Rome. He was evangelizing and started churches and
he had a team that included Timothy, Silas, and Luke. The story of their stop in the Macedonia city
of Philippi is found in the fifth book of the New Testament, the book of Acts, the
narrative of the first Christians after the resurrection of Jesus. In Chapter 16, the apostles come to Philippi.
Paul always started by finding the Jews in the
city and telling them about Jesus. In
Macedonia the Jewish community was so small there was no synagogue and the
leaders were women. Jewish practice
required at least 10 men to form a synagogue.
Lacking that, a handful of Jews, gathered for prayer on the Sabbath.
Where did they meet? Paul and his companions were unsure. The Roman authorities governing this Greek
city would not permit a Jewish gathering within the city proper. The author of Acts and Paul’s travel
companion, Luke writes, “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” (16:13).
In Jerusalem, eyebrows would raise. Why would a group of men, itinerant religious
teachers, speak in public to a group of women? It was the Sabbath and they were gathered for
prayer. In a gentile city, far from the
city of David, ethnic and religious solidarity were sufficient reasons to buck
social conventions.
Still this Philippian Jewish prayer
group was different. It dominated by
woman and one woman in particular; a Greek woman who had turned to
Judaism. Her name was Lydia. The euphemism rendered “worshiper of God” as
rendered in the NRSV is how Luke indicated that this woman was ethnically Greek
but was practicing Jewish worship. Lydia
was truly a seeker. She knew she had not
found God in the pagan practices in either Philippi or her home town of
Thyatira. So, she turned to the foreign
religion, the religion of the Jews. She
turned to monotheism.
She and the rest of this prayer
group uttered the Psalms and contemplated the Torah and sought God each
Sabbath. A group of men from out of town
now joined their Sabbath worship time.
In the group was a man named Paul who had Pharisee training and amazing
knowledge of the scriptures. The
Philippian Jews listened as Paul told them that the anticipated Messiah had
come. It was Jesus and he was actually
God in the flesh. In his death, he took
on himself the sins of the world. In his
resurrection, he conquered death and invited all who would follow him to enter
his kingdom and to go throughout this world spreading his gospel.
The Philippians listened as Paul,
Luke, Silas, and Timothy talked about Jesus.
These apostles showed how Jesus was the fulfillment of prophecy. It’s likely that these Jews in Philippi had
heard about the events of Pentecost, the coming of the Spirit of God on the
followers of Jesus. As Paul told them
the Gospel story, they had a frame of reference. They knew some of what he was saying and his
sharing filled in the blanks.
This is especially true of
Lydia. She must have been one remarkable
woman. She’s the only one Luke mentions
by name. She was probably a widow
because no husband is named. She was probably also at least affluent if not
very wealthy. She managed a household
which would probably include resident servants and children. She had a business, which is probably what
drew her from Thyatira to Philippi. She
sold fine purple cloth.
In a male-dominated world, Lydia was a woman of
power. It’s likely that her business
earned her such respect in the community that no man or no one tried to horn in
on her operation or her wealth. The
community would not allow it. Her customers
could not afford to allow anything to interrupt her work.
After the prayer and teaching and conversation
by the river outside Philippi, as the Sabbath was waning, Lydia did what she
often did in that community. She took the initiative. She invited Paul and his evangelistic band to
come and stay at her home. The home of
Lydia the dealer of purple cloth became Paul’s base of operations. I don’t know how the apostles felt about this
woman’s invitation, but Luke writes, “She prevailed upon us.” It is as if they could not say no.
We never read of Lydia preaching a sermon. Much of what I have said about her is pieced
together by her situation. Many facts
are not known, but the circumstances and way Luke writes the story lead us to
the scenario I have laid out. Luke never
records Lydia convincing another person to believe in Jesus. But he tells us she was a business woman, a
homeowner, and a woman with a persuasive personality. And we can clearly see that the Gospel would
not have taken hold in Philippi if it had not been for her.
From Paul’s later letter sent to the Philippian
church, we realize that not only did this small church grow. It became one of Paul’s most trusted and
beloved churches. It was a persecuted church. While Paul was in Philippi, he drove a demon
out of a girl. The demon had enabled the
girl to forecast the future. She was a
slave, so she made her owners extremely rich.
When Paul vanquished the demon, the owners were enraged.
They incited the town officials against Paul and
Silas. The apostles were flogged and
thrown in jail. What happened to Lydia
and her budding house church while the founders were locked up? How would the frustrated owners of the now
former fortune teller continue venting their anger? Would they attack the purple cloth dealer and
church based out of her home?
Luke’s telling of the story stays with Paul and
Silas. We don’t know what took place at
Lydia’s house. A midnight earthquake led
to Paul’s freedom. It also opened the
way for him to witness to the Roman who ran the jail. That rough and tumble warden was reduced to
kneeling and weeping before Paul who led him to Christ. The entire household of the jailer came to
faith. Before Paul and his group
departed from Philippi, they had to make one last stop at the church. They had to see Lydia one more time, just to
encourage her. I suspect they were also
encouraged by her. I also suspect the
jailer who previously never crossed Lydia’s path now came to her seeking to
join the church of Jesus Christ in her house.
How does all this happen in the life of a woman
in the male-dominated first century world?
It happens the same way things happen in your life and mine. It happens at the prompting of God. And the prompting of God comes within the
circumstances of our lives.
Equipped
for Sharing Jesus
1 – Listen First
2 – Know the Gospel
3 – Love “The People Jesus Misses Most”
4 – Recognize the Moment
5 – Develop a deep Longing for God
6 – Practice a Group Approach to
Evangelism
7 – Maximize your Own Life
We have seen six ways we can be
equipped to tell people about Jesus and invite them to consider the salvation
he offers. Today in the life of Lydia,
we have a seventh. When we maximize our
own circumstances, we will have opportunities to share our faith. It won’t be identical to Lydia’s situation,
but we can gain good perspective by looking at her a bit.
First, she was committed to
excellence in her work. That she was
able to succeed in a competitive mostly unregulated marketplace in a society
that afforded limited protection to unmarried women speaks to her inner
strength. I also think it implies that
her business was notable. Why doesn’t
Luke describe any other person in Philippi?
She stands out. My speculation is
that if she her purple cloth was anything short of superior she would not have
lasted. But because she had a reputation
for excellence in this area, people would listen to her speak on other topics;
topics like religion and theology and spirituality.
A modern example of this is former football coach Tony Dungy. He took the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the NFC
championship game. In Indianapolis, his
teams won 11 or more games every single year.
They went to multiple AFC championship games and won Super Bowl. He is a committed Christian who has given up
his football coaching career to write Christian books, to found an organization
that promotes good parenting practices, and to mentor young men in prison. People listen when Coach Dungy talks about
Jesus because of his excellence as a coach.
If his teams went 4-12 instead of 12-4 every year, he might not have the
same platform.
What is our purple cloth? What is
it that we do with such commitment to excellence that people notice? It may be your job. You do the little things to make sure you are
doing your work to very best of your ability whether your work is waiting
tables or doing research. It may be a relationship. You commit yourself to being an outstanding,
attentive, involved parent and others notice your efforts in parenting. First they ask about your approach to
parenting; that conversation can transition to a conversation about other
topics, and you are respected because your conversation partner respects your
parenting so much. Or your commitment to
volunteering. Or your excellence in your
work. What is the purple cloth in your
life, in mine, that gains for us credibility?
Second, Lydia opened up her
home. Many people in our church family
do this also. If you love having people
in, follow the model of Jesus, and go beyond inviting just your friend. When the church announces a need for housing
for visiting musicians or ministers, volunteer.
Volunteer to host small groups and special meetings in your home. Look for opportunities to use the gift of
hospitality God has put in your heart.
Not everyone has a great home for hosting large groups. Not everyone has the temperament or spiritual
gifting. What are other ways we can
practice hospitality? We can proactively
go out of our way to meet people for lunch or coffee. I have discovered my neighbors are surprised
and delighted when I say, “Hey can we get together during the week? I’ll come to where you work.” The offer is unexpected and they like the
idea of meeting socially, without professional or home pressures. You may not have the time flexibility I have. But there are Saturday mornings. There are Sunday afternoons. It might require some creativity, but it is
worth it. For the sake of inviting
people into our lives and hearts, we need to discover how we create space to
meet that is unthreatening, peaceful, and inviting. This leads to the possibility of
conversations about matters of deep importance.
And what is more importabt than Jesus?
How can we practice hospitality?
Third, she was courageous. We have
mentioned how Lydia had to be a woman of great strength to achieve all that she
did in her life. We have looked at the
initiative she showed in hosting the prayer meeting of Jewish women, even
though she was a convert. And she saw
her assertiveness in getting the apostles to stay in her home. After Paul exorcised the demon from the slave
girl, the church was persecuted and she had to endure that. Yet, the church carried on as the letter to
the Philippians can attest.
Our context is different, but speaking evangelistically still sends
shivers up our spines. We might do all
that we’ve talked about in this series and still get to that point where it is
time to share Jesus and we wilt in the moment.
It could be because of circumstances or a particular relationship. We might shrink because of our own sins. But we are covered. Jesus has declared us innocent, justified,
right in God’s eyes. He has taken away
our sin and makes us new creations.
What is our purple cloth? We do we
do with a commitment to excellence? How
can show hospitality? Where in life do
we need to show courage? When we answer
these questions, we are in the process of maximizing our lives, and we are
positioned and equipped to share the gospel.
I close our series remembering an experience I had. I was invited to do the chaplain service for
a high school football team on game day.
I shared a story from Mark’s gospel.
I talked about courage and character.
When I was finished, the head coach got up.
He was respectful to me, but I could tell, there was something he wanted
to be said, and I had not said it. This
was a public high school, but the chaplain service was voluntary, so he could
say what he wanted to say. He knew these
players extremely well. They were in the
midst of an outstanding season. He got
up after I had finished and with passion in his eyes said, “I love you
guys. I want you to be in Heaven. I want you to accept Jesus as your Lord and
Savior because nothing matters more than that.”
All that we have said about evangelism builds to the moment where people
we pray for give their lives to Jesus.
This theme will continue to be a core part of what we do at HillSong
Church. I pray that you will know the
blessing of sharing your faith and that our church will be known as a church of
people who, gentleness and love, share Jesus with the world.
AMEN
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