Read Acts 16:9-15. The Spirit leads. We sometimes get a vision of where to go, and find something else when we get there. But we see only as a reflection in a mirror (1 Cor 13:12). God’s vision is more complete.
At night, Paul saw a vision of a man from Macedonia, calling for help. So, moved by the Spirit, he went to Macedonia. He stayed in the big city of Philippi. But to find a worship place on the Sabbath, he went out to nature. He went to the river, outside the city. Sure enough, there were spirit-minded people there. But it wasn’t a man: it was a group of women. Paul was open to this opportunity. He shared the gospel with them. One of the women there was Lydia. She was “a worshipper of God” and “the Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message” (v 15). Lydia wasn’t from Philippi. She was from another city, Thyatira. But she was clearly a traveller. She was a dealer in expensive purple cloth. She probably had to travel to do her business.
Lydia and Paul were both travellers. But they were both also people with open hearts and minds. They were both people of faith. Even though Paul was not from Philippi, he acted like a host. He had something to give: the gospel. He could give it to Macedonian women just as much as to Jewish men in Jerusalem. Lydia was not from Philippi nor was she Jewish, but she, too, acted like a host. With boldness, fresh from her baptism, she invited Paul and his team to stay at her place.
In my third year in Australia, a friend and I started a group for senior women called the Lydia Prayer Group. At first, we used a prayer house in Berowra that I rented. But one weekend, another group borrowed the house and made too much noise. Neighbours complained, and we could no longer meet there. After that, each lady became like Lydia herself: we would meet at the house of each member! Later again, for a time, we got the use of the hall at Burwood Uniting Church. My ministry with those elderly ladies lasted more than 20 years!
At one time, we even met in the English Centre in Burwood Road that I started with David. Ellie, one of the talented people from the Uniting Church, painted this Korean banner for us – even though she was Australian! She is now a minister herself.
Our Lydia Prayer Group had many homes. All the ladies had to be travellers. Then, as they got older, I would do the travelling, visiting them in their units or at the nursing home. God doesn’t want us to be bound too much to set ways and set places. But people are important. We don’t let distance disconnect us.
Our Bible is full of Paul’s letters, letters that he wrote because he wanted to reconnect with people he could no longer be with.
Now we’ve got the phone, and text messages – so many ways to stay in touch with people who can’t be with us on Sundays. Let’s remember our dear friend Burt.
And let’s have the same mindset as Paul and Lydia in all the ways we learn today. Open to moving on and meeting others. Connecting in the Spirit across gender and national background. Bound not by ties to buildings and land but to what matters: our humanity as children of God!
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