|
Dear Centenary Family,
In this post-Easter season, we’ve been looking at the ways in which the power and presence of the risen Christ transformed a fearful band of Jesus’ followers into a group of people filled with faith and courage, taking the good news to the whole world. We’ve seen how the presence of the risen Christ surprises people and shatters old assumptions. Peter becomes a bold and courageous preacher after denying Jesus three times. Saul, who’d given his life to the persecution of Christians, becomes Paul and takes the gospel around the Mediterranean world. Peter and Paul and Christians in Jerusalem learn that God’s love includes Gentiles as well as Jews. The early church shows us how people gathered in Jesus’ name bring life to the dead. Remember Dorcas?
This week, in Acts 16:9-15, we see how the gospel moves from Asia minor (Turkey) to Macedonia (modern day southeastern Europe). We see how people like Paul and Silas and Timothy are willing to adapt their methods and to some extent their message to communicate with people shaped by Greek and Roman culture.
We meet a woman named Lydia. She’s a businesswoman who has made a very good living selling purple cloth to the upper crust of Roman society. She’s a person searching for something more in her life. Paul arrives in the city of Philippi and goes to the river where Lydia and other women are praying. He tells them about Jesus. She accepts the invitation to follow along The Way as it was called. And she invites Paul and his companions to stay in her home while they are carrying out their mission in Philippi.
I’ve thought a lot about Lydia this week. She reminds me that there is more than one way to be a disciple and follower of Jesus Christ. Some are called to sell what they have and travel the world spreading the good news like Paul. Some may be called to sell all their possessions and share with the poor and take up a life of simplicity like Zaccheus or St. Francis of Assisi. Some may be called to become martyrs. But others, perhaps most of us, are like Lydia. We’re called to try to figure out how to be a follower of Jesus Christ while we run a business, keep a household together, care for children or parents, pay the bills, and do some good in the world for others.
And Lydia is another surprise in the story of the way the Spirit moves. A well-off businesswoman, who is the head of her household in a patriarchal world, becomes the leader of the church in Philippi! I doubt that anyone saw that coming. I’m working on a sermon this week entitled “An Easter Faith for Everyday Life.”
I’m glad to be on this journey of figuring out what God has in store for our future. If we learn anything from the book of Acts, it is that we need to stay awake, be ready to be surprised, and keep our eyes open for the folks we might overlook that God is trying to include in the work of the kingdom. It’s all a bit frightening, but it’s also exciting. We’re discovering together what the Spirit has in store for us next!
Yours in Christ’s love,
Matt
| 
