Category: Lydia

Posted in Coincidence, Cornelius, Discernment, God-Fearers, Holy Spirit, Hospitality, Jesus, Katy Nicole, Lydia, paul, Sermon, Story, TikTok

Dreams Not Beans

Posted on by narciejeter

May 22nd – 6th Sunday of Easter – Dreams not Beans – Acts 16:9-15

In 1682 the entire village of Runswick, England, slid into the sea. It was crazy!  The entire town was gone.  The entire town disappeared in an instant.  Here’s the strange thing.  Not a single resident of Runswick, England drowned.  Why?  You may ask.  Every single inhabitant in the small fishing village was at a funeral at the time of the collapse!  That was incredibly lucky!  It was an amazing coincidence!  Or was it something more?  I bet the villagers didn’t thank their lucky stars but thanked God almighty.  As they rebuilt the village, slightly further south, perched on a set of cliffs, they must have given thanks to God.  Their village slipped into the sea, but they had what matters, each other.  Not a single person was lost.

Dr. Steve Land tells about a seminary student during World War II who was preparing himself to enter the war as a military chaplain. One day this student found a used book at a bookstore on the subject of “How to Speak Russian.” This student was somewhat of an introvert. He preferred to remain in his room reading rather than going out to socialize with his friends. He decided that this little book on how to speak Russian would be a nice, quiet way to spend his evenings. From then until his graduation he studied that Russian language book whenever he had a chance.

After graduation the young man was inducted into the Army as a chaplain. He was sent to Europe where his battalion was involved in heavy fighting. One night as he lay on his bedroll, staring up at the stars, he became depressed. Every day and every night he was constantly giving comfort to wounded and dying soldiers. Seminary didn’t prepare him for this. In fact, he did not feel prepared for anything he was being asked to do.

Just then, while those thoughts were troubling him, a medic came running up to him. “Chaplain,” he said, “we have a man who is seriously wounded, he is scared and panicking but we can’t understand what he is saying to us. Can you come help us?”

Upon arriving at the scene, he realized that it was a Russian soldier who had evidently gotten separated from his company. As he knelt beside the man he suddenly recognized he could understand much of what the soldier was saying. For the rest of the night he stayed by the soldier’s side, speaking words of comfort to him in broken Russian and praying with him the best he could until the man died from his wounds.

As he returned to his bedroll and lay down under the stars once again, the young chaplain felt that somehow the stars were brighter and the load he was carrying was a little lighter. He now knew that God was at work even in this awful war. This little Russian language book had fallen into his hands and God used it to comfort a dying soldier through him. 

Was it lucky that he knew some Russian?  Was it a crazy coincidence?  Or the Holy Spirit leading and guiding?  Was it something like Paul is talking about in Romans 8:26-28, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.  We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”  Paul was shaped by his experiences with the Holy Spirit in Acts.  He couldn’t not be.  He was so dependent on the Spirit for direction, comfort and giving him the encouragement he needed to keep going through shipwrecks, imprisonment, and literally for his direction.  Often he would not know where he was going or why or who he would be meeting when he got there so utterly as he relied on the Holy Spirit.  As you can see from our map, he traveled all over the countries around the Mediterranean Sea.  The Holy Spirit for whatever reason said no to Asia and in our text today, the Holy Spirit comes to him in a dream directing him instead to Macedonia.  

My New Testament professor Luke Timothy Johnson used to say we need to use discernment when we think the Holy Spirit is guiding and leading us to do something.  It may just be the beans you had for lunch.  Paul was indeed filled with the Holy Spirit and not just a really bad indigestion.  When the Lord prompted him to go he went, because he trusted God to show him what to do.

Acts 16:9-15 

 9 During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

11 We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. 13 On the sabbath day 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. 14 A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. 15 When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.

Lydia is found in the Bible only in two places, both of which are in Acts.  When it says that she was a dealer in purple cloth that was a signal to readers that she was wealthy because purple cloth was expensive.  Purple was the color of the Roman elite.  The emperor, and only the emperor, would wear a toga made entirely of purple cloth. Purple dye was quite expensive. It was made from a juice found in minute quantities in shellfish. It took thousands of these small crustaceans to make a yard or two of purple cloth. Purple dye was rare and purple fabric was worth its weight in silver.

It’s important to note that Lydia was not a Jew, but she did worship God. As Lydia listened to Paul’s message, Luke tells us the Lord opened her heart to the message of Jesus. And right there on the spot, she and all the members of her household were baptized into the Christian faith. Her husband is not mentioned anywhere in the passage, but it says she and her household were baptized, which most likely would have included her children and servants.  She offered hospitality in her home to Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke saying, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.”  And she persuaded them to stay.  It’s interesting that in Paul’s dream that set his course on going to Macedonia was a man, but his first convert was Lydia and her entire household.

Now was it luck or mere coincidence that Lydia was there when came down to the river to pray?  If we could ask Lydia, I bet she would say, “It was the Holy Spirit leading me.  God led me to the exact spot at that exact moment so I could hear eagerly what the Lord Jesus had done for me so I can share it with my household and share it for the rest of my life.  It has changed my life.”

Lydia was a person of faith even before she was exposed to the Gospel of Jesus. This is important. There is a tendency on the part of some religious people to divide the world into the saved and the unsaved, the righteous and the unrighteous. Surprisingly, the New Testament isn’t that narrow. In the New Testament there are Jews and there are Christians and there are people who are known as God-Fearers as Lydia is. Luke refers to Lydia simply as a worshiper of God.  In modern terms, we may call her a “seeker” or someone who is “spiritual, but not religious.   

There’s a man in Acts 10 who also fits the description of a God-Fearer. His name was Cornelius. Last week I preached about Cornelius without ever using his name.  He was an officer in what was known as the Italian Regiment of the Roman army. Cornelius commanded a hundred men whose main job was to maintain order in Caesarea. Cornelius was not a Jew. Neither was he a Christian. Here is how Luke describes him, “He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.” 

One afternoon about three o’clock Cornelius has a vision. He sees an angel of God. This angel comes to him and says, “Cornelius!”

Whoa, Cornelius is not prepared for this. He stares at the angel and he is afraid. “What is it, Lord?” he asks timidly.

The angel says to him, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have caught God’s attention. He has a job for you. You are to send some of your men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”  This is the other side of the story that I preached on last week.  The Spirit of the Lord is working on all of us at the same time.  Not just Peter, but Cornelius too.

When the angel had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and another devout soldier. He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.

Remember from last week, Peter was having his famous dream of God telling Peter that nothing which God created was unclean – like lobster, shrimp, bacon and ham. It was this dream that gave Peter the awareness that it was all right for him to break bread with Gentiles. It was to Cornelius’ house that God summoned Simon Peter. This was a life-changing experience for Peter and it was a life-changing experience for the early church, and it came through this non-Jewish, not yet Christian, man named Cornelius.

In New Testament terms Cornelius was a God-Fearer. Lydia also was a God-Fearer. She was a Gentile but she was a worshiper of God. She was seeking after God. So it was no accident that she was down at the river engaged in a prayer meeting when she encountered the Apostle Paul. Lydia was hungry for God.  They just had to be introduced to Jesus.  Jesus brings the way, the truth, the life.  Jesus sets the captives free from sin and death.  Jesus brings freedom to our world.  This song was posted by Katy Nicole on TikTok with a simple caption “Can I pray this song over you right now?” It’s called “In Jesus’ Name (God of Possible).”

I speak the name of Jesus over you

In your hurting, in your sorrow

I will ask my God to move

I speak the name ’cause it’s all that I can do

In desperation, I’ll seek Heaven

And pray this for you

I pray for your healing

That circumstances would change

I pray that the fear inside would flee in Jesus name

I pray that a breakthrough would happen today

I pray miracles over your life in Jesus name, in Jesus name

I speak the name of all authority

Declaring blessings, every promise

He is faithful to keep

I speak the name no grave could ever hold

He is greater, He is stronger

He’s the God of possible

Katy Nichole created her now viral song “In Jesus Name (God of Possible)” from words in her prayer journal that were written in the midst of the global health crisis and in response to her own story of suffering, hope and healing. The 21-year-old has reached well over 150 million people with the chorus to her debut single on TikTok.  In an interview she shares a common thread of listeners’ reactions.  “But the one thing that I see as a pattern through all these stories is that they are encountering the Lord. They are experiencing Jesus for the first time, or for another time in their life if they already knew Him. But there are a lot of people seeing Jesus. Maybe they haven’t even recognized it yet, but it’s a start and a step in the right direction, which I just think is really cool.”

The Holy Spirit is using her song and lyrics to speak to the Lydia’s and the Cornelius’ of our world.  They are really great people who are seeking God.  They may have been turned off by the church or what they consider to be “Christian” people. They may have even been hurt by the church, but they still hunger for God.  They want Jesus.  They are desperately longing for Jesus.  Will you be the one to introduce them?  Will you let the Holy Spirit guide you when you don’t know what to pray?  Will you show a hurting world the cure for all that ails them – no other name is as sweet when we’ve hit rock bottom chasing the things of the world – we who know the name should shout it out – Jesus!  We, the church of Jesus, need to actively reach out into the world. We need to encounter them where they are and share genuinely and generously what our Triune God has done in our life. If we do that, then we are loudly proclaiming, “This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long!”

I love a story that Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross tells about a woman she encountered when she was writing her famous book on death and dying. Part of Dr. Kubler-Ross’ research involved interviewing dying patients in the hospital, trying to find out how they felt and what they thought as they faced death. As she went from room to room in the hospital, she began to notice a remarkable pattern. Sometimes she would go into a dying person’s room and the person would be calm, at peace, and tranquil. She also began to notice that often this was after the patient’s room had been cleaned by a certain hospital orderly.

One day, Dr. Kubler-Ross happened to run into this orderly in the hospital corridor. She asked, “What are you doing with my patients?”

The orderly thought she was being reprimanded by Dr. Kubler-Ross. She said, “I’m not doing anything with your patients.”

“No, no,” she responded. “It’s a good thing. After you go into their rooms, they seem at peace. What are you doing with my patients?”

“I just talk to them,” the orderly said. “You know, I’ve had two babies of my own die on my lap. But God never abandoned me. I tell them that. I tell them that they aren’t alone, that God is with them, and that they don’t have to be afraid.”

We all have stories to share of being in the right place at the right time.  It’s not luck.  It’s not coincidence.  It’s God.  If we let the Holy Spirit direct our paths like with Paul.  The Holy Spirit will guide our steps and Jesus is faithful to give us the words to say.  It’s simple.  You just have to be open to sharing your story.  It’s as simple as that.  

I want to close with this prayer from Benedict of Nursia in the 6th century, it’s a real oldie but a goody, “Gracious and Holy God, Give us wisdom to perceive you, intelligence to understand you, diligence to seek you, patience to wait for you, eyes to behold you, a heart to meditate on you, and a life to proclaim you; through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Posted in All Saints Day, Campus Ministry, Lazarus, Lydia, Ministry with*, Mother Teresa, poor, Rich, Sermon

Lydia and Lazarus – Are you a better giver or receiver???

Posted on by narciejeter

We’re going to be looking at the Biblical characters of Lydia and Lazarus, but as we prepare our hearts and feet to be in action for National Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week, that Gator Wesley will be hosting, I thought I would begin with this video that shows the ever-widening divide between rich and poor.

These are some pretty eye-opening statistics.  But I invite you to not let the research/fact part of your brain take over urging you to gloss over the information downloaded.  As an African proverb says, “Statistics are numbers without tears.”  In other words, we can tune out or trick our brain into thinking that these are not real people.  Real struggle.  Real challenge.  Real hunger.

The actual title of this chapter is “Who Are Your VIPs?  You Need a Lydia and Lazarus, Rich and Poor.”  So the author of the book, Len Sweet, is setting up a dichotomy between Lydia, who represents the rich and Lazarus, who represents the poor.  I will read the passage where we meet Lydia for the first time.  It’s in the book of Acts, when the early church is first forming.

 

Acts 16:11-15

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Conversion of Lydia

11 We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. 13 On the Sabbath day 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. 14 A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. 15 When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.

Lydia is found in the Bible only in two places both of which are in Acts.  When it says that she was a dealer in purple cloth that was a signal to readers that she was wealthy because purple cloth was expensive so it was a sign of nobility or royalty.  Her husband is not mentioned anywhere in the passage, but it says she and her household were baptized, which most likely would have included her children and servants.  She offered hospitality in her home to Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke.

Let’s flip to Lazarus.  First off, it’s not THAT Lazarus.  It’s the only parable that Jesus ever told where he gives the main character a name.  Lazarus is Hebrew for “God helps.”  He gives all of the characters names except for the rich man.

Luke 16:19-31

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Rich Man and Lazarus

19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. 24 He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. 26 Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’ 27 He said, ‘Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’ 29 Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ 30 He said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

These texts have been playing in my head all week as I’ve prepared for this sermon and this is my main take away.  We often receive from people we would think or assume have nothing to offer us.  We often receive from people we would think or assume have nothing to offer us.  Is it easier for you to be the giver (like Lydia and her patronage providing for the ministry of the early church) or the receiver (like Lazarus who depended on the alms of passersby and who only had dogs to lick his wounds)?  We’ve all heard the saying that it is more blessed to give than to receive.  But, and I’m speaking for myself here, it is much more difficult for ME to receive.  I love giving gifts and being generous with my friends and family.  My default position is to be a giver and I rarely can wait for Christmas or a birthday to give gifts to those that I love.  Mike and the kids get Christmas or birthday presents all year long.  My love language is gift giving.  But something about receiving gifts makes me uncomfortable.  I know it sounds silly, but I care so much getting right the appropriate reaction to show my appreciation to the giver, that I often wait and open the gift or the card in private.  And that’s not fair to the giver.  I’m robbing them of the joy of giving by hiding out so they can’t see my actual receiving.  Have you ever noticed that when you take the love languages quiz that it only asks how you SHOW your love language?  But it doesn’t take into account how you want to BE loved?  Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, Physical Touch.  What’s your love language?  Is it easier for you to give than receive?

Jesus was a good receiver.  Have you noticed that he was never in the role of host and he was comfortable in that?  He was always the guest.  That convicts me.  Because it so hard to be placed on the side of invitee rather than the one doing the inviting.  It gives up a certain amount of control and makes you vulnerable.  In Atlanta this past week, we had the opportunity to hear Barbara Brown Taylor, one of the most respected preachers of her generation, on the virtues that shape her preaching life.  She told us that research has shown the believability factor is central to you being considered a “good” preacher.  That was broken down to the visual factor, the vocal factor and the content.  The statistics may surprise you.  It did me.  The visual factor made up 55% of the votes, the vocal factor 38%, and the content of what you’re actually saying only made up 7%.  She posited that it had less to do with what the preacher says but how a preacher lives.  How the things match up, the authenticity, the integrity.  She gave us her three virtues:  reverence, courage, and self-forgetfulness.  She then challenged us to come up with our own virtues.  Mine was vulnerability.  And that surprised me.  That was the first thing that came to mind in this season of life.  I’m challenged to be vulnerable each Sunday and Wednesday as I preach, lead the communion liturgy, pray out loud, and give the benediction, because I don’t know if the words are going to come out or not and that has shaped who I am.  For those that don’t know I had brain surgery in May and I lost my ability to speak but it’s slowly coming back.  I’ve appreciated SO much the grace in which y’all’ve walked this journey with me.  I know if you asked me a year ago what my virtue would have been I would NOT have answered vulnerability.  Sometimes we need to be brought down low, to fully trust in and rely on God and the community around us.  Sometimes the “rich” need to get the fuller picture of what God has to offer them instead of relying on their own strength, their own wealth, or their own power.

We must remember the words of Mother Teresa in A Simple Path, “The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love. The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty — it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality. There’s a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God.”  In many ways, the rich are spiritually more vulnerable than the poor because they’ve not HAD to rely on God.

Have you ever been on a mission trip where you thought you were going to serve “the poor people,” and you realized at the end of the trip that God had given you abundantly more through the people you were supposedly “serving” than you gave in return?  I’ve had countless experiences like that.  Through Salkehatchie, a work camp that we have back in South Caroling, on mission trips, in the summers I spent working at the Cooperative Ministry, a one-stop service center for the homeless that provided clothes, food, counseling, and cars to the needy.  I’m sure many of you can think of a similar time in your own faith journey.  If not, I would encourage you to go on our domestic spring break option or our international option.  It has the potential to be life changing.

But, the disparity in our world should not just be a thing that we do on a mission trip.  It’s building relationships that cross socio-economic barriers ALL THE TIME.  Sweet writes, “It’s one thing to have a heart for the poor.  It is another to use their bathroom.”  Let me repeat that.  “It’s one thing to have a heart for the poor.  It is another to use their bathroom.”   I couldn’t be blunter than that.   We should be in ministry WITH the poor.

We all come at the Communion table as one.  “In the early church, the agape feast followed by Communion (the Eucharist) was a “family reunion” where the rich and the poor shared food and fellowship together without regard to class distinctions and social status.”  And on this All Saints Sunday we remember those that have gone before, the communion of the saints, and gather with them at the table as well.  Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day – all are examples of saints who have gone on before but those whose lives we should emulate.  May we live out our faith in word and deed, may we be in ministry with not in ministry to, may we humble ourselves and in our vulnerability may God teach us and mold us and shape us to fully rely on God.