“Flexibility”
Sermon Presented May 9, 2010
Acts 16:6-15
I am not as flexible as I would like to be. I tend to organize vacations to the last detail – with hotel reservations, activities grouped together according to area, transportation, list of what to pack, and of course, the best places to shop. Publishers of travel books love me! However, for our trip to Paris next month, I have done little except to have my travel agent arrange for our flights, hotel reservation, and transportation to the hotel from the airport. On our first full day, we are scheduled for a tour of the city, but after that, we’re on our own. I know where Chris wants to go, so before leaving I want to tentatively map out each day according to when the museums are open, and possibly, decide restaurants – at least for the first few days. Until I get that done, I will be unsettled. The main area of flexibility for me is when there is a need in the congregation, family or friends.
Paul and his traveling companions had a plan, but God kept changing it. They thought they knew where they would make the greatest impact for spreading the Gospel of Jesus and they set out in that direction – toward Asia. However, God had other plans. After being blocked from Asia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but again their plans were thwarted. So they headed to Troas, where during the night, Paul had a vision from God and again, the direction changed. As you listen to Luke’s story, note the way the personal pronoun changes midway in the text. First Luke says “they” but then changes to “we.” In all likelihood, “they” included Paul, Silas and Timothy. “We” included those three plus Luke, the author of Acts. Acts 16:6-15.
This is the beginning of Paul’s mission to Europe. With God directing, they come to Philippi – the leading city of Macedonia – a part of modern Greece. Peter Oakes offers this description of the social composition of Philippi at that time. With a population of about 15,000, he estimates that the elite comprised 3% of the population; landowning farmers and pensioned colonists 25%, skilled workers, merchants, and service providers 45%, and the poor the remaining 27%. Slaves (about 20% of the population) were included in the households of the first three groups. (Paul W. Walaskay, Feasting on the Word Year C, Vol. 2, p. 477)
Because Paul’s vision was of a man calling him to Macedonia, I think it’s interesting that the first people he meets and teaches are women. And the only person singled out by name is Lydia, a Gentile who has become a worshiper of God. Lydia is an extraordinary woman for her day. For one thing, she has crossed over – on her own – to Judaism. She’s an independent business woman from Thyatira – a city renowned for its textile industry, and is accustomed to dealing with the elite – the only ones who can afford to buy her purple cloth. She’s the head of her own household (no small feat in that patriarchal Roman Empire), and Paul’s first European convert to Christianity. (ibid, p. 479) Wow!
Lydia combines the characteristics of Mary AND Martha. She is a contemplative like Mary as she seeks God along the river bank, and she is active like Martha, running a household and a thriving business. Because she has turned to Judaism and worships God, she is a perfect candidate to accept Paul’s message. She not only decides to follow Jesus, but she brings her household (more than just her family members) to be baptized by Paul.
Lydia also has a gift of hospitality. She owns a home large enough to accommodate these four guests, and she invites Paul and company to stay with her while they are in Philippi. At the end of the chapter, we find that after Paul is released from prison, he goes back to Lydia’s home. This is a story of God - who isn’t predictable or controllable, and thus is able to work through those willing to open their lives to God.
I would imagine that Paul might have wondered when he came across the women at the river bank if this was what he came to Macedonia for. Wasn’t it a man who appeared in his vision begging him to come to Macedonia? But Paul is flexible and works with those who are seeking. The emerging church in Europe needs the gifts of Lydia, and Paul is open to that possibility. Besides her gift of hospitality, my guess is that her wealth helped sustain Paul’s ministry.
People of distinctly different backgrounds are often brought together in Acts. Those once separated by barriers of gender, language, geography, and social status are brought together in this morning’s text. And in our mobile society, we see that the same barriers need to be eliminated in order for the gospel story to be lived here in Milwaukee. (Richard Landers, Feasting on the Word Year C Volume 2, p.479)
When Paul listens to God with a spirit of openness – of flexibility, God leads him into the unknown. Paul doesn’t have a script for his travels, but must wait for God to “write” new scripts. His regular practice of worshiping God on the Sabbath, leads him to the riverbank and to Lydia. Here God brings a new and valuable relationship that will help to further the ministry. The church becomes more flexible and diverse with each expanding relationship. Paul faithfully follows God’s guidance as he understands it, and as a result, Christ’s church expands.
God takes these missionaries outside their comfort zone. They are far from home among unfamiliar people and cultures. And yet they willingly respond to a need that they recognize only from Paul’s vision.
Sometimes we have gut feelings that we need to abandon our plans and move in another direction. Sometimes the need to move on is forced upon us. When we understand that we are to change course, we want clear direction, but we don’t always find it. Paul finally received it – but not before making some wrong turns in the process. But by remaining flexible, he eventually was in the right place at the right time.
The first time that Pat and James were in this sanctuary was at Tina and Curtis’s wedding. When they understood that they needed to find a new church home, they thought of Roundy and came. It wasn’t until after they had been here for a while that they sensed God’s direction to become a part of the congregation. And in the meantime, their missionary spirit caused them to bring Kris along with them. They followed the guidance they had and by doing so, received more guidance.
The first half of our reading suggests a sense of frustration. Paul’s trip begins with false starts – eventually leading him to Europe. He initially planned to go to Asia! The key to the success of this mission is that Paul sticks with the journey in spite of its initial failures and detours. Had he left the mission, he would have missed the vision and new direction.
For Paul, these new doors and new directions meant eventual beatings, imprisonments, stoning and rejection, but with all of these persecutions, the Gospel spread. Paul was imprisoned even before he left Philippi. But by following God’s direction, God blessed the mission.
God’s ways aren’t always clear to us. We can be so close to a situation that we can’t see God’s activity. We can be so caught up in our feelings and plans that we don’t hear God’s voice. Because most don’t have clear visions to direct our paths, we need to pay attention to all aspects of life – expecting God to speak through people and situations. Taking the time to assess the situation, while listening to God, helps us to discern the right path. If we truly want God’s best for us, we need to listen for the “no” as well as the “yes”. God directed Paul to people on a continent who had never heard of Jesus, and he began his ministry there with a small group of women.
As Paul answers “yes” to God’s call, so do Lydia and her household. God puts Lydia to work immediately as she starts the first house church in Europe.
God is in the business of changing lives. God can touch us and give us direction as we read; listen to music, poetry, scripture, or a sermon; converse with a friend, pray, glory in nature, or through dreams and visions. When God does speak, we need to commit as much of ourselves as we can to as much of God’s direction as we understand, and sometimes that understanding is just a snippet. Understanding grows as we follow Jesus.
One of the greatest writers in the area of spirituality was Thomas Merton – a Trappist Monk from Gethsemani Abbey – a monastery near Louisville. Merton ran from God for years until he finally gave up, to lead a life of contemplation at Gethsemani. Hear these words from his book Thoughts in Solitude:
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
As with Merton, there are times when God is leading and we have no clue that we are being led. There are times when our disappointments and detours bring us to a point of depression and drifting. However, we must never forget that when we commit our lives to follow Jesus, when we truly seek God’s direction, we will find the direction we need. It just doesn’t always come the way we anticipate – but it will come! We do need to plan ahead, but when we are rigid – inflexible – we miss what God has for us. Life is a challenge! Why not seek the direction God offers to meet that challenge?
05/09/2010
