Letting Go of the Status Quo Sixth Sunday of Easter Acts 16:9-15
You’ll have to excuse me if I get a little carried away here today. You see in the past couple of weeks I have fallen in love. I’ve caught myself staying up late, pouring over letters, talking about it with friends. Yes, some of YOU have had to listen to me go on and on. And it’s all the fault of a man named Eugene Peterson. You see he’s the one that created the Message, which is an attempt to render the thoughts and ideas of the bible into contemporary language. And it is because of that my passion has been rekindled for the Bible. I have begun to see connections that just didn’t jump out at me before. I’ve spent time pouring over maps of Paul’s journeys to get an idea of where the Spirit led him as well as finding little facts about the cities he visited. And I must confess that my map excursion was not even because I wanted to be well prepared for this morning. It was simply because I longed to know more about what I had read. So what do we see in today’s lectionary text? Paul had a vision that gave him a map of where he needed to go. Isn’t it awesome how God leads and directs people who want to follow his path? Don’t worry if that doesn’t sound quite like your life yet. You see, today’s text is the “happy” part of the story. Before Paul got to the vision and the map, there was a time of thwarted plans and closed doors. Paul wanted to go to Asia but the Spirit prevented him somehow. He decided to take his group and head North but once again something prevented him. Who knows how many weeks how many months were caught up in plans that seemed to go nowhere? 1200 miles is a lot of ground to cover by foot. But even his seemingly thwarted plans were woven into something greater. You see, Paul’s plans eventually led him to the seaport where God’s plans could more easily be accomplished. And what of God’s map? It seemed pretty straight forward as opposed to last week’s vision sent to Peter. Remember “Rise, kill, and eat?” This time Paul sees a man from Macedonia asking for help. He is at a seaport, everything seems to be coming together, they head off for Europe and things seem to be going well. Until… The day of the Sabbath comes in Philippi where they have been staying. Paul and his companions head down to the river where they know people gather for prayer. Jewish law said that there must be at least 10 Jewish men before a Synagogue could be built. So we know that there aren’t very many Jewish men in the city. But I wonder if Paul had any idea of what to expect as they made their way to the place of prayer. The scripture passage says that they took their place with the women who were gathered there. And the main woman who is mentioned, Lydia, is called a God-fearer, which means that she was a gentile who worshiped the Hebrew God. But Paul and his group set aside convention and talked with the women who were gathered. Because of their willingness to get past appearances, expectations and tradition, Lydia’s life was changed. She believed in Paul’s message and she and her entire household were baptized. And in a spirit of generosity and hospitality Lydia compelled Paul and his friends to stay with her while they were in Philippi. Isn’t that a great ending to an inspiring story? Okay, so it doesn’t sound too impressive when compared to stories like Pentecost where 3000 people believed or even shortly after this story, where Paul and his friends were thrown into jail and an earthquake made the doors swing open and their jailer and his family became believers. But wouldn’t you know that there is a “rest of the story” just waiting for us further on in scripture. The letter of Philippians was written to the church in Philippi. Yes, the one started that day by the river. That little group somehow managed to become one of Paul’s greatest joys. On his further journeys it was only this tiny band of believers that sent provisions and people to aid Paul in his ministry and to bring word back to them concerning his wellbeing. Their continued faith and their hospitality completely out of proportion to their size brought delight and encouragement to Paul throughout his ministry. Often our lives do not seem to head down the path we expect. We try to listen for God’s voice but things get in the way. When we do receive what we know to be God’s call in our life, it often does not appear exactly as we expected when fact and vision meet. God started me on a path when I was 16. I felt a clear call that God wanted me to surrender my life to work in the mission field. To that end I trained and prepared. I went to college and seminary knowing full well that I was headed “out there”. There happened to be a couple of road blocks in my way that prohibited me from continuing down the path I originally followed. But because I had begun to head down the road that I perceived to be right, I was in a much better position to follow God’s path when it was presented. At the appointed day of worship almost 7 years ago, I headed down the street and discovered a small group of people who loved God and each other. And I discovered through them that God’s love included me, just as I am. I found a group of people who’s love was disproportionate to their size. I truly found a place where everybody’s welcome. I found you. We may be small, but never forget the difference the little group of people can make and have made in the lives of those around us. Today we celebrate those who have nurtured us and helped us to become who we are today. In Philippi Paul found a group of women who nurtured his spirit. Let’s take a moment to name those in our life who have given us glimpses of God... ...Thank you for sharing your stories. Now, go and do likewise. Amen.