Years ago I visited a woman in the hospital who was
suffering from a rare and serious heart issue. The doctors had warned her that
there was not much they could do, but watch and wait.
As I walked into her hospital room late one night, I was
surprised to find her playing cards with her roommate and telling funny
stories. So I asked her, “Lib, how can you be so carefree at a time like this?”
She looked at me quizzically and said, “Why Doug, I’m surprised at you. I love
Jesus; and besides, I’m a Presbyterian. I believe that God calls the shots,
don’t you?” Touché!
No text in the New Testament proves that God calls the shots
any better than the one we will take up this Sunday in a message entitled, “The
Lessons of Lydia”. Our text is Acts 16:6-15 where we see the hand of God and
the incomparable power of the Gospel to change everything.
Acts 16:6-15 is the story of the conversion of the first
person on the continent of Europe to come to Christ – Lydia, the seller of
purple. Like Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb of Jesus, what the Lord does here
makes Christian chauvinists cringe and leaves religious misogynists no legs to
stand on.
Consider the facts:
- Paul and his band of brothers had absolutely no intention of entering Europe on Paul’s second missionary journey. They intended to stay in Asia Minor.
- Without three dramatic interventions of God, Paul and the others would have stayed in Asia.
- They come to Philippi, a town with a dearth of Jews and no Christians.
- On the stone arches entering Philippi was an inscription prohibiting anyone advancing an unrecognized religion.
- The Jewish rabbis were famous for teaching, “It is better that the words of the Law be burned than be delivered to a woman.”
So what do Paul and his band do? They enter Philippi and
head down to the river and evangelize the women they find there. There’s
absolutely no natural reason for any of this to happen. It’s only the power of
the Gospel that obliterates all the human perspectives and conventions on
Paul’s day and ours.
The story of Lydia’s conversion is incredible. What is
striking is the immediate evidence of change exhibited in her life. In all the
Scriptures no one can teach us more about the effect of Christ taking hold of a
life than Lydia. I look forward to examining her story together with you.
In preparation for Sunday’s message, you may wish to
consider the following:
- How and why does God thwart Paul and his companions from staying in Asia Minor?
- Who is with Paul as he travels on this second journey?
- What would you think is God’s message to Paul in the vision he sees?
- Why doesn’t Paul go to the synagogue on the Sabbath?
- Why are these women down by the river?
- What does “a worshipper of God” mean in verse 14?
- Why give Lydia’s professional status? What does this tell us about Lydia?
- What do you make of the words, “the Lord opened her heart” in verse 14?
- What does she mean, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord?”
- What are the authentic signs of true belief in Lydia?
