Pentecost 1, Year C (Trinity Sunday)

Proverbs 8:1–4, 22–31; Psalm 8; Romans 5:1–5; John 16:12–15

A homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at St. John’s Church, Centralia, Illinois on Sunday, May 26, 2013.
 

A GIFT IN TWO PARTS, REFLECTING THE GIVER” 

Let’s suppose we’ve just been given a gift-wrapped box, containing a precious gift.  As we open the box, we realize that the gift inside comes in two parts.  Along with the item in the box (feel free to use your imagination here…pick something you’d really like to have, something you’d value highly), there is a beautifully hand-engraved note that says, “This gift comes in two parts.  You will receive the second part of it shortly.”

Now, as we think about this illustration, there are several points we might notice about the process of the receiving this gift:

·        The gift will tell us something about the giver.  For example, is the giver thoughtful, keeping the recipient’s interests in mind? 

·        The gift will tell us something about the relationship between the giver and the recipient.  Is the relationship one of friendship, and is that friendship of the deep and long-lasting variety, or is the relationship more on the casual side of things?  Is the relationship some sort of a love relationship, say between parent and child or between grandparent and child?  Or is the relationship a romantic one?

·        The gift, given in two parts, points back to the giver, and forward to the second part of the gift that will complete/complement the first part of the gift.  That second part of the gift will also reflect on the first part of the gift, and on the giver, as well.

Now, if we keep this image in mind, we have a good way to approach the mystery of God’s nature as it exists in the Holy Trinity:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Perhaps an explanation is in order.

The first part of the gift is like the giving of Jesus Christ, who was sent by God the Father.  The gift of Jesus Christ tells us a lot about the nature of God the Father.  The gift of Jesus Christ also tells us a lot about our relationship with the Father, through the gift of the Son.  And the second part of the gift, which completes the gift, is the giving of the Holy Spirit, whose coming we commemorated just last Sunday, on the Feast of Pentecost.

 Looking at the criteria we’ve outlined in the bullet points above, let’s apply these three aspects of the gifts and the giver to our relationship to God:

The gift of Jesus Christ tells us a lot about God the Father.  Jesus reveals a great deal of the Father’s nature in statements that we find in the Gospel according to John.  Some examples will illustrate the point:  “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own will, but only what he sees the Father doing.  For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and show him all that he himself is doing.”  (5:19 -20)   “Philip said to Jesus, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’  Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip?  Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.  How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’  Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?  The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.  Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.”  (14: 8 – 11)

The gift of Jesus Christ tells us a lot about our relationship to God the Father.  God’s express purpose in sending Jesus Christ to take on our humanity is to demonstrate God’s love for all humankind.  Jesus puts that reality this way:  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”  (John 3:16–17)

The second part of the gift, the giving of the Holy Spirit, completes the giving of the Son:  The coming of the Holy Spirit enables Christian believers to fully grasp the truth of Jesus’ words and actions.  The Lord states this aspect of the giving of the Holy Spirit this way:  “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.  He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.  All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.  (John 16:12–15)

Essentially, what we have been doing is to engage in some theological reflection on the nature of the Godhead, as we know God to be One God in Three Persons:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

For theologians will be quick to tell us that it is the coming of Jesus Christ, His works, miracles, teaching, manner of life, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension that caused new light to shine into the minds and hearts of God’s people, prompting them to look backward through the lens of Jesus Christ at God the Father.   The experience of Jesus Christ sheds important light on the Father.  And then, God’s people looked forward to the events that attended the coming of the Holy Spirit to understand the Spirit’s role and relationship to the Son and to the Father.

For the mysterious, wonderful and loving God that we love and serve is One God in Three Persons, the undivided Trinity:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Thanks be to God!

AMEN.

 

The Feast of Pentecost

Acts 2:1–21; Psalm 104:25–35, 37; Romans 8:14–17; John 14:8–17, 25–27

A homily by Fr. Gene Tucker given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois, on Sunday, May 19, 2013.

“PENTECOST – THE RATIFICATION OF THE NEW COVENANT OF LOVE”

(Homily text:  Acts 2:1–21)

In our first reading this morning, we hear these familiar words:  “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.  And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.  And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak on other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”  (Acts 2:1–4)

In these four verses, Luke (the author of the Book of Acts) passes on to us the things that took place on the great feast of Pentecost.  It is a sparse and spare account of those events, which gave birth to the Church.

Perhaps we are so used to hearing this passage from Acts each year as the Feast of Pentecost rolls around, that we could benefit from some reminders about the background of the Pentecost celebration and its meaning for the Jews of the first century.  For if we can step backward into the importance of this festival as Judaism understood it, we can glean some important significance for us as Christians.

So, let’s take a journey into the celebration of Pentecost:

As we begin our journey, we ought to take note of the name of the festival itself….the name comes from the Greek, where it means “fifty”.  This is a reference to the fact that Pentecost takes place fifty days after Passover.  In the year that Jesus suffered, died and rose again, Passover took place on a Saturday.  So, the feast of Pentecost, in that year, fell on a Sunday (today).

This festival is known by the Hebrew name Shavuot, and is also known as the “Feast of Weeks”.  Its significance, originally, was that it was an agricultural festival, during which the first fruits of the crops were offered in thanksgiving to God.  Deuteronomy 16:9 required that the first fruits of the corn crop be offered on this day.  Pentecost was one of three major feasts in the Jewish calendar, and would have been an occasion for pilgrims to come to Jerusalem to celebrate.  No wonder that so many people from different parts of the known world heard the disciples speaking in their own native languages.

In later times, the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai came to be associated with this festival.  (Scholars are not sure if that meaning was attached to this festival at the time that the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples, or if this meaning came to be associated with it at a later time.  However, it is clear that, by the time Luke is writing his account in the Book of Acts, that meaning had come to be attached to the festival of Pentecost.)

Remember that the giving of the Law was accompanied by fire and the sounds of trumpet blasts and thunder (and also earthquakes).  (See Exodus 19:16–20)

So these elements are part of the Pentecost tradition.

Spirit, making connections to the original meanings that were attached to Pentecost.

We notice that Luke tells us that the Holy Spirit’s arrival was like the rush of a mighty wind.  He also tells us that something like tongues of fire rested over each one gathered in the house that day.  We get the impression that Luke is straining to find language that can capture the event accurately.  The best he can do is to liken it to something….perhaps that is because the mystery of God’s acting often defies the limits of human language to accurately describe.

But Luke states in a very straightforward manner what the result of the Spirit’s coming was:  He says that those who were filled with the Spirit began to speak in foreign languages.  The Spirit’s arrival was noticeable for the effects that were produced.  And, it is important to note, everyone was affected in the same way.  The Spirit’s arrival became the individual and collective possession of each individual and of the entire group, as well.

We said a moment ago that the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai was accompanied by fire and by sounds.  Here, God’s presence and God’s power are accompanied by some of the same sorts of markers:  fire and sounds.

Just as Moses made known to the people of Israel what God had made known to him on the holy mountain, now the disciples who were gathered together made known the mighty works of God, the works done in Jesus Christ.

So, a new law is being given, a law of love made known in the person, work, teaching, miracles, life, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In Deuteronomy 18:15–16, we read, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me (Moses) from among you, from your brothers – it is to him you shall listen – just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb (another title for Sinai) on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any ore, lest I die.’”  Here, in the person of Jesus Christ, is that promised new prophet, one like Moses, who is the mediator of this new covenant of love.

This new covenant’s ratification takes place with the coming of the Holy Spirit, with fire and with sound.  Those gathered on that day affirm, in unison, that all that the Spirit had empowered them to do, they did faithfully.  In the same way, the people of ancient Israel, when Moses read the terms of the old covenant to them, said, “All that the Lord has spoken, we will do…” (Exodus 24:7b)

The old covenant, made with Moses, was intended to touch, shape and transform every member of God’s people.  This process took place in the ceremonies, sacrifices, and calendar of festivals and observances that God had prescribed in the covenant that took shape under Moses.

The new covenant, likewise, is intended to touch, shape and transform every member of God’s people.  The process now takes shape under the guidance, power and influence of the Holy Spirit. 

Earlier understandings of the nature of God’s Spirit under the old covenant saw that Spirit as a general presence, going forth from God.  At times, that generally-present Spirit descended on an individual (the Spirit’s descending on King David at the time of his anointing is one example…see I Samuel 16: 13).  But, generally, speaking, the Spirit’s power wasn’t something that everyone experienced in a personal way.

Now, that perception changes as the Holy Spirit descends on each one gathered on the day of Pentecost.  Each one responds, and they respond in the same way, enabled by the Spirit to speak a foreign language they had not known prior to that time.  The Spirit is now personally and corporately experienced.

The old covenant worked on an outside-to-an-inside pattern:  The ceremonies, sacrifices, and the yearly calendar were all designed to keep God’s people aware of God’s presence on a daily basis.  The outward rites and laws concerned righteous behavior were designed to have an effect on the heart.

Now, the new covenant begins the process in reverse, operating on an inside-to-an-outside pattern, beginning its work in the heart, under the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

That Spirit operates in each believer’s heart, changing the inner disposition into the image and likeness of God.  And as each believer undergoes this renewal process, the entire body of Christ is also changed into the image and likeness of God, as He is seen in the person of Jesus Christ.  So the effects of the Holy Spirit’s presence and power are individually known and seen, but are also seen in the body of Christ, which is the Church.

We noted earlier that the Feast of Weeks was originally an agricultural festival, a time when the first fruits of the corn crop were offered in thanksgiving to God.  Now, the first fruits of the corn crop were offered in thanksgiving to God.  Now, the first fruits of God’s abundance are presented as those upon whom the Spirit descended testify to the mighty works of God, done in Christ.

We, today, who have received the gift of the Holy Spirit at the time of our baptisms, continue to offer the first fruits of our lives as the Spirit changes us more and more into the image and likeness of Jesus Christ.  As we do so, we offer to the world around us the clear message that God is love, a message that all humankind can understand as the Holy Spirit prepares the soil of their hearts to hear and receive the implanted Word of God, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Thanks be to God!

AMEN.

Easter 7, Year C

Acts 16:16–34; Psalm 97; Revelation 22:12–21; John 17:20-26

A homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois on Sunday, May 12, 2013.

“UNITED IN WITNESS TO THE WORLD AND IN THE CAUSE OF CHRIST”

In this morning’s gospel reading, we hear Jesus’ words, “I do not ask for these only, but for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you and the Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (John 17:20–21)

Jesus’ prayer, which is now generally known as His “High Priestly Prayer,” encompasses all of chapter seventeen of John’s gospel account.  At the beginning of the chapter (verses one through five), Jesus prays for Himself, as His “hour”, the time when He will glorify the Father and will be glorified Himself, the time of His suffering and death, approaches.  Then, Jesus begins to pray for those who have come to love and know Him, those who were His first followers (verses six through nineteen).  Now, in the section we hear this morning, Jesus prays for all those who, down through time, will make known the love of God that is in Christ, praying that these subsequent disciples will also be united, be one, in Christ.

In its setting in the gospel, we see that Jesus has been instructing His disciples since the beginning of chapter fourteen.  Essentially, Jesus is laying out His “last will and testament” in these three chapters.  This prayer closes the section, and is the final action that Jesus takes before going out from the Last Supper into the Garden of Gethsemane to be betrayed, to suffer, die and be raised again on the third day.

Christians down through time have maintained a vision of unity within the body of Christ.  It is true that this vision has been ignored, pretty much, at times, as parts of the body wrestle with one another, or even stand diametrically opposed to one another.  Alas, it is also true that, at times, parts of the body of Christ have resorted to violence to pursue their ends and their aims.  That is a sad part of our history as the Church, which is the body of Christ.

But, as one of my seminary professors once said so wisely, “If we didn’t have the Church that we have now, we would still need the Church.  And the Church that would be created to fill that need might very well look a whole lot like the Church we have now.  So, it’s best for us to purify the Church that we have, and to work for unity within the body, that we may bear witness to God’s love, made known in Christ.”          

In light of Jesus’ words that we hear this morning, it might serve us well to take a serious look at the matter of Church unity.  So, let’s pose to ourselves a number of questions and issues as we do so:

             1.  Was there ever a time when the Church was truly united?:  In our examination of this question, we ought to acknowledge that many Christians harbor a vision of some sort of “golden age” of Christianity, a time when all the Churches that were scattered around the Mediterranean basin were organically, completely united.  Indeed, many of the 16th century Reformers harkened back to a simpler, better time in the Church, and sought to reintroduce elements of that vision in the reforms they advocated. 

But it’s possible that, even in the very early years following Jesus’ death and resurrection, that the Church was a varied, independently operating entity.  The eminent New Testament scholar Raymond Brown, writing in his book, “The Churches the Apostles Left Behind”, comes to the conclusion that, in those early years, there were about seven different kinds of Churches, each one possessing a unique theological outlook, and each one exhibiting different forms of organization. These seemed to operate pretty much independently of one another.  However, it’s also clear that they bore allegiance to Jesus Christ, and seemed to recognize in each other the marks of genuine Christian faith.[1]

The other reality of those times – and of every time – was that there were challenges to orthodox Christian belief.  The letters in the New Testament contain many references to incorrect belief or indecent behavior, or to the challenges that false prophets and false teachers pose to the faithful.

Eventually, organic unity did come about when the method of organization for the Church came to be centered around the office of the bishop.  Eventually, bishops came to govern an area, in time known as a diocese.  Once this model of Church governance and oversight gained ascendency, other forms of governing faded into the background.  And yet, even in the midst of this model of organization, where the Church was united under the leadership of its bishops, there were varieties of worship styles and theological emphases.[2]

But, a top-down model of Church oversight and governance has its limitations, as we shall see presently.

            2.  If the Church isn’t organically united today, is this a poor witness to God?:   In the eyes of those who stand outside the body of Christ, the fact that there are so many different Christian Churches is often regarded as some sort of a scandal.

And sometimes, it is a scandal.

When there is division within a local Church (or even in the larger Church) over some small, insignificant issue, and when the division results in separation, then such a condition does, indeed, constitute a scandal in the eyes of the world around us, and perhaps also in the eyes of God.

Oftentimes, splits within congregations or between denominations result from arguments over secondary issues, things that are known by the Greek word adiaphora.  Adiaphorous things are things that are non-essential.  We could cite some examples of these sorts of things, and our list might include such issues as:  how often will we celebrate Communion, should women wear their hair in a distinctive style, should we allow flowers or candles to be placed on the altar, should we use traditional hymns, or should we sing contemporary songs, should we observe a liturgical worship style, or adopt a more freestyle manner of worship.  All of these things are secondary issues.  But sometimes, they become central to a system of believing, just as central as Christian doctrines about the person of Jesus Christ and His work of salvation.  When this happens, our Christian values system gets out-of-balance….we begin to regard secondary things as being primary and essential.

When just these sorts of disagreements take place, and when they are not peacefully resolved in a spirit of Christian love, forbearance and forgiveness, then the divisions that result are a poor witness to the unity for which Christ prayed.

            3.  Can a lack of organic unity be a positive witness to Christ?:  Here, I think, the answer is “yes.”

The variety of expressions of Christian faith that can be found across the globe arise in part – in my judgment – from the richness of teachings of Christ and of the mind of God the Father.  There is so much there to learn and to know!  No wonder that parts of the body of Christ have mined the depths of these things, and have come up with so many different results in terms of their expression of the Christian faith.

Of course, we live in a world where, commercially, one brand of a product competes with others for market share and dominance.  It is out of this culturally-conditioned view of things that differences between Churches can be seen in the light of each Church competing against others for market share and dominance.  In all honesty, we have to admit that, at times in Christian history, that was the way of life within the body of Christ….Churches had little or nothing to do with one another, and oftentimes even denounced each other.  As we said a little while ago, this, too, is part of our history, a sad part of our history.

But, the good news is that, in our day and time, this spirit is dying away. Surely, this must be the work of the Holy Spirit, as Christians are able to see in other Christians the true marks of faith.  And those marks of faith would consist of the essentials of the Christian faith, essentials that the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds articulate.  Holding to these essentials, adiaphorous things are seen in their proper perspective.

Fewer and fewer Churches are declaring that they are the “one, true Church”, or that they, alone possess God’s truth.  This development ought to bring cheers of “Alleluia” to Christians’ prayers of thankfulness.  A new day is dawning in the quest for unity within the body of Christ.

So the result is that Christians are becoming more and more united in purpose, to work for the spread of the Gospel across the world and into every heart.  Christians are united in purpose to alleviate the suffering of the world, and to feed the hungry, provide water for the thirsty, to welcome the stranger and to clothe those in need, and to visit those in prison, as Jesus commanded us to do in Matthew 25:35–39.

The results of this unity of purpose can be seen in cooperative ministries such as homeless shelters, food banks, and the like.  The days in which a Church would set up a ministry that duplicates or even competes with a similar ministry close by are fading away.  In the place of this spirit of competition, new cooperation is arising…one Church will support another Church’s ministry, instead of duplicating it.  As we said a moment ago, thanks be to God for this new spirit that is gaining ground within the Christian community.

Before we leave the question of unity in purpose, we ought to acknowledge the weaknesses that are inherent in a unified Church that has as its model of organization top-down leadership.  Of course, students of Church history will readily recognize that that was the condition of the medieval Church.  Alas, given the reality of human nature, such a model lacks the normal checks-and-balances that are necessary to deter misguided ideas, ideas which can be enforced using an authoritarian approach to differences of conviction.  One blessing of the Church today, a Church which is, increasingly, becoming more and more united, though not in an organic sense, is that one part of the body of Christ can inform – and even dissent from – ideas and actions of another part of the body.  Put more succinctly, one Church can learn from – and benefit from – the experiences of other Churches.

             4.  Does the Episcopal/Anglican Church have a unique role to play in Church unity?:  Here, the answer is clearly “yes.”

The Anglican expression of Christianity possesses a unique identity, being composed of a catholic strain, a protestant strain, and a charismatic[3] strain.  Our heritage is such that we have drawn from a wide variety of sources within the Christian experience, incorporating each of these sources into a unified whole.  The Anglican heritage even possesses influences of the Eastern Orthodox Churches.

 So, from our perspective, we can see the blessings and the worthwhile aspects of other Christian traditions.  One result of this rich heritage is that we have never claimed to be the “one, true Church”.  Nor have we ever claimed to have an exclusive lock on God’s truth.  Anglicans value differences of conviction (yes, I will admit, sometimes this trait can be our Achilles Heel, too!), and we have always valued inquiry into the truths of God, using the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the capacities that come with being created in the image and likeness of God (see Genesis 1:26), capacities to think, to wonder, and to discern.

Poised as we are as Anglicans, our part of the Christian family proposed a blueprint for Christian unity back in the late 1800s.  It was proposed by an American priest, and was adopted by our House of Bishops in 1886.  Two years later, the Lambeth Conference,[4] meeting in London, adopted this proposal, which is now known as the “Lambeth Quadrilateral”.[5]  The text of this proposal can be found in the back of the 1979 Prayer Book on page 877.  This Anglican proposal for Church unity reads like this:

That, in the opinion of this Conference, the following Articles supply a basis on which approach may be by God’s blessing made towards Home Reunion:[6]

a.  The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, as “containing all things necessary to salvation,” and as being the rule and ultimate standard of faith.

b.  The Apostles’ Creed, as the Baptismal Symbol, and the Nicene Creed, as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith.

c.  The two Sacraments ordained by Christ Himself – Baptism and the Supper of the Lord – ministered with unfailing use of Christ’s words of Institution, and of the elements ordained by Him.

d.  The Historic Episcopate,[7] locally adapted in the methods of its administration to the varying needs of the nations and people called of God until the Unity of His Church.

In summary then, what we must pray for and work toward is unity within the body of Christ, never losing the variety of conviction within the bounds of the Creeds, and always respecting the richness of Christian expression.  Above all, Christian love and mutual respect for all who claim the Name of Christ faithfully must be the hallmark of our lives and conduct.  Then, the world around us will be able to say of us what was said about the early Christians:  “See how these Christians love one another!”

Even so, dear Lord, may all this come to pass, by your guidance, power and grace.  May your Church be united in common witness to the love of the Father for the Son, and the love of the Son for all who have come to Him in faith.

AMEN.

---

[1]   Some scholars think that when Jesus said that He had “other sheep that are not of this fold” (John 10:16), He was referring to the time when the body of Christ would consist of various Churches, some of which would differ from the one that John was a part of.

[2]   An example of the varying worship styles can be seen in the English Church, which had a distinctive identity and worship style from its earliest years.

[3]   The charismatic strain has to do with the power and the work of the Holy Spirit in enlivening and guiding the Church.
[4]   The Lambeth Conference draws together all the bishops of Anglican Churches across the world.  Its first meeting took place in 1867.  It meets, generally, once every ten years.  The most recent meeting took place in 2008.
[5]   Quadrilateral simply means “four points”.
[6]   Home Reunion is a somewhat archaic term for Church unity.
[7]   The Historic Episcopate refers to the presence of bishops who are in the Historic Succession stemming from the Apostles forward.

Easter 6, Year C

Acts 16: 9 – 15; Psalm 67; Revelation 21:10, 22 – 22:5; John 13: 23 – 29

A homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois on Sunday, May 5, 2013.

“GOD-FEARERS”

(Homily text:  Acts 16: 9 – 15)

Do you know any “God-fearers”?

I suspect that each of us does know at least one person who is a “God-fearer”, though we may not call them by that name.

Lydia, the central figure on our reading from the Book of Acts, is a “God-fearer”.  And the fact that Luke (the author of Acts) calls her by that description is key to understanding how St. Paul’s preaching could result in her coming to faith in Jesus Christ.

More about “God-fearers” in a moment.

First, however, we ought to examine some of the details of Paul’s meeting the women who had gathered outside the city gate of Philippi for prayer, for we can learn much about the religious situation in that area from it.

As we look at the text, the first thing we notice is that Paul and Silas (his missionary companion) suspect that the riverside location is a place of prayer.  Since Luke tells us that Paul and Silas went there on the Sabbath day, it is safe to assume that Philippi had no Jewish synagogue, for in this very early period, Christians were in the habit of going to the synagogue to worship.  There, in the synagogue, they would also engage in spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ, for in such places, Jews who knew the Old Testament scriptures could be found who would have some background with which to understand the Gospel.

But in Philippi, Paul and Silas must make do with an outside location.

Fortunately, their suspicions are confirmed, for a group of women has gathered there, and we can assume that they are noticed by Paul and Silas to be engaged in prayer.  Though Luke doesn’t tell us, it’s also possible that Paul and Silas can hear at least a little bit of their prayers, and come to realize that these women are “God-fearers”.  (As I said a moment ago, we will have more to say about God-fearers shortly)

One of the women is identified by Luke as being Lydia, a woman who was originally from the city of Thyatira, which is located in Asia Minor, in what is now western Turkey.  Luke goes on to say that she is a dealer in purple cloth.

At this point, we need to pause for a moment to unpack the importance of this fact about Lydia:

Purple cloth, in ancient times, was very difficult to make.  As a result, it was very expensive, and the clothing made from it was usually worn by royalty or by the wealthy.  Its color denoted importance.[1]  It’s probably safe to assume that Lydia rubbed shoulders on a regular basis with those who were in the upper strata of society.

 Luke also tells us that Lydia maintains her own business and household.  These two factors make Lydia an unusual person for those times, since she was not only a businesswoman, but the head of her household.  Luke tells us that, after she and her entire family are baptized,[2] she invites the two missionaries to stay with them at her house.

Now, we should turn our attention to those persons who were known as God-fearers.[3]  The early Church found a ready audience among these persons, who were Gentiles who had come to believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  They weren’t – in many cases - full-fledged converts to Judaism, it should be noted, but worshipped the same God and saw the truth of God’s identity as Jews understood it.  Lydia, being a “God-fearer”, was out-of-step with the pantheon of pagan gods that many in Philippi would have worshipped, for she worshipped the one, true God, the God of Israel.

Lydia hears the Good News, and her heart is opened by the Lord to receive the truth that can only be found in Jesus Christ.  Fortunately, the understandings of God that have brought her to this point in her life provide a solid foundation for understanding God’s work, done in Christ.

As we should do anytime we read or hear Holy Scripture, we ought to ask ourselves what lessons might we draw from the text, lessons that we might apply to our own time, place and circumstances.

In doing this, a number of parallels arise between the circumstances of Lydia’s conversion and our own calling to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with those we meet.

The first observation we might make is that the mission field for Paul and Silas resembles our own mission field in the twenty-first century quite remarkably.  To be more specific, we can see from Luke’s description of the situation in Philippi that it was a very pagan community.  (Later on in chapter sixteen, Luke records that a slave girl had a spirit of fortune-telling, which is an indication of the free-wheeling nature of Philipp’s religious life.)  There was very little influence – if any - of Judaism there, and perhaps that influence was so small that only a group of women who were forced to gather by the riverside was the only indication of it.  We can’t know for sure, but such a conclusion seems possible.

For twenty-first Christians, the changes that have come about in our society have shaped our society into a very pagan, free-wheeling culture.  Nominally, we remain Christian to some degree.  But people’s attitudes and behaviors increasingly demonstrate the same sort of free-wheeling attitude that Paul might have encountered on the streets of Philippi nearly 2,000 years ago.  Idolatry, then and now, was/is commonplace.  Only the sorts of things that qualify to be idols have changed shape and type.  (Ours are far more sophisticated!)

For another, Lydia and her companions have a knowledge of God, but it is only a partial knowledge.  Paul’s mission is to “fill in the blanks” to supply what is missing in Lydia’s understandings.  He presents the truth of Jesus Christ to her.  And she, because of God’s power, opens her heart to receive the Good News.  Lydia becomes a believer.

Another parallel arises here:  In today’s contemporary world, many have a partial or imperfect knowledge of God.  Sometimes, this smattering of knowledge arises from what commentators have called a “smorgasbord religion”.  That is, people choose to believe or to reject whatever suits them.  They pick and choose what they want to believe, rejecting – in many cases – the demanding parts of the Christian faith that would mandate personal changes in their lives.

But this smattering of knowledge can be enough ground upon which to move forward, to present the life-changing message of Jesus Christ.

And that is our task, to enter a mission field outside our doors that is just as challenging as the one that Paul and Silas faced in Philippi.  For many that we rub shoulders with each day will have absolutely no knowledge of God, or of the marvelous, life-changing work of Jesus Christ.  Perhaps these very same persons will have an inner emptiness and longing for something they cannot identify….that longing can only be filled by God in Christ.  Still others will have some knowledge of God, and perhaps even of Christ.  There, a fertile soil awaits the planting of the good seed of the Gospel of Christ.

May God lead us into contact with those we encounter, that they may come to the fullness of faith that comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

AMEN.

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[1]   This aspect of the color purple survives today in the color which is reserved for the Bishop, who wears purple.

[2]   I can’t resist the temptation to mention that Lydia’s entire family is baptized.  I don’t believe it is beyond the realm of possibility to conclude that children were also among those who were baptized in her household.  The same can be said about the Philippian jailer, whose entire household is also baptized (see Acts 16: 33).  If we are looking for scriptural authority for the baptism of infants and young children, I believe these two incidents provide such authority.

[3]   Other persons are also identified as “God-fearers” in the New Testament:  Cornelius is identified as being one in Acts 10:1 – 8.  Other Gentile seekers after God who are attached to the local synagogue are also identified in Acts 13: 43.