Sunday Eucharist 8:30 a.m. - Spoken Word 10:00 a.m. - Music & Live Stream
Sunday Eucharist 8:30 a.m. - Spoken Word 10:00 a.m. - Music & Live Stream
Christ the King-Epiphany Church, Wilbraham
The Rev. Martha S. Sipe
May 25, 2025 / Sixth Sunday of Easter
Acts 16:9-15
I have a story to share, and I hope it will mean as much to you to hear it as it means to me to be able to tell it. My name is Lydia. [Not the Lydia you know who loves the earth and helps us to be better stewards of it.] [Sister, you knew we had a connection, but you didn’t know we shared a name!] No, I’m a different Lydia – the one that ___ read about from the book of Acts a few minutes ago.
As you heard, I lived in Philippi, and I had a business there selling purple cloth – (Hold up stole) – like this. I imagine that sounds strange to you – just selling cloth in one color. While I’m sure you’ve seen some catalogues that highlight a certain palette of colors each season, it would be odd today for a company only to deal in one color. But you have to understand that there were no synthetic dyes in my day, and purple was a particularly valuable dye. It was very labor-intensive to produce, coming from the smashing of sea snails for their juices. You may notice that I’m not wearing purple. To wear my own purple clothing would take too big a bite out of my profits. See, only priests, royalty, and those in the upper echelons of society could afford purple cloth. These were luxury textiles, which meant that my business was . . . lucrative. I did quite well for myself. But still not good enough to have my own purple clothing!
And, can I just say – I was an independent woman. It was my business – not my brother’s, not my father’s, mine. And it’s my household that Luke describes in the book of Acts. Lots of people have wondered over the years when they read my story whether I was widowed, since no husband is mentioned. Or some may guess I was divorced, because it wasn’t that uncommon in Roman society. Or maybe . . . I never married . . . what a scandal! You may be hoping I’ll clear up this little mystery this morning. But you know what? A girl’s got to have some secrets. It adds to her mystique. So sorry to disappoint, but I’m not going to explain my marital status because . . . news flash . . . it’s really not relevant to the story!
I was born and raised in Thyatira, which is located in the westernmost part of Asia. But I had moved to Philippi, in the southeast corner of what you know as Europe, for business purposes because Philippi was on the Via Egnatia, a major route for travel and trade, and that was great for business. I was in Philippi when the Apostle Paul came to town. Now I’ve since learned that, usually the first thing Paul would do when he reached a new territory was connect with the men in the local synagogue. But Judaism wasn’t that popular in Philippi, and in fact there were so few Jewish men in Philippi that there wasn’t even a synagogue. There was a group of us, however, including some of the workers in my household, who used to meet on the Sabbath to pray by the Krenides River. We weren’t all Jewish per se. But we were all convinced that there was only one God, not the many gods that our neighbors worshiped. Paul seemed a little surprised that it was mostly a group of women there along the river; but you, even though some of Paul’s writings show that he was no women’s libber, nevertheless, he was just bursting to share the good news of Jesus Christ . . . even to a bunch of women.
At first, I wasn’t too sure how much credence to give to Paul, but the more I listened, the more excited I became. It was as if God was opening my heart to the message of Jesus’ love. By the time Paul was finished with his teaching, I knew what I wanted: I wanted to be baptized, me and my entire household. And then, having been baptized, I wanted to do more. I felt that, if God had chosen me to be a beloved child, then I ought to offer what I had so that others could hear the message of Jesus. I didn’t think they’d really have too much use for purple cloth, but there was my house. It was large enough that I could offer Paul, Silas, Timothy, and all the others a place to stay, a chance for respite on their journey. They seemed a little reluctant at first, not wanting to impose. But I insisted.
Now that’s the end of my story as you heard it this morning. But if you were to keep reading in the book of Acts, you would see that I get another mention later on in the chapter. After Paul and Silas left my house, they got into a little trouble with the local authorities. It was a real travesty of justice, I’ll tell you. Paul exorcised an evil spirit from a woman who was a fortune-teller, and the people that exploited her for money got annoyed that their source of extra cash was gone, so they arrested Paul and Silas, beat them, and threw them into prison, with their feet in the stocks. Like they were dangerous criminals. And well, to make a long story short, after a miraculous turn of events, they were freed from prison. Seriously, it’s a great story. When you go home, get out your Bibles and read the rest of the 16th chapter of Acts. You won’t be disappointed. And here’s the thing I wanted to point out: after Paul and Silas were released from prison, they came back to my house – perhaps to get washed up after their night in jail – but more importantly to them, they wanted to reassure us that they were okay and encourage all of the believers in Philippi, who had begun to meet regularly at my house. That’s right – not only was I the first convert to the Way in Europe, my household was the site of the first European church.
But that’s not what I hope you will take away from my story . . . how important I was. If that’s all you remember, then I will not have done justice to the life-changing good news I heard from Paul. No, instead I hope you will remember two things.
First, great things can happen when you let God open your ears. You know, being an independent businesswoman, I was used to talking more than listening, honestly. I had to, in order to sell my cloth, to push for the best deal. But when I met Paul and the others that day by the river, God closed my mouth and opened my ears – and what I heard changed my life. If you’re like me, more inclined to talk than to listen, keep in mind that in your conversations with others – especially those who believe differently or live differently than you do – when you’re in those conversations, God might just be trying to get you to listen more and open your heart. And if you do, I’m living proof that it can change your life.
The other thing I hope that you’ll take away from my story is something that Jesus said in Luke chapter 12: “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required.” You see, I was, in many ways, privileged – I think that’s how you say it today. I had a lot: a thriving business, a comfortable home, and most importantly, an esteemed role in my community. I’m not saying I didn’t work for those things. But there were plenty of other people in Philippi who worked as hard as I did that didn’t have nearly as much to show for it. I was blessed. And in response to those blessings, I wanted to offer what I could to help others, to help the message of Jesus to be heard by as many people as possible. That’s why I offered up my home for the fledgling church in Philippi. Perhaps that’s something else you could take to heart. If you’ve been blessed, bless someone else – for Jesus’ sake.
Listen, I see how strained things are in your world. I see how difficult it is for people just to get along these days. But try listening more and giving more – and you might find, like I did, that with the help of God, you can change the world.
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