“Lydia: A Life of Generosity and Hospitality”

May 9, 2010
Acts 16:9-15; John 14:23-29

In our service today, all of us will have the opportunity to consecrate our personal commitment for the next twelve months. A few days ago, you were invited to prayerfully consider what your offering to God might be. At the conclusion of our lesson today, so that it might become a blessing to God, I will ask you to bring your commitment forward.

Our text for today introduces us to one woman’s commitment. Lydia was a successful woman. She appears to be financially well to do, owning both a home and a business. She is a “dealer in purple cloth” (16:14), the material used in the clothing of the wealthy and influential Romans. Her livelihood depended on their lifestyle and their success.

Our text though is not about her business, but rather about her response to the preaching of the gospel and its call on her life. Hearing Paul speak, Lydia is motivated by faith, not by fear; and she is moved to action.

In today’s passage, Paul and Silas arrive in the city of Philippi, a Roman colony in the district of Macedonia. While in Troas, a port city on the Aegean Sea, Paul sees a vision of a man of Macedonia, that convinces him God wants him – that God is calling him – to preach the good news of Jesus Christ to the Macedonians. So Paul and Silas go from Troas to Philippi, by way of Samothrace to Neopolis. On the Sabbath, they go outside of Philippi by the river, looking for a place of prayer, and they sit down with a group of women who have come to visit with one another. They begin to talk to the women, and Lydia who is there, eagerly listens to what Paul says. (v.14).

Lydia could have been skeptical, but she wasn’t. She could have been cautious or afraid of what he was suggesting, but she wasn’t. She doesn’t try to hold on to what she has. She doesn’t take any of these fear-based actions. Instead, she responds with faith, generosity and hospitality, which she feels is what God wants her to do.

Lydia asks for baptism for herself and her household, and then insists, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home” (v. 15). Lydia is persistent. And so, Paul and Silas, seeing no way out, follow her home. In time, Lydia’s house becomes a center of Christian worship and outreach in Philippi, and Paul develops a close and loving bond with the church members there.

Later, when he writes his letter to the Philippians, Paul expresses his gratitude in this way – he says, “…when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you alone” (Philippians 4:15). No church shared with him and supported him … except the Philippians. They were the generous ones… the hospitable ones… the faithful ones. And it all started with Lydia, a woman who chose faith over fear.

Today is Mother’s Day, so it’s tempting to direct this message to the mothers who are here today. But that would be wrong, since the fear of ‘what tomorrow may bring’ touches more than just mothers — in fact, it hits all of us, men and women alike. Each of us can be terrified of something – of losing stability and security in our life. It doesn’t have to be a financial fear, it could be the fear of losing our health, fear of losing our independence, and fear of, well, losing almost anything.

But the solution is not to hold on more tightly to what we have or our lifestyle. What we need is not a better ‘investment’ for our money or a ‘bigger barn’ or more storage units. No, the answer is to choose faith over fear. The way to find real peace and security in one’s life is to practice generosity and hospitality.

In our text today, Lydia listened eagerly to Paul and responded by her generosity and hospitality. She did what God had put her there to do. So, what is it that God has put you here to do? Where is God at work in your life … right here, right now?

Lydia embodies someone who senses there is more to life than her present experience - more than money, more than success, even more than her influence on others. This is a woman who was willing to go beyond the boundaries set for her in a time when women were definitely ‘second class citizens.’ Yet Ronald Cole-Turner describes Lydia as being both “…Mary and …Martha, her heart set on God even while her work gets done." And when Lydia encounters the gospel in the preaching of Paul and Silas, she responds with action and commitment, not only asking to be baptized but also in insisting on exercising the virtue of hospitality.

What is the one thing you should be doing as you put your faith into action?

Lydia found herself moving from anxiety to serenity, and from a life ruled by fear to a life shaped by faith. The particular path we follow will be different for each of us. Her path was to practice hospitality and generosity, in line with what God was doing in her life. What is our path today?

As we involve ourselves in God's mission today in this time and place, we must remember we are the Body of Christ active in the world that God loves. Like Lydia, we must be open to what God wants for us, opening our hearts to God's leading: where we should go, even if it's to the most unexpected places.