Powered By Blogger

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

A WOMAN OF REAL WORTH

Sunday May 9, 2010

Acts 16:9-15

Ole died. So Lena went to the local paper to put a notice in the obituaries. The gentleman at the counter, after offering his condolences, asked Lena what she would like to say about Ole. Lena replied, "You yust put 'Ole died."

The gentleman, somewhat perplexed, said, "That's it? Just 'Ole died'? Surely, there must be something more you'd like to say about Ole. If it's money you're concerned about, the first five words are free. We must say something more."

So Lena pondered for a few minutes and finally said, "OK. You put 'Ole died. Boat for sale.'"

Happy Mother's Day to all of our ladies today. I am so grateful for all the moms of my life.

My interest in this message is about more than keeping up with the lectionary selections but to bring to mind the importance and value of every woman that is here today. You are valuable and you are important. Not for the things you do but for who you are in Christ Jesus. In a little while I'm going to speak about a woman named Lydia that we have read about in our text.

But let's lay out the historical background to this monumental event that is going to take place in Lydia's life.

The Apostle Paul has set out on his Second Missionary Journey beginning in late autumn of 49 AD from Jerusalem and then returning back to Jerusalem in 52 AD. (Acts 15:40-18:23) With him are Silas, the young preacher Timothy and then Luke- who caught up with them at Troas.

As we have read, these missionaries believed that the Holy Spirit was keeping them from moving eastward into Asia with the gospel message so they moved westward. Even then, they stopped in Troas to wait for a clearer indication of what they were to do next. It is then that Paul has a dream, they decide that this is a word from the Lord and then they move on towards the city of Philippi.

What is amazing to me is how God works. And so my first point of interest for us to consider is this:

  1. The Holy Spirit Positions God's People for Witnessing.


What is fascinating from Luke's narrative is how God has planned his work and then works his plan.


His plan has been to reach all of humanity. He was not interested in simply reaching the rich, famous and powerful. He was not interested in simply reaching the tired, the helpless and the poor. His plan was not to reach the men and not the women. Or reach the women and not the men. His plan was not to reach only a certain people group to the exclusion of another group.


What we witness throughout Acts is how the Holy Spirit not only empowers believers but opens the eyes of those who are blind to the truth about Jesus Christ. But what seems even more incredible is how the Holy Spirit guides this fledgling Church ministry.


Notice how Paul and his companions are stopped by the Holy Spirit from moving east towards modern day Iraq, Iran, India and China. Instead, they are compelled to move west but even then they stop in the town of Troas and wait.


Sometimes waiting is the most difficult part of ministry. I can tell you that the Apostle Paul was not the kind of guy to let grass grow under his tires. He was a man who had to be on the move and doing something for the ministry of Christ. There was no time to wait. However, they do wait. And Paul has a vision.


Oftentimes a vision for ministry is to be confirmed by those involved. Paul was not a one-man show. He certainly could have been but he was a team player. I am struck that as Paul shared the vision (or dream if you will) of a man from Greece weeping for them to come over to them that he did so not to control the movement of this missionary team but to clarify the Lord's will. This is important for any ministry seeking to move forward. Yes, God speaks through lead shepherds but more times than not the vision needs to be confirmed through his people who compose the Church.


Always the goal of ministry is kept in focus. The response wasn't simply, "Well let's go over to Macedonia and see what's up." Instead, they conclude that God had called them to preach the gospel to the people they would encounter. It's easy enough to make plans as a church but it's tougher to keep the real goal in focus. At the end of the day or week or month or year we must ask ourselves: Are we preaching the gospel to the people we are called to reach?


Which brings us as a church and you as an individual to this question: Are you doing just that?


Do we believe that the Holy Spirit has positioned this Church and each one of us into a place to witness about our Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation that he offers to those who trust in him by faith?


I am convinced that in the grand scheme of God's plan, he consistently positions his people to be witnesses of Christ in the places that they find themselves. However, to simply be in the right geographical location isn't enough to be effective. Ask any missionary and any pastor and everyone of them will tell you that to be in the right mission field or right church does not guarantee ministry success. Something else must be at work for witnessing to be effective.


Which speaks to our second point of interest:


2. Witnessing Finds One's self in Prayer.

This missionary team crosses the Aegean Sea and lands into modern day Greece. They then travel an additional ten miles by foot to the small city of Philippi.


Philippi was one of those special cities. They enjoyed a tax free status because they were labeled as a Roman colony. The Roman Empire from time to time would label certain cities as colonies and then plant retired soldiers from their armies there. The people would enjoy a status in the empire that most other foreign cities could hardly dare dream about. Philippi was not only a colony but they were also the capital of the one of the four provinces in Macedonia.


Philippi was founded in the 4th Century BC by Philip of Macedonia who happened to be Alexander the Great's father. The objective of founding the town was to take control of the neighboring gold mines and to establish a garrison at a strategic passage because Philippi was also on a main roadway. The city enjoyed special privileges for several centuries. It had an acropolis- which was a monument built on the highest hill-, Roman bath houses (an especially real treat since most people of those days bathed hardly once a year), a theatre and the entrance to the city had a special colonial archway that was supposed to stop foreign deities from entering.


Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke entered its gates anyway. One of the distinctive of their missionary work was to go to the Jews first with their message. So they looked for a Jewish synagogue but there was none. For a community of Jews to qualify to have a synagogue meant that there needed to be more than ten Jewish men (not women). There weren't ten and so there was no synagogue. What there was, though, in place of a synagogue was a place of prayer outside of the city by the river.


And so on the next Sabbath these missionaries made their way to the place of prayer. They knew if they went there something good would happen.


Remember:


  1. Philippi was a Roman Colony with Special Status.
  2. Paul & companions stayed in the city for several days- taking in the Grecian sights.
  3. On the Sabbath they went to the place of prayer.


What is interesting about prayer in the hands of God's people is that it awakens the soul to the reality of God's power in our lives. Every generation over the centuries has always challenged God's people to prayer. It seems that we always look back and believe that the previous generation could pray better than our generation. I don't like comparisons. Let's not focus on those glory days of prayer and create our own glory days of prayer.


These Acts missionaries who have set foot in Europe knew that a good witness for Jesus Christ will always find one's self in prayer. And so they go to the place of prayer. And when they do they teach us a valuable lesson:


3. Prayer Anticipates God's Working.


Yes, it's not good enough to just pray. We have to pray with anticipation.


I get frustrated in ministry because I feel like too often we as a church don't approach everything with a positive anticipation.


Let me ask you this: When you pray do expect something good to happen? When you came to church this morning did you expecting something good to happen? When you go to the place of prayer do you anticipate God to work in those prayer requests? Do you anticipate your lost son or daughter to get saved? Are you even praying that they get saved?


Sometimes we expect ministry to take place from the high pulpit. "The most effective preaching has not been done from high pulpits or to great audiences. The Christian message is a witness, and to be effective it must ever be on the personal level." (Schmul Commentary on Acts p. 234)


Prayer anticipates God's working. And these missionaries came to the place of prayer alongside the river and encountered a group of women.


What? No Jewish men to lead the way? Women? We're supposed to witness to women?


"Yes, guys. Those women right there are going to be your first converts in Europe."


It doesn't sound like much of a grand master plan to me. Women in the context of the first century world were not worth much more than slaves. Of course, women of Rome had a tiny bit higher status but not by much. And here God's men are called upon to share the gospel with women along a river in the open air.


But God had already been at work. He was working long before Paul and his band of brothers got there. God was working in the heart of a widow woman named Lydia. Lydia was a business owner who was a dealer in purple cloth from the town of Thyatira. She owned a home with a family and slaves. Her status in the community of Jews was one of influence. However, Lydia was not born Jewish nor did she become what was called a "proselyte" Jew. Instead, the scriptures say that she was "a worshipper of God."


And when she heard the message of salvation through Jesus Christ something good happened. If prayer anticipates God's working then expect God's working to do something. And his working did.


4. God's Working Opened a Woman's Heart.


The Lord opened Lydia's heart. John Wesley says that the eyes of the heart are naturally closed and to open them is the peculiar work of God. This woman gets saved because she sees the truth of Jesus Christ.


Lydia was a very wealthy woman. She was obviously a woman of influence and most likely was the leader of these other Jewish women. Where the Jewish men were, who knows, but God chose this willing heart of Lydia to be the human door of entrance for the gospel message to move into all of Europe.


Despite all they Lydia had, all that she accomplished and all of her influence she would not truly experience what self-worth is until her heart was opened to Jesus Christ.


I find it fascinating that God opens the eyes and ears of the unbeliever to the gospel message. And when he does that person then faces the decision to open the door of their heart to the one who is knocking.


Lydia's life is changed. But more is about to happen. Why?


5. A Woman's Heart Changes Her Household.


Not only is Lydia's life transformed but she is baptized. Baptism is significant. Baptism indicates a change of not only the heart but a change of one's life.


Her life was changed. She was no longer a worshipper of God who reverenced God but was now someone who was in a relationship with God. This is significant.


  • Lydia was a woman of wealth. Purple cloth was the kind of item that the royalty and rich wore in their garments. To be a trader in this item meant that you made money.
  • Lydia was a woman of motivation. Most scholars agree that she was a widow. Somehow through her own gumption she braved a man's world and ran her own business. This takes motivation.
  • Lydia was a woman of inspiration. She seems to already possess a desire to worship and serve God. Many believe that she was the leader of the women's prayer group that met every Sabbath outside of the city. If the men weren't going to do it then the women would. And they did.
  • Lydia was a woman of reason. When confronted with the truth she did not argue but realized that it made sense. And so she became a new convert to Christianity.



A lot of religions out there can speak of worship and prayer in some of the same ways that we do. However, they cannot speak of a relationship with God. Islam may seem like a very methodical religion that believes God may love but does not see God as a God of love.


God's love changes a person's heart. And Lydia gives to all women here today the inspiration that your changed heart through Jesus Christ may bring change to your whole family.


We see in a matter of a few words of scripture that not only was she baptized but so was her whole household. This included any children she had, her servants and slaves and perhaps even small children. She was testifying that not only would her life be different but her household would be different.


Conclusion: Becoming a Woman of Worth.


So what do we say now to the women of this congregation?


God wants to do more for your life than you could even imagine. I realize that in a group like ours there are frustrations with unsaved loved ones- including children and grandchildren. But I want to tell you to continue to put them into God's hands.


Your worth as a woman is not what the world says about you but what God says about you. Let him be the influence of your life. Let him be the one who gives you the strength to be the woman of God you are called to be.


How can you become a woman of real of worth?


First, allow God to love you. So often we have found women who have struggled in life because they simply have not let God love them. Let our Lord reach down into your heart with his love.


Second, believe that God loves you so much that he gave his Son Jesus Christ for your sins. Without this, all of us would be lost in our sins and suffer the eternal consequences for our sins. Here is an opportunity for you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.


Third, let the Holy Spirit flow in and through your life. Just as the Holy Spirit guided the footsteps of these missionaries to bring the gospel message to Lydia, so too the Holy Spirit desires to lead your life so that you may truly flourish as a woman. A woman of real worth.


No comments:



54 State St.
(corner of State/Oceana Dr. and Ferry St.)
Shelby, MI 49455

Contact information:
231-861-5375
robnaomi@charter.net