An Unlikely Convert?

 

Now in the 6th Sunday of Easter, we continue in the Book of Acts, chapter 16:9-15, to hear about God's amazing work in the first days of the Church. This text, the First Reading appointed for this Sunday in the Year of Luke, is another story of one household that, like Cornelius' household (Ch. 10) will affect the way the Church goes forward.  Is this a working out of Galatians 3:28?  (No longer Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male and female).  It will be the preacher's task to speak to what God is up to here.

(The following questions are not meant to be exhaustive, but are best used in conjunction with other sets of questions that have other concerns.  These questions have been developed to unearth the function of the Word in the text, a fundamental concern of Law and Gospel preachers.  For more on this method and Law and Gospel preaching in general, see my brief guide, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com or amazon.)

1.  How does the Word function in the text?  The Word is speaking first through the vision that comes to the evangelists, and then it comes to Lydia, about whom the writer says "the Lord opened her heart."  This is all a gospel function as God is at work calling and redeeming.

2.  How is the Word not functioning in the text?  There is no word of Law here, no place where the Word functions to expose our need for Christ.

3.  With whom are you identifying in the text?  We most often will identify with those to whom the Word comes.  In this case, then, those would be the evangelists and Lydia.  We could choose to identify with those called by God to answer  the call "Help us!" or we could choose to identify with Lydia, whose heart was opened by the Spirit to hear the good news.

4.  What, if any call to obedience is there in this text?  There is not an explicit call to obedience here, but a very good example is put before us.  As soon as Lydia and her household are baptized her hospitality knows no bounds.  This is an example of living in response to God's grace, which is what a call to obedience calls us to.

5.  What Law/Gospel couplet  is suggested by this text? Since there is no word of Law here, we will need to manufacture a few couplets.  Some suggestions:  closed heart/opened heart; judged unfaithful/judged faithful.

6.  Exegetical work:  Narrative exegetes are always keen to notice when the action deliberately slows down in the telling of a story, and we are invited to pay attention to a particular situation or person.  This is what we have here.  The story is tripping along with the report of smooth sailing from Troas to Samothrace, and then from there to Neapolis and Philippi.  Suddenly in verse 16, the action stops and the camera focuses on "a certain woman named Lydia, a worshipper of God...from city of Thyatira, a seller of purple cloth."  In this single sentence we learn the name of a woman who is not native to Philippi and apparently has moved to Philippi to sell her purple cloth.  She is a businesswoman.  Then the story goes on to say that God has been at work to open her up to hear the Gospel, which she does, and is subsequently baptized with all her household.  William Willimon, in his commentary, points out that Lydia's conversion is interesting for a number of reasons.  First, the writer is keen to attribute her conversion to "the work of God."  Second, she is a woman, and third, she is a rich woman.  (Interpretation series, Acts, p. 136-137).  One can't help but wonder if this story isn't a living out of Paul's ancient creed in Galatians 3:28:  "There is no longer Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave nor free, there is no longer male and female."  Lydia's conversion breaks several of the power boundaries.  She is not a Jew, she is not a man, and she is not poor.  She is a rich Gentile woman.  Surprising?  No more than some of the other converts in the Book of Acts.  (e.g. the Ethiopian eunuch, Cornelius the Roman centurion).  

7.  Consider the insights of the pioneers of the New Homiletic?  Henry Mitchell always urged the preacher to celebrate with gusto at some point in the sermon.  In light of God's work in Macedonia, and specifically in Lydia and her household, why not celebrate God's grace which comes to the most unlikely souls.

Blessings on your proclamation!