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Sowing Seeds of Faith Acts 16:9-15 Introduction to the Scripture Reading: A colleague who teaches scripture in a Christian school tells about a day when she was getting ready to teach a story about Abraham and a little girl in that first grade class said, "Oh! Another man. When can we have a story about a girl?!" Today we have a story about a girl! The apostle Paul and his coworker Silas were out planting seeds . . . the seeds that invited people to deeper faith, seeds that invited people to follow Jesus, the man from Palestine. They had been planting seeds that grew into groups of believers, forming the first Christian churches, around Asia when Paul had a vision of a man calling them to travel west, to cross over into Macedonia, to go to Europe. Listen for what happens when Paul follows the call of that vision 6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; 8 so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them. 11 We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the districtc of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. 13 On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. 14 A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. 15 When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home." And she prevailed upon us.So not only is it a story about a girl, it's a pretty cool story about a girl. Lydia was an accomplished business woman in Phillipi (in what's now Greece). She was likely one of the most successful and infleuntial women in town, and we learn that she is a seeker of truth as well. She owned a dye business, producing purple. Perhaps she sold the dye itself which had to be extracted from a species of mollusk from the sea. Perhaps she also sold the fabric itself . . . silk, linen, cotton and wool, in varying shades of purples with overtones of reds, blues and lavender. Perhaps she wore purple as well, a color that only the wealthy could afford. She was a seeker of truth. She and some other women of the town gathered regularly on the banks of the river, just outside the town to pray together . . . Pretty much like our women's spirituality groups here! So while she was a Gentile, not a Jew, she believed in God and took time and interest in deepening her faith. So, as our scripture story told us, Paul and Silas, one Sabbath day, go to the place where the women gathered to plant some more seeds. Now this was unheard of - a couple a men, talking to women in public, talking to strangers, these women, in public, talking to women they didn't know, in public, AND talking theology! Paul and Silas, breaking the rules, following the leading of the Spirit of God. Lydia, the seller of purple, not a traditional woman, open to truth, thinking about faith, wanting to know God more. And so Paul tells them about Jesus of Palestine, and she becomes a believer, and as the head of her household, the whole family and all her workers get baptized and in an act of hospitality that would characterize all her ministry, she invites Paul and Silas to her home. Later, Paul and Silas get arrested and thrown in prison (Ralph will be telling you that story next Sunday). When they are miraculously released, the head straight to Lydia's house where the new church in Phillipi is gathering. Paul planted seeds of faith. They grew in Lydia who became an early church leader. You can read Paul's letter to the church at Philippi (that is called Philippians in your Bible!) And you'll catch a flavor for the affection he had for that church. It seems it was a generous, spiritual group of new believers who captured his heart. Lydia's leadership, her seed planting, must have taken root and grown. We are each here today because someone planted seeds of faith in us. Who planted those seeds in you? With this Being Mother's Day, some of us will think of mothers and grandmothers, aunts or sisters who planted those seeds. Thank God today for those people! Perhaps it was a grandfather, father, uncle, or brother who planted your faith seeds. Thank God for those people! For many of us, there is a friend who seeded our spirituality. Some of us are blessed to have had in the past and still have today more than one person who has helped our faith take root and spout and grow. Thank God for them! As we praise and thank God for these people in our lives, let us open our imagination and our hearts to receive a vision, like Paul did, to go somewhere and plant seeds of faith ourselves. Now that certainly starts with your family, but Paul's example will push the boundaries and invite us to go somewhere we might not have gone to plant on our own. I believe we have unusual seeds to sow. I know, I know, we don't talk about our faith, we act on our faith . . . and that is really wonderful. But more and more, I am seeing the need, hearing the call, for us to tell the good news with an alternate voice to the way some might tell our faith story. We have seeds to plant, wonderful seeds. We have seeds of faith that tell the story of a God who offers an extravagant welcome. . . . a God of love, not judgement. We have seeds of faith that tell of a God who helps us care for one another, We have seeds of faith that tell of our concern for the whole person - body, mind and soul. These seeds we can plant are ones that invite questions and thoughtful exploration of what it means to follow Christ, not rigid dogma and only "one way" thinking. We are a generous congregation. We share our building with the community. We share our resources with the poor. We work for justice and peace. Is God giving us a vision to be even more? To scatter more seeds, to bring growth by talking about what we believe and why we believe it. Paul had vision. What about you? Lydia opened her heart, and we have faith today, due in some part to her leadership and seed planting too. The soil is ready. It's Spring! Let's go plant some seeds! Amen. |
