Jesus had told the disciples at his ascension that “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ (Acts 1:8). This story from Acts 16 takes Paul and his companions to “the ends of the earth”—for the first time the “good news” is being taken to Europe—which is somewhere none of them have ever been, and likely never imagined they would ever be. And it seems that in “the ends of the earth” the rules are different.
Paul and his companions are in Philippi for several days, waiting for the Sabbath, when they will find the synagogue and those who worship God—and it turns out that in Philippi there is no synagogue, so the usual place that they have usually met those of Jewish heritage who might be receptive to the message of and about Jesus doesn’t exist. In those days (and perhaps even still today), ten men are needed to form a synagogue, so it seems that not only is there not a building that is the synagogue, there is not a “congregation” that comprises a synagogue—and when Paul and his companions find their way to the riverside where those who worship God are gathered for prayer, it is all women.
They meet Lydia, a woman who has her own business whereby she interacts with the wealthy. She is receptive to the “good news” and invited them to her home—after she and her household are baptized. No mention of a husband; no mention of the need for men in leadership to make this faith community legitimate, no mention of the need to have their own separate building to worship in. Lydia will be a key leader in the growth of this fellowship, and this fellowship that will grow up in Philippi will be one about which Paul later will say “II thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now.” (*Philippians 1:3-5)
Everything that up until that point had been their understanding of how this will happen didn’t happen. Everything that up until that point had been their expected process didn’t process that way. The men they usually interacted with weren’t there, and the women that they did interact with weren’t just “helpmates” and “along for the ride”—Lydia in particular was a strong businesswoman and leader. Everyone in Lydia’s household, which she it seems SHE is in charge of, is on board, receptive, baptized into “The Way”. Led by the Holy Spirit to even go there, Paul and his companions followed the lead of the Holy Spirit, and recognized that their expectations—maybe even what they understood as “requirements”—were not what mattered.
We are in uncharted waters, post-pandemic. We are no longer, as followers of Jesus, in the majority in our nation (according to recent polling). We need to be much more receptive to the Holy Spirit and recognize that the way that God moves may not match what we’ve always thought, certainly in this changed environment. It’s scary, particularly for those of us who’ve been at this for awhile, and have fallen into regular “patterns”. But we need to be just as seeking of the Spirit’s guidance as Paul and his companions were, and just as ready to ignore our expectations. The Spirit guides us to where we are to be, and meets us there. Much can happen if we can get out of our own way!
NEW TESTAMENT Acts 16:9-15
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 district 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 worshipper 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.