I.
With this week’s Scriptures we come to the end of one series of lessons that began the last Sunday in January and another that began the first Sunday in December.
In December we began reflecting on a set of Scriptures that all revolved around the idea of “call.” First looking at the “call” that lay at the core of Jesus’ life and ministry and along with that noticed the presence of the Magi and John the Baptist and their calls to participate in Jesus’ life (December 6, December 13, December 20, and December 27. Then we turned to notice several calls to Jesus that came to him and his response to those calls (January 3, January 10, January 17 and January 24). And then we looked at women who were called in one way or another to be at Jesus’ side in his life and work (January 31, February 7, February 14, February 21, and February 28).
In addition to spending time with this week’s Scriptural focus, you may want to review other Scriptures we have encountered in this series. The dates above will take you to the first post for each lesson.
II.
This week we spend time with Lydia and notice where and when Paul encounters her and the role she has in his work. Additionally we spend time with a few sentences of Paul’s in 1 Corinthians where we are asked to “… consider your call …”
Acts 16:11-15
We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, 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. 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. 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. 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.
Acts 16:40
After leaving the prison they went to Lydia’s home; and when they had seen and encouraged the brothers and sisters there, they departed.
1 Corinthians 1:26-30
Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
III.
In the passage in Acts we see Paul and his companions arrive in Philippi and go outside the city to a river to find a place of prayer. Of the women he prays with, our attention is called to Lydia.
What do you notice about her? Where does come from, where does she live, what does she do?
And, how and when does she invite Paul and his companions into her home?
charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}