Musical Prelude and Service.

Acts 16:9-15 & John 5:1-9
How do we make decisions? More accurately, when confronted with choices about where we are going in our lives, how do we make those decisions?
I presume we consider as much information as we have available. We consider what we want out of life, where we see ourselves in several years, and how those decisions will affect the people who are important to us. Perhaps we consult the people we are journeying through life with.
Often, we can find God’s spirit guiding us or inviting us into new adventures in ways we don’t recognize immediately. In the same way, God can and does speak to us through scripture in different ways. What we read in scripture one day, may seem entirely different from we read in the same story a week later. Or perhaps what jumps out to us is entirely different from what the person sitting next to us hears.
When we read these stories, what do we hear? What is speaking to us in this moment? There is no wrong answer. We sometimes need to sit with these stories and reflect and pray. The spirit will move in its own way and its own time.
So what I reflect on today is what spoke to me this past week, and that is the importance of taking time to listen. To listen to the people, we meet and to listen to the spirit that approaches us in unexpected ways.
We aren’t given a lot of details on where Paul and Silas were in their lives when Paul makes the decision to cross into Macedonia and take his mission into Europe. We know that he is essentially barred from Asia Minor. He is in one of those “where do we go from here” moments, and he has a vision. Essentially, he declares the Spirit is calling him to journey to Macedonia. He and, we believe Silas are in Troas at the time; a town on the western edge of what is now Turkey. His vision invites him to travel to Macedonia and go to Philippi, which is in the northeastern part of modern-day Greece. And that takes him to Philippi.
I tend to look at this decision by Paul as one of those “say yes” moments. There are times in our lives when we are presented with opportunities to move in what seems a brand-new direction. To step outside our comfort level and do something new. We can hold onto what is familiar and comfortable or venture into the unknown. Paul says yes, and that brings him to the bank of a river outside Philippi where he meets Lydia and household; a community of God believers.
They are not technically Jewish, although they have chosen to believe in the God of Abraham and Moses. They follow the rituals. That is what brings them to the river on the sabbath. And they welcome Paul and Silas who share the good news of Jesus with them.
We are told Lydia – a maker and merchant of purple cloth, listens eagerly and then she decides that she and her household will be baptized.
Lydia is the head of a household. It is not unheard of for a woman to be head of a household; to be wealthy, but it’s not common either. She is a woman of strength, of intelligence, and of courage to get where she is. She prepares cloth for a select and wealthy few.
The dye used to make purple cloth required thousands of seashells. Only the wealthiest of people could afford purple clothes, or purple fringed robes, or furnishings with purple coverings. Its value was equated with silver. I can only begin to imagine the resources, the time and the energy that went into making the dye and then creating the purple cloth from that dye.
Lydia is in Philippi but is from Thyatira, which is across the Aegean sea from Philippi. Thyatira is part of the province of Lydia and was the centre of purple cloth making industry. But she is now in Philippi, in Macedon. A city named after the father of Alexander the Great.
She and her household – we presume, had gathered by the river to pray. When there was not a synagogue or enough men to lead worship, Jews met near water. Water was necessary for ritual washing that was a part of prayer. Paul comes upon them eager to share the good news. She listens to what Paul has to say, and makes her own choices. She invites them to stay at her home; where this tough, strong and intelligent woman is in charge. Where she leads prayer and reflection, I am sure. I find it easy to believe Lydia and Paul engage in conversation; both listening to one another. Sharing their thoughts, their experiences, their hopes for the future.
And so, a church is built in Philippi.
How are choices made? Sometimes they seem spur of the moment. Impetuous. But perhaps they still involve listening to the spirit, speaking to us.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus comes to the pool at Bethzatha. There are many lame and infirm individuals laying around the pool. There was apparently the belief about this pool; that when an angel came down into the pool, it would stir up the water and those who bathed in its waters at the time could be healed. So those who were ill, or wounded could find healing there.
Jesus approaches on such man and instead of acting right away, asks him if he wants to be made well. And he listens. He gives this man the opportunity to tell his story, to express his needs and desires. He listens to this man. It is only then that Jesus offers healing.
I am also struck with part of this man’s story. He has been suffering here for four decades. Every time he attempts to make his way to the pool, others bar his entrance into the healing waters. No one is helping him access the healing he desires.
What is also of note in this story, is that the story of this man who is healed does not end with him walking away having been made well. He is confronted by religious authorities who accost him for carrying his mat on the Sabbath. He tells them he is only doing so because the man who healed him told him to do so.; although he cannot name this healer.
He later encounters Jesus again, and then, now knowing who he is, tells the authorities that it was Jesus who healed him. He thus plays a part in the work to arrest and try Jesus.
Both stories speak of deep faith and the importance of taking time to listen. Listen to those we encounter and listen to the different ways the Spirit speaks to us. Whether it is through the people we meet on our journeys, or the instincts or premonitions we may experience at different times in our lives.
These moments can be troubling.
We are pulled away from what we know, what makes us comfortable. We are forced to put our trust in others. We are forced to demonstrate our trust in God.
But inevitably, we meet new people. We experience new things. We learn. And our lives and our world expand.
And we are able, in the end to proclaim, thanks be to God. Amen
Rev. Warner Bloomfield

Music provided with permission through licensing with CCLI License number
2701258 and One License # A-731789