Lydia the Businesswoman

Jesus however, takes us as we are. Jesus wants us as we are. To act in partnership with each other... Let us choose partnership over domination, peace over war.

May 25, 2025

SERMON Acts 16.9-15 Lydia

If I had to pick a theme for Acts it would be inclusion. So far this Easter season we have had a miracle of resurrection by Peter. It highlighted and identified the importance of women disciples and leaders in the church. Tabitha is a leader in Joppa among those she serves. Peter then has a vision that called him to be inclusive of non-Jewish believers. He says to those who criticize him for joining a certain group for a meal, “If God’s Spirit is poured out on these Gentiles, who am I to stand in the way of God.” Indeed, who are any of us to stand in the way of the Holy Spirit’s surprising choices and movements.

Our lectionary now jumps to Paul having a vision of a man pleading for help in Macedonia. They set out and land in Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. They do not find any Jewish believers within the city walls. On the sabbath they leave the city to go to the river. The river is a common place for prayer when there is no synagogue. Instead of a man pleading for help they found a group of women praying and worshiping down at the river. Paul approaches the group and one woman in particular listens.

Lydia was a trader of purple cloth. The purple cloth industry was highly lucrative. The production to get the dye was dangerous and time consuming. The dye is secreted by several species of predatory sea snails and other mollusks called Murex. Pliny the Elder discussed the process as first deep diving into the ocean and only in certain areas of the Mediterranean Sea to collect them then crushing them for collection of the dye. Extracting enough dye involved killing tens of thousands of snails. It is said that there are mountains of their shells that have been found off certain coastal areas where they manufactured the dye.

A BBC article explained that it was the “most expensive product in antiquity – worth more than three times its weight in gold according to a Roman edict issued in 301 AD.” Remarkably “no one living today knows how to make it. By the 15th Century, the elaborate recipes to extract and process the dye had been lost”. We have come to learn other ways to make purple dye but will most likely never reach the same hue. “Pliny the Elder described it as having a ‘shining appearance when held up to the light’. To get to that level of color the dyer had to first leave the cloth in for 5 or more hours, then after draining and drying another 5+ hours.

In 2002 a group of archeologists found dark stains on the floor at the site of Qatna and after excavating and finding a dark purple layer they sent samples back to the lab. It was a layer of enduring purple dye that had not faded in all that time. Because of the purple cloth’s expense and apparent longevity, it had become known as the royal or noble dye only allowed to be worn by those higher up in the government. With Ceaser alone allowed to wear a fully ‘twice dipped’ garment. Others had to settle for a toga only partially purple and a trim of gold or other cloth with a hue not as bold.

Lydia becomes our next early church convert and influencer. Paul’s first convert in Europe. With her trade known, it is clear that she is rich. And even though she is a woman, she is the head of a household. That means that she has a large residence with slaves in her ownership. Her house is even large enough to host and entertain all of Paul’s traveling group, which is said to be large. It is unclear if she is a widow, divorced, or just gained wealth in some other way without a male ‘protector’. It seems that she is also the leader at the river. The gathering of ‘God fearers’ who leave the safety of the city walls in order to pray.

‘God fearers’ or ‘worshipers of God’ were followers of the Jewish God YHWH but had not fully converted for whatever reason. Paul is sharing the gospel of Jesus with the group, and she is listening intently. We may think that because she is a leader of the group she is seen as an insider in her society. MARIANNE BLICKENSTAFF in Connections Commentary, points out that, “Acts presents her first and foremost as an outsider. She is a Gentile; she is the head of a household in a patriarchal society; she is outside the city gates in a liminal space where anything can happen.” She is an exception to the rule and not one found often in the Bible or ancient world.

GARY W. CHARLES from Connections Commentary has this to say about the somewhat odd story of Lydia. Odd because she is rich. Odd because SHE is rich… “For Luke, who frequently emphasizes God’s acute care for the poor (Luke 1:53; 6:24–25) over the already self-satisfied affluent, Lydia serves as a theological reminder that God’s grace crosses all economic boundaries. Along with Zacchaeus in Luke 19, the good news of Jesus is for those of “low estate” (Luke 1:48) and also for those who are wealthy. It is for anyone whose heart is open to the gospel message from God.” And for whomever the Spirit moves within.

BLICKENSTAFF notes that Lydia joins the unlikely of saints “illustrating the Lukan theme that the most unexpected people are often the very ones whose hearts are opened to the good news and who then proclaim what wonders Jesus has done. Sometimes, all they need is someone to cross over the boundary and speak the good news. The church today can follow this example by prayerfully examining what boundaries we have put up. We can also ask God how we might “cross over” into unknown territory to find open hearts waiting for the good news.”

As she listens to the message of inclusive love that Jesus the Christ has to offer, God moves within her. It is the Spirit and lifeforce of the living God that opens her ears, heart, and mind. Lydia, worshiped God but had not heard the redeeming message that Jesus came for everyone. Now that she has received the good news, she is all in! Not just her but her entire household is baptized. She includes them in the very love that she is accepting for herself. Lydia began serving the church on day one with all the resources she had. Wealth was not an obstacle for her. This message of Jesus coming for all is life changing. She could now be an insider. A child of God, forgiven of her sins, accepted as she was. She invites Paul and his company to stay with her and argues until they relent. She houses them later in the chapter but that is for next time.

When I think of the rich and powerful today I see a huge divide. Those that want more power and money, and those that want to help others with their power and resources. This brings with it questions. Why do some share and others horde?

In Great Peacemakers by Beller and Chase they tell a story about Holocaust survivor Dr. Riane Eisler. She was young when her parents found a way to flee to Cuba then later the United States. She spent portions of her life in very different cultures. When she grew up she asked herself. ‘“How can human beings be so brutal to their own kind? What is it that chronically tilts us toward cruelty rather than kindness, toward war rather than peace, toward destruction rather than actualization?” The answer, she discovered, was society’s habit of choosing domination over partnership.’”

She spent years of her life researching the roots of this major societal difference. Eisler describes the two models of dominance and partnership as “transcending familiar categories, such as capitalist or communist, religious or secular, Eastern or Western, technologically advanced or primitive, and they shaped the very essence of a society.”

She found that those that chose domination were rife with acceptance of violence and held moral structures purporting the belief “that it’s honorable and moral to kill and enslave neighboring nations or tribes.” In contrast those that chose “partnership cultures are based on linking instead of ranking and exhibit democratic social and family structures, gender equality, and low levels of violence.” Modern cultures close to the partnership model have laws against child beating and “social policies that support caregiving and environmentally sound manufacturing processes.”

In Eisler’s book The Chalice and the Blade, she argues that one of the reasons that Jesus was hated and later killed was because he was a strong supporter of the partnership ideals including the treatment of women and children amid being in a domination society. She points to Galatians 3:28 as a hallmark of what Jesus meant by the Kingdom of God. “There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” What model of society do we live in today?

Some people have been told by their family or church that in order to come to church or be ‘saved’, they must change. Change to be accepted, to belong, to be loved, to be ‘normal’, to be ‘good enough’. Jesus however, takes us as we are. Jesus wants us as we are. To act in partnership with each other. Do we make people wait before we let them join, serve, or help in the church? Because they are young in the faith? Or they aren’t ‘like’ us? Do we ask about their social or cultural situation? Let us ask instead, who are we to stand in God’s way? The Spirit will blow anywhere she pleases.

We must be welcoming to anyone who comes through the doors AND also, if they do not enter, we need to go to them. Leave the church walls and go to the river. Go to the place people gather who are spiritual and believe in God but don’t know that Jesus accepts and loves them AS THEY ARE. It is life changing to hear you are loved by Jesus and a community of believers. It is a blessing to tell someone they are loved by you and the congregation you represent. That both Jesus and we want you, just as you are. Amen.

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Lydia the Businesswoman

Jesus however, takes us as we are. Jesus wants us as we are. To act in partnership with each other... Let us choose partnership over domination, peace over war.

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