Endeavoring Women of the Bible: Lydia
As David and I have been helping with camp, I again this week haven’t had as much time to blog. But it actually has timed out perfectly because although the passage is small, I love the story of Lydia in the New Testament. She is a business babe, and Paul’s first European convert so I just love, love, love her story. (I also actually visited Lydia’s baptismal in Greece… so she just holds a special place in my heart). I can’t wait to jump into this week’s post!
Lydia
Location: Phillipi
Context: Paul is listening to the Holy Spirit and doing ministry in Europe
Passage: Acts 16
So as I mentioned Lydia’s story is a small one located in Acts 16. The context is that Paul and Silas are running around doing ministry and they are joined by Timothy. They find themselves traveling from Troas all the way over to Philippi.
Now this is a little side tangent, but I love it so I wanted to point it out. Earlier in chapter 16 they are traveling and around they
“Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.”
(Acts 16:6-7)
And I think these verses are so interesting because it shows the Holy Spirit guiding them. Hearing the Spirit of Jesus (another name for the Holy Spirit) can seem really difficult and frankly kind of “out there”. I know in seasons of my life I can feel so lost and without direction but I think this passage gives me hope that he will direct us. Of course we need to seek scripture, counsel from wiser people, and ultimately talk to God in prayer, but I think these verses show that sometimes God will shut doors, and that’s okay. He may shut doors to direct us, but he also will open some when we are ready. We see this in the following verses right after 6-7:
“So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.”
(Acts 16:8-10)
So I just emphasize these prior verses to to set the scene and highlight an important fact: that we serve a living God that speaks to us.
So as they are following the spirit we learn they travel to Phillipi in verse 12:
From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district[a] of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.”
For reference, Phillipi was the key city in the region of Macedonia (which is norther Greece today. Paul actually ends up planing a church during this visit (ever heard of the book of Philippians). We can learn about the context based on that letter: that there was disunity and persecution. We also know that Phillipi prohibited bringing unrecognized religion into the city. They actually had these inscribed in arches outside the city; therefore, the meeting Paul was about to have was held outside the city by the river (Zondervan, 1997). We see this in verse 13:
On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there”
(Acts 16:13)
So you can kind of make a mental picture of this right? There is a group of women sitting outside the city and Paul is approaching. Although they were just looking for a place of prayer, I think it is significant to note that Paul doesn’t talk with this group because they are women. He sits and talks with all genders, races, and economic statuses. I think this is huge and something I think so often reflects Jesus. So we see him talking with this group of women, and one of them is named Lydia. And we learn a bit more about her in the following verses. Verse 14 says:
“One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.”
Now this is such a small verse in the scheme of things, but it is packed with a punch. A few things we learn from this, first that she is “a dealer in purple cloth”. So what you may not know is that in the context purple cloth was very expensive and valuable. Generally royalty or people in nobility wore purple. Which means, that as essentially a business babe running a high end clothing business… historians guess that she probably was wealthy.
In this first verse we also see that she was a worshiper of God and she responded to Paul’s message. As Lydia was attending this prayer meeting, we see that she demonstrates this willingness and interest in God. Remember at this time, Christianity wasn’t widely recognized and so she was connecting with God as much as she knew how. And what is beautiful is to see God place Paul in her context and meet her where she is. And what is amazing, as you can see in this passage, is that when God met her and brought the Gospel through Paul, Lydia believed. And therefore, historically she is considered Paul’s first European convert to Christianity.
So Lydia believes. But her story doesn’t stop there. We see in the next verse that she doesn’t just keep the good news of the Gospel to herself. We read in verse 15:
“When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.”
Some people use this passage for baptismal theology, but what I just want to highlight is that she brought it to her home. She didn’t just keep her faith quiet, she connected with her family. Her knowledge and faith went beyond just reason and belief, but into action.
It also speaks into her bravery and faith. Keep in mind that Paul and Silas aren’t exactly the people to be hanging out with. They were recently released from prison, so it probably really took courage. She opened this space for believers. The passage doesn’t speak of a husband, but we can assume her space is fairly large and we see it used for ministry later in the passage as well.
And from there, we don’t hear much from Lydia again. So there is kind of this blank space of what did she do afterwards? We don’t really know. But we see that even after some time, later in the chapter, they are still meeting at her house as it says in verse 40:
“After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sistersand encouraged them. Then they left.”
(Acts 16:40)
Although we don’t exactly know what happens, we can speculate that it seems that Lydia is still in some sort of leadership or still participating in the church in Phillipi even after Paul and Silas left. As Marg Mowckzo writes on her blog, Lydia probably did spend some time with Paul and Silas before they left. And even though it was may have not been a formal education, it is not a far stretch to think that while Paul and Silas stayed with her she may have received some pastoral and theological training from Paul, with which she could lead the church in Phillipi upon Paul’s departure to bring the gospel to Macedoinan cities. Marg’s post also highlights that Lydia “seems to have been a spiritually receptive person.”, so she probably utilized spiritual gifts and played a role in leadership.
So what are some primary lessons we can take from her story?
Action
As I have been talking with some youth in our church and I think there can sometimes be such a disconnect between theology and action. You may know about Christianity, and you may have heard the news of Christ, have you let it affect you? Lydia can’t help but let her faith pour over into other areas in her life. In verse 15 she basically begs Paul and Silas to stay with her family. Lydia’s story shows us that our faith should move our life. Our life should look different than before we knew Christ.
Jesus sits with everyone
Okay, so I’m really into the tangents here, but I love this one. If you didn’t know, my husband and I l-o-v-e the book of Acts. For so many reasons, but get this. So in this chapter we learn about Paul evangelizing to this wealthy woman. We see later in the chapter Paul and Silas casting out a demon out of a slave girl. Directly following that we see them encounter a jailer who also asks “What must I do to be saved”. So a wealthy woman, a slave girl, and a jailer. Don’t those all seem a bit different in social “class”. I believe so firmly that Jesus took the time to reach everyone. There wasn’t a group he wouldn’t associate with, or a group he wouldn’t sit with. He offers salvation to everyone who repents and calls on his name.
Business
There aren’t too many examples of business people in the Bibl, but we do know for a fact that Lydia would have been pretty close to what we consider today as a “business woman”. Again, I say it over and over, the passage is only like 4 verses so there are so many gaps that we don’t know. Did she stop the business after her conversion? Did she lead in the church? We don’t really know. But I connect with this story so much in the sense that she was a woman of influence, yet God connects with her and uses her where she is at. And she uses what God has given her, and her influence, to bring the Gospel. If you are in business of any sort, whether you own your own or are in some sort of leadership, or if you are just working 8-5: know that God sees you. He uses you.
Leadership
Along with seeing that Lydia was a business woman, I think she can provide an example of ministry. Even though she is a trader of purple cloth, in verse 40 we see her opening her home still. If you work a full time job, or work in a specific field, you may not feel like you are “part of ministry”. And I know for me, for a long time, I didn’t think that my business job and doing “full time ministry” could overlap. But I think Lydia shows us how our occupation and our witness can overlap. We can do both, and often times our occupation can be a springboard for ministry. Don’t ever think that because you may not be a pastor you are any less responsible for facilitating the Gospel. The stories in Acts show that he uses everyone for his ministry.
When thinking of just one word for Lydia, I think action. Maybe it is because I’m an enneagram 3, but I think of her as just a woman with a mission. In all areas, she didn’t just sit around. She took action and moved forward. She went to this prayer meeting, she was seeking God in how she knew how. She also listened to Paul, received the Gospel, and responded. She then took action and baptized/dedicated her house to Christ. She then opened it, to Paul and Silas and then for future ministry. If she doesn’t sound like a go-getter woman I don’t know what does. I hope that this story can connect with some of you. That God wants to meet you where you are and use your unique gifts and talents for his Kingdom.
Lord, I pray this week that you will move in these endeavorer’s lives. We praise you that you connect with people at every level. You sit with us, and offer us salvation. This week help us take action God. Let our faith translate into action this week as we open our hearts and homes to ministry. Enable us to use our times, talents, and treasures to bless others and serve you. We love you so much God and we praise you that you have taken our lives from death and despair to hope and salvation. We love you so much God.
Amen.
SOURCES:
Life Application Study Bible - NIV. Zondervan, 1997.
Mowczko, M. (2017, November 3). Lydia of Thyatira: The foreigner who became the founding member of the Philippian Church. Retrieved from https://margmowczko.com/lydia-of-thyatira-philippi/
