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Easter 6 - May 16, 2004
Acts 16:9-15
Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5
John 5:1-9
Acts 16:9-15 Lydia
Paul has arrived in Europe. He presumes there is a Sabbath gathering at the riverside in Philippi. A Jewish Synagogue could be established if there were 10 adult males as a core. A form of Jewish liturgy could be used if there were only women or fewer than 10 men. Presumably that is the situation described in this passage. Paul normally made his first contact with a Jewish community. Lydia, a Gentile woman, was there listening. What Paul said obviously met her need and what she was searching for. She and her household asked for baptism and invited Paul and the others with him to make her home their centre.
Lydia was a businesswoman with contact through her trade with the elite of Philippi. She is head of her household and she would be wealthy. She embodies Luke’s ideal of women’s contribution to the church – to provide housing or hospitality and economic resources, cf Luke 8:1-3, the women who accompanied Jesus. Lydia is not credited with any leadership role in the church.
The story of Lydia is an abbreviated counterpart to the much longer story of Cornelius and Peter, referred to on Easter Day (Acts 10). Cornelius is the first official Gentile convert to Christianity. Lydia is the first official European convert.
Revelation 21: 10,22 – 22:5
It is hard for us to see reference to a new Jerusalem without remembering the geographical Jerusalem, the Holy City for three great religions; for Jews, Christians and Muslims. A city which has been fought over, destroyed, rebuilt and is still fought over.
John pictures the new Jerusalem with many differences.
In his vision John is taken to a great high mountain (mountains have considerable significance in the Bible; the giving of the Ten Commandments, the Mount of Transfiguration, to mention only two) In his vision John sees the ‘holy city coming down out of heaven from God’. There was no temple in the city, no designated place of worship ‘for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb’. The glory of God gives sufficient light that there is no need of sun or moon. An amazing vision and one wonders what is the impact, the significance of it. One has to go back to the setting – persecution, suffering, the threat of death for those who remained faithful witnesses.
I remember hearing of the church in Korea before the Korean war of the 50s. Japan had ruled Korea for many years. Everyone was expected to bow down when ordered to and worship the image of the Japanese emperor. Many Christian refused to do so and the consequences were very severe.
For these Christians in the first and second centuries C.E. (AD) belief in God and witness to a personal experience of new life in Christ became a matter of life and death.
John’s vision tells them to base their conviction and stake their lives that Christ’s death and resurrection was the decisive victory and it had cosmic repercussions, that ‘heaven’ i.e. God’s saving and judging presence (not a geographical ‘place’) penetrates this earth. The holy city comes down to earth. God’s presence is pervasive, its light, and source of life in living waters.
- 38 years, a long, long time
- but somehow he obeys and gets up
- what gives him hope and the impetus to obey?
- New life comes even to those with disabilities and regardless of age!
PRAYER
Pray for those who live with long-term, severe and restricting disabilities; for those who live with a partner with dementia, for those in similar or different situations who have lost hope. While the story of the healing at the Pool of Bethesda may hold out hope for some, for others it may add to their struggle and their feelings of helplessness as they continue coping. Grant to us all some increased understanding of those in such unrelenting situations.
May other women gain strength from the story of Lydia’s leadership and see the gift of hospitality.