Sunday, July 27, 2025

Scripture: Acts 16:11-15

Sermon Title: The Call of Lydia

I shared with the Missions Committee that I had the privilege of traveling to Cuba almost 6 years ago. My first church in Jacksonville had a sister church in Cuba and we traveled with people from our church to visit our sister church. Now what was a little different about our trip is that we took Ellie with us, who was only about 4 months old at the time. I think most people in my church in Jacksonville thought we were insane for taking a 4-month-old baby to Cuba, but I didn’t want to be away from her, and I really wanted to go to Cuba. So, we took her with us.

And I have to say, I’m so happy that we took her to Cuba with us because it ended up being a great honor for the people in our Cuban Sister Church. Cuba is often mistakenly looked down on by other countries as “not safe,” and so for them they said over and over again how honored we were that we felt safe enough to bring our baby to Cuba.

While we were there, I was amazed at the hospitality shown to us. They found a crib for Ellie to use while we stayed there. I still remember the Spanish word they taught us for crib was “cuna.” They made sure that we rode in the car that had AC. The pastor’s young adult son looked like Ellie’s personal bodyguard pushing her in her stroller down the streets of Cuba. They cooked uswonderful meals, which is especially amazing considering how little the Cuban people have. The pastor’s wife held Ellie in worship. I could go on and on.

I know they say there is something about Southern Hospitality, and that is true. But I think Southern Hospitality has nothing on Cuban Hospitality. Still to this day when I picture hospitality, that is what I picture.

I’m curious by show of hands, how many of you have the gift of hospitality? I’m going to guess that I’m going to see many hands raised from our Nurture Committee. I think you all would fit in well with the Cuban Church.

Today we’re looking at Lydia and although we don’t know much about her, there are only a few lines about her in scripture, I would guess that she had the spiritual gift of hospitality. No, they didn’t have a formal spiritual gifts assessment back then, but you could see it in the way Lydia lived her life. This was the fruit in her life.

Now before we dig into the call story of Lydia, I want us to do some review of this last month. You ready?

Shout it out if you remember, who was the first Call Story in scripture we talked about? Yes, Abram. What do you remember about Abram? Remember he was called to leave all that he knew behind to follow the Lord to the land the Lord would show him. And he was 75 years old. This reminds us that the Lord calls even 75 years old. No one is too old to be used by God in the Kingdom of God. And it’s a reminder to us all, that sometimes the Lord calls us to leave things behind to follow God’s call.

Whose calling did we look at next? Yes, David. And what do you remember about David? He was the youngest. Right, but the Lord told Samuel, people look at outward appearances, but I look at the heart. The Lord looks at the heart.

If you were at Dinner Church this week, we had a great turnout. I think around 40 people total, and I counted 12 kids total, ages ranging from a baby to a teenager. Let’s praise that for a moment. And Pastor Jeanine did a great kid’s message. She had gift bags and had them pick out what they wanted. She was talking about judging, and most kids, if they’re judging, want to pick the big bag or the heavy bag. Picture Christmas Morning, kids always want the big present. Well,this time, the big bag just had dirt in it. And the small bag that was chosen last had candy in it. It was a great lesson on not judging others by outward appearances, and I couldn’t help but think of David.

Remember we aren’t to judge those by outward appearances. And this is important when looking at calls. God calls all sorts of people. If you’ve been told you aren’t good enough, or you aren’t worthy, don’t listen to that. That’s not the voice of God. God wants to use you.

All right then who did we talk about last week? Yes, Esther. What do you remember about Esther? Yes, Esther was called through her cousin Mordecai who said maybe God was calling her “for such a time as this.” It’s a reminder that when we are placed in positions of power, we are called to stand up for the oppressed and marginalized.

And now we have come to our last call story, and this is Lydia. And I will admit, her story is a little different. We don’t necessarily hear her calling from God or someone else, but we see how her call is lived out. We see the fruit of God’s call on her life.

A good friend of mine from seminary has been in Turkey this week traveling around looking at the various places in Turkey that are mentioned in the New Testament. And one of the places she went to was Thyatira where Lydia was from. I stole this picture from her Facebook page. This is in Thyatira where Lydia was from.

I told my friend, “I’m preaching on Lydia this week, tell me what all you learned about Lydia this week.”

This is what she told me. “She’s probably named for the region, because the Lydians were a big people group there. She’s known for being a dealer in purple dye, and the dye was made from grinding the shells of a certain kind of snail. She was converted outside Greece in Phillipi.”

Purple Dye was hard to get and so we can assume that because Lydia was a dealer in purple dye, she was wealthy. And we will see that she ends up using her wealth for good to show hospitality.

In the Book of Acts, the Apostle Paul is traveling, preaching the good news and he goes to Philippi, a city in Greece. And it is there that he meets Lydia with a group of women down by a riverbank.

Acts 16:14 “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.”

The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.

You see sometimes, God is calling us, but we’re closed off and don’t want to hear God’s message. So a great prayer for us all to pray as we prepare our hearts for worship, and not just worship but everyday would be “Lord, open my heart, so that I would be receptive to the people, places, and things that you are calling me to do today.”

And I want to share with how The Message described what happened next to Lydia. Now I know The Message is a paraphrase, not a translation, but I love this description.

Take a listen:

Acts 16:15, “After she was baptized, along with everyone in her household, she said in a surge of hospitality, ‘If you’re confident that I’m in this with you and believe in the Master truly, come home with me and be my guests.” We hesitated, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

I love that, a surge of hospitality. And that she wouldn’t take no for an answer when she invited them to her home.

What would a surge of hospitality look like here at Tomoka?

I have experienced your hospitality through the Nurture Committee bringing me meals our first week. I know many of you have experienced a surge of hospitality through meals through the Nurture Committee when you have been sick.

Hospitality is often easy for our friends who we know, our friends who are dear to us.

But I want us all to think beyond that. I want us to think, what does hospitality to the stranger look like? To the first-time visitor? To a family at dinner church? To those in our community? To the homeless person? To the immigrant? To our school/church partnership with Tomoka Elementary?

What would a surge of hospitality look like?

Our scripture for today ended here, but Lydia is mentioned one more time in scripture.

After this encounter with Lydia, Paul and Silas end up being jailed, but then they get released from jail, and then after getting released from jail, they went back to Lydia’s house.

We really don’t know much about Lydia, but I’d like to hope, that after this encounter, Lydia was forever changed, and continued to use her wealth and her home to show believers in the area hospitality.

It was funny, I learned this week that Lydia is a Saint in various denominations. And in the Roman Catholic Church Saint Lydia’s Feast Day is Celebrated on August 3rd. I chose these scripture passages a couple of months ago before I ever knew that, and we are talking about Lydia 1 week before her Feast Day in the Roman Catholic Church. I think the Holy Spirit is at work.

A couple of weeks ago I shared with you about Geraldine McLellan, the first African American Female pastor ordained in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. But we kind of have our very own Methodist Celebrity here in our own church.

Pastor Pam Stewart was one of the first women ordained in the Florida Conference. And at Annual Conference this year they honored those early women ordained. And Pam was one of them. And I’m not sure that Tomoka has honored Pam, so I’d love for Pam to stand, so we could honor her here as well.

For some of Pam’s time in ministry she served in hospice. Hospice, hospitals, and hospitality all have that same Latin root word hospes meaning guests and hosts. In a way, we could say Pam had a similar story to Lydia, showing hospitality to those she ministered to.

We’ve heard call stories of Abram, David, Esther, and Lydia, though there are certainly way more in scripture. I’ve shared my call with you. You’ve heard about Geraldine McLellan and our own Pastor Pam Stewart.

And now the question for all of us is, where are you hearing God’s voice? Where is God calling you? Is it a committee or ministry that God is calling you to be a part of? Is it a calling in your personal life to draw nearer to God through a spiritual practice. Is it the call to forgive someone? Is it the call to show hospitality? Where is God calling you next?

You should all have a card, and if you would like to write down where you’re feeling called, that would be great. And if it’s personal and you don’t want to share, that’s perfectly ok too. But if it’s something you’re ok sharing with me, I invite you to place your cards on the altar rail after you receive communion. Just know that if its ministry related, I will share it with others who lead that ministry. But if it’s personal, I won’t share it with others. Maybe even take time to pray over your card after you bring it to the altar rail.

Maybe as you pray, say something like, I have heard your call Lord, and I’m willing to open my heart and obey your call Lord.

Amen.