The Best Man for the Job …

Jesus

the Helper

And when the Helper comes, … , he will bear witness about me.

John 15:27 “27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.”

You will be opposed,

John 16:2–4 “2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.”

I will send you the Helper

And when I have gone, I will send you the Helper, who will be with you.

Acts

We don’t see the opposition in today’s passage from Acts

but we have heard how Jesus’ words are fulfilled in many other recent readings.

Philippi

A very logical place to begin to evangelize the West.

Western end of the shortest route from Asia (Troas) to Europe

on the Egnatian Way

Rome’s major east-west highway.

A very Roman place:

A Roman colony [κολονια]

This Latin word occurs here alone in the N. T. Octavius planted here a colony of Roman veterans with farms attached, a military outpost and a miniature of Rome itself.

The language was Latin. Here Paul is face to face with the Roman power and empire in a new sense. A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933).

Its citizens had all the rights & privileges of citizens in the city of Rome.

From there, the road to Rome and the world was ready to transport the Gospel.

Acts 16:13 “13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.”

The place was most likely a shaded spot, at least partly hidden from the road,

they might have seen it on the way into town.

near the river: provided a convenient mikvah (for ritual purification)

and for privacy

Communal prayer outdoors was quite common among Jews, especially when they lacked a synagogue.

Lack of a synagogue was probably because there weren’t ten Jewish men in the city.

A very Roman city.

They spoke to the women gathered there:

Men didn’t usually do that (a sign of their dedication to evangelizing).

they must have realized that

The best man for the job is often a woman.

Acts 16:14 “14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.”

She was

a dealer in purple goods

So, likely a high-status, wealthy merchant.

Purple dye

is very rare,

tedious to obtain,

very expensive,

restricted to the Emperor, his family

and a few high -ranking government officials (eg) governors.

‘Come to my house and stay’

likely to be very posh accommodations

and a home cooked meal.

probably became the headquarters of the Philippian community.

recipient of the Letter to the Philippians.

organizer of the collections for Paul & the Corinthians.

And so

This story of Lydia in Philippi, which could be dismissed as a minor distraction in the great story of the Church’s early growth, turns out to be an object lesson in evangelization. The missionaries:

Heard & obeyed the Spirit’s prompt to go from Troy in Asia to Europe

Chose to begin in Philippi, rather than other, more significant cities

likely because it was so Roman

and so well connected by highway to Rome.

They observed their situation

finding no synagogue,

they remembered a spot outside the gates that could be a place of prayer.

Finding women, but no men,

they preached to the women

and found a sturdy foothold in the city

a house that could serve as a church

and a businesswoman who could have organized the infant community

and raised financial support for other communities and

for the missionaries

as Paul told us that the Philippians did.

We could learn a lot from these Apostolic missionaries about how to spread the Good News in our day.