The Rev. Neale L. Miller
Sermon for March 9, 2008

Texts: Psalm 20/Acts 16:1-15

Title: “When God Says, ‘Go’”

              Macedonia wasn’t on Paul’s itinerary.  He and his companion Timothy were making a swing through Asia Minor, modern day Turkey, on an assignment from the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, Peter, James the brother of Jesus, and some of Jesus’ other devout followers who were carrying on Jesus’ mission to the world. A day here, a week there, Paul and Timothy cut a wide swath in miles traveled, and they were doing so with very solid results, the newly formed churches they visited “strengthened in faith and [increasing] in numbers daily.”

              Just about the time they were ready to make a swing north to a region known as Bithynia, the Spirit, here identified as the Spirit of Jesus, prevented them. Choosing to obey the Spirit, Paul and Timothy made their way east to Troas on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Scripture does not tell us what the pair hoped to accomplish in that city, or how long they planned to stay, instead shortly after they arrived, Paul had a vision of a man pleading with him to make the journey of approximately 130 miles across the Adriatic to Macedonia.  Paul is convinced that the vision constituted a bonafide call from God.

              This, of course, was not the first time God would take charge of Paul’s itinerary.  On another occasion Paul was making his way to Damascus on authority of the Jewish high priest to round up Christians when the resurrected Jesus took Paul’s itinerary in hand. Oh, he made it to Damascus alright, but instead of a destination, Damascus would be a launch point for a whole new life as an ambassador for Christ.  Thereafter Paul pretty much left his itinerary in God’s hands. 

              Most of us have had our itineraries taken out of our hands. We had certain plans for our life related to career, marriage, children, all the important things, and just like that, some event or experience set us off in a direction we would never have anticipated.             

              How are we to explain such things? Blind chance? Divine intervention?  Does any explanation really satisfy? Be that as it may, divinely inspired or otherwise, life took a turn we hadn’t expected. But then, life takes many turns we don’t expect, doesn’t it?  Better to expect the unexpected than to wring our hands when our course, for whatever reason, deviates from the one we set.

              Paul had learned to expect the unexpected. If God didn’t want him in Bithynia, fine and good.  Macedonia it would be.  It was in Neapolis, in the province of Macedonia, on the western shore of the Adriatic, that Paul stepped onto the European continent for the first time, and it was to Philippi, a Macedonian city just a few miles away, that Paul and Timothy would carry the word of God.

              The book of Acts states that Paul and Timothy remained in Philippi for an extended period of time.  One scholar talks about how Paul’s “whole activity was determined [as he puts it] by two opposed currents, one driving him onward and another holding him back.”  On the one hand Paul felt compelled to take the gospel of the Lord in as many places as possible, while on the other hand he felt responsible to stay with a particular community of believers for a more extended time.

              Scripture gives us no reason to explain why Paul and Timothy lingered in Philippi, but it does add one interesting detail. That Paul, Timothy, and the other disciples of Jesus touched many lives throughout their travels is documented in the book of Acts by the frequent mention of conversions adding up to thousands. Converts were being added at every hamlet and city on the road.  (Wouldn’t we like to tap into some of that?)

              Paul, Timothy and others touched many lives as ambassadors of Christ but virtually all of them remain nameless.  In today’s lesson one of those persons has a name. 

              Acts tells us that Paul and Timothy had been in Philippi for “some days.”  “Some days,” could mean a week or two or even a month.  We do not know how long the two had been there when on a Sabbath day, seeking a place to pray, they met up with Lydia and some other women near a river.  Acts describes Lydia as a “worshiper of God,” which likely means that she was a Gentile who believed in the God of Israel.

              Paul, ever ready to testify to his faith, found in Lydia a woman who was ready to listen.  A forceful, passionate speaker, Paul attracted audiences wherever he went, but in this instance scripture does more than testify to his impressive credentials, we are told that “the Lord opened her heart to listen.”  “The Lord opened her heart to listen.” Mind you, the heart was not merely part of the human anatomy in the mind of the ancients.  The heart was “the seat of the will, the source of thought, and reasoning.”

              God used Paul to open a pathway into Lydia’s very being.  After she was baptized she did something very significant.  She invited Paul and Timothy to stay in her home.

              “[God] opened her heart to listen.”  To that statement Paul would have raised no objection, for Paul knew the source of power from which he drew. He knew that when he responded to Christ’s call to ministry on the Damascus road he was placing his whole life under God’s authority. Furthermore, he knew that he would never be alone.  He knew that wherever he went God could be counted upon to be.  He believed that despite the fact that the reception he received in various places was anything but friendly.

              Paul’s life was marked by a series of confrontations, beatings, arrests, and imprisonments. When God said, “go,” Paul did not seek the safe or comfortable option.  Paul went, and when he went he continued to meet up with people like Lydia, people whose hearts had been opened to hear, people who wanted to learn more about the Christ he served, people who were eager to offer him hospitality in their homes.

              Paul knew that wherever he went God could be counted upon to be.  He was able to maintain that conviction in the face of real hardship because he had witnessed God transform lives, and to witness lives transformed gave him greater and greater confidence in his ability as an agent of transformation. Paul needed the Lydia’s of the world just as much as they needed him.

              In his letter to the church at Rome he alludes to that mutual reinforcement, writing, “For I am longing to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen you---or that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” 

              Paul and Timothy traveled to Philippi in Macedonia, and what did they find? They found that God had been there.  They found that God had opened the heart of Lydia and that she was ready to receive encouragement from Paul, encouragement that would lead, not just to her baptism, but the baptism of all the members of her household, encouragement that would be reinforced as she opened her home to Paul.

              Remember, the visit to Philippi was not on Paul and Timothy’s itinerary.  It happened, however, that God set a different itinerary. God opened the heart of a woman in Philippi that needed encouraging.

              The mission of the church simply stated is to offer encouragement to those seeking more from life than the world itself can offer. I have never experienced a time throughout my entire ministry where the mission of the church has been so thoughtfully and carefully analyzed as it has been in the last several weeks in this church, particularly in our Wednesday night gatherings.

              The reason I believe that has occurred is that God has taken charge of this church’s itinerary. God is directing us to Macedonia, that world of Lydias out there who are seeking more from life than is currently available to them.  The road to Macedonia, however, isn’t all that well marked.  We know, however, that God is already in Macedonia even as we are seeking a route to get there.   

              Macedonia is on the horizon, and frankly some of us can see it more clearly than others. Some are impatient to set aside some of the cumbersome baggage we have accumulated and  move on.  Others want to spend more time getting bearings.  Still others aren’t sure if they want to make the trip.  Impatience, uncertainty, fear, even some anger thrown in, that is what we are experiencing.

              Macedonia is on the horizon and we who are part of this congregation family are journeying together. We are fellow travelers, fellow travelers who maintain our own individual thoughts on the best route to take, what to take, and even the wisdom of making the journey. The apostle Paul was no stranger to the kind of things we are facing right now.  The mother church in Jerusalem had its own ideas about how Paul should carry out his ministry, Paul didn’t get along with all of his travel companions. But God said, “go,” and Paul went

              Macedonia was on the horizon. Lydia was there, and God was there, but Paul didn’t know the details.  All he knew was that Macedonia was on the horizon, and that is where he needed to be.  Macedonia was a foreign place with unfamiliar customs.  Paul could not expect the people of Macedonia to think like him.  He could not expect them to value what he valued.  Paul was a foreigner to the Macedonians.

              Are we really ready to take on Macedonia? Are we ready to venture into the world?  That is the question the people of God have been faced with from the time of Abraham.  God continued to urge his children on, but Macedonia was a forbidding place, a foreign place.  Moses sent some of his handpicked men out to survey the road into his Macedonia, the land of Canaan, and to a man they came back with discouraging reports of all the obstacles the people of Israel might face if they intended to go in there. In many, many instances the Israelites were too overwhelmed by the obstacles they faced to trust in the God in whose name they journeyed.

                Are we ready to take on Macedonia?  The customs we maintain here, our history, our traditions, and our music are in large part foreign to the Macedonians, those people outside our doors who have little or no acquaintanceship with what the church has to offer.

                Macedonia wasn’t on Paul’s itinerary, and for years Macedonia hasn’t been on the itinerary of churches like ours.  We have been comfortable and right at home perpetuating our customs, and celebrating our history and traditions.  

                 God put Macedonia on Paul’s itinerary, and what did he find?  He found that God was waiting for him in Macedonia.  Lydia was waiting in Macedonia, her heart open to the message he brought, and as he shared the message to a woman who had never heard it, he discovered in the sharing that his own faith had taken deeper more permanent roots. And isn’t that what we want?

                 Why go to Macedonia?  Paul went to Macedonia for Lydia’s sake, and for the sake of all the Lydia’s of that land.  But in going there he found his own faith challenged and deepened.

                  It is my conviction that God is doing a new thing in this church.  God is opening minds and hearts, and preparing us to take on Macedonia.  It is my conviction that the journey into Macedonia has already begun, that transformation is already occurring.

                  The Greek mathematician Euclid was employed as a tutor to a great king.  The king complained that the theorems Euclid was teaching were to difficult to grasp, wondering if there was an easier way to approach the subject.  Euclid replied, “Sire, there is no royal road to geometry.

                    There is no easy road to Macedonia, but there is a road.  Through the Spirit of God working in us we are daily being prepared to travel it. To God’s name be praise. AMEN

              PRAYER

               Living God, source of life, even as we live life we seek life.  We seek that which a dollar can’t purchase, a good reputation, or length of days on earth secure. We seek meaning and purpose in life, and by your grace, O God, you have disclosed where those things are to be found. In Christ, your only son, you revealed the true treasures of life, treasures to be discovered not in bank vaults or trophy cases, but instead in a servant’s vocation. You are challenging us, O God, to make the servant’s vocation our own. Grant us the will, both as individuals and the church, to make decisions that are most consistent with that aim. 

              Lord, in your mercy, sustain the grief stricken whose lives were shattered by yet another terrorist bombing in Iraq, and a shooting in a Jerusalem school in the week now passed.  Hatred rages with no end in sight, as grief gives way to acts of revenge in a never ending downward spiral. We look to the horizon, but we see not the faintest glimmer of hope, no deliverance from madness in sight.  Destitute, O Lord, some have surrendered hope, but we continue to trust you.  May our confidence, O God, be a source of confidence for our neighbor, that one by one the world may live into the hope Christ’s victory over death accomplished.

              O God, we pray for the church.  Charged to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, we celebrate the many ways the Good News is being imparted.  We thank you for devoted pastors and lay leaders who daily strive to find new ways and means to present the gospel to the world.  We thank you for church musicians who employ their special talents in your honor.  We lift up and praise you, O God, for the women and men who weekly prepare lessons that help us reach deeper in your word. We praise you for the women and men who recognize their calling in the ministry of hospitality, those persons who greet visitors and prepare refreshments for fellowship. We praise you for those who see their ministry in managing the finances of the church, in maintaining the church’s property, and in tending to the many other details that come with maintaining the programs and commitments of the church.

              Lord, we pray for this nation and other nations that have been impacted by the recent economic downturn.  We pray for those who are unemployed or underemployed, who struggle to meet financial obligations even as the resources for doing so continue to shrink.  We pray for government leaders and other authorities who are at work to find strategies to address the problems we face.  Grant them wisdom as they make their efforts.

              We pray for those who live in harms way today, our military personnel who are posted in dangerous places around the world, but also the citizens of those lands who bear the brunt of the suffering.  In your mercy, O God, support those who are striving for peace and reconciliation between nations.  May the seeds they seek to plant, take root and grow.

              We acknowledge the special needs represented in the congregation today.  O Christ, who gave your life that we may have life, may your healing power go out to the grieving, the ill, the heartbroken, the anxious and the depressed even as we pray for….

              O Lord, our rock, upon whose strength we rely, we continue to praise you for the grace you dispense in the friendships we have been privileged to nurture with our friends from across the land, giving thanks for our friends from New Jersey who have come to New Orleans once again to assist in restoration efforts.  As members of the body of Christ we share a common identify even as we pray the prayer we hold in common.  Our Father….