A transcript of S4E7 on the PreacHer Podcast.
Acts 16.11-15 (NRSV)
We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.
There are two points we’re going to take away today–are you ready for them?
1. There’s a strong connection between an open heart and open hands.
2. It’s important to be interruptible.
**
Nearly 20 years ago, I was finishing up my undergraduate degree in Psychology at UC Davis, and I had no idea what I was doing next. I had been taking education courses to explore whether teaching might be the career for me, and so far all I had discerned was that working with kindergarteners was not my jam.
At that time, my parents were living in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and I decided to move home after college to look for a teaching job. I was hired to teach Spanish at a private boarding school for girls with “mild emotional disturbances.” And it was quite a job to have at the fresh age of 21, just a few years older than some of the students. I was still feeling a pull to ministry but couldn’t quite name it.
I requested a catalog from Abilene Christian University to look into graduate school – because that’s what you did back then. Eventually I made my choice – to enroll in the Graduate School of Theology. And I was invited to come out for a visit, see about places to live and get to know some people.
One of the faculty members in missions, Dr. Gwyneth Curtis, kindly offered to pick me up from DFW, which was about a three hour drive from Abilene. He said he would help me figure out transportation back to Dallas at the end of the weekend. It was a great trip and really solidified that this was the school for me. I met some people who were there for a summer mission workshop, and they just happened to be heading to Dallas on Sunday afternoon when I needed to get back to the airport. It seemed divinely ordained.
On the way, it was pouring down rain.
Maybe you’ve driven that stretch of I-20 between Abilene and Dallas. Maybe you have done it in the Texas rain–you know what I’m talking about, where it’s just coming in thundering sheets and you can hardly see twenty feet in front of you.
I was riding shotgun and there were two people in the backseat. We were going about 70 or 75 and the driver was using cruise control. Big mistake.
One moment we were barreling through this dumping rain, the next minute we were floating – that’s what hydroplaning felt like. Even though we were going over 70 miles per hour, time slowed way down and we were floating, drifting… for what seemed like minutes. We spun and hit the guardrail, and did it again for good measure.
And there we were, in the middle of nowhere on I-20, miles of freeway stretching in both directions with nothing but fields in sight. The airbags have deployed and it takes us a moment to recover from the shock of what just happened. There’s smoke coming from the hood so we all get out of the car and are soaked in a matter of seconds.
We call 911, and they say they’ll send someone but we don’t even really know where we are or how long it will take for someone to get to us. There are other cars on the road, and as each one approaches, they stop and ask if we need them to call 911. As the police have already been called, there’s nothing they can do so they drive on.
After we had been standing on the side of the road, next to this demolished, smoking car, for about 15 minutes, a gold-colored Chevy Tahoe pulls over. A kind woman driving her mother somewhere rolls down her window and offers to call 911 for us. When we tell her they’re already on their way, she says “would you like to just sit in our car while you wait so you don’t have to stand out there in the rain?”
They stayed once the police arrived, so we could take turns being sheltered from the rain while the police took their reports. I was increasingly nervous that I would miss my flight, now that we were so far delayed. As the police were almost finished with us, the woman asked if I would like a ride to the airport. We were still more than an hour away. And I don’t know where they were headed, or whether we made them late for something or miss it altogether. I just know they were on their way somewhere, saw some kids who needed help, and they stopped.
They drove me all the way to the airport and I made it back home safely. The kindness of these women still warms my heart and brings me to tears. Who were they? Where were they going? What made them stop?
All I know is they allowed themselves to be interrupted, and showed incredible kindness towards us. These women had open hearts that led to open hands demonstrated through their willingness to let us sit in their car (we were soaked to the bone) AND to drive me all the way to the airport!
**
Today we aren’t on that endlessly long stretch of I-20 between Abilene and Dallas.
Today we find ourselves on the shore in Philippi.
Paul just had a vivid dream–remember, in his dream, this man in Macedonia was pleading with Paul for us to come help him! So we sailed from Troas and after a few stops we ended up here in Philippi. And we got here in the middle of the week but we want to find the Jews. So we have to wait a few days until it’s Sabbath and we can try to find the synagogue. We go to the coast because we’re living in the diaspora — the dispersion or scattering of the Jews — and the coast is where the synagogues or “houses of prayer” are located.
But what we find is a group of women. Now this isn’t the “house of prayer” or synagogue that we’re looking for…because after we teach these women and everyone gets baptized, we’re going to press on in search of the synagogue.
But here on the beach, while we’re on our way to the synagogue, we meet this rich woman named Lydia and her friends. And I guess we didn’t ever catch whether she’s a Jew or a gentile God-fearer, but we do know that she is devout and she fears God. And she is a woman of considerable means. She deals in purple cloth, and purple fabric is reserved for the wealthy (Luke 16.19) and the royal (1 Macc 10.62).
Lydia is the owner and head of her household, and has the means to provide hospitality to all of us–to take all of us into her home to stay–so she is doing pretty well for herself. And one thing I notice is that Paul doesn’t offer any judgment or condemnation for her wealth. In fact, we just accept her generous hospitality. And when Luke writes down our story, he highlights it! Because her status and wealth are above ordinary. And this shows that even people of nobility are joining this new movement with us, so it’s credible and it’s on the up and up.
So Lydia tells us that the Lord opened her heart–and this is a phrase that sounds biblical to us, but it’s actually the only time this term is used in Scripture (except for Maccabees, but that is an apocryphal text). So, God opens her heart to hear the Gospel and the next thing we know, she’s opening her home to us! And I don’t think it’s a coincidence. I think her outer action of hospitality and how she uses her possessions is connected to her inner disposition of having a heart that is open to God. Her outward actions are a sign of her open heart.
This is point number one–there’s a strong connection between an open heart and open hands.
This is the first time we meet Lydia, but she’s about to become one of the most important converts in our movement. She’s the first European convert, and the church that’s founded in Philippi goes on to become the one that supports Paul through thick and thin–they support him financially and emotionally, and he dearly loves this church.
So while we were on our way to do one thing–it wasn’t our destination–we make a connection with someone that turns out to have a HUGE impact. And maybe–just maybe–THIS is the very thing we are supposed to be doing. None of this would have ever happened if we had not been interruptible while we were “on our way.”
So point number 2: it’s important to be interruptible.
So this idea of something happening while you’re on your way somewhere, that phrase grabbed me and I realized there’s a lot of stuff that happens in the Bible while someone is on the way to go somewhere else.
Think about the parable of the Good Samaritan, and how being interruptible – being willing to pause and offer hospitality to a stranger – that was the righteous thing to do.
And think about when Philip is told to go down to this road that runs through uninhabited desert, and as he’s on the way, he meets this Ethiopian Eunuch who happens to be reading from Isaiah. He shares the Gospel, and the guy is baptized!
In Mark’s gospel, Peter declares that Jesus is the Messiah–this huge declaration and turning point in the Gospel–and it happens while they’re on the way, headed somewhere else.
In Matthew and Mark, Jesus predicts his death while they’re on the way to Jerusalem.
When Jesus encounters the rich young ruler, it’s while he’s on his way somewhere else.
Jesus healed ten men with leprosy while he was on his way to Jerusalem.
After Jesus’ resurrection, he appears to two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus–on the way.
One of my favorites is when Jesus is on his way to see Jairus’ daughter who is on her deathbed.
And on the way there’s a woman who has been suffering with bleeding for twelve years. And she reaches out and touches the hem of his garment and is healed. And we have this precious moment where he realizes it and he sees her. He sees her and he speaks to her! He speaks to her, and tells her that HER faith has healed her. That’s powerful!
And the disciples were urging him to keep going and not worry about it when he had felt someone touch him. Remember that? They thought he was being ridiculous because there was a huge crowd pressing in on him. But he knew that something miraculous had happened and he needed to pause and be present to it. Present to this person and acknowledge this moment. Acknowledge the movement of God in this moment. We have to be interruptible to do this!
**
I want to talk about our culture of hurry. Do you often feel like you’re hurrying or rushing through life? Lately things have slowed down significantly with the mandatory stay-at-home orders. But back when life was normal, we often felt hurried in our house. Being on time was frequently a struggle. I could blame the kids, but Dave and I are just as bad.
And I think a lot of it has to do with only leaving ourselves enough time to get from point A to point B. So often we fail to give ourselves some margin–some extra breathing room in the schedule. So, when someone has a meltdown, doesn’t have their shoes on yet, or has to run back inside for a jacket, it derails everything and makes us late. But when we have that margin built in, it helps us to be interruptible.
Because when we’re in a hurry, the last thing we want is to be interrupted. But if we’re running early, when we leave ourselves some extra time, it’s no big deal at all to stop and chat, hold the door open for someone, or say yes to someone’s request for help. In fact, there’s even a psychological experiment that was conducted over forty years ago that proves this point.
**
There’s a widely known experiment that was conducted in the 1970’s at Princeton Theological Seminary by two researchers–Darley and Batson. They looked at the parable of the Good Samaritan, which seems to question whether someone’s religious convictions affect their willingness to help someone. So they designed this experiment in which 40 students–seminary students–they are all in one building completing a questionnaire. Then they’re told to go over to another building to give a talk–some were told they were going to give a talk on vocation, and some were told they were going to talk about the parable of the Good Samaritan. They were told to hurry, but there were different degrees–they were individually told to hurry either a little, somewhat, or a lot. Then when they left the building on the way to the second building, they came across someone (an actor who was part of the study, but they didn’t know that), who was hunched over in the alley in plain sight and in clear need of help. What they found is fascinating!
It didn’t seem to matter whether these students were hurriedly thinking about the talk they were about to give on jobs or the talk about the Good Samaritan. Simply thinking about the story of the Good Samaritan didn’t make the student any more or less inclined to help. The huge finding was that what they call the “hurry variable” was significantly correlated to the helping behavior. So the more rushed they felt, the less likely they were to help. And the opposite was true. Only 10% of the students in the “high hurry” group offered help, whereas 63% of those in the “low hurry” group helped!
**
Our text for today ends with an uncertain phrase. She “prevailed upon us” or “was insistent toward us” — but Luke does not tell us that they accept Lydia’s hospitality. It could be implied, and several translations read with that strong implication but it is unclear. So, did they stay with Lydia or not?
It’s not totally clear if they stayed with Lydia, or if they were in too much of a hurry to get to where they were planning to go–the synagogue.
When they leave Lydia, things take a turn for the worse. Paul and Timothy meet a slave girl who’s demon possessed and Paul gets them in big trouble when he gets annoyed and casts the demon out. They’re all stripped, beaten and thrown in the maximum security area of the prison.
And all of this surrounding material has me wondering something. I’m wondering whether Luke wants us to see that Paul is doing everything according to God’s plan and leading, or whether we are to see that Paul is human too and he doesn’t do everything right and look what happens when he doesn’t.
The spirit of Jesus shows up multiple times saying no, don’t go over there. The man in the dream says come to Macedonia and they do, and they meet Lydia and thus is born what becomes Paul’s strongest supporting church.
But perhaps Paul doesn’t recognize the importance of this community at the time, because he is trying to get on with the real mission–we were on our way to the synagogue. It’s been nice to get to know you, Lydia and friends, but this wasn’t our mission.
And on they go, and to prison they are sent. Sure, God is showing up all over the place, working mighty signs through these guys and rescuing them from prison. God is still able to bring about good, beautiful stories from what look like some pretty messed up situations in the moment.
But I do have a wonderment. What if Paul hadn’t been so eager to find that “real” synagogue? Would they have ended up beaten and in prison? What if he had remained present in the moment with Lydia and her friends on that beach?
I know, we often believe that everything in the bible happened exactly as it was supposed to. And it’s a little risky to start wondering “what if…” But I wonder whether Luke is revealing to us that perhaps Paul was a little misguided and it had some unfortunate consequences.
As risky as it is to wonder about what other possible futures there might have been if a biblical character had chosen a different course, I think it is equally risky to assume that these characters were perfect or did everything according to God’s plan.
In this story, we see Paul and his companions first being interruptible–which leads to a critically important church being born. And then, it looks like they get in a hurry again. Just like we all do.
Perhaps it’s the things that happen “on the way” that are the most important. Maybe all of the “on the way” stuff is everything that makes up a life. And when we focus too much on a particular destination, and hurry to get there, we risk missing all of the stuff on the way.
**
So I want us to think about what God might want to show us while we’re “on the way…” Think about the in between times in your life right now. When you’re moving from one thing to the next. Maybe you’re still commuting to an office, or maybe your commute is from your bedroom to your living room. Maybe, like me, you only leave your house for a daily walk or jog around the neighborhood and the occasional grocery store run. Many of us don’t have a lot of “on the way” moments like we used to. But we still have them.
For me, a lot of these “on the way” moments involve my kids. When I’m on the way to start making dinner and Anna wants to show me her drawing. When I’m on the way out for my run and Lane asks me to read to him. When I’m on the way to clean up the kitchen and Lucy asks me to braid her hair. When I’m on the way to my computer for a few minutes of work and Jude wants to show me his Lego creation.
I wonder what opportunities we have while we are “on our way” somewhere or somehow in process or in transit? How often do we focus so much on the end goal or the destination that we miss what’s happening along the way? How willing are we to be interrupted while we are on the way?
Think about all of the in-between places of your life right now. If you’re still getting out of the house for any reason, think about the path you will take to get to where you are going. Who might you run into “on the way?” What might God want to show you while you’re “on the way?” Maybe it’s someone in need of help, or maybe it’s help for something you need.
**
Let’s be interruptible this week.
One important step we have to take is building in margin. Because when we are running from one thing to the next with only enough time to get from point A to point B, we’re not interruptible. When I’ve waited until 4:55 to start making dinner, I don’t welcome an interruption from my kiddos or have the patience to let them help.
When we’re feeling rushed, we’re likely not open to things that God might have for us. We don’t have time to stop and with sincerity, ask the cashier or delivery driver how their day is going, because that will make us late.
Tomorrow, let’s be intentional about the margin of time–if only for one day–so that we can be interrupted by God. And when God interrupts us, let’s tell someone about it! Or journal about it. We have to share these stories because this is the ongoing witness of God’s work in our world.
May we have open hearts that lead to open hands. And may we be interruptible. May it be so among us.
Peace to your home.
Show Notes!
S4E7: “Car Wrecks and Interruptions” with Dr. Jen Hale Christy
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
PreacHer Podcast
PreacHer: Dr. Jen Hale Christy
Summary: The openness of our heart will dictate the openness of our hands. Our interruptibility will influence our willingness to notice, listen, serve, and participate in God’s ongoing work in the world. In this episode I share about a terrible car wreck and angels in a Tahoe, busyness and missing the things that matter.
Resources + Social Media Handles:
- All of Jen Hale Christy’s Links
What to do next:
Shouts of gratitude to our patron partners!
Sarah P, Lauren R, Mark F, Dave H, Steve G, Sheila B, Tom B
Thanks Jen, that was most outstanding! Really appreciate all of your lessons. Dave
Thank you, Dave!