News and Announcements

Rev. Dr. Marie P. Braxton, Assistant Pastor, Metropolitan AME Church
Sunday, May 9, 2010
www.metropolitanamec.org

Scripture Lesson – Acts 16: 9-15 Lydia’s Conversion in Philippi. 9During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. 11From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. 12From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. 13On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us. NIV translation

---

Life is a continuum of lessons learned; some of which are learned the hard way, through willfulness and disobedience. We have all taken those hard paths and have learned from them.

Many of the lessons we learned were taught to us in our early years. First Lady Michelle Obama held a Mother’s Day tea at which she told the guests of the lessons she learned from her mother, Marion Robinson. These lessons were on the value of a good education, how to present themselves appropriately, and about self-worth, self-esteem and building character. Mrs. Obama chose to share the lessons she had learned from her own mother with young girls in Washington, DC. At the tea, Alexis Herman shared stories of what her Godmother, Dorothy Height, had taught her. In Maya Angelou’s book “Letter to my Daughter”, she told the stories of how her mother had raised her, and she passed these stories along to Oprah.

In the scripture, Paul traveled to the Roman colony of Philippi after having a vision that a man of Macedonia had bid him to come. He used the opportunity to preach the gospel to some women who had gathered at the river. One of the women was Lydia, an influential merchant woman, a dealer of purple cloth – which was a very expensive, luxury item for the rich – who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened Lydia’s heart to receive Paul’s message, and after Paul baptized her and other members of her household, she invited Paul and his companions to come and stay at her home. Lydia teaches us several things.

1. Lydia teaches us some lessons on how to survive in a down economy. Rather than spending today with no plan for tomorrow, Lydia was a wise merchant, and she was a worshiper of God.

2. Lydia teaches us that no matter your title, degrees, or wealth, you still need to receive Jesus in your life. Jesus died for our sins, he was raised from the dead, he gave us everlasting life. Lydia teaches us that you can make it in a down economy if you have the Holy Spirit in your life. Lydia realized that although she had a lot of material things, she still needed to receive the Lord in her heart. Lydia was Paul’s first conversion of a European.

3. Lydia teaches us the power of “Christian Hospitality”. As Christians, we are expected to show hospitality; as a Christian, you are to go out of your way to be kind to others, to attend to another’s needs, to bring others into your space, to make others feel welcomed, loved, honored, and respected.

Christian hospitality, like love, is “not boastful or puffed up”; it’s not “all about me,” but it is about how I can honor and serve YOU. My mother-in-law taught me that no matter how little you have, you can always share what you have. My own mother – a gifted and talented journalist and editor – taught me that it doesn’t hurt to be kind to people, and you do not have to retaliate even if they are unkind to you.

These lessons of life have been passed down for generations. May we learn these lessons well, and may we teach by example to our own children, and to all of the other children in the Village.

Related posts:

1. Sermon Notes: When God Goes to Work in a Life
2. Sermon Notes: Born in Debt
3. Sermon Notes: I Just Can’t Help Myself!
4. Sermon Notes: Be Clear About Your Relationship with God
5. Sermon Notes: When God Is Present

Tags: Rev. Dr. Marie P. Braxton, Sermon Notes