Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. A man had come to a strange city - a place he had never been before. He knew no-one there, no one to stay with, no one to visit, no one whose door he could knock on and find a friendly face. He was a stranger in a strange land. But he was there for a reason - He had come with a message, and the reason he had come was to pass that message on - To share it, to communicate it. So he went in search of someone to communicate it to - Someone to receive that message, listen to it, take it in, and then, in turn, pass it on. And when he went to find someone to share this message with. He didn't go looking in the obvious places - He didn't go to the town crier, or the newspaper, or the media. He didn't go to city hall, or the police station. He didn't go to the places of power and influence, the big office buildings and the fancy restaurants and the board rooms. He went, one Sabbath day morning, down by the river, where people sometimes went to pray. And the people he found there were not what you might expect either - the people he found there were women - A group of women who gathered together outdoors to pray. One of the women was a businessperson, a dealer in purple cloth, which was a luxury item, since no-one but royalty was allowed to wear it. We might think that she was too busy or too wrapped up in her business to take time to listen to this stranger. But, she did listen. She listened eagerly to the message that the stranger brought, and his words took root - in her life and in the life of her household. In fact, that message was so important to this woman, that her life and the lives of her household - her family and her servants - were changed forever by it. They were so changed, in fact, that they urged the stranger and his companions to come and stay with them - Because the stranger wasn't a stranger anymore - he was now someone who had shared the message, And had become a friend, a companion, a coworker. And from that day, something had begun - From a small beginning, of a small group of strangers talking with a small group of women, Something great began - a whole new life, a whole new reality for those women and for all of the people of Europe from then on - Because from one meeting one morning by the river, From a conversation with one woman and her friends, Grew - first the church of Philippi, who were the Philippians to whom Paul wrote, And then, the whole Christian church in Europe - Because this first encounter was the beginning of Christianity in Europe. The stranger who had come to town was the apostle, Paul, and the woman whom he spoke with was Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, and the city they were in was Philippi. And the message that they shared was the gospel - the good news that God sent his only Son to die for us, and to come to life out of the grave, to beat death forever. The message that they shared was the good news that Christ died for Lydia, and for her family and her servants, and that in Baptism, they too received the new life that Christ had won. From a small beginning came a great result that day From Paul's message of life and hope, And from the Lord opening Lydia's heart to listen to that message Came faith and hope that spread from Philippi outward - Came salvation for millions and millions and millions - Just from that meeting of Paul and Lydia on that day, there by the river. God uses small beginnings to create big things -- He does it all the time. Sometimes we think that we are too small or too insignificant to make a difference in anything, especially to make a difference in someone's life, or especially in the lives of lots of other people. Sometimes we forget how powerful our words and our actions can be - to the good or to the ill. Sometimes we forget that God can work through our words and our actions to touch others, and to change lives. My own personal story is a story of how someone’s words and presence changed my life - because my grandmother, early one rainy Sunday morning, insisted that I get out of bed and go to church with her - and that one action changed my entire life forever. Because, instead of letting me sleep in that morning, she said "come on, get up, we're going to church". The Lord had opened my heart to listen that morning, and out of her simple action of getting me to the place where I could hear, my life changed. And then perhaps your lives have changed because I have been here among you to share words and witness, And maybe the lives of other have changed because of your words and your witness to them - And on and on - You see how God can use something small and seemingly unimportant to change lives, and to spread the gospel. Someone shared with me just yesterday how a visit, a prayer and some conversation with a stranger at the right moment changed her life and the lives of her family - Not something momentous, just someone speaking good news to her at a time when she desperately needed to hear good news, and was ready to hear good news. God used a visit with a stranger to bring good news to her household and to households beyond that. God does use little things - little moments, little words, little conversations, to bring about big things. We just have to remember that we don't always know when the right moment comes - we don't always know when the Lord has made someone ready to hear the message eagerly - as the Lord opened Lydia's heart. And that means that we always have to be ready, and sensitive, to the fact that this moment may be the moment that God has prepared. This conversation may be the one that is being listened to. This word may be the one that makes the difference. And that out of this moment and these words God may be building something beyond what we can imagine. Certainly Lydia did not imagine that out of her conversation that morning with Paul would come the great communities of faith in Europe, the cathedrals of Notre Dame and Canterbury, the music of Bach and Mozart, the sculpture and paintings of Michelangelo, And the faith of many women and men and many households over the centuries. God does indeed work in ways that are beyond our understanding, and in time that is beyond our lives, and beyond our ability to imagine. God brought our ancestors in the faith here, to this place, after all - We are in fact inheritors of Paul and Lydia’s conversation, since we are descendants of European Christians. Whether your ancestors were Swedish or German immigrants who gathered on the East Side or downtown, Or whether you or your ancestors first heard the Gospel in this country, That same good news is still shared in conversation today - Still shared with people who are eager to listen - Still shared with people whose hearts the Lord has opened. The good news that Jesus Christ is alive has power - power especially when it is shared one on one, in conversation and concern. It has power to change lives, to reshape history - It has power to save sinners, even you and me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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