On Mother’s Day, I feel it is essential to lift up the voices of women- particularly those voices in scripture we don’t get to hear about often. One of those stories is the story of Lydia from Acts. Paul encounters Lydia during his visit to Philippi.
Philippi was founded in 365 BCE by Philip of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great. It was later established as a Roman colony for retired army veterans following the battle of Actium in 31 BCE. It is located in modern-day Greece. Paul established a Christian congregation there that proved to be one of his most supportive. While he was visiting, Paul and his entourage searched out a synagogue and instead discovered a group of women down by the river. The women were likely preparing for worship with ritual washing. Here they “sat down and spoke to the women.” It is remarkable that Paul, the Pharisee, was willing to have a serious theological discussion with a group of women- and more remarkable still that Paul was interested in the response the women gave. One woman, in particular, was Lydia.
Lydia was a merchant of purple cloth. “This meant she sold garments dyed with Tyrion purple, a dye that is created by boiling marine snails that would create the dark reddish-purple hue. It was difficult, dirty and smelly work. The text only mentions Lydia as a purple dealer, not a purple dyer. She may have been the middle woman between the dyers of the cloth and the sellers. Lydia’s clients would have been the wealthy elite of the area, the only ones who would have been able to afford this expensive textile for their clothing and upholstery.
Lydia was financially independent and led her household, which would have included her family as well as domestic slaves/servants that were a part of her business. She was wealthy enough to be able to host Paul and his associates in her home, alongside her household staff and she would eventually host the church in her home. She was smart enough to run a successful business, paying attention to the complexities it involved.” (“Lydia the Purple Dealer”).
She was a smart woman who was genuinely interested in what Paul had to say. And to be clear, Paul told a good story. This is after his conversion, so he is quick to tell the story of how he had once persecuted Christians but had since become someone who spread the gospel. He tells of his encounter with the risen Christ and gives a powerful testimony of his experiences. I imagine it was quite a compelling story, and Lydia was impressed.
Now Lydia was a worshiper of God- and there is some debate as to if she was Jewish or Jew adjacent, but she was definitely not yet a Christian when she meets up with Paul. The scripture tells us that “The lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” And I’ve always found this little detail curious. Why did her HEART have to be opened in order for her to listen? I think because having an open heart means being vulnerable, and in vulnerability change is possible.
My favorite scholar in this matter, Brene Brown describes vulnerability as "uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure." It's that unstable feeling we get when we step out of our comfort zone or do something that forces us to loosen control. In her book Daring Greatly, she says, “"What most of us fail to understand...is that vulnerability is also the cradle of the emotions and experiences that we crave. Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy courage, empathy, and creativity." In her research, Brene Brown found that people who were whole-hearted and felt like they were deserving of love all had something in common. They had embraced vulnerability. These folks, “believed that what made them vulnerable made them beautiful. They didn't talk about vulnerability being comfortable, nor did they really talk about it being excruciating. They just talked about it being necessary.” (Brown).
And that’s what is powerful to me about Lydia’s story. God opens her heart to listen. She lets herself become vulnerable to what is being said, and it is out of that vulnerability that she is ultimately changed. While Paul’s work in Philippi is important, it’s God’s work in Lydia’s heart that makes the difference. It’s God’s work in Lydia’s heart combined with Paul’s story that leads to her conversion moment and her baptism.
But Lydia isn’t the only convert that day. She leads her entire family and household to baptism as well and ends up being a leader for the church in Philipi. And none of this would have happened if Lydia had just kept her heart and mind closed. If she had not been open and vulnerable she would have missed out on this moment.
Being vulnerable doesn’t mean being weak, it means letting yourself experience the range of emotions the human heart is capable of. Being vulnerable often means being on the “other end” of service.
It was Thursday at camp, the week was winding down and we were realizing that soon it would be time to say goodbye. As our group gathered again that evening, my co-counselor Joe Seeley met the group and told them that our activity for the evening would be completed in silence. He asked them to remove their shoes, pray with him, and walk silently to the small group shelter. The group walked to the shelter and sat down. No one spoke. In the silence, I slowly began to walk to each person and wash their feet. It was amazing to me to watch their faces as I carefully cleaned and dried each foot. Some wouldn’t meet my gaze, others stared at me in shock, still others sat quietly holding back the obvious tears. When I was finished, I sat down. Still not speaking, 2 of the young women in our group got up walked over to me and washed my feet. I couldn’t hold back the tears or the emotions as I let someone else do for me what I had done for them. In that moment I understood what must have been going through the heads of the disciples that night when Jesus knelt before them. Suddenly I realized the significance of that moment in a way that had never been clear to me before.
I learned that day that it is far easier to wash someone else’s feet than to let someone wash yours. I learned that serving is easy, but being served is much harder. I learned that true leadership is learning to let others take care of you the same way that you are taking care of them. I learned that grace comes in all forms and that having someone wash your feet really can change your life. I realize now that words are a pitiful way to try to describe to you what happened that day, but somehow in that moment, we were all changed. Realizing the vulnerability of one another somehow made us all stronger. I truly believe that the lesson my small group learned is what Jesus was trying to teach the disciples the night he washed their feet—he was trying to teach them the importance of learning to be served by others. He wanted them to understand how to be vulnerable and through that vulnerability comes a greater strength. He wanted to teach them the power of serving others and the grace of accepting help. Jesus showed the disciples that if they wanted to truly be leaders—to truly make a difference in their world—that they had to learn to serve others and allow others to serve them. An open heart serves others, but an open heart is also vulnerable enough to accept service from others when it is offered. An open heart is serving. An open heart is vulnerable.
Lydia’s story reminds us of the importance of an open heart and vulnerability. We must allow ourselves to be vulnerable. To have an open heart, we must become vulnerable. This to me is the hardest part of opening ourselves to God and to others. Becoming vulnerable means we have to let others into our lives in such a way that we can be loved, forgiven and served by them. Vulnerability takes great humility and a lot of strength, but if we are willing to set aside our pride and fear for a little bit, amazing things can happen. See, it’s really easy to close our hearts when we are not vulnerable. By not being willing to let others, and God, into our deepest selves, we are not only shutting our hearts, but we are padlocking our hearts and throwing away the key. When we allow our defenses to crumble, we give friends, family, and faith a chance to enter our hearts and we therefore open our hearts to God. An open heart, then, is vulnerable. To have an open heart, we must become vulnerable.
And from that vulnerability, so many beautiful things can happen. When we show all of ourselves to someone, we allow them to love us for all that we are. Lydia was vulnerable. She opened her heart to God and to Paul and because of that she was changed and she led others to be changed. She is a powerful example of what can happen when we are willing to let God open our hearts.
Amen