May 21, 2023 - Connecting Where It Counts
Connecting where it Counts. ~ Carolyn Smith, St. Paul’s May 21, 2023
Friday night, I was set up for youth group as per the RSVPS and we were building on our Pentecost theme of growing and discovering Church together - who am I , who are you, what happens when 2 or 3 are gathered.. And then we just had 2 or 3.. it turned out small and quiet, but when you tune in to each one, you get a sense of what might be the right thing - a old board game - the Game of Life…
It grabs attention right away with spinning things and pieces to fit together and right away you’re deciding on a car and getting handed money and boom/ deciding Career or College, There’s confusion as you navigate rules of Life you don’t know, and the luck of the spin, and some tricky choices you have to make. So…remarkably a bit like life as we all know it.. Fair to say I won handily ;) I know the game & have a bit more practice at Life than the teenagers. Poor Sam!!! Good thing this was just a game. And good thing she had generous companions along the way. She was hit over and over with payments and disasters. We made up rules so she could trade houses and downsize , and we made up rules about loaning money without expectation of payback. And we got to 8:30 before ending the game - before she hit the end of the road - what the old version of Life called “The Day of Reckoning”. Where she might have been frustrated, it was a fun evening because of her character and her companions, a game of compassion & camaraderie & communication that makes this Life easier or harder.
I know it’s a game, but we all know life is easier with compassion & camaraderie.. But We humans have a way of succumbing to separation, of dividing ourselves in endless ways for illogical reasons. Of missing innovation and possibility, because we’re nursing hurts and shortchanging each other rather than creating trust and respectful ways that magnify our capacity and gifts.
So the night before youth group, I sat with our Board and Trinity Center Foundations hearing some big updates & tough considerations, concepts way out of our comfort zones, for this game of Life at this church of St. Paul’s. The circle is diverse, and filled with camaraderie, and with different lenses we see through, different ideas put forward & heard carefully and respectfully.
We’ve also had some wonderful worship, caring support and Marvellous mayhem doing what we do best! For this future we face,-if you don’t carry forward some Mayhem and the warm & wonderful connections about what matters most, what’s the point?
And we saw Rodrigo and Marci again all the way from Brazil!!. Even though this geographical spot, this building, this tangible circle doesn’t serve them today, they make up part of our circle. I know it’s because we’re nice people AND because we are a justice-seeking environment supporting, LGBT affirming brave group speaking up in the world, in a way that matters to them. A Compelling call….
They read to us about Paul and his dream- a man saying “come to Macedonia” - simple, no compelling detail, but it had him up. out the door and on a boat. I’m not sure how unfamiliar this was - this group of Paul followers travelled here and there, skirting trouble and finding people amenable to their stories and sharing.
But Philippi in Macedonia wasn’t apparently an easy choice… the region was solidly Roman, with Philippi it’s center, a bustling place of Roman control, order and commerce, not obviously a friendly easy place for new Christians - speaking of turning tables, lifting the lowly and God over Casear. This trip is a crossroads of sorts, and by all the experiences of Paul’s and his travelling companions, they had reason to expect trouble. There is no temple to visit, no community of believers to connect with…seems like a trip based on a wing and a prayer.
So there they are at the lakeshore - that seems like a safe, non-threatening spot to go… and Lydia enters the story, she and the others there are open to Paul & his message, in fact, they already are God-followers - phew!! Thank God for a safe landing after this gamble of a trip.
But there’s more… usually we think of the message of Jesus with the sick, downtrodden, widows, outsiders, poor fisherman… what a gift this righteous mission is to these struggling people!! And that self-righteous perspective of Mission has created division that gets hard in the way of the larger Spirit of the Good news.
Because this surprising Lydia is wealthy. That in itself has always been a contentious issue in scripture - She is also a woman with no man to answer to. She makes purple cloth - a rare treasure which is why you think of Kingly robes with regal purple - it was a she is confident and runs her household and even welcomes in strange men.
For all sorts of reasons, at first glance, this is a person who doesn’t strike us as genuinely faithful. Why? And I’ve seen Wealthy, regal Lydia is already a God follower, and running a thriving industrious household of servants and workers and community in that Spirit, brave enough for them all to be baptized… unafraid maybe because of her status and upward connections. She’s wealthy AND, she’s holy, righteous, right-living - - she fits through the eye of a needle, we might say…
I hear a lot of dividing language about wealth & social status. I hear a lot of dismissal about differing culture or grassroots vs elitism. A lot of binary choices that leave no grey area for who is good and who is bad. On a concept level, these are good hard conversations, but on a you & me level, looking at who is around our table, the Good News generously says “here, come sit, have some bread and wine, let’s talk awhile.”
When we share space - at table with bread, in planning, or rolling up our sleeves together doing someone that we both/all were compelled to do, it gives us opportunity now to hear each other’s longings & joys, and to see each other’s Spirit for what it is.
Lydia surprises Paul - she surprises us and holds open the door for a fresh expression - The Spirit is at work, pushing away the binary and division, saying ‘do you see greed here or shady motives, or do you see possibility and loving gifts, serving this compelling Vision in a new way?
It’s curious to know that shortly after, Paul gets himself imprisoned & beaten, and with some official effort, he is released by the magistrates with a high level apology. Whose home does he land in to rest up and recover? Lydia’s.
One of the icebreakers we do in youth group is to find ALL the things we have in common… and then something that is distinct and diverse for each person -and even in our small group, playing the Game of Life, ,that’s kind of what showed up…. Sam was really lucky for someone next to her with a pile of money caring that she succeeded. She in turn was patient and explained things that helped him out, even while her luck was slim. The practice of choices and struggle and sharing has a lasting impact, and so does the practice of integrity, compassion and community.
We talk a lot about the value of diversity in this church -As we’re building this community together, we bring a diversity of gifts -all the ways we can serve and share differently. Some bring courage, planning, some bring resources & good management, or long experience. Some bring Dreams & faith, Some bring outside perspective or brave witnessing of pain others haven’t felt. This year, we’ve made some diverse cultural connections in the community where we have much learning and listening to do. Such diversity is always around, but this church holds up the value of giving it space around the table. Hearing and learning, Respecting and valuing, navigating our way forward together.
Sometimes the dreamers and the Spreadsheet folks and the builders have to navigate timing and sitting back or stepping up. Paul took his visionary mission into scary territory and landed at Lydia’s mercy - her generosity,
He might have just seen her riches and with typical tradition, thought: Greed. Or suggested she give it all up - but how much? And to whom? For what? Maybe in her Roman world, her household (think - the people counting on her for work and income and caring for their own families) was proving that people could thrive in a Spirit way rather than Cesar. And that, in a Roman town or a modern rat race of established systems could be a compelling Good News that could upend expectations. Instead of the old ‘us vs them’ binaries so quickly based on judgement, the Good News is that division eases with curiosity and connection.
In the 2000 years since, how many other binaries and boundaries has the Spirit dragged us through to wholehearted surprises - so many! We’ve gotta look for Spirit alive in each other, past old divisions, and call it up; Can we magnify it in ourselves and bring it as gift to one another. Weave the gifts together til the whole (beautiful purple) fabric changes! And pour some wine and eat some bread and celebrate each other!
May we find ourselves grateful for surprising generosity where we didn’t expect it. May we be more than the sum of our parts, with Spirit shared, community created, and Connection rooted in love. Dream big! Amen.