Holy Disruption

This is May 12, not May 8, the last day I visited Haywood Street Congregation. After spending the day doing my usual and then some of hanging clothes at the Clothes Closet and scrubbing the stainless steel appliances and walls in the kitchen, I thought about the sermon I heard in between. Brian talked about Acts 16 and the story of Lydia. In it Paul experienced a "holy disruption" that sent him to Macedonia instead of to Ephesus, as he had planned. When I got home, I experienced my own disruption, hopefully a holy one. A good friend called and reported that an upcoming visit would have to be postponed - the friend will have to have surgery instead.  We are sad our friend can't join us to fish, but we are even more dismayed that our friend would have to go through surgery. He has been through much in the last five years. This has stopped me in my tracks and I didn't get this blog written.

What is a Holy Disruption? It is when you are going about doing what you think is God's will and suddenly God taps you on the shoulder and sends you in a different direction. Frederick Buechner says that these disruptions are desirable, in fact, they should be sought. I am beginning to understand that some disruptions are easy to feel and see as blessings, and some are the catastrophes we try to avoid but can't. What makes them "holy" is the attitude of the one who experiences them. Looking for God where you least expect Him is what it is all about. Disruptions give us a time to stop, look, and listen more carefully.

Paul had a dream of a man in Macedonia pleading with him to come, so Paul reported to Timothy and to Silas they were going to change their plans and go. They did. When they got there, they were told the worshipers were outside the gate by the river. There he found a group of God fearers, Greeks who believed in God,  and they were also women. Lydia, one of the women was a woman who dealt in purple cloth. The Spirit of Jesus opened Lydia's heart after listening to Paul preach. She and her household were all baptized and she invited Paul to meet in her home. Lydia had the first home church in Europe.

It is important to know some things about the Scripture. First Paul listened and responded. It is really important to hear that the worshipers were outside the gate which probably meant they were not allowed in the city. There were very few Jews in the area so there was no synagogue. The group were women. That is unusual because in order to meet and expect God to be there in the early church  ten men had to meet together for God to be present. Paul ignored that they were women which for Paul was unique. Then there is the matter of who Lydia was. She dealt in purple cloth. It takes 12,000 sea urchins to make a few drops of purple dye. Therefore purple cloth was only sold to the very, very wealthy and powerful. Lydia dealt with those people daily. Her entire household was baptized. In the early church if a man was ordained his wife was also so family baptism would have been another extension of families worshiping together. Not only that He remained with them as they met in Lydia's house church. This holy disruption led to the founding of a church and the baptism of a group of Greek women. God appears in unlikely places and doesn't follow man's rules. It is important to expect the unexpected and open to the presence of God.