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Sunday, May 13, 2007
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Scripture: Acts 16: 9-15
Title: “Opened her heart”

This was Paul’s second missionary journey, traveling to bring people the Good News of Jesus Christ. He had completed his first journey with Barnabas and John Mark and they had concentrated their time in the Cyprus and Turkey area. They decided to travel to all the big cities first and meet people. They began to spread the Gospel message and then after traveling around for 1400 miles, decided to take a rest. Then Paul says to Barnabas, “Hey, I think it is time to check out the churches we founded. See how they are doing, maybe go to some other big cities and bring more people to Christ. But we need to leave John Mark. He deserted us and didn’t help us at all. Let’s see if we can find another person to go with us on our journey.”

Barnabas doesn’t like this idea. He thought that they should take John Mark and give him another chance at this apostle thing. Soon Paul and Barnabas were disagreeing and they decided to go their own way.

Paul sets out on his second journey and takes another person with him who is new to the faith. And he decides to discover new worlds to bring the Gospel message. He pulls out his maps and his directions. And he plots his trip. “Okay, I think it is time we got into Asia, and then maybe we go over to Bithynia and bring them the word.”

Paul and Silas set out on this journey and their plans are changed. Paul tries to go over to Asia but the Holy Spirit says no. So Paul tries to Bithynia and the Holy Spirit once again says no.

Regardless of Paul’s planning and plotting of his trip, he is guided by the Holy Spirit to this little town of Troas. This little town just off the beaten path. No big synagogues to preach at. No big crowds to attract. It could probably been called a one sheep town.

And suddenly, Paul has a vision. Paul has a vision of a man from Macedonia saying, “Paul, we could really use you here. Paul, we could really use your word here. Paul, we need your help.”

Paul gets up the next morning and he knows that he has experienced the Spirit of God, directing his path. Paul knows where God is leading him along his journey. Paul knows that there was a purpose for his journey to lead him to this small town to experience this vision.
And now he has a purpose. And now Paul has a plan.

And that is where we pick our story today. Paul has a plan and now has traveled to Philippi, thinking that this is going to go just like his other journeys. He’ll go to the big towns, and attract a large crowd to spread the Gospel word. He’ll go to the synagogue and teach. This will be easy. It will be just like his other journeys. He will bring in lots of numbers for Christ.

Paul pulls into town and soon discovers that they are not in Kansas anymore. They have entered a new world. And they are a little uncertain of what to do. They soon discover that this town of Philippi is very Roman in their way of thinking and in way of doing things. This area is very much a Gentile land. And they soon discover that there is not even a synagogue for them to go and preach.

I am sure they begin to wonder what God was thinking when God gave them the vision to come to this strange new land. There is no synagogue. No core group to preach to who already know about God. They are in a completely new territory in every sense of the word. Maybe Paul was experiencing a little heartburn and that brought on this vision.

So they wait a few days until the Sabbath. I can just imagine Silas turning to Paul, saying well, Paul what are we going to do now? You brought us here. Now what? And Paul, Well, it’s the Sabbath. You know in some towns if there is not a synagogue, some people will go and gather at the river to pray. So I guess we could go see if anyone is down at the river, praying. What have we got lose?

So Paul and Silas go outside the city gates to the river and believe that they discovered a place of prayer. There is a group of women there. Paul and Silas strike up a conversation and soon discover that they are worshippers of God but have not made that leap of faith or have never really experienced God in their lives. They have just heard stories.

Then Paul takes that first step of faith. He steps out into the unknown and shares the Gospel with these women. He tells them about this life changing love of Christ. He tells them of this life giving grace of God’s. He tells them of this life sustaining peace of God’s.

And surprise! God opens their hearts to his word. And surprise! They begin to experience this love and grace of God through Paul’s words. And they become believers. God opens their hearts to Paul’s work and to the message of the Kingdom of God.

And this group of women experiences the radical hospitality of the God. They have received God into their lives and they in turn give the invitation to come into their homes. They trusted in God and now lives are being changed. Movements are being started. The hospitality of God is being shared among new Christians. This is the beginning of the church in the European continent. This is the beginning of a new development in the church. This is the beginning of the church that we can trace our history back to, to this moment, to this gathering, to this house church.

They experience God’s hospitality. It is a hospitality that is welcoming regardless of class. It is a hospitality that is gracious regardless of race. It is a hospitality that is inviting regardless of gender. It is the hospitality of God.

Paul first experiences this radical hospitality of God through Ananias who looked beyond the outer shell of Saul, a man who persecuted new Christians, a man who made murder threats against the disciples, a man who brought new Christians to Jerusalem to face certain death. Ananias received a vision from God to go to Saul and heal him. Ananias received a calling from God to go and bring the Holy Spirit to Saul.

So Ananias goes to Saul and heals him and shares the hospitality of God with Saul. Ananias takes that leap of faith and trusts in the Lord and where God is calling him to go.

And Surprise! God opens Saul’s heart to the Gospel message. And Surprise! God changes Saul’s name to Paul and uses him to be a founder of God’s church on earth.

This radical hospitality of the Gospel nourished Saul and gave him strength for the journey. This radical hospitality of the Gospel gave Paul the faith to make the travels to new lands and share the message of the Kingdom of God. This radical hospitality of the Gospel gave Paul a reminder that he was called to share the Gospel message to all people, regardless of class, gender, race, or size of town.

A radical hospitality that opens your hearts to the word of God. A radical hospitality that calls us to look beyond our own needs and see where God is calling us. A radical hospitality that can be given by all regardless of class, gender, race or size of community.

They were just a small congregation in Lincoln Nebraska. Sure there were bigger congregations in the town. Sure they may not have large numbers on a Sunday morning. But when they received the call from Refugee Ministries to help resettle a family, they knew that they had been given the unique opportunity to share in the radical hospitality of the Kingdom of God. They may not have much but God had given them a vision and told them to take a leap of faith.

This small congregation came together with the other eight Disciples church in Lincoln and received the news they were given the responsibility of helping to resettle 19 families who have spent the last few years in refugee camps in a war torn country.

Their numbers were small. There was no large crowd at their church. This was unlike anything they had ever done. Maybe they had gotten a wrong message.

They take a leap of faith. They open up their church to start collecting furniture, clothes, and toys. They start making preparations for these 19 families who will be strangers in a new land.

And surprise! God opened their hearts to the Gospel message. And surprise! God invited them to experience a radical hospitality that is not like any other. And surprise! God opened their hearts to the grace and peace of God to come into their lives. They experience God in a new way. They experience the radical hospitality of God. This small church soon begins to realize that it does not matter how big you are or how small you are as a church. What matters is that you open your heart to God. What matters is that you open your heart to the Good News. What matters is that you open your heart to ministry of God and let it take place in your heart. What matters is that you open your heart to the possibilities that come along when you experience the radical hospitality of God.

A radical hospitality that invites and welcomes. A radical hospitality that sees beyond our outer shell to see the person inside, to see the child of God inside, to see the light of hope that is burning inside.

A radical hospitality that nourishes our faith. A radical hospitality that heals. A radical hospitality that uses us as instruments of God’s peace and justice. A radical hospitality that uses us as the foundation for building the Kingdom of God.

And we have been given that invitation today. God has welcomed us and has invited us to hear the message of the Kingdom of God. And now God us inviting us to go out and take this message of radical hospitality to a world that is hurting, that is lost, that is without hope.

We have experiences this radical hospitality in our lives and now we are being given the vision and the call to take this hospitality that sees beyond race that sees beyond gender that sees beyond class that sees beyond the size of the community, to take this hospitality and offer it to all of God’s children.

May we open our hearts to the radical hospitality of God in our lives and share it with all of God’s creation. Amen.

Rev. Heather McColl
Midway Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

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