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Our text for the morning sets us down in the middle of what many have called Paul's second missionary journey. Luke schematizes Paul's travels and arranges them so that Paul goes on three journeys, returning twice to the "headquarters" of the church in Jerusalem. Paul's letters, on the other hand, give a somewhat different account. But it is certain that Paul traveled thousands of miles for Christ in his mission to the Gentiles.

As we pick up our story, Paul, accompanied by Silas, journeys through Syria and Cilicia, visiting various local congregations and strengthening them in the faith (15:41). At Lystra, in Asia Minor, Timothy joins them in their travels (16:1-3). He is an appropriate Christian companion, because his mother is Jewish and his father is Greek, an apt symbol of the gospel intended for both Jew and Gentile.

That which is emphasized in our text, however, is the fact that Paul's journeys are entirely guided by the Holy Spirit. The little group of travelers want to go into Asia Minor (Phrygia and Galatia, 16:6), but the Holy Spirit forbids them from diverting there to preach. Similarly, they try to go into Bithynia, also in Asia Minor, and once again, the "Spirit of Jesus" does not allow them to do so (16:7). Finally, while they are at Troas, on the northwest corner of Asia Minor, Paul is given a vision of a man standing and beseeching him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us" (16:9). So in obedience to the vision, Paul and his companions set sail from Troas, land briefly at Samothrace, go on to Neapolis, and finally arrive at Philippi, an important Roman colony on the eastern border of Macedonia. They have traveled over 2,000 miles, and all along the way, the Holy Spirit has shown them where to go.

In the Gospel lesson for the day from John 14:23-29, and indeed, throughout chapters 14-16 in the Fourth Gospel, which tell of the Last Supper, Jesus promises his disciples that he will never leave them desolate, that he will come to them in the Spirit, and teach them, and defend them. In fact, it is through the work of the Holy Spirit that Jesus will continue his work on earth (John 16:8-11). In writing Acts, Luke is very conscious of that gift. It is the Holy Spirit that guides Paul on his journeys, that brings conversions, and that opens the heart of Lydia to receive Paul's words and to be baptized in Philippi (16:14). Christian disciples and missionaries never go it alone. They are accompanied and led and strengthened by Christ's continuing work through his Spirit. And you and I can be sure that Christ is with us in his Spirit, if we are faithful.

Some persons have claimed in our time that they have received new revelations from the Spirit. But always we must remember that the Spirit never speaks contrary to Christ. Thus, if a revelation is given, we must always ask, does it accord with Christ? Is it his Spirit that has spoken or been revealed, or is it an alien spirit? Paul and his companions are led by Christ, still at work, as they journey through the Mediterranean world.

We sometimes wonder why God chose Paul's period in history to convert the Mediterranean world. But it has often been remarked that Paul's journeys were made considerably easier by the magnificent system of Romans roads throughout that empire. God takes advantage of all sorts of human constructions to advance his kingdom.

If you are an alert reader or listener, you have noticed that at 16:11-17, the story is told using "we" (also in 20:5-15; 21:1-18; 27:1--28:16). That sounds as if a companion of Paul, perhaps Timothy or Silas, is writing the account of their journey. Perhaps they are, although the style is no different than that found in the rest of Acts. But the "we" accounts certainly give us the impression that these are real stories of actual happenings in the first century A.D. And you can believe that they are. Paul has arrived at Philippi, and he founds the church there, so that later he writes the letter to them that we now call Philippians. Some people have the idea that the Bible is a fairy tale, or some imaginative story that ancient authors have dreamed up. No, indeed. The Bible tells the story of flesh and blood people, who have been met, transformed, and set on tasks for the living God who has acted in their lives.

One of those people in our text is Lydia, a rather wealthy woman, who is a seller of valuable purple goods, made from the extraction of sea shells. She is a worshiper of God, our passage tells us, and she has gathered with a number of other pious women at a place beside the river, where the women meet for prayer. The text does not say to what god the women are praying. The Romans had lots of gods, and the devotion of the women might have been to any one of those pagan deities. On the other hand, perhaps Lydia had already heard of Christ and was praying to the Father. She had not yet, however, become a member of the church. But God opened Lydia's heart to give heed to what Paul was saying (v. 14), and she and her household joined the Christian community by being baptized by Paul. The Christian faith is a communal affair; it involves incorporation into a body of believers. And Lydia joins that body when she is baptized, just as we join it at our baptisms. As we said last Sunday, you cannot be a Christian all by yourself.

This brief story of Lydia is remarkable for two things, however. First, it involves the baptism of a wealthy woman. The gospel is not meant just for the poor. God's preference for the poor has perhaps been over-emphasized in our time. But just as the gospel is meant for both Jew and Gentile, so it is meant for both poor and rich. In the Old Testament, Amos was a wealthy landowner, Isaiah was welcomed in the court of kings. In the New Testament, the rich tax collector Zacchaeus becomes the object of Christ's salvation (Luke 19:1-10), and Luke tells us that wealthy women supported the mission of Jesus and his disciples out of their own pockets (Luke 8:3). To be sure, wealth is given to be used wisely in the service of others. "Everyone to whom much is given, of him will much be required" (Luke 12:48). But the good news of Jesus Christ is given to rich and poor alike. We have only to receive it.

Second, this story of Lydia is remarkable because her husband is not mentioned, she is the head of her household, and she is a woman. We have all too often ignored the important place of women in the New Testament church. Lydia here is the founder and leader of the church in her house, just as Prisca or Priscilla, with her husband who is mentioned second, is the leader of a household church in Rome (Romans 16:3). The first witness of the resurrection and therefore the first apostle was a woman, Mary Magdalene, according to John (John 20:11-18). And in Luke, it is the faithful women, who remained at the cross when the other disciples deserted Jesus, and who first discovered that Jesus' tomb was empty (Luke 24:1-12).

Women played an important part as supporters and leaders of the church in the spread of the gospel in the first century. And only an age that has never understood the good news of Christ can relegate them to second class citizenship in the church. Paul declared that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female (Galatians 3:28). The ancient split between male and female, which led to the subjugation of women (Genesis 3:16), has been overcome in our Lord. And in his travels, as recorded in Acts, Paul is a witness to that fact.