Bible Study:
An Energy of Spirit
by Emily Dawson
On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.
When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home." And she prevailed upon us.
One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation."
She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour.
But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, "These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe."
Acts 16:13-21
This passage from Acts tells the stories of two very different women. These women -- one a successful business woman and one a slave girl –- are impacted by the Gospel and its meaning in their lives. Both women use the inspiration of the Gospel to impact the Church. Each woman’s story is valuable for young Christian women today. Lydia and the unnamed slave girl’s stories tell us that, no matter where we are in life, the Gospel can speak to us in powerful ways, and we can make important contributions to the body of Christ –- the Church.
The Gospel impacts women
Lydia was an atypical woman for her time. As a businessperson, she lived comfortably and provided for those in her household. Because of her experience, Lydia could easily have dismissed Paul’s sermons as only for the poor or discontent, but she was open to the transforming power of the good news. Lydia discovered the Gospel is for everyone -- women and men, the wealthy and the poor, those in the center and those on the margins.
The author of Acts next presents the story of the slave girl, a parallel image to Lydia’s story, to further show the universal nature of the Gospel. While Lydia is an independent woman of means, the slave girl is the property of masters unwilling to hear the Gospel. Her value to her masters is her gift of clairvoyance. Then she hears the promise of a greater gift -- the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A woman enslaved not only by her social status but by her age and her gender, was so overcome by the message of the grace of Christ, her faith broke the chains of servitude.
In the stories of these two women, we learn that no matter our role in society -- slave or master, young or old, empowered or powerless -- the Gospel can impact our lives.
Today, may we dismiss women like Lydia as too busy to contemplate their spirituality, too busy to fully embrace the Gospel. We may label women like the slave girl as too young, too powerless to understand the glory of Jesus Christ. Yet it is often those we most easily dismiss who hold potential for the greatest faithfulness.
Acts tells us social status is not the agenda of Christ’s Gospel. Each of us –- from the greatest to the least -- is capable of hearing the good news.
Women impact the Church
Drawing upon her knowledge and experience as a professional woman, Lydia impacted the blossoming Christian Church. Biblical scholars have argued that Lydia, knowing that resources are necessary to be effective, helped persuade Paul to allow the Church in Philippi to support him financially. Until this time, Paul had not been able to dedicate himself full time to preaching. The support offered by the Philippian church was indicative of a powerful conclusion: the Gospel was important enough to be Paul’s exclusive focus. Lydia, a businesswoman, helped propel the Church in a new direction.
Like Lydia, the slave girl used her experience of the Gospel to change the Church. Overcome by the glory of Christ, she insisted Paul share God’s grace with her. Following him and calling attention to herself, she persisted until Paul gave her the attention she deserved.
When Paul could not ignore her any longer, he was arrested by the threatened wealthy. He sacrificed his own safety and freedom. Imprisoned because of his actions, a slave girl held Paul accountable to the truth he preached: we are all children of God, worthy of God’s love and the ultimate sacrifice of that love through the death of Jesus Christ.
The message today
What do these biblical women say to us today? No matter our experience or age, we must lead the Church in new directions. We must hold church leaders and the body of Christ accountable to the word.
Our diversity allows us to explore new ideas and attempt new things for Christ. Our responsibility is to acknowledge our individual gifts and use them to continually expand our concept of mission. We must trust that our inspirations for mission can spark new concepts of mission.
As we embark on our mission journey, we must be willing to speak when we feel the will of God is being sold short to wealth and greed. At times, we must shout to the establishment. We must insist we not be ignored because we are young or without influence. Vivacity and audacity, like that of the young slave girl, can overcome barriers of age, race and social status to make our voices heard.
Our role may be to prohibit the wealthy and influential from drowning out the voices of our sisters and brothers around the world. We must listen when the least of us speaks, for often they challenge us the most. We must hear when others hold us accountable for the work we say we are doing in Christ’s name.
Today’s young women have a wonderful diversity of experience. We are students and teachers; mothers and daughters; scientists and musicians; clergy and laity. Young women can hear the good news and offer their talents in a spirit of mission yet unexplored. We offer an energy of spirit that through questioning and demanding, has the potential to hold those who lead us as Christians to their word.
The lessons we learn from Lydia and the slave girl tell us we can be impacted by the wonder of the Gospel, then we can influence the Church in dynamic new ways.
Emily Dawson is a director of the Women's Division and a financial analyst with IBM Software Delivery and Fullfillment-Finance in Boulder, Colo. She graduated from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo., in December 2000. She is a member of First United Methodist Church in Fort Collins, Colo., and part of the Talihta College Circle at the church .