Sunday 25th May 2025

Acts 16: 9-15

Psalm 67

Revelation 21: 10, 22-22: 5

St. John 14: 23-29

“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.”

Acts 16: 13

Of all the stories of conversion to the Christian faith recorded in the New Testament, the story of the apostle Paul is perhaps the most dramatic. Paul was a well-educated young man. Legally, Paul was a Roman citizen because of the city where he was born. In faith, Paul grew up as a devout Jew, a member of the Pharisees… Paul was zealous for keeping the faith of his ancestors, so much so that he joined what we would call a kind of military militia, for the sole purpose of hunting down Christians, hoping that they could be put to death…

All that changed, however, when the risen Jesus Christ revealed himself to Paul one day, as Paul was travelling north from Jerusalem toward Damascus!… Paul’s transformation was sudden and it was stunning. Paul never looked back. For the rest of his life, St. Paul was determined to share the good news of Jesus Christ – particularly, to encourage non-Christians to follow Christ for themselves…

Paul himself explains his life’s mission this way, writing in Philippians 3:

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead… I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus… Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears… But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. (10-11, 14, 17-18, 20)

Much of the Book of Acts, and much of the material in Paul’s New Testament letters, are about Paul preaching, teaching, and otherwise sharing the good news…

Paul was an amazing first-century evangelist… There can only be one St. Paul the Apostle!… However, just as Paul had a passion to share some wonderful news with the people of his generation, so too in our generation, may we carry the same spark of the Holy Spirit, so we can invite others to follow Jesus Christ…

We Canadian Anglicans sometimes don’t share the good news as much as we might… There can be several reasons for this. For some of us, we might be held back by fear – “I don’t know the Bible well enough.” Or: “I tried to share the good news once, and whoever I was talking to didn’t seem interested.” Or: “I care about what my friends think of me, and I’m sure they don’t want me to be talking about Jesus Christ…” (That last excuse was certainly true for me when I was younger – I justified my inaction to myself, telling myself that Christians shouldn’t be pushy… In fact, I didn’t want to appear un-cool to my friends…)

Just as Paul was witness to the good news in his generation, I want to encourage us all to share the good news, in our generation… We don’t need to be insensitive. Certainly, we are to treat all people with dignity and respect. As St. Peter writes, “Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect…”

However, we all have the capacity to share the good news in a hurting world. More than that, the living God of heaven and earth expects us all to offer Christ’s forgiveness and love in a world with too much darkness. Being a witness to Christ isn’t simply an optional extra for people who feel like it. God expects you and me to try. God does the rest…

I encourage us all — me as well as you – to have confidence in the amazing God whom we are learning to love, in return for all he has done for us…

So, let’s be open to opportunities to share the good news, just as St. Paul did…

Today’s second reading is from Acts 16. Paul is preaching and teaching in a central band of what are now the countries of Turkey and eastern Greece. (Here is a map, which shows the area.) Paul travels with Luke (the human author of Acts) to a Roman city called Philippi. Verses 11 & 12:

We therefore set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days.

So, where might we go, if we are in an unfamiliar place, with a warm heart of faith?… We might think that the first place to go is to go to church, and that’s more or less what Paul and Luke often did. (Well, they didn’t go to a church per se, because there weren’t any Christians yet in Philippi! But they went to the place where people gathered for worship: The synagogue… However, the Jewish people who were gathered in the synagogue weren’t always welcoming…)

When Paul and Luke visit Philippi, they take a different approach: They go to the place where women gathered… Verse 13: “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…”

As a result of this conversation, a woman named Lydia became a Christian. We know that Lydia is a wealthy woman, because Luke happens to mention that Lydia traded in purple cloth; the cost of purple dye in the ancient world was very expensive… The good news of Christ is not only for the poor, but also the wealthy. The gospel is not just for men, but also for women… The women at the riverbank in that culture might have been surprised in that a couple of men spoke to them, and treated them with dignity and respect… But they are open to hearing some good news… Lydia and some other women begin to follow Jesus Christ for themselves…

Let’s notice, though, that Paul and Luke went to the riverbank, where they guessed some people would gather, to engage in conversation with them… Now, in North Bay today, we have clothes washers and dryers – many of us have them in our homes… We don’t need to go the riverbank, as those women did… But if we’re open to sharing some good news, as we’re called to be, then we might consider: Where is a good place to be, where people gather?… Where might we find people with whom we can cultivate sincere friendships?…

Friends get to know one another. As part of that process of friendship, if others wish, we can share why we come to St. Brice’s; or, how our faith has helped us…

People are not a project; but everyone can benefit from more friends!… The Lord Jesus said, “But I have called you friends…” Isn’t that amazing, that we can be friends with the Lord Jesus?… I suggest that, in this culture, encouraging genuine friendships, genuine relationships, can lead to being able to share the good news with people who are interested… We leave the rest up to the Lord…

We’re gathered here this morning, as (God willing) Daniel is going to be baptized. This is part of the process of passing the good news on. In the Great Commandment at the end of Matthew, Jesus commanded us his followers to baptize and to make disciples:

And (the risen) Jesus came and said to (the apostles), “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matthew 28: 18-20)

Daniel is still very little. But along with his family and his sponsor, we all have the privilege in the parish community of modelling what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ… By the grace of God, our prayer is that Daniel will carry the same humble faith

that his parents and sponsor have – that Daniel will hear the good news for himself. Our prayer is that Daniel will respond with the full surrender of every ounce of his will, to Christ’s offer of eternal life…

We all have the privilege of following Christ. All of us can share the good news. May we all – Daniel, and each one of us – share the good news in speech, and in action… May we be prepared to go the riverbanks of our community, to foster friendships… Perhaps we can introduce hurting people to a Friend who will never leave them; world without end.

Amen.