"If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house."
 

Would you say that you are fearful of becoming destitute?

According to The Washington Times (August 23, 2006), a recent survey of almost 2,000 women reveals that 90 percent of them feel financially insecure. Forty-six percent are troubled by a “tremendous fear of becoming a bag lady.” What I find interesting is that this anxiety actually increases as income increase. Among those with annual incomes of more than $100,000, 48 percent of women fear a life of destitution.

Lily Tomlin. Gloria Steinem. Shirley MacLaine. Katie Couric. “All admit to having a bag lady in their anxiety closet,” writes MSN money columnist Jay McDonald. They all suffer from the bag lady nightmare. In light of Jesus’ teaching, “Do not worry about about what you shall eat, or what you shall drink..” you have to wonder if these very successful women are living by faith or fear.

This morning’s text is a story about a God worshipping successful woman whose name is Lydia. Lydia is the first fruit of Paul’s new missionary journey. Paul and his companions encounter Lydia outside the city gates proper, where she and others are gathered for prayer.

The text doesn't make it clear why Paul's group encounters this group of women gathered by the river. Several scholars suggest the river location indicates the Jewish observance of the rituals of cleansing and purification before prayer and meals. What the text does make clear is that Lydia's is a "worshiper of God." This is another way of saying she is a Gentile who worshipped with Jews but was not an official convert.

Aside from being a "worshiper of God" Lydia is also financially well off. It’s clear that she’s a financially secure resident of the city of Philippi. She owns a business and a home. She’s a “dealer in purple cloth” (16:14). The color purple is significant because purple clothing is the mark of wealth and royalty in the Roman world — to be dressed in purple is to boast of influence and power. So Lydia has a close connection to the lifestyles of the rich and famous, and there is very little chance that she will wind up broke, forgotten and destitute.

The text doesn’t indicate that Paul and Lydia have a conversation so it is safe to conclude that Lydia’s role that day was that of an active listener. It is in her listening that the Lord "opened her heart." This change of heart is what enables Lydia to receive Paul's words "eagerly" and seek baptism.

This successful merchant knows how to take charge and get what she wants. Although in his travels Paul usually refuses local hospitality, preferring to pay his own way, he is unable to refuse Lydia's cannily worded invitation: "If you have judged me to be faithful ... come and stay at my home."

If Lydia was suffering from what we now call “The Bag Lady Syndrome,” we would expect to see it now. She has a ton of good reasons to exercise restraint at this point. Distrust of strangers would be a good reason for her to keep to herself. The bag lady nightmare could cause her to clutch her possessions tightly. Fear of loss might inspire her to run home and protect her secret stash of money.

But she doesn’t take any of these fear-based actions. Instead, she responds with faith, generosity and hospitality. She chooses faith over fear. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house."

Vicki McGaw is the director of Christian education at a church in Cleveland. One day, she was attending a church meeting and struck up a conversation with a woman. Vicki learned that the woman’s husband, Bob Fortney, was in dire need of a kidney transplant. As they talked, both became teary-eyed.

And then Vicki asked the woman, “What do I need to do to be tested?”

Vicki had a clear sense that this was what she needed to do. Although she had never met Bob Fortney, she immediately made the decision to donate one of her kidneys to him.

She was tested for compatibility, and ended up being more of a perfect match than any of Fortney’s family members. The surgery took five hours, and was a complete success. Vicki returned home in two days, and resumed her job in five. The following Sunday, her pastor told the congregation about Vicki’s generosity. It was an “ultimate act of hospitality,” he said.

Bob Fortney has also recovered well, and he is enormously grateful to Vicki. His family calls her a “miracle from God.” The entire experience has had an impact on Fortney’s congregation, and the pastor of the church has observed, “I’ve witnessed something unexpected. People are asking, where is God in their lives? They know it was no coincidence Vicki was a match for Bob and the generosity and compassion she displayed were extraordinary. They know God was involved.”

Vicki McGaw is not a victim of the bag lady nightmare. She has chosen faith over fear, and practiced extraordinary hospitality instead of ordinary self-concern. “I really felt this is what God put me here to do,” she says. “A person can find 20 million reasons not to do something, but there is usually one reason that sticks with you as to why you should.”

So, what is it that God has put you here to do?

Where is God at work in your life … right here, right now?