What If They Smelled Like Pee?

Read Acts 16: 11-15

The Biblical narrative takes us today to Philippi, a Roman colony in Macedonia. Now, we are truly in what is today known as Europe. Understand that at the time the “holy grail” of missionary work was for there to be a church in Rome, the capital of “the rest of the world”. Thus, we see the Gospel begin its spread from beyond the Middle East and into Europe, where for the next 1,000 years it will develop and change. But by tradition, the first European Christian was Lydia.

Lydia is a “dealer in purple cloth” from the city of Thyatira. In a sentence, that makes her ridiculously rich. She doesn’t make the cloth herself, but is a businesswoman who buys the cloth from makers and sells it at a higher price at IKEA... or whatever their equivalent was. In Philippi there were not many Jews. In fact, you’re supposed to have 10 married men in order to set up a synagogue, and Philippi does not qualify. So they customarily meet next to a river, which is where Paul found the Jewish congregation.

Before we move on, note the second half of verse 14: the Lord opened up her heart to respond to Paul’s message. Luke, the author of Acts, was careful to include God into the process of Paul’s evangelism. It is clear that evangelism is a partnership between the believer and God. So often in our evangelistic efforts it’s easy to think that God needs us to reach out to the world. No! Is not our God all-powerful? He does not need us to evangelize - He could’ve done it Himself! But it is a measure of His love for us that He allows us to play an active role in His kingdom! Thus, when we send a missions team out to the world we need to make sure that (1) it’s all about God and not the team, and (2) we support the team in prayer because it is God that moves hearts, not people.

What is interesting about this passage is Lydia’s response to Paul. After she received the Gospel and believed, she immediately invited Paul to their house. Now, keep in mind that Lydia met Paul and his team for only 1-2 hours. For all she knows, he could’ve been an eloquent cheat masquerading as a holy guru, a Bernie Madoff. But Lydia, whose heart is changed, regarded Paul and his team not as strangers anymore but as brothers. Thus, she went so far as to insist that they spend some time resting at her house.

Maybe to you it doesn’t mean much... or maybe it’s me reading way too much into the passage, but how much like Lydia are we in the youth group? Our theme this year is United in Christ, breaking all barriers to worship. But are we truly committed to breaking all barriers to worship?

When I was a senior in high school, my youth group did a 30-Hour Famine lock-in with 4 other churches in the Twin Cities area. It was great... I loved it. One of the interesting events was when we prepared to distribute food to the Somali refugees scattered across the Twin Cities. The pastor of one of the churches gave us a quick message before we left. He admonished us to “love the people you’re about to meet. If they need a hug, give one happily to them. So what if they smell like pee? If Jesus smelled like pee, would you hug him?”

Okay, maybe our barriers is not as obvious as pee. But if Jesus was a quiet 6th grader in the corner of the youth room, would you approach him? If Jesus did not have grades good enough to go to the College of DuPage, would you love him? If Jesus was a black guy living in the gritty South Side, would you talk to him? If Jesus slept on the streets of Chicago at night and showed up at your doorstep at 2 AM in the morning, would you open the door?

Maybe the world will see Christians differently if we were like Lydia. The world sees Christians as “Republican, conservative, pro-life, Bible-belt” and a bunch of other labels. As a thought experiment, spend a few moments imagining what the world would be like if we truly embraced the people who society rejected. What if we talked to the homeless that the Chicago wheelers-and-dealers walk past in a jiffy? What if the rich were shelters for the poor, and the strong were shields for the weak?

What if we truly hugged the refugees who smelled like pee?


Prayer Calendar
Wednesday: Pray for friends (inside and outside church)
Pray for your non-Christian friends. That they will not be swayed by negative pressures.