Lydia’s story is brief, but her impact was extraordinary. We meet her in Philippi, where Paul and his companions encountered a group of women gathered for prayer beside a river (Acts 16:12-13). Lydia was a successful businesswoman from Thyatira, a dealer in purple cloth, and a worshipper of God. As she listened to Paul proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, ‘The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.’ (v.14).

Describing Lydia’s response to the gospel, Luke emphasises God’s gracious initiative: it wasn’t through human effort or intelligence, but the Lord who opened Lydia’s heart. God is not distant from humanity, waiting for us to find our way to him. In Jesus Christ, God has already acted decisively for our salvation, and through the Holy Spirit he graciously draws us into participation in the life and love of the Triune God; Lydia’s faith therefore did not begin with what she did for God, but with what God was doing in her. Grace came first. Her response was a grateful participation in what God had already begun.

Yet grace did not leave Lydia passive. Following her baptism she immediately offered hospitality to Paul and his companions, and said, ‘come and stay at my house’, and she was very persuasive (v.15). Lydia’s encounter with Christ became visible in the way she used what she had – her home, resources, influence and generosity – for the sake of others. This was not about trying to earn God’s favour, but because she had already been embraced by God’s grace in Christ her life had become an expression of that grace. 

There is also something wonderfully significant about Lydia’s story. She was a woman whose response to the gospel became part of the beginnings of the Christian community at Philippi. Her home became a place of welcome and fellowship. In a world where women were often marginalised, Lydia was not a peripheral figure: she was a wealthy independent businesswoman who served as the leader and patron of the early church in Philippi. God opened her heart, Christ drew her into his life, and the Spirit enabled her to participate in his ongoing mission.

Lydia’s life beautifully demonstrates what can happen when grace received becomes love generously given. And what happened in Lydia’s life can happen in ours too; a heart opened by God becomes a life opened to others. Perhaps it is a home becoming a place of welcome and hospitality, or our resources, such as a skill, a business, finances, or social influence can be instruments of love to those around us. Or it may simply be a willingness to listen to and be there for others in their time of need. We may never know the full extent of what God can accomplish through such seemingly ordinary acts of grace.

Lydia teaches us that extraordinary Christian lives are those where Christ’s love is allowed to flow freely through us. When grace is received with gratitude and shared with generosity, God can work with us to produce extraordinary expressions of his love.

Local congregation:
Grace Communion West Hampstead 
Sidings Community Centre
150 Brassey Road
West Hampstead
London
NW6 2BA

Meeting time:
Sunday 12.30 pm

Local congregational contact:
Gordon Brown
gordon.brown@gracecom.church

Word of Life contact:  
wordoflife@gracecom.church