Worship - 25 May 2025

Summary of this week's theme

Today, travel is easy, but in 1631, it was an act of deep faith and sacrifice. Marie Guyard, a 32-year-old French widow, became a nun - Marie de l’Incarnation - and left her son to follow a divine call to New France (now Quebec). She endured a harsh voyage and 33 difficult years, never returning home, yet she became a foundational figure in early Canadian Christianity. Her courage reminds us: God’s call often leads us where we never planned to go.

The apostle Paul also had his plans disrupted. Hoping to preach in Asia, he was redirected by the Spirit to Troas, and then to Macedonia. There in Philippi, instead of meeting the man from his vision, he encountered Lydia - a wealthy businesswoman dealing in purple cloth. Lydia, a Gentile with a seeking heart, listened, believed, and was baptised with her household. She became a leader in the early church.

Lydia’s story, like Marie’s, reflects a countercultural truth: the early church was radically inclusive. Women were central to its mission, leadership, and growth—an inheritance from Jesus and Paul that the church has not always honoured. Without women in leadership, the Church has not been as whole or healthy as it could be.

Healing and wholeness are core gospel messages. But healing doesn’t always look the way we expect. Jesus asked the man at the pool, “Do you want to be made whole?” Wholeness requires change - and change is not always easy.  It means leaving behind comfort, embracing growth, and accepting unexpected directions.

The Church, too, needs healing - rediscovering the radical inclusivity and openness of the early church.  Are we open, like Paul, to Spirit-led redirection?  Are we ready to encounter people who seem “wrong” but turn out to be right in God’s eyes?

Our calling is to bring healing and hope, not by sticking to rigid plans, but by being led by the Spirit - toward justice, compassion, and transformation. Like Marie de l’Incarnation and Lydia, we are called to live the faith we profess, to listen deeply, and to make space for others to thrive in Christ.