1 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.

2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;

3 And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

4 Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God.

5 And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.

6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

7 Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.

11 Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis;

12 And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days.

13 And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.

14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.

15 And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.

In Acts 16, St Luke is talking about the missionary work which he and St Paul were doing:

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. 

A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.

Lydia is a rather special person in the Bible. When St Paul and St Luke came to Macedonia, Lydia may well have been the very first European to be baptised. She was head of a household, which means she had probably lost her husband, and the household would be family and servants and slaves. The tone was set by the head of the household. A whole household would be baptised and become Christian together. 

Roman Emperors and kings wore purple clothing, which was thought of as special. Lydia sold purple cloth. She was, it seems, a high-powered businesswoman, in a world where men tended to dominate. 

Purple dye was very expensive, you got it from some sort of gunge coming from certain sea snails when they’re cross. So it was not easy to get the dye in quantity and it cost a lot. Emperors and Kings and rich people wore the purple cloth to show off their wealth. And one great thing about this dye was said to be that it is that it didn’t fade, but it actually got brighter over time. Bishops also took to purple.

Lydia showed St Paul and his friends hospitality. After that Paul got into bother, as good Christian leaders tend to, and was put in prison for a bit, but, when he got out, he went back to see Lydia and her folk again before he moved on.

I remember a happy occasion baptising a child called Lydia at Donnington. I also remember, less joyously, a certain bishop’s wife called Lydia! Passing swiftly on…. we must focus on our Lydia, the one in our reading. A businesswoman. It is said to have been Napoleon, but quite possibly another Frenchman, who, in 1700s, spoke of the English as a nation of shopkeepers. Une nation de boutiquiers. The point seeming to be that strength and security can be built on trading, and there is something good about providing for yourself, and perhaps others, by running a thriving business and using your energy and your range of skills to do it.

My ancestors were certainly not short of such people. On my Father’s mother’s side there were bakers in Sidlesham in Victorian times. But my mother’s folk were also active, in Kent and Hampshire. Like many others around 1915, in the first world War, my mother, aged 11, passed – not, in those days, the 11+ exam, to go to Grammar School, - which would have suited her – but the exam to show that you had learnt enough to leave school and were ready to enter the world of work. When fully grown my mother was 5’1, 155 cm, and doubtless much less, aged 11 in 1915. But she was enterprising, went straight to night school, learnt cooking, won a prize of Mrs Beeton’s Cookery Book, and got jobs. By the second war she was running a grocery shop. Her mother and her aunt had each been doing the same. In due course she gave up the shop and got married, and I was born. My grandmother’s shop was bombed, but I knew my great aunt’s shop in the 40s and 50s. My Mother never lived to see either of her grandsons, or to know them, also being enterprising, as internationally active CEOs!

At the Crib Service on Christmas Eve, there was a telling of the Adam and Eve story for the children. Mankind was disobedient, was thrown out of the beautiful garden, and then had to work in a harsh world. What we didn’t tell the children, at the time, was that – even in the beautiful garden – people were meant to be working! Adam and Eve were put in the garden to tend it and work it, not to relax all the time! 

The point being that we have skills and abilities, time and energy, and will not exactly be humans reflecting the image of God if we don’t use those things constructively. We surely owe that to God, we owe it to ourselves to create, and to enjoy achieving something, and owe it to others whom we can benefit by doing something useful. 

All this has no firm connection with whether work is paid or not. A lot of useful work is voluntary, often including childcare and housework. And anything we might do as a hobby, like golf, might well be a paid career for someone else. A scientist might see ‘work’ as something we use our energy on, quite regardless of whether it’s paid. I remember, long ago, talking to a trade union leader who seemed to see work as a necessary evil, but I and the Bible saw it as part of being human. Complete retirement from worthwhile activity isn’t something to aspire to, and it is sad if disability tends to force it on us. But come what may, we can probably manage to pray for, and encourage others, which is a useful job of work.