25th May 2025: Easter 6

In order to set up a synagogue you need ten men. As the Jews moved out of the Roman state of Palestine, they settled in towns across the empire. And where they settled, there were people who were interested in the Jewish faith and became believers. This is the case in Philippi. But it was mainly a group of women who had become believers; there weren’t enough men to enable them to build a synagogue. So they had to meet elsewhere.
It seems to have been a practise of the Jews that in these situations they met by a river outside the town or city. It was certainly their practise when in Exile in Babylonia. In Psalm 137 we read:

‘By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.’

And so it was that Paul and his friends made their way to the river side to find a group of worshippers, a believing community. On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. They sat with them, got to know them, and started to share the love of God as revealed in Jesus. As they did this, they were welcomed into people’s homes, to share with more people God’s love. And whole families became believers and were baptised in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Paul knew where he needed to go to meet people in order to share the Good News. Where are the places where we know people are? Are these the places to where God is calling us? We need to ask the question, ‘Where would Jesus be?’ I think He would be in our schools, at the Plough, the Stoke Lacy Friendship Group, dog-walking on the Downs, the History Centre, HOBS, the Halo Centre, the Tipsy, the Rosie, the Kings, the Queens, Emma’s Country Café, Cosy Café, at the top of the High Street where the young people gather.

Are we willing to risk following the Jesus to where His is? .

Rev Phil