Loading...Sermon May 1, 2016
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, LSW
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen, Newport, PA
The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. Acts 16:14
Please be seated.
Today we observe Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month. You may not realize that The Episcopal Church includes the Diocese of Taiwan, the Diocese of Micronesia and of course, Hawaii. We will pray for them today.
Asia has 2/3 of the world’s population and is nearly 1/3 of the world’s land. In most of Asia, Christianity is a minority religion.
Today in our first reading, we hear more about Paul’s call to spread Christianity. He’s moved out of Jerusalem, going west. He’s on the western edge of modern-day Turkey, when he has a vision to go further west, across the Aegean Sea and into modern-day Greece. On the Sabbath Day, he seeks a place of prayer and ends up by a river, speaking to the women. One woman, Lydia, is there. She was a Gentile who did not convert to Judaism, yet worshipped God. We heard today that “The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.” As a result, she and her entire family were baptized and she opened her home to Paul and Timothy, who was traveling with Paul.
Lydia heard about Jesus and her life changed. She wanted to be baptized as a believer and follower. She wanted to be taught. She wanted to learn more. She wanted to live differently.
On January 24 each year, we in the Episcopal Church remember a more recent Lydia, Florence Li Tim-Oi, who was Chinese. She was the first woman ordained in the Anglican Communion in 1944! Yes, 1944. Florence was born in Hong Kong in 1907. She took the name Florence, when she was baptized. She chose it after Florence Nightingale. Li Tim-Oi means beloved daughter.
Florence studied at theological College in Canton. She served as a lay person on the islands of Kowloon and Macao. In 1941, she was ordained a deaconess.
Soon after her ordination, Japan occupied Hong Kong and priests could not travel to the nearby island of Macao to celebrate the Eucharist. She came to the attention of the Bishop of Hong Kong, who decided “God’s work would reap better results if she had the proper title” of priest.
On January 25, 1944, the Feast of the conversion of St. Paul, Florence was ordained a priest. As World War II ended, her ordination created great controversy in the Anglican Communion. She personally decided not to exercise her priesthood until it could be acknowledged by the wider Anglican Communion. She continued to work and was even a Rector of a parish and the Bishop ordered that she still be called a priest.
In 1949, as the Communists came to power in China, Florence studied to learn more about the various cultural changes happening in China. She worked at the Cathedral in Beijing. However, from 1958 until 1974, all of the churches were closed. During this time known as the Cultural Revolution, Florence was suspect and faced great difficulty. She was forced to work on a farm and in a factory at very difficult labor. She was accused of counter-revolutionary activity and underwent political re-education.
She was allowed to retire from the factory in 1974, at the age of 67 and two years later, the churches were reopened and she was able to continue her public ministry. In 1981, she visited family in Canada. Finally she was able to be licensed as a priest, first in the Diocese of Montreal and eventually in Toronto. She settled in Toronto for the remainder of her life, dying in 1992.
Just like Lydia, the Lord opened Florence’s heart to know Jesus. Following Jesus was not always easy, sometimes because of her culture, for a time because of war, and sometimes because she was a woman. Yet, Florence persevered. She never wavered, even though her life might have been easier. Even though the churches closed and even though she was placed into a hard labor factory for many years, she kept her faith. Even though she faced criticism for being a woman priest and could not exercise her calling as freely as she wanted for many year, she still continued in the faith and continued her work in the church.
May God open our hearts to eagerly listen to Jesus just like Lydia. May God open our hearts to follow Jesus with perseverance and steadfastness like Florence Li Tim-Oi.
Amen
