One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. 17 While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation." 18 She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour. 19 But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. 20 When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, "These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews 21 and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe." 22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. 23 After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. 24 Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted in a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here." 29 The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them outside and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 They answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." 32 They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. 34 He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.
Acts 16:16-34 shows circumstances surrounding the imprisonment of Paul and Silas and their deliverance. It provides me an opportunity to discuss friendship and joy in the midst of trying circumstances.
Acts 16:16-24 shows circumstances surrounding the imprisonment of Paul and Silas and their deliverance. It provides me an opportunity to discuss friendship and joy in the midst of trying circumstances.
Luke saturates the passage in irony. It follows the recounting of Paul’s vision of a Macedonian man beckoning the apostle to come (16:9). Then Luke records that Paul crosses over to Macedonia, enters the city of Philippi, finds a place of prayer (by the riverside, v. 13), and encounters not a Macedonian man, but two women — Lydia from Thyatira and a slave-girl. Apparently still enjoying the hospitality of their first convert in Europe, Lydia, Paul and some pilgrims become embroiled in a conflict that pits religious, economic and class forces against them.
People who think they are free often do not realize the bondage out of which they live their lives. The addicted person often does not realize the destructive force of the addiction. The person who does physical violence and abuse to another human being does not often see the bondage they have to hate. The racist or anti-Semite does not feel the irrational compulsion out of which they live. The person devoted to experiencing sexual pleasure does not feel the bondage in the moment of passion. Such bondage leads to death. Such persons need liberation, even if they do not know it.
God wants to save people in bondage, whether in societal prisons or in prisons they have made. God wants the church to carry the message of liberation to all such persons. Yes, Christians take a personal risk in bringing the good news to people in bondage. We take the risk, however, with God at our side, for God wants genuinely free people: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall indeed be saved from whatever holds you in bondage.
In contrast to the conversion of Lydia, a woman of some prominence to support her own household as a seller of purple fabrics, Luke shares the story of a nameless, possessed slave-girl, who supports her owner’s household as a fortuneteller (16:16-18). 16One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination ("spirit of pythoness.") and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. The slave-girl is in her own unique prison, of course. The text does not treat the girl as if she is a fraud, who misleads others into thinking her predictions are reliable by throwing her voice. The text implies there is an actual spirit present that speaks through her. The slave girl is not, however, the first magical practitioner that Paul has met. Acts is careful to draw contrasts between the apostles and their actions and charlatan magicians and theirs. In addition to Simon Magus (whom we meet in Acts 8:9-24), in Acts 13:6-11 Paul blinds a magician named Bar-Jesus (also called Elymas) to keep him from preventing their conversion of the proconsul Sergius Paulus. In Acts 13, Luke tells us that the magician is a false prophet, so perhaps that is why Paul is so harsh with him. 17 While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation." Most scholars read the spirit's messages as demonic insights, like the encounters of Jesus with demons. Further, the response of Paul to rebuke the spirit and have it come out is also a parallel to what Jesus did. Other scholars, however, are not so sure. The spirit-possessed girl makes her proclamation before a Gentile population of Philippi. In that context, to those listeners, this spirit's choice of titles is purposefully ambiguous. "The most high god" was a title used by both Jews and Gentiles with very different connotations. She spoke the truth. So, why is Paul annoyed? While "the Most High God" spoke of a monotheistic, omnipotent deity for Jews, Gentiles also used this same title to designate any divine being --from local gods to the chief Roman deity Zeus. Thus, for the Gentile crowds hearing this girl's declaration, the uniqueness and authority of Paul's message was still unproved. He did not want others to perceive him as working in conjunction with other gods and powers. After all, this has already landed him in trouble at Lystra where he had to differentiate between the “living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them” with the “vain” and implied dead gods of Zeus and Hermes (14:8-18). Now he is in a comparable situation. He must differentiate his gospel of the true, living God, who made the cosmos, from the perceived power of an oracle believed to have the authority to tame the cosmos.
18 She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour. Given the ambiguity of the message, little wonder then that Paul invokes "the name of Jesus Christ" to banish this bothersome spirit. Although the girl's loud cries may have attracted crowds, the message this spirit sent was confusing, even misleading, to the primarily Gentile listeners of Philippi. In verses 16-18, Luke’s significance to this story is to dissociate Paul's action from magic. However, against his will Paul has to make use of magical means to drive out the evil spirit. It goes back to tradition. According to Romans 15:18-19 and II Corinthians 12:12, Paul did miracles. Whether this is one of them is another matter.[1] Translation difficulties are present here. Classical Greek understood "python" to refer to the snake Apollo killed that once guarded the oracle at Delphi. However, the LXX connected this type of spiritualist activity with the witch of Endor in I Samuel 28, and that by Roman times, python and related terms had come to refer to ventriloquists who claimed that a god spoke through them.[2] Owning a slave possessed of such a famous and infamous spirit was clearly a boon to this girl's owners. While Lydia converts willingly to the message preached by Paul and serves as a vehicle for the conversion of her household, the slave-girl is unconsciously and unwittingly a vehicle of truth to all who hear her. Yet, her possession is a threat to the truth of the very message that she heralds. Her story becomes representative of far greater powers at play. In fact, this story differs from other exorcisms in the New Testament. Paul speaks no words directly to the evil spirit. Luke records no demonstration of the departure of the spirit. Luke records no astonishment from those who witness the exorcism. It does not lead to the spreading of the gospel. In fact, it leads to opposition. 19 But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. Though liberated from the Apollonian spirit that had possessed her, the young girl is still a slave, the moneymaking property of others. Paul's exorcism had profound economic ramifications for the girl's owners. They are incensed at Paul's denying them a tidy source of income from the girl's fortunetelling activities. The charges the slave girl's owners brought against Paul and Silas, however, do not focus on the exorcism's economic catastrophe. 20 When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, "These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews 21 and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe." Their accusers argue a case against Paul and Silas based on class distinctions and religious differences. They do not identify Paul and Silas as “servants of the Most High God.” Now, they are “Jews” who are “throwing the city into confusion” and proclaiming not salvation, but customs that are unlawful for “Romans.” They stress the foreign nature of these disciples: both strangers to "our city" and "Jews," a twofold oddness. The slave girl's owners charge that Paul and Silas, as Jews, are advocating the practice of customs that undermine Roman law and practice. Furthermore, the girl's owners suggest that civil unrest may result from the preachments of Paul and Silas, which incite the good Roman citizens of this colony to embrace customs "that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe." 22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. 23 After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Verses 22-23 agree with I Thessalonians 2:2, which refers to the great difficulties Paul and Silas experienced in Philippi, and thus go back to tradition.[3] 24 Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. In verses 19-24, imprisonment, the physical chastisements by the Romans in 22-23 may go back to tradition.[4] The accusations, coupling fear of difference with fear of civil unrest, is enough to prompt both the ruling magistrates and the crowd to take fierce action. The magistrates summon court enforcement officers who carried bundles of rods with them to demonstrate their authority to administer the beating customarily given prisoners. They intended the beatings to force damaging confessions from the accused. However, since Roman citizens were exempt from this form of coercion, the court clearly acts with a kind of ethnically inspired rage against Paul -- seeing him only as a Jew and a stranger. Elsewhere Luke depicts Rome to be tolerant, even friendly. Here Rome punishes for little reason.
Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of the Episcopal Church, in a sermon in 2013, offers an example of how divided the Christian community has become in their use of scripture. She said that we live with the continuing tension between holier impulses that encourage us to see the image of God in all human beings and the reality that some of us choose not to see that glimpse of the divine, and instead use other people as means to an end. We are seeing something similar right now in the changing attitudes and laws about same-sex relationships, as many people come to recognize that different is not the same thing as wrong. For many people, it can be difficult to see God at work in the world around us, particularly if God is doing something unexpected.” To illustrate her point a presiding bishop turned to the book of Acts, noting, “There are some remarkable examples of that kind of blindness in the readings we heard this morning, and slavery is wrapped up in a lot of it. Paul is annoyed at the slave girl who keeps pursuing him, telling the world that he and his companions are slaves of God. She is quite right. She’s telling the same truth Paul and others claim for themselves,” Bishop Jefferts Schori said, referencing the first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. “But Paul is annoyed, perhaps for being put in his place, and he responds by depriving her of her gift of spiritual awareness. Paul cannot abide something he will not see as beautiful or holy, so he tries to destroy it. It gets him thrown in prison. That’s pretty much where he’s put himself by his own refusal to recognize that she, too, shares in God’s nature, just as much as he does – maybe more so!,” the presiding bishop said. The New Testament passage goes on to say that Paul and Silas were imprisoned for freeing the girl of her demonic possession. Presiding Bishop noted, “An earthquake opens the doors and sets them free, and now Paul and his friends most definitely discern the presence of God. The jailer does not – he thinks his end is at hand.” However, Paul now repents of his mistake in casting out the spirit of divination, she argues. “This time, Paul remembers who he is and that all his neighbors are reflections of God, and he reaches out to his frightened captor. This time Paul acts with compassion rather than annoyance, and as a result the company of Jesus’ friends expands to include a whole new household. It makes me wonder what would have happened to that slave girl if Paul had seen the spirit of God in her.”
Richard Pervo, in his book Profit With Delight: The Literary Genre of the Acts of the Apostles,[5] has argued that Luke intended people to read and hear Acts as entertainment. He sees the dramatic elements of the story, at least in part, as means to captivate an ancient audience. How better to expose them to the travels and travails of the apostles than with a work that would hold their attention and feed their desire to be entertained by a gripping story? One of the first interesting features of this passage is the fact that the narrator speaks here in the vivid language of the first person - "when WE were going to the place of prayer, WE met a slave girl ...." The next compelling feature of the story is the slave girl who predicts the future. The next dramatic contrast set up by the story is between the Christian missionaries Paul and Silas and the avaricious owners of the slave girl who resent the money they will now lose because Paul has cast out her spirit.
The theme of Acts 16:25-40 is the deliverance of Paul and his companions from prison. The story shifts as Paul and Silas praise God amid their circumstance, and God acts. In the middle of the night, amid darkness, and amid their chaos, God acts through the form of an earthquake that effectively removes the fetters of all the prisoners and opens all the doors while miraculously not harming a single person. (This deliverance of Paul and Silas is reminiscent of Peter’s escape from jail in chapter 12.) The story of the jailer becomes another example of a proper conversion.
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners, true criminals, no doubt, were listening to them. Paul and Silas were bringing the light of Christ into a very dark place by ministering among fellow prisoners. 26 Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened. The unique power and authority of "the Most High God" whose message Paul and Silas preach is demonstrated by the earthquake that shakes apart the prisoners' chains and bars but keeps ceilings and walls safely intact. Note Euripides, Bacchae 455ff for a similar incident. The Bacchae, who were chained in the state prison, were freed by calling on the god Bromios: 'The chains dropped off their feet by themselves and the bolts on the doors were opened without mortal hands.' Yet, there is no escape from jail. The free prisoners remain quietly in their cells. The only purpose is the conversion of the jailer. It is not unusual that doors should spring open, but that the fetters should fall away is possible only in a miracle. 27 When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. The sleeping jailer awoke to a grim reality. Since the jailer’s sole responsibility was to guard this prison, he faces great dishonor and death for losing prisoners (compare with the execution of Peter’s guards in 12:19). The jailer's first inclination -- to commit suicide when faced with what he believes to be his prisoners' escape -- suggests he may be one of the many retired Roman soldiers in Philippi. In the Roman army, any failure of duty was deemed reason enough to commit one final "honorable" act, suicide. 28 But Paul shouted in a loud voice, saving the life of the jailer, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here." 29 The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them outside and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Just as the python spirit had predicted in verse 17, Paul and Silas do indeed proclaim the way of salvation. This jailer becomes a part of a "saving" motif that is familiar in Luke/Acts (cf. Luke 3:10; 10:25; 18:18; Acts 2:37). Yet, the jailer's response to this situation appears abrupt. Although there is no evidence that he has heard the gospel message -- except, significantly enough, within the context and content of the hymns Paul and Silas had been singing -- this Roman jailer recognizes a demonstration of profound power and might when he sees it. 31 They answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." The source of the quaking, shaking power the jailer has experienced, Paul and Silas reveal, is "the Lord Jesus" -- the only one who has the power to save and protect. 32 They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. The jailer ministers to Paul and Silas. 33 At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. Some students of the Bible take the reference to the baptism of the household as the New Testament basis for infant baptism. Such verses were a slender rope upon which to build a biblical basis for infant baptism, for even in these verses, the sequence is that of preaching, faith, and baptism.[6]We can draw no firm conclusions as to the baptism of infants from such statements. All such a statement tells us is that turning to faith in the message about Christ was not always an isolated individual decision. Rather, from early times it might be a family matter. However, it is likely that this family decision in the first century became the basis for the widespread practice of the baptism of infants by the third century. One could also refer to Acts 16:15, 18:8, and I Corinthians 1:16. [7] 34 He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God. Not only does the jailer believe, but also, like Lydia, his whole household receives baptism. As with Lydia, the gift of salvation elicits a response of gracious hospitality from the new converts. The one who had been responsible for keeping Paul and Silas securely jailed escorts them out to freedom and welcomes them into his own home. Again, as in Lydia's case, the conversion of the jailer brings his entire household with him. His newly baptized family joins with him in extending the hospitality of his home to those who had been jailed as strangers and Jews only the evening before.
The jailhouse scene that closes this passage provides readers with another proper example of a conversion. According to Pervo, the final portion of the story in which authorities throw Paul and Silas into jail was something Luke intended to be entertaining, because ancient hearers would have found many details of the story FUNNY! First, the jailer does not just put Paul and Silas in jail; he chains them and puts them into stocks. This does not spoil their good humor, however, because even after being beaten, they still sing hymns loud enough for all the other prisoners to hear. Despite the chorus, however, the guard manages to fall asleep. If this does not inspire the image of the guard as an insensitive dullard, the next verse cinches it, for nothing less than an earthquake shakes the prison to its foundations, throws open the cell doors and loosens everybody's chains! Only THEN does the guard wake up, and even then, he does not say "Wow! An earthquake!" It is as if he simply wakes up from a deep sleep to find all the cell doors open. We find a similar incident in the play by Euripides, Bacchae 455ff. The Bacchae, whom authorities chained in the state prison, were freed by calling on the god Bromios.
Then, even though the guard does not deserve such a miracle, his prisoner who has thoughtfully neglected to run away prevents him from killing himself. At this point the narrative becomes a conventional conversion story again (see 2:37-41; 8:34-38; 10:33-48), ending with the conversion of the guard, who brings his entire family to have a meal with Paul and be baptized. Whether or not one views this passage as humorous, one can hardly argue with the fact that it is extremely dramatic and entertaining. Not only does the jailer believe, but also, like Lydia, Paul baptizes his whole household. Furthermore, the jailer ministers to Paul and Silas by tending to their wounds and breaking bread with them. Then, they all rejoice in their belief in God (v. 34).
Luke is saying that God has led Paul and his companions to a new mission field. The slave girl belongs to a syndicate that makes good earnings from her. After several days of hearing from her, Paul commands the spirit to come out. With that spirit gone, the owners take out their revenge. They accuse them of spreading Jewish propaganda. The crowd takes sides quickly. After the beating, they are taken to the innermost cell. The mission is at end. However, a miracle happens. They are released. The mission can now go on. From a happy beginning, it leads into a situation of hopeless distress and danger. However, God proves stronger than the afflictions and uses them to serve his own purposes. How could one despair at trying circumstances? Luke has recounted this narrative that his readers might gather strength from it. In particular, the narrative about the jailer has come under scrutiny. The similarity with other miraculous escapes, the earthquake affects only the jail, as well as the jailer who tries to kill himself before looking into cells, makes it unlikely.[8]
Prison is a strange place to find joy and friendship. The movie I Walk the Line, a 2005 film about Johnny Cash. One scene has Johnny talking to the prison warden.
The Warden: “Mr. Cash? The record company asks that you not play any songs that would remind the prisoners that they are in jail.”
Johnny Cash: “Do you think they forgot?”
In the same film, this is an exchange between Johnny Cash and a record company executive.
Record Company Executive: “Your fans are church folk, Johnny. Christians. They don’t wanna hear you singing to a bunch of murderers and rapists, tryin’ to cheer ’em up.”
Johnny Cash: [pause] “Well, they’re not Christians, then.”
The study, conducted by Harvard professor Robert Putnam and Notre Dame scholar David Campbell, in their book Amazing Grace: How Religion Is Reshaping Our Civic and Political Lives (2010). According to their studies, religious people are three to four times more likely to be involved in their community than are nonreligious people. They are more apt to work on community projects, belong to voluntary associations, vote in local elections, attend public meetings, and donate both time and money to public causes, including secular ones. The studies also show that religious people are, in general, just “nicer.” They do honorable deeds, help both neighbors and strangers, give money to panhandlers and let others cut in front of them in line. They discovered that all of this happens, not because of religious teaching, but because of the relationships they have in their places of worship. The authors theorize that if someone from your “moral community” (as opposed to, say, someone from your bowling league) asks you to volunteer for a cause, you are more likely to agree. The effect of these relationships is so strong that people who attend religious services regularly but do not have any friends there behave more like nonreligious people than fellow believers when it comes to civic involvement. “It’s not faith that accounts for this,” says Putnam. “It’s faith communities.” Faith-community relationships are so powerful that the authors have dubbed them “supercharged friends.”
It would at least appear that Paul and Silas developed this type of friendship, maintaining them even after their torture. I offer a few insights regarding friendship.
It is not so much our friends’ help that helps us as the confident knowledge that they will help us. —Epicurus.
Thus nature has no love for solitude, and always leans, as it were, on some support; and the sweetest support is found in the most intimate friendship.—Cicero.
One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives.—Euripides.
Misfortune shows those who are not really friends.—Aristotle.
Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy you must have somebody to divide it with.—Mark Twain.
A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.—Unknown.
Prison is also a strange place to find joy. The geography of joy may not be what we expect. People find joy in the strangest places. Yes, they can find joy in prison.
The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 movie starring Tim Robbins playing Andy and Morgan Freeman playing Red. It won best picture. In the story, the prosecutor accuses Andy Dufresne of the murder of his wife, the court judges him guilty, and he arrives in Shawshank prison. It shows two men serving life sentences developing a profound friendship and, in the process, fighting off despair. In one scene (1:07:00 or 1:08:18 to 1:09:46; 1:11:08 to 1:12:33) Andy is in the library. He looks over some records. He plays some beautiful music from Mozart over the prison loudspeaker. He locks the door. The prisoners stop what they are doing and listen, the music inspiring them in unexpected ways. Red then narrates,
“I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don’t want to know. Some things are best left unsaid. I like to think it was something so beautiful it can’t be expressed in words and makes your heart ache because of it. I tell you, those voices soared, higher and farther than any body in a gray place dares to dream. It was like a beautiful bird flapped into our drab cage and made those walls dissolve away. And for the briefest of moments every last man at Shawshank felt free.”
The warden tried to get him to open the door. The officer eventually breaks into the room. He received two weeks in the hole. When he returns to the cafeteria, his co-prisoners greet him with “Hey, Maestro, couldn’t you find something good to play, like Hank Williams or something.” “They broke down the door before I could take requests.” Another said, “Was it worth two weeks?” “Easiest time I ever did.” Another prisoner said there is no such thing as easy time in the hole. A week in the hole is like a year. [start clip that has the following exchange - “I had Mr. Mozart to keep me company.” Another prisoner asked, “So they let you tote that record player down there, huh?” “It was in here (pointing to his head), and in here (pointing to his heart). That is the beauty of music. They can’t get that from you. Haven’t you ever felt that way about music?” Red says, “Well, I played a mean harmonica as a younger man. Lost interest in it, though. Didn’t make much sense in here.” Andy says, “Here’s where it makes the most sense. You need it so you don’t forget.” “Forget,” says Red. Andy responds, “Forget that there are places in the world that aren’t made out of stone. There’s something inside that they can’t get to, that they can’t touch. That’s yours.” Red asks, “What are you talking about?” “Hope.” Red says, “Hope. Let me tell you something, my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane. It’s got no use on the inside. You’d better get used to that idea.” Andy, referring to another prisoner who had just received his freedom, could not adjust to life on the outside, and so, committed suicide, says, “Like Brooks did?”]
My son David (in 1986 in Brownstown, when he was only four years old) produced a question with which any of us might deal. It was an innocent question. I believe David and I were simply sitting at the table together. He was coloring. Suddenly, he asked, "Who is the boss of the world?" I was interested in what generated that question, so I asked him. He thought I was the boss of the house. He had it figured out that if Cheryl and I were both home, then we were both the boss, but if just I was home or just Cheryl home, then we were the boss. He also had it figured out that if there was a boss around the house, there must also be a boss of the world. Then he asked me, "Is it God?" Is God the boss of the world?
With all the events happening recently in the world, one might wonder. War, poverty, famine, injustice. In our own lives, things happen which make us wonder if anyone is really the boss. Yet, the Bible is clear that there is one who is Lord of this world. I do not know where else to turn for an answer by the organization called the church, which confesses Jesus as Lord. First, note the experience of Paul and Silas in prison. Authorities jailed them without trial. Authorities tortured them. They could have complained. Instead, they sing hymns. Yet, they sang because they knew the boss of the world. They knew they were in God's hands. Luke is helping us learn about the composition of the church in Philippi. Lydia is a wealthy, god-fearing woman, who heard what Paul had to say and believed. Another woman converted from a pagan religion and received liberation from another god. A Roman jailer, a retired Roman soldier, had years of hardness broken. The biggest miracle here is that he becomes a Christian. Luke does not tell us what Paul preached. The question the jailer asked was natural: "What must I do to be saved?" Luke wanted to share the story of a strong church, and its beginnings. This is where the church can shine as a testimony to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Bringing together people of different social strata, different beliefs, different backgrounds, and yet all becoming Christians through believing in Jesus Christ.
Prison is also a metaphor for life: many Americans are in prisons of their own making. Here is my question. In the story from Acts, who is the prisoner, and who is free? For those of you have seen The Shawshank Redemption, who was in prison, Andy or the warden and guards? Who was in prison, Paul and Silas or the jailer?
Plato was among the first to speculate that we were in prison, largely because our souls tie themselves too closely to bodily desire. He thought philosophy was at its best when it taught people to focus upon the mind and reason, instead of acting like other animals, out of physical appetite and instinct.
If Americans value anything, they value freedom. Our culture has given us a vast supermarket of desire. We have our freedom. What shall we do with it? What do we choose? It might be true that the choices we make lead to a greater prison than we can imagine. St. Augustine said that the minor freedom we have is the freedom to choose. The more important freedom we need is to choose rightly, the freedom to become what God created us to be.
We seem to think that if we give in to whatever we want or desire, we are free. In reality, we put ourselves in bondage. What happens if we have seen our bondage, and even ask, “What must I do to be saved” from the things that hold me in bondage? I may need deliverance from my laziness, from lying to myself and to others, from lust, from anger, from greed, from materialism, from slavishly pleasing others, and so on.
Do we believe Christ can deliver us?
Bishop Emilio de Carvalho of Angola visited some American pastors in Evanston, Ill. He was asked what it was like to be the church in a communist country. Was the government supportive? No, he said, but we do not expect it to be. The government decreed that women's groups could no longer meet. They kept on meeting. For now, the government is not strong enough to stop them. If they get strong enough, we shall go to jail. There, we shall witness. He sensed the direction of the questions, that it must be so hard to be the church under an oppressive communist government. The implication was that it must be easy to be the church here, in America. So, he said: "Don't worry about the church in Angola; God is doing fine by us. Frankly, I would find it much more difficult to be a pastor in Evanston, Ill. Here, there is so much. So many things. It must be hard to be the church here."
With that kind of spirit, who is really the "free" person? Is it the government officials, chained to their communist beliefs, who must oppress others to be in power? Or is it this bishop, and others like him, who have experienced true freedom in Christ?
Prison is a strange place to find joy enough to sing and to deepen friendship.
First, consider Psalm 126, a song of praise for God on an anniversary of the return of the Jews from the Babylonian exile. The psalm's last verse says, "Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves." There was a belief among some ancient peoples that people must not laugh when planting or else they would weep during harvest. This verse flips that notion and extends it to the broader sweep of life: Those who go forth -- as into captivity -- weeping, shall return with shouts of joy. In other words, joy is not just for those who are happy, but also for the brokenhearted whose God is the Lord.
Second, author Thomas Kelly tells of a well-known Christian of an earlier era, John Wilhelm Rowntree (1868-1905), who began to lose his sight, and went to a doctor. After examining Rowntree, the doctor told him that nothing could be done; he was soon going to go completely blind. Afterward, outside the office, Rowntree stood holding onto a railing to collect himself, when he suddenly felt the love of God wrap around him and he "was filled with a joy he had never known before." Under the circumstances, that was hardly happiness, but it was the powerful presence of God. That railing outside his doctor's office was outside of the geography of bliss, but like the Philippian jail, it was within the geography of joy.
Third, another unlikely place within the geography of joy was a collapsed hotel in Haiti, a result of a devastating 7.0 earthquake that hit that country on January 12, 2010. When the four-story Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince crumbled, it trapped beneath it in its lobby area three officers from the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and three representatives from Interchurch Medical Assistance (IMA) World Health.
The trio from UMCOR, Rev. James Gulley, Rev. Sam Dixon and Rev. Clint Rabb, were in Haiti to improve medical services and agricultural practices in that nation. They had come to the hotel to meet with the team from IMA World Health, which included Sarla Chand, Rick Santos and Ann Varghese. The two groups had just rendezvoused in the hotel lobby, when the earth suddenly shook and the building came down on top of them. The earthquake through the six down and plunged them into deep darkness. Eventually, each spoke out. Chand, Gulley, Santos and Varghese were okay, but Dixon and Rabb, who were pinned side by side under a large slab of concrete, both indicated that their legs were broken. The six remained in that dark entrapment for the next 55 hours, until a French search-and-rescue team finally pulled them from the pancaked building. As it turned out, Dixon died shortly before rescuers could extract him, and Rabb died later in a Florida hospital to which rescuers transported him. Both men, however, were conscious through the long, dark hours before the rescuers arrived. Gulley said that as the time passed, "We talked about faith, prayed together and sang. We sang 'Peace Like a River' several times."
I've got peace like a river, I've got peace like a river,
I've got peace like a river in my soul
I've got peace like a river, I've got peace like a river,
I've got peace like a river in my soul
I've got joy like a fountain, I've got joy like a fountain,
I've got joy like a fountain in my soul
I've got joy like a fountain, I've got joy like a fountain,
I've got joy like a fountain in my soul
I've got love like an ocean, I've got love like an ocean,
I've got love like an ocean in my soul
I've got love like an ocean, I've got love like an ocean,
I've got love like an ocean in my soul
"About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God ...." Gulley said Dixon and Rabb were in great pain, and the rest tried to help as much as possible. Santos had some over-the-counter pain medicine with him, which he gave them. "Sam was at an angle that put strong pressure on his legs," Gulley said of Dixon, "so we used laptop computers to brace his back. It would help for a time, and then we would have to rearrange it." When help finally came, Gulley and the others started singing the doxology, "Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow."
Only hours after the rescue did Chand learn that two of those whose voices had comforted and guided her with words of faith during the ordeal had succumbed to their injuries. Gulley said, "I have no answer about why I received the gift of life and Sam and Clint did not. I cannot answer that any better than Job could answer why some people suffer more than others do. All I can do is continue to try to use that gift in God's service in whatever way it is intended. I'm grateful to be alive, and I accept that gift."
The Bible does not tell us what to feel, and we have no Christian obligation to demonstrate joy. However, when we are in the darkness and trusting God, joy is simply a description of what is happening in the geography of our inner beings.
A hymn that expresses this inner geography of joy is “It is Well with my Soul.”
1. When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
o Refrain:
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
2. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
3. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
4. For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
5. But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!
6. And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
enjoyed reading this. Liked the various views of Acts you related. Finally the stories of the UMC pastors was very powerful.-Lyn Eastman
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