John 17: 20-26

Acts 16:16-34 [MSG]

One day, on our way to the place of prayer, a slave girl ran into us. She was a psychic and, with her fortunetelling, made a lot of money for the people who owned her. She started following Paul around, calling everyone’s attention to us by yelling out, “These men are working for the Most High God. They’re laying out the road of salvation for you!” She did this for a number of days until Paul, finally fed up with her, turned and commanded the spirit that possessed her, “Out! In the name of Jesus Christ, get out of her!” And it was gone, just like that.

When her owners saw that their lucrative little business was suddenly bankrupt, they went after Paul and Silas, roughed them up and dragged them into the market square. Then the police arrested them and pulled them into a court with the accusation, “These men are disturbing the peace—dangerous Jewish agitators subverting our Roman law and order.” By this time the crowd had turned into a restless mob out for blood.

The judges went along with the mob, had Paul and Silas’s clothes ripped off and ordered a public beating. After beating them black-and-blue, they threw them into jail, telling the jailkeeper to put them under heavy guard so there would be no chance of escape. He did just that—threw them into the maximum security cell in the jail and clamped leg irons on them.

Along about midnight, Paul and Silas were at prayer and singing a robust hymn to God. The other prisoners couldn’t believe their ears. Then, without warning, a huge earthquake! The jailhouse tottered, every door flew open, all the prisoners were loose.

Startled from sleep, the jailer saw all the doors swinging loose on their hinges. Assuming that all the prisoners had escaped, he pulled out his sword and was about to do himself in, figuring he was as good as dead anyway, when Paul stopped him: “Don’t do that! We’re all still here! Nobody’s run away!”

The jailer got a torch and ran inside. Badly shaken, he collapsed in front of Paul and Silas. He led them out of the jail and asked, “Sirs, what do I have to do to be saved, to really live?” They said, “Put your entire trust in the Master Jesus. Then you’ll live as you were meant to live—and everyone in your house included!”

They went on to spell out in detail the story of the Master—the entire family got in on this part. They never did get to bed that night. The jailer made them feel at home, dressed their wounds, and then—he couldn’t wait till morning!—was baptized, he and everyone in his family. There in his home, he had food set out for a festive meal. It was a night to remember: He and his entire family had put their trust in God; everyone in the house was in on the celebration.

HOW TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN - PART 2

INTRODUCTION:

As you may remember from last week, we’re using the three readings from the Book of Acts assigned in the lectionary for these Sundays to discuss, albeit a little tongue in cheek, “How to Become a Christian.” Last week, we saw how the conversion of Lydia of Thyatira in Philippi was, if not a matter of dumb luck, then certainly a “Mission Impossible” style plan of God’s. Paul, we must admit, was not even humbly and graciously compliant with the plan. God simply used his naturally misguided human desires and concerns to lead him, as it were, by the nose, to accomplish the plan that may have been the seed of the church in Thyatira in Asia Minor. In the Revelation to John, Jesus says of the Church in Thyatira, “I see everything you’re doing for me. Impressive! The love and the faith, the service and persistence. Yes, very impressive! You get better at it every day” (Rev 2:19). An impressive conversion and church planting and none of it to Paul’s credit, except that God blessed him by using him to do it.

Today’s reading from Acts follows on the heels of Lydia’s conversion. Paul and Silas are still in Philippi, presumably staying with Lydia, when Paul gets himself into deep trouble. Unfortunately, as we will see, it was not because he was doing God’s work. It’s a story I find personally encouraging, and I hope you will as well.

SERMON:

This story begins, “One day, on our way to the place of prayer” immediately after our story last week closed with Lydia’s conversion and the Spirit moved hospitable offer to house Paul and his friends. So we may assume, rightly I believe, that they are heading out to the river prayer meeting where they first met Lydia. From which we may also assume that not much progress has been made on the road to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the city of Philippi.

Up till this time, in Paul’s first missionary journey, he was used to a degree of success and had established a pattern of working. His experiences in Antioch of Pisidia, as recorded in Acts 13, modelled much of his subsequent ministry. Entering a city, he would go to the synagogue on a Sabbath and, as a Jewish visitor, be asked to share. Paul would use his vast training in Hebrew scripture and history to preach Jesus the Messiah. Although often there was resistance from some quarters, there was also much interest and success, both amongst the Jews and the Gentiles.

Philippi was a different sea altogether. Paul was out of his realm, over his head, and sorely tested by this experience. He had no idea where to begin, except to continue going to the Sabbath prayer meeting by the river and hope that some opportunity would arise to make the Gospel known in a city established for one purpose, the propagation of Roman law and order.

Enter the fortunetelling, psychic slave girl, “following Paul around, calling everyone’s attention … by yelling out, ‘These men are working for the Most High God. They’re laying out the road of salvation for you!’” - Let’s stop and think about this for a moment. What exactly is wrong with this? Isn’t this something along the lines of what Paul was supposed to be doing? When you encounter Christians in the metro stations quietly declaring their faith with signs and literature, isn’t this what they proclaim?

Rather than seeing it as an opportunity, we’re told Paul was “finally fed up with her” after a few days of this. He faces her and, in the name of Jesus Christ, commands the spirit possessing her to come out. And it does, immediately. Of course, this is a healing, casting out the demon and then leading the slave girl to salvation in Christ. - Or is it? We’re told nothing more of the slave girl; she simply disappears from the story. There’s no mention of Paul speaking to her again. In truth, he had no desire to seek her health, well-being, salvation or blessing; he was simply fed up and wanted her to go away.

Paul was embarrassed by her. He’d probably begun to blame his lack of success on her presence. If there were any faithful Jews about, they certainly wouldn’t associate with them, knowing this demon-possessed Gentile slave girl was following them around. Almost every commentator I read tried desperately to candy-coat Paul’s actions as a loving and miraculous healing, freeing the girl and showing the power of God. The rest avoided the issue altogether, and I think I find them a little more honest.

We tend to overwrite the clear words of scripture with our own preconceptions of what it should be about. The way we’d like it to be for ourselves. Heaven forbid Paul should be anything other than perfect in motivation and action. But these stories lose their reality when the actors lose their humanity, when we stop seeing them as flawed, frail humans like ourselves.

There are four scenes in this story, and that was scene one, “the slave girl”. Next, enter the slave girl’s handlers. Her owners are furious with Paul because he has cost them their lucrative business, and in that culture, justifiably so. They’re not amazed that Paul has cast out a demon; this is accepted as usual. This isn’t a Hebrew town, and as Paul is realizing, he’s not in Kansas anymore. They are arrested and accused of being “Jewish agitators subverting our Roman law and order.”

Roman colonies like Philippi were established throughout the Empire and built to make an exclusive and significant Roman footprint of law and order in every area of the Empire. Built new at great expense to showcase Roman architecture and culture, Roman citizens of substance were given incentives and imported from all over to come and live in these model cities. Jews, or anyone, who didn’t conform and fit in were not welcome, which explains why Paul wouldn’t have found a thriving Jewish community and a synagogue to begin his ministry with.

Paul and Silas were publicly humiliated, beaten, and then thrown into prison. There are occasions, and Paul attests to them, where for the sake of the Gospel, for the sake of spreading the good news of Jesus Christ, Paul suffers a beating and/or being jailed. In most cases, he is hidden or rescued and escapes the pains of persecution. In this case, I would seriously question if appropriating the power of Jesus' Name to satisfy his personal annoyance and embarrassment by casting out the demon from the girl who was only proclaiming the truth of who they were, would qualify as Gospel mission work.

No, in this case, I think Paul is getting a sound thrashing for stepping pridefully outside the bounds of what he was commissioned to do. Unlike his other choices, which, by humbly allowing God to lead, he arrived at Philippi and found Lydia, this time he went off the deep end and did something very, very bad. Something I might have done. Something to satisfy my own inclinations rather than first checking to see what Jesus wants.

But, as we move into Act Three, the Jail, we notice that God is gracious, kind, and has a better plan. Yes, Paul did suffer a severe correction. Far less, actually, than his offence deserved, but God did act to cast out the demon on Paul’s word, so we can assume that this was part of what God wanted accomplished. Again, another ‘Mission Impossible’ plan by God.

Knowing Paul’s weaknesses, God sets him up to cast out the demon, graciously lets him know by the beating that what he did was wrong, even though it was part of the plan, and then sends an earthquake to precipitate the opportunity to save the jailer and preach the Gospel. We don’t know anything about the other prisoners mentioned except that they followed Paul and Silas’ example and didn’t run away for some reason. Maybe it was their fascination with the praying and singing, and why was everybody still awake, in the dark, at midnight?

We don’t know any of these answers, but the story does tell us the jailer was ready for salvation. He’d surely also heard the psalms and prayers of Paul in prison and whatever else had occurred recently in his life, his first words to Paul were, “What do I have to do to be saved, to really live?” Paul and Silas “went on to spell out in detail the story of the Master,” which they seemed unable to do anywhere in Philippi prior to this.

They stayed up all night, eating, taking care of the wounds from their beating, and speaking of Jesus. The jailer and his whole household were baptized, and this was most probably the beginning of the church in Philippi and the reason we have Paul’s letter to the Philippians. As Acts succinctly puts it, “It was a night to remember: He and his entire family had put their trust in God; everyone in the house was in on the celebration.” And all because of Paul’s plan of evangelization, his cool head, patient heart and steadfast walk with Jesus, looking to the Master at every turn. - I think not.

This was real life. Messy, ugly, and painful. No plan, just the knee-jerk reaction to difficult and annoying circumstances that invariably land us in trouble. There is an expression from Galatians that “God is not mocked … whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” Paul reaped a beating for his insolence to the name of Jesus, but he also reaped a plentiful harvest because he remained faithful, trusting that God was in control and had a plan. In the face of suffering, even justified, he turned to prayer and praise to God.

As we approach our question, “How was the jailer of Philippi saved?” I find these reflections very comforting. Paul the Apostle demonstrates all the kinds of human frailty and failings that I do, and if we are honest with ourselves, most of us suffer from. He was uncertain, discouraged, frustrated, and generally easily agitated because things weren’t going his way. His “How to spread the Gospel and win souls for Christ” methodologies just weren’t working. He wasn’t in control, which led him to a grave mistake of impetuous action. It sounds just like something I would do. Not waiting patiently and faithfully for God, but flying off the handle in frustration and getting myself in trouble.

This is probably why Paul can adjure us, as written in Hebrews 12:4-11, referencing Proverbs 3:11-12, to accept God’s correction with thanks. God doesn’t condemn us for our mistakes; he loves us enough to correct us, teach us, and redeem us.

So much like Lydia’s conversion we spoke of last week, Paul discovers the object of God’s work, the jailer and his household, in the absolute last place he would have imagined or considered. It is in the Roman jail, not a synagogue, a bastion and symbol of pagan Roman law and order, that Paul encounters the heart prepared by God to receive the Holy Spirit and begin the church at Philippi. Would Paul have met the Roman jailer without having rashly cast out the demon from the slave girl? We don’t know, but God had that earthquake waiting for the occasion.

Sometimes my mistakes are my mistakes, and God needs to correct me so I know they weren’t born of the right attitudes and decisions. Still, they are also what God knew I would do when confronted with circumstances, and so become part of His plan that stretches far beyond my feeble conceptions and imaginings of His work. And before you claim that it isn’t fair, I remind you of the many occasions, Isaiah 29 and 45, Jeremiah 18, Romans 9, in which God reminds us that we are the clay, the created, and He is the potter, the creator. He is faithful and loves his creation. He won’t simply break you, but He will remould you as often as is needed.

What do we learn about “How to Become a Christian” from this story? We understand that God knew the jailer of Philippi, had prepared his heart and his family, and used Paul and Silas and the possessed slave girl and her owners to fulfill His plan. The difference for Paul and Silas was that they knew Jesus and recognized his Spirit at work, so this became an occasion of great joy and blessing, even though they were manipulated and used just like the slave girl, her owners, and the judges were.

I’d say, “Will you let God use you?” but that’s not your choice. God is sovereign, the creator, and He’ll use you as he wills. What I ask you is, “Do you have a heart that seeks to see God’s hand at work in your life and the lives of those around you?” Are you poor in spirit, recognizing your need for Jesus, mourning for yourself and the world, and meekly humbling your will to look for God’s righteousness, making you merciful so you will be shown mercy and shed peace on those around you even in the face of persecution. If you are, you will reap the blessings of God’s love, provision, providence, and peace in your life.

Amen