Olympic bronze medalists are happier then Olympic silver medalists….so says Dr. Vicki Medvec from the Kellogg School of Management, at Northwestern University.
Medvec studied Olympic medalists and she discovered that bronze medalists were indeed happier than silver medalists. Here's what she found: Medvec found that Silver medalists tended to focus on how close they came to winning gold, so they weren't satisfied with silver. On the other hand, bronze medalists tended to focus on how close they came to not winning a medal at all, so they were just happy to be on the medal stand at all.
It appears to be about perspective. I can feel like I’m a loser because I came so close to winning - or - if I simply look at things I a different way, I can feel like a winner, because I came so close to losing.
Here in our passage this morning we have Paul and Silas locked up in prison, and it is bad news for them. If you were with us last week you will remember that Paul and Silas had removed a spirit from a slave girl who was following them around and pestering them - and the problem was that the spirit inhabiting the girl was a spirit of Apollo. It was an oracle spirit.
The slave girl was able to give an oracle like the priestess at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi through the spirit that inhabited her. In short the slave girls acted like a fortune teller, people of the city could ask the slave girl for advice and when the slave girl spoke, what she said was believed to be from the god Apollo. The people of the city of Philippi loved the God Apollo and so they are furious with Paul and Silas for removing this spirit.
Paul and Silas are brought before the city officials who have them severely beaten with rods by twelve professional football player size men, and then thrown in jail.
Then we get to our passage today, and this is the really odd thing: Paul and Silas, who are literally half dead from the beating they received, I mean these men are in a lot of pain….yet they sing in the middle of the night, loud enough for everyone to hear. Are Paul and Silas acting like the Olympic Bronze medalists and focusing on the fact that they are lucky to be alive?
Ever notice that when you don’t like a particular political candidate, it is easy to find what’s wrong with them, but if you like a political candidate, it is difficult to find something wrong about them. That seems to be human nature, doesn’t it?
Certainly, we can always find something to focus on that is positive even in the worst of circumstances, certainly there is always a silver lining in every difficult circumstance…..hold on, stop right there, you got to be kidding with that line of reasoning.
This passage is not about the power of positive thinking, or the upside of a sunny disposition, sappy pop psychological motivational, or simply being relieved because things could be worse. Come on, let’s get real. These two guys have been falsely accused, humiliated, publicly beaten, dragged off to jail and locked up in the inner cell, without food or water...and I shouldn’t have to remind you that they did not have indoor plumbing in that jail cell, nor do they have Ibuprofen.
When you read this passage, if you are even on the verge of considering that the lesson we can learn from these two men is that we should have a positive outlook on life - stop right there. Now it may be true that Olympic Silver Medalists should buck up and reconsider their amazing achievement, and a positive attitude in difficult circumstances might give you a bit of an edge in dealing with the certain situations, but what is happening to Paul and Silas is much deeper, and much more profound than a sunny disposition.
Christians are not immune to pain and disappointment; Christians are not immune to tragedy and failure; Bad things, horrible things, unspeakable things have fallen upon Christians and attempting to look on the bright side of life is not going to make the pain go away.
Now, I realize there are Christians who appear to take on this kind of a persona: No matter what happens, they are going to smile and be happy about it. But, being happy and bright about life does not reflect your spiritual disposition, does it? In fact many times it hides the truth - a lack of spiritual maturity.
Here in this passage, it is not that Paul and Silas have the correct arguments, or the best philosophy of life, or even a positive attitude that makes them sing praise to God. If any of those things I mentioned are true, having the correct argument, the best philosophy of life or a positive attitude, if any of those things are true in this situation about Paul and Silas, then what in the world do we need Jesus Christ for?
I mean if all it takes is for me to have a positive attitude on life and I can get through anything, then Jesus Christ is just excess baggage in my life.
Notice, when you read this passage, it says nothing about Paul and Silas’ attitude. We just read that into the story, but it is not there.
Vitamin D supplements and a sunny disposition it not what will fix things for any of us, and this is not what fixes things for Paul and Silas.
Now pay attention here because you don’t want to miss out on this. In Scripture we see many stories of men and women who face impossible odds and impossible persecution and in absolutely zero of these situations is a positive outlook on life what gets them through. Here we see the same.
They focus of worship of Jesus in their trial, not the circumstances, which they are powerless to change anyway.
They can complain, or they can worship.
Notice in verse 25 that these men are not singing just any songs, top 40, country, rock and roll - they are worshiping. This is a key element for us here. See, if they were just singing Neil Diamond songs, we might be able to conclude that they were looking on the bright side of life, but they stay far away from Neil Diamond. Instead they worship.
Wait.
Did you hear that? Did that sink in for you?
Instead, they pray and worship.
So let’s stop here for a moment. If this is not about looking on the sunny side of life, and it certainly is not, then here is a key understanding for us.
When difficult circumstances come your way, what do you do?
Worry.
Complain.
Eat chocolate.
Blame others.
Become a difficult person to be around.
Listen to Neil Diamond….
What do Paul an Silas do?
Pray and sing hymns to God - that’s code for worship, if you haven’t caught on yet.
What makes them sing praise to God is that they have had such a real and profound experience with Jesus Christ, they have such a close relationship with Jesus Christ, that even in the midst of the worst circumstances they can praise God.
Understand that they do not know the future. These two do not know what will happen to them next, for all they know they could end up in prison for a long time.
It has been said -- What a person needs to get ahead…...is a powerful enemy.
That is sure true here for Paul and Silas. They have a powerful enemy, so they pull out the big guns: Prayer and singing of hymns. Think that’s crazy? Well, what happens next?
Earthquake.
You might imagine that this earthquake is about Paul and Silas, if you do, your close, really, it is about Jesus Christ. How do we know that? Because of what the result of the earthquake is.
The jailer is asleep and is awakened by the earthquake. He rushes to see if the prisoners are still there. If any prisoners escaped, it would mean a death sentence for the jailer, so he decides to kill himself instead of face harsher punishment.
But, then Paul essentially cries out,”we are here, we are here, we are here” none of the prisoners had left. Why is that? It doesn’t say why does it? It appears that somehow Paul and Silas had convinced the other prisoners to stay. “What was it about these two men?”, The jailer must have wondered.
Now they remain, because they want to be vindicated, not for themselves, but for the new church in the city. If they leave under a cloud of suspicion, this would not look good for the young church that had just got off the ground. Paul’s insistence on an apology will help protect the church from harm for some time. Paul uses his victory not for personal gain, but for the gain of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So the jailer comes to them and asks, what can I do to be saved?
Often our personal world has to be shaken up, to consider what is important in life. Notice the drastic change in the attitude of the jailer when a problem arises. Before the jailer throws them in jail wither food and water, now they become his guests.
What must I do to be saved? This question ties in with what the slave girl said when she shouted that they were a way to salvation. He brings them into his home and, now feeds them. He has no fear of them leaving, for they had a great chance to leave and passed it up. Remember also that these two men are beat up pretty bad, and they probably did not have the ability to hardly walk very well. He now treats them as guests, which of course they are.
What is their response to his question?
Is it hard to understand their answer? “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved”
That is the same today, as it was 2000 years ago.
Notice they add, “you and your household.’ That doesn’t mean that everyone will be save if only the jailer believes. At that time, whatever god the head of household worshiped, everyone in the household would follow suit and worship also. Take note that in verse 32, they tell the others in the house about Jesus.
So we see that the result of the earthquake is that people come to know Jesus. That is because this whole situation wasn’t about Paul and Silas, it was about Jesus.
I have said this numerous times as we have gone through the book of Acts. When we give our lives over to Jesus, event in our lives are primarily about Jesus and not about us. So when you get into a bad situation, your first thought should be, “What does this have to do with Jesus?”, your first thought should not be, “What does this have to do with me?”
It’s about Jesus, not about you.
Somehow it is decided that these two Jews could just leave. There is no motive given for why the city officials are willing to just let them go. The lictors (remember those are the huge men who beat them up) give the news. The city officials feel that they are within their rights until they hear that Paul is a Roman citizen.
Paul’s rights have been violated. The proclamations: the Lex Valeria 509 bc, the Lex Porcia 248 bc, the Lex Julia 23 bc protected Paul. These shielded Roman citizens from humiliating public punishments - such as beating with rods. A Roman citizen was always entitled an investigation into the charges and to a trial before punishment.
In theory a roman citizen could travel anywhere without fear, being protected everywhere by Roman law. As a roman citizen Paul is not subject to local laws - it doesn’t matter how many local ordinances Paul broke, they had no power over him as a Roman citizen, only the law of the Roman Empire impacted upon Paul. It was an impossibility for Paul to incur the infractions claimed against him. He was not subject to the violation of the city’s public laws because he was above the local laws, and therefor even bringing Paul before the city officials was a violation of Paul’s rights.
A magistrate risked losing his position for such an offense and he also could be blacklisted from ever serving in government office again. He would be unemployed and unemployable.
So we have a complete 180 in the situation here. Paul and Silas were treated as last, but now they are first. They were dishonored and now are honored by those who publically shamed them. Did they work out this vindication? This vindication comes about not on their own volition, it comes not from their own efforts - but from Jesus Christ.
They are asked to leave, but they do not. First they go and spend some time with the church, and then they leave. Now they leave because the citizens of the city are furious at them for removing a spirit of Apollo from their city, Paul and Silas cannot safely live in Philippi anymore, so they need to move on. The city officials my be forgiving, but not the average citizen.
So what major things did we learn from our Scripture today?
1 - When difficult circumstances arrive, pull out the big guns: Prayer and singing. In other words, worship God.
- A sunny perspective will not help you as much as worship will.
- It doesn’t matter how happy an Olympic Bronze Medalists is, perspective will only get you so far.
- When you get into a bad situation, your first thought should be, “What does this have to do with Jesus?”
May we apply these Scriptural truths to our lives.
