How many of you have seen the Television reality show the “Amazing Race”. For those of you that have not seen it, there many groups of two people (some married teams, some brother’s teams, some sister teams, mother daughter, father daughter, Father son, engaged couples, dating couples and so on). These groups of two travel around the world finding the shortest routes, trying to talk to taxi drivers in other languages and they compete in competitions or what they call challenges along the way. One of the challenges they face is called a “Detour”. A detour is when they have to stop and choose one of the team members to do a task that is usually difficult. In essence, it makes them stop their race to their final destination and work through a task before they continue on.
There was a new city bus driver in New York City and he was on the first day of his new job and route. Things were going well until he realized he took a wrong turn and found himself traveling around and trough a park. Although this was an express run, they were traveling by flowers that were in bloom, the trees were budding and the grass was so green. He was relieved to arrive at the terminal only a few minutes late and thought maybe no one noticed. When they stopped an elderly lady, as she got off the bus, “young man that was lovely! I’ve been riding this bus for years, and that was the first time I was treated to a free tour of the park in spring time.”
Life is full of detours and obstacles. All of us at some point have things come up that throw a loop in our plans and in our lives and in our building of the kingdom. Whether it be an illness; loss of a job; financial stress; troubles at work; troubles with a boss; family troubles; loss of a loved one or many other things that can arise in our lives. All of us have detours in our lives from time to time. In this church today we are in a detour phase with our pastoral search. How will we as a congregation handle this detour time?
Life is not always a wide, easy well marked path. Unexpected detours are sure to arise. This especially may seem confusing if you feel that God has a special plan for your life and your Kingdom work. How do you handle such detours? Or is there anyone here that has never had any detours in their lives?
Well today we are going to look at another detour. Paul and Silas and their companions (Timothy being one of them) traveled to Macedonia after Paul had a vision in Acts 16:9. Paul knew without a doubt that God wanted himself and Silas in Macedonia to preach the good news about Jesus and they started out on their journey without hesitation. Soon after they arrived, verses 11-15 has the account of their ministry beginning and the conversion of a woman named Lydia, but we are going to pick up the story in verse 16 which was read earlier.
Paul and Silas ran into a slave girl who was processed by a spirit and could predict the future. Through this she made her masters a lot of money by her fortune telling. She followed Paul and Silas shouting “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” She kept this up for many days. Finally, Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” Verse 18 states: “At that moment the spirit left her.”
Well when the owners of the slave girl realized what had happened to her and realized their hope of making money off her fortune telling was gone they were a little incensed. They seized Paul and Silas and drug them through the marketplace and brought them before the magistrates, the authorities. They brought two charges before the magistrates.
First, they said that Paul and Silas were Jews and they are throwing our city into an uproar, verse 20. This would be a serious offence. The Roman Empire would not tolerate public disturbances especially from foreigners. Randal Deny states that: “Roman peace”, referred to “Pax Romana” “was an important principle of Roman Government.
The second charge is seen in verse 21: they were advocating customs unlawful for us to accept or practice. Rome was unfriendly to new religions.
Well the crowd got into the attack and the magistrates ordered Paul and Silas to be striped and beaten and severely flogged. Romans were known for their brutality in their beatings. This was not a pleasant experience for Paul and Silas. After their public beating they were taken to a prison and left in the hands of the jailor and ordered him to shackle them in an inner cell. Verse 24 says their feet were fastened in stocks.
Undoubtedly, Paul and Silas may have wondered what God’s plan was. He had called them to Macedonia to preach. Was this part of God’s plan? Well we are going to look at how these two men handled this detour in their life and ministry and maybe rethink how we can handle detours in out own lives. What did Paul and Silas do when they were shackled in prison?
I. Paul and Silas prayed during their detour
So Paul and Silas had been beaten, stripped, flogged, thrown into prison and shackled. Now none of us would look down on them if they spent their time feeling sorry for themselves and wallowing in their pain. I mean I have to ask myself how I would handle this situation. However, after all this had happened to them verse 25 states: that about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and sing hymns to God.
I get a sense that Luke’s use of the word “praying” does not carry the idea of petition or request, but rather it indicates an attitude of adoration and worship. Many scholars when reading the commentaries agree with the usages of the words. So once again I am asking myself, “How would I handle this situation? What would I do in the face of this detour?” Paul and Silas were not asking for anything, they were praising God.
This reminds me of the story of Job in the Old Testament. Job was a very prosperous man, but he had a detour come into his life. Job lost his investments, his property, and then his Children. Some of us may have lost some investment or maybe all investments at one point in our lives. Some may have lost property and most of us have lost a love one at some point or another, but it is hard to imagine the enormity of the loss that Job experienced. After Job was faced with all these catastrophes we find a surprise verse in Job 1:20, it states: “At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship”
He fell to the ground and worshiped. What do we do when we are faced with detours in our life? Do we wallow in self pity, do we worry endlessly, do we withdraw ourselves from others, and do we hide behind a false façade? Or do we turn to God in fellowship. Fellowship with God is more important than getting immediate answers to our problems.
When detours arise in your life, make use of that time to draw closer to God. Take the time to get better acquainted with your Lord and Saviour. Learn to pray in the dark times, not just in the good times when things are going okay.
II. Paul and Silas sang praises during their detour
So Paul and Silas had been beaten, stripped, flogged, thrown into prison and shackled. Now none of us would look down on them if they spent their time feeling sorry for themselves and wallowing in their pain. I mean I have to ask myself how I would handle this situation. However, after all this had happened to them verse 25 states: that about midnight Paul and Silas were praying but it also states they sang hymns to God.
A true miracle is seen here in the lives of Paul and Silas. God empowered Paul and Silas to overcome bitterness God these terrible circumstances. They were singing Hymns to God. I wonder what songs they must have been singing. Maybe they were singing a version of Psalm 23. ``The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quite waters. He restores my soul.
Or maybe they were singing a line or two from Psalm 37 `Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; 3 Trust in the Lord and do Good, dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. 4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noon day sun.
Or maybe they sung about our refuge and strength in the Lord found in Psalm 46:1 and concluded with verse 11 in that same Psalm. “The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress”
They were singing. Paul and Silas sang praises to God during this detour in their life. Some of the greatest Christian Hymns and Chorus come from writers that have come through difficult times.
The story of Fanny Crosby often inspired me. Here was a women, who at caught a cold at 6 weeks of age and developed inflammation of the eyes. The doctor that was filling in for their family physician made the decision to put mustard plasters on her eyes as treatment. This procedure left Fanny Crosby blind for her life. Fanny Crosby went on to have a full life of education, teaching, music and lobbied for education for the blind in America. She was married and had one daughter who died as a baby.
Fanny Crosby had detours that came up in her life, blindness, loss of a child and her husband later on, but she was never bitter. She went on to write over 8000 hymns and is known as one of the most prolific hymnist of all times. She wrote hymns that we may know like: Blessed Assurance, To God be the Glory and Praise Him, Praise Him. Ironically, the first hymn that she wrote was called “There’s a Cry from Macedonia” In Paul’s vision in Acts 16:6-10 Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia begging him to come to Macedonia and help them.
In later years Fanny Crosby was quote as saying “If earthly sight were offered to me tomorrow I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God If I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things around me.” She also said on a different occasion “When I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Saviour.”
When detours arise in our lives do we sing? What do you sing? If detours in our past have served to mature us, grow us spiritually and strengthen us, why do we cringe at the thought of them. Why do we see detours as the ultimate disaster why are we scared of them so much?
When detours come up in our lives we need to sing to the Lord a new song, Psalm 96. I mean let’s face it, He’s probably sick of our old song.
III. Paul and Silas witnessed during their detour
Verse 25 that we looked at throughout this message states: “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God,” then it goes on to say “and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Who is listening and watching us?
The Greek verb that Luke uses here implies that the prisoners were giving their closest attention they were able to hold on to that attention. They were not annoyed with the men and their duet. They were listening absorbedly. You can imagine this would have been foreign to them. Here these men had been beaten, lock up and shackled and they are praying and singing!
People around us are watching. Paul and Silas knew this and they were not afraid to let their true light shine. We can never really know how our testimony can affect others. Is what other people seeing in us convincing them that Jesus is the way. How do we handle detours in our lives?
Idi Amin was a dictator in Uganda during the early 70’s. He was known to have killed many people and Christians in that country. In 1972 a group of Christians from Uganda were boarding a bus to head to a convention of the Revival Brethren in Tanzania. Because of the political strain between Uganda and Tanzania each of the members of the delegation had been careful to get the proper documentation and permits from the department of military affairs to travel to this convention.
A crowd came to see the travelers off they were hugging, waving and laughing when suddenly army jeeps pulled up. They surrounded the group and march all 80 of them to prison. Someone had whispered a question in a high place about a large group going to the enemy country of Tanzania where they thought they may join the guerrilla army. They march them off to prison.
To make a long story short, for two days these Christians were praising God singing Glory, glory Hallelujah, glory to the Lamb. They proclaimed Christ love for them and sharing testimonies. One was quoted as saying “We thought we were going to a convention in Tanzania, but we are having a convention right here. For two days the soldiers and other prisoners were exposed to the most joyous atmosphere they had ever experienced. Some of the soldier’s wives even came to the prison to see what their husband’s were talking about and some of the soldiers brought in soft drinks for their new friends. Best of all a number of the soldiers came under the conviction of sin and found Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. The church on the outside frantically worked to prove to the military that this group really was going to a convention and they were not guerrillas.
After two day they were released. The soldiers and their wives lined up to shake hands with the Christians as they filled out and they never forgot their love and the free spirit of these people. You see, that year, very few that entered that prison had walked out, most were buried.
Our detours may look different that what these believers did, but our response should be the same.
Conclusion
Are you right where God wants you to be or are you right were you want to be. Maybe God has sent or will send a detour in your life to place you where He wants you. God’s plan has the big picture in mind and He has a plan for our lives. We are all going to have detours that arise in our lives.
There’s an English proverb that states: “A smooth sea never made a skilful mariner”
Erwin Lutzer said “God often puts us in situations that are too much for us so that we will learn that no situation is too much for Him”
I think my favourite quote is from W.T. Purkiser: “God does not offer us a way out of the testing’s of life. He offers us a way through, and that makes all the difference.”
When Paul and Silas had been thrown in to prison at Philippi, it appeared that the door to their ministry in Greece had been violently and firmly closed. Henry Blackaby states: “The reality of their situation, however, was that their Lord had opened a door of ministry to a previously unreached people group, the men in prison. The Philippian jailor and his household would become a significant part of the new church in Philippi. From our perspective a door had been shut for Paul and Silas, but from God’s perspective, Paul and Silas continued to minister right where God wanted them, right in the Philippian prison.
When detours arise in our lives we need to keep praying, singing and witnessing (letting our light shine before men). Others are listening and watching. God can use us to make a difference in this world. He can use us to change lives. James 1:12 states: “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.”
Detours in our lives are inevitable. There will be difficult times and circumstances. However, it is what we do with those times in our lives that will affect our lives, relationships and effectiveness in the future. In the end the detour will seem small, but our growth will be substantial and we will learn to realize more and more that our God is huge.
