The Power of Focus
Series: BREAKOUT – God on the Move through the Book of Acts
Brad Bailey – June 3, 2012
Intro
Do you know what the most powerful force you control is?
The most powerful force you and I control is our FOCUS. Our focus determines everything. It has the power to define what we see. It has the power to determine if we see ourselves as oppressed and powerless…or if we see ourselves connected to the power of God.
Today we are continuing our series entitled ‘Breakout’…. Letting God teach us how to be a part of His work in the world…..by engaging the initial breaking out in the Book of Acts.
Today we come to the 7th of ten events we are engaging in this series. And in our text today we see how they bore an internal strength that reflected a victor rather than victim mentality.
Just prior to the text being engaged in this study, the apostle Paul and his companions encounter a woman who is possessed. She follows them and eventually Paul engages her and delivers her from the evil spirit. She is free. But it becomes clear that she was being used by others to make money telling fortunes. [1]
Acts 16:19-25 (NIV)
19 When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice."
22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.
Imagine what they initially faced. help one young girl that was possessed by an evil spirit and all the powers of evil come to crush them and cast them into prison. Think about who it was that came against them… those who would use a possessed young girkl to make money from… those so evil it is hard to imagine without stirring anger inside us. These lives dragged them before the Roman regime in all it’s ruthlessness. And as the crowd are drawn against them… they are ‘severely flogged’….and then placed in the inner most confinement… the darkest, coldest section of the prison…where the chains rusted on the prisoners… and most notably…where light was excluded. It’s that darkness that challenges our focus. We all know something of how darkness can confine us…and limit our perspective.
And the text takes us to that point at which it is ‘About midnight.’
Paul and Silas find themselves beaten, and bloodied, and broken…and it’s almost midnight. Midnight is the darkest part of the night. It is the deepest part of the night…the longest point before reaching the start of a new day.
Maybe you’ve faced some midnight hours in your life. Times when you felt powers beyond your control had imprisoned you…times when you felt chained down.
We can all be faced with midnight.
What would you do?
I might become so focused on myself that I couldn’t think of anything else.
I know I might become so overwhelmed by the powers at hand…that I might just give up…or withdraw.
I might become so focused on the unfairness….I’d become consumed with cynicism… anger… and begin complaining.
But Paul and Silas had a different focus…They’re not whining and crying.
Luke describes in verse 25… “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.”
> They were praying and praising God.
Now it may not surprise us that they prayed at midnight. We might imagine some desperate …lamenting prayers…midnight hour prayers. But that’s not the nature of their posture. This is not simply a matter of desperation…this is a matter of focus. They were worshipping.
They had every reason to feel bound and powerless…. But they never saw the powers of this world as ultimately in charge. They focused on God. they focused on their ultimate freedom.
Those who sing in prison are those who cannot be imprisoned.
Their bodies may be in jail - but they weren’t.
Those who sing at midnight are those who are citizens of a land that has no night. [2]
1. We break out of the powers of this world when we…
Focus on God’s redemptive work more than our circumstances.
John 5:17 (NIV)
Jesus said, "My Father is always at his work to this very day."
I don’t believe Jesus could see some perfect plan behind every circumstance….but he knew that his Father in heaven could be trusted… and was always in control. He was focused on that aspect of all his circumstances.
We tend to see what we’re looking for.
We see what we’re looking for. For example, if you decide you don’t like someone you’ll notice everything that is wrong with that person. And you’ll probably ignore anything you could potentially like about them. The flipside is true as well. If you’re head-over-heels in love with someone you tend to only notice those things you love about them.
In a similar way, we tend to develop a complaining spirit or a worshipping spirit. The complaining spirit can always find something to complain about. The worshipping spirit can always find an something to thank God about.
Paul and Silas were disposed to look for something to praise God about even in the worst of circumstances. Paul and Silas could have zoomed in and complained about their circumstances. But they made a choice to worship God… in spite of their external circumstances.
Sometimes we need to zoom out and look at the really big picture.
Many of us know that sometimes when we face problems…we begin to zoom in on the problem so much that we can’t see the bigger picture. We get a tunnel vision that loses the larger perspective. Often the solution is zooming out so we can get some perspective.
What helps us zoom out and see the whole reality? Worship.
Worshipping is taking our eyes off of our external circumstances and focusing on God. We stop focusing on what’s wrong with us or with our circumstances. We start focus on what’s right with God.
It’s refocusing on the fact that two thousand years ago, Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sin. It’s refocusing on the fact that God loves me when I least expect it and least deserve it. It’s refocusing on the fact that God is going to get me where God wants me to go. It’s refocusing on the fact that I have eternity with God to look forward to in a place where there is no mourning or sorrow or pain.
Worship restores spiritual equilibrium.
Worship restores the joy of our salvation.
Is it easy? Absolutely not. Nothing is more difficult than praising God when everything seems to be going wrong. But one of the purest form of worship is praising God even when you don’t feel like it because it shows God that your worship isn’t based on circumstances. Worship is based on the character of God.
This is not a matter of just positive thinking…or some placebo…or pretending.
> It is based on reality… a larger reality… the more true reality.
Oliver Wendel Holmes said there are two kinds of simplicity: simplicity on the near-side of complexity and simplicity on the far-side of complexity.
In the same sense, Mark Battersons notes that there is worship on the near-side of suffering…. and worship on the far-side of suffering. Worship on the far-side of suffering has greater density and purity! It is rising above your circumstances.
I remember reading Victor Frankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning. Victor Frankl was a Holocaust survivor who wrote about his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp.
Everything was taken away from these prisoners. They were stripped of their clothing, their pictures, and their personal belongings. They even took away their names and gave them numbers. Frankl was number 119,104.
Everything was taken away except one thing. Frankl said,
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.” - Victor Frankl
Paul and Silas were in prison. Their bodies were chained. But you can’t chain the human spirit. That’s what Victor Frankl discovered in the concentration camp. That’s what Paul and Silas modeled two thousand years ago. Their bodies were chained, but their spirits soared.
The most important choice you make everyday is your focus. Your internal focus is more important than your external circumstances. The outcome of your life will be determined by your outlook on life. If you have a critical or complaining spirit you’ll complain till the day you die.
We need to remember Paul and Silas… and how the systems were all against them…the ruling system…the religious system… the cultural system.
We have to face our tendency to trust the systems of political and social power more than God.
“If only our country and culture were Christian.” We have a collective victim mentality.
> But God doesn’t work that way and probably never will.
He works from the margins.
His power is shown in weakness.
We need to remember that the first Gospel Concert in Europe didn’t take place in a concert hall. It didn’t happen in a church or a chapel. It happened in a Philippian jail.
Through prayer and worship we can connect with God’s presence wherever we are.
Through worship, we recognize that the problem may be surrounding us, but the solution is on the premises.
Albert Einstein said, “You can’t solve a problem on the level it was created.” I think problems created on a human plane are solved on the supernatural plane. That’s what happens when we worship God. It changes the spiritual atmosphere. It charges the spiritual atmosphere.
Worship brings God’s presence…in lives and in physical realm. And it has power.
Acts 16:26-34 (NIV)
26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!" 29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household." 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God--he and his whole family.
An earthquake shakes the very foundations of the prison.
It’s hard not to stop and consider how profound that is.
The Scriptures tell us that God inhabits the praises of his people. We have to imagine how this breaking out of worship brought forth God’s breaking them out of their chains. Prayer and worship defy the powers of this world. And notably their worship was public…and leads to the freedom of many around them.
There was some type of ‘chain reaction’…. and they are free. Likely the chains were opened not by the physical earthquake itself… but as part of what God was doing. The result is that all are free.
And the jailer could only presume one thing…the obvious thing…that they had all left. In that moment…it only takes a millisecond to grasp the implications of open doors….he faces his own death for such failure. Such an escape would reflect not only failure to fulfill his duties…but potentially treason for such a mass escap…and the likely consequences of his own public execution.
But Paul declares something unexpected….they are still there.
What would be our natural tendency? Get out ! After all… you should be free. But they stay.
> They focused on what was right despite what was fair. The jailor had not set them free…. And they didn’t leave him to face that assumption.
2. We break out of the powers of this world when we…
Focus on what is right more than what is fair.
If we focus on what is fair… we will be deeply stuck. But if we focus on what is right… we will find our choices become much clearer.
We can all face times when we feel trapped in some aspect of life that isn’t fair.
• We may feel that we have had to endure more than others seem to.
• We may feel that we have suffered financial loss when others have got some easy gain.
• We may feel that we give more in our marriage relationships.
And we may be tempted when we see a way out… an escape clause… like Paul and Silas…
It’s natural to want life to be fair. God is the very source of justice. He is not indifferent to fairness. But God knows that resolving fairness for a world of those who seek themselves… begins not with judgment …but with mercy…the willingness to do what is right even when it may not be fair. You and I are sitting here because God is enduring what is not fair for the sake of redemption. [3]
It’s what Jesus taught in many parables.
It’s what Jesus did when he suffered on the cross for us.
It’s what Paul and Silas did when they stayed there with the guard of the jail that night.
It is what we will all be blessed if we do….
1 Peter 2:19 (NIV)
For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.
So they stayed. And we discover that the earthquake not only shook the jail house; but more importantly, it shook the jailer.
Acts 16:35-40 (NIV)
35 When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: "Release those men." 36 The jailer told Paul, "The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace." 37 But Paul said to the officers: "They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out." 38 The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. 39 They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. 40 After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia's house, where they met with the brothers and encouraged them. Then they left.
The ruling powers had given their freedom. What do they do? What would I do? I’d avoid the system. They engage the system. Likely for the sake of their fellow believers….they keep a check on the system.
Paul demanded that the magistrates not only release them but also actually come and lead them out…which they did. By raising the issue of his citizenship now… something most of other believers in Philippi had… he placed the magistrates in a difficult position and so provided a basis for the future protection of the church.’ [4]
> He was thinking about others more than himself.
And consider how they returned to the household of believers that night. They had been dragged off… severely beaten…and imprisoned. How would I have entered that household? Looking for sympathy ! I’d focus on the sympathy I deserve. I would want everyone to know what I had been through. When they arrive back at the home of the believers….what did they do? They encouraged them.
3. We break out of the powers of this world when we…
Focus on the needs of others more than ourselves.
The most basic principal of true, godly love is this: Love lays down its life for others. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). [5]
Research makes it clear…those who think most about others find far more contentment in life.
When we focus only on our needs….we become more self-consumed…smaller….weaker.
When we consider how we can help others… we embrace the power God has given us. [6]
Conclusion:
Our focus makes all the difference. Not because it changes the circumstances…but because it changes what we see amidst them and how we respond to them.
Some of us know that changing focus is easier said than done. We seem so wired to see what is negative or dangerous or difficult. Our initial focus seems so automatic that we can’t see how to change. [7]
1. Confront the lies that try to reduce you to being ‘just a victim.’
1 John 4:4 (CEV)
“You belong to God, and you have defeated these enemies. God's Spirit is in you and is more powerful than the one that is in the world.
Philippians 4:13 (GW)
“I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me.”
2. Spend just 3 minutes every morning reflecting and journaling on ways God’s gifts and goodness.
Psalm 103:2 says, “Praise the Lord and forget not all his benefits.”
3. Internalize someone who models a positive focus.
If you tend to react negatively to challenges, try imitating somebody who always reacts positively. Make a game out of it, put yourself in character, play the role until you establish a new response pattern.
Today… lets bring any sense of powerlessness to the altar.
Some of us may feel as if the powers of this world have the upper hand.
Let join the reality that Paul and Silas grasped…which is that God is ultimately here and ultimately always has the upper hand.
Closing Song: Forever Reign (Hillsong)
Resources: Mark Batterson who shared the emphasis on ‘focus’ from this text, Matt Condon, Jonathan Lucas, Dr. Dwayne Brown, Howard McGlamery
Notes:
1. Silas - A leading member of the church at Jerusalem who also had prophetic gifts (Acts 15:22, 32). Silas may be a Semitic name, possibly še’îlā’, the Aram. form of Saul. There is little doubt that he is to be identified with ‘Silvanus’ (2 Cor. 1:19; 1 Thes. 1:1; 2 Thes. 1:1; 1 Pet. 5:12), which is probably the Latinized form of ‘Silas’, though it may be a separate cognomen chosen for its similarity.
In Acts Silas was sent by the church at Jerusalem to welcome into fellowship the Gentiles converted through the church of Antioch (Acts 15:22–35). When Paul and Barnabas quarrelled about John Mark, Barnabas went off with Mark and Paul took Silas as his companion on his second missionary journey (15:36-41). The fact of his Roman citizenship (16:37–39) may have been one of the reasons for the choice, and his membership of the Jerusalem church would have been helpful to Paul. His role seems to have been to replace Mark rather than Barnabas. Nowhere is he referred to in a general way as an ‘apostle’ (contrast Barnabas in Acts 14:14) and his position seems to be subordinate.
Wood, D. R. W., & Marshall, I. H. (1996). New Bible dictionary (3rd ed.) (1101). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press.
2. “We can learn that men who sing in prison are men who cannot be imprisoned.
It was impossible to imprison Paul and Silas. Their bodies may be in jail - but they weren’t.
We can learn that men who sing at midnight are men who are citizens of a land that has no night. The Lord is their light.”
Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments (Ac 16:23–24). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
3. Other Scripture regarding doing what is right more than what is fair
John 21:18-22 (NIV)
18 I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!" 20 Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?") 21 When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?" 22 Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me."
1 Peter 3:10-14 (NIV)
For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. 11 He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." 13 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened."
4. Regarding Paul’s use of legal claim of Roman citizenship
‘Their citizenship was valuable to them only as a shield against unnecessary injuries to their Master’s cause.’
Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments (Ac 16:40). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
‘This was a Roman town. These people were concerned about observing Roman laws. Unknown to them but nevertheless, they had broken these laws, and as a result they were frightened. So when Paul demanded that the magistrates not only release them but also actually come and lead them out, they did.
Why did Paul insist on that? I think he had in mind the safety of the church he was to leave behind. He wanted to do everything he could to establish and protect it. And perhaps that is even why he did not declare that he was a Roman citizen when they were about to beat him earlier. He declared so in a later incident in Jerusalem. It may be that he did not do it here in order to place the magistrates in a difficult position and so provide a basis for the future protection of the church.’
Boice, J. M. (1997). Acts : An expositional commentary (284). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books.
‘Paul’s reason for insisting upon a public recognition of their innocence was to protect the new believers whom he would soon be leaving there in Philippi.’
McGee, J. V. (1991). Vol. 41: Thru the Bible commentary: Church History (Acts 15-28) (electronic ed.). Thru the Bible commentary (41). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
‘Some Christians are puzzled by Paul’s actions in vv. 35–40. Why did Paul humiliate the Roman officials by making them settle the case openly? Paul was simply making use of his Roman citizenship and legal rights to give proper respect to the Gospel and the new church he had just established. Had Paul quietly moved out of town, the citizens would have thought he had been guilty; and this would have hindered the work of the church. No, it is not wrong for Christians to use their legal rights, so long as it promotes the cause of Christ. This official apology and open settlement of the case (for Paul had been deprived of his legal rights) gave dignity to the Gospel and to the church.’
Wiersbe, W. W. (1997). Wiersbe's expository outlines on the New Testament (322). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.
5. Regarding thinking of others more than ourselves, Scripture also states:
Philippians 2:3 (NIV)
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
6. One such study on the effects of self-focus from :Journal of Personality and Social Psychology - 1987 by the American Psychology Association, Inc., 1987, VoL 52, No, 5, 994-1001 0022-3514/87/$00~75
Depression, Self-Focused Attention, and Expectancies for Positive and Negative Future Life Events for Self and Others
“The results of Study 2 clearly support the hypothesis that self focused attention at least partially mediates depressed individuals' pessimism about future life events. In the self-focus condition,
depressed subjects rated negative events as far more likely to happen to themselves than did non depressed subjects. In contrast, in the external-focus condition, depressed subjects
were no more pessimistic than non-depressed subjects in these ratings. In addition, whereas depressed subjects in the self-focus condition did not exhibit a difference in their ratings of the likelihood of negative events occurring to self versus others, depressed
subjects in the external-focus condition exhibited the same relative optimism found among non depressed subjects, rating negative events as less likely to happen to themselves than to others.”
Also notable:
‘The greatest enemies of us alcoholics are resentment, jealousy, envy, frustration, and fear.’(Alcoholics Anonymous pg. 145)
‘We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change.’ (Alcoholics Anonymous pg. 84)
Selfishness and self-seeking will have to be let go of. We do not have the luxury of being self focused as it is also a terrible poison to those of us in recovery or those of us who use alcohol/drugs heavily.
‘Whatever our protestations, are not most of us concerned with ourselves, our resentments, or our self-pity? Selfishness – self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles.’ (Alcoholics Anonymous pg. 62)
The authors of the Alcoholics Anonymous book (the root of all things 12 Step) are convinced that the root of all of our struggles can be summed up as “selfishness” and “self-centeredness”.
7. Drew from thoughts of Jonathan Wells online blog article: 3 Ways to Turn Your Challenges into Opportunities.
