Acts 16:16-34
Jailbreak (The Free and the not so free)
Over the last few weeks, we have been exploring Acts and the way the church has spread throughout the world in the earliest days of Christianity. From Peter and the disciples standing up to the authorities, to Joppa, where Saul, an new believer is baptized, to Peter realizing God had included Gentiles, to Paul finding the women at the river and the conversion of Lydia, to now, Paul freeing slaves of demons and bringing hope to a jailer.
What is interesting in this passage is that there are three sets of people in bondage.
The first person we encounter is a woman who is both a slave filled with an evil spirit. She is being exploited by her owners, whose own best interests are served by her physical and spiritual enslavement.
We don’t know if it is the spirit driving her to follow Paul and Silas, or if it is her own desire to be free. But for whatever reason, Paul and Silas manage to finally get annoyed enough to do something.
Now, I would love to imagine that all good things that happen are because of the kindness of people’s heart. In this case, it really doesn’t sound like that is what happened. Paul was simply annoyed, and commanded that she be free of the spirit.
While Paul’s intentions might not have been the best, we need to realize that God’s intentions for the woman enslaved by humankind and spirits was for her best. And with Paul’s words, God brought healing to the woman.
Which, of course, stirred up trouble.
Her rich and powerful owners were unhappy. So much so that they stirred up the crowd. Without a trial, Paul and Silas were beaten with rods and imprisoned. The only reason for imprisonment was to await further punishment, perhaps even a death sentence once a proper trial could be held.
We see this a lot in our world today. There will always be those who put their money making above the freedom of others. Their money gives them power. And they use it against those who they see are in their way.
A key example of this at the moment involves the pharmaceutical companies that developed the opioids that are at the heart of more than 1900 lawsuits against them. These companies are accused of misleading doctors and the public about how addictive these pain killers were, but also for giving kickbacks to doctors and insurance companies, encouraging their distribution. The Opioid Crisis isn’t because they are so bad, it is because they are so easy to get.
And while I mention these companies, we all are aware of how our world today exists. The rich and the powerful can use their money and influence to remain rich and powerful. And they leave those who are outside of the circle enslaved.
We see this in corporate structures that give CEOs millions, and leave the workers at minimum wages, barely able to survive.
We see this in the way farmers and ranchers are often left barely able to cover the costs of planting and harvesting crops, or raising animals. And yet, there are always those at the top that profit.
Here, we find Paul and Silas encountering that rule. They offended someone rich and powerful, and there were consequences.
The second person we find who is imprisoned is the jailor.
He and his family are part of the worker class. As long as they did everything right, they were safe. But given an unexpected happening, and their very lives were at stake. He was given the specific task of keeping Paul and Silas in prison. If something happened on his watch, the same owners would demand someone pay the price for their escape.
Once the gates swung open, his immediate response was to kill himself, hoping that it would spare his family from suffering with him whatever fate they had intended for Paul and Silas.
And then the truth dawns – well, Paul and Silas call out to him. All is well, we are still here. By remaining, they saved his life and likely the lives of his family. No wonder the guard was so open to what they had to say.
Hear his words, “What must I do to be saved?” And Paul responds that he only need to believe in Jesus.
Nothing to do, only something to accept. Jesus had died for us. Now we just had to accept the gift.
Sometimes it seems to simple. Shouldn’t we be telling people what they need to DO? Well, Doing happens after believing. God reaches out with grace before we even know enough to say Yes. God is always waiting, always reaching out, always desiring us to come to Him.
We are often like the jailer. We are caught in things where we think everything is OK until something goes wrong. It is at moments like this we most need to hear Paul’s words to us. “Just believe.” God will do the rest.
Finally, the third imprisonment is that of Paul and Silas. They are beaten, much as Jesus was beaten. Then they were put in the cell in the very middle of the dungeon. Not only were guards put over them, but they were in chains.
Which comes to the most amazing part. They were praying and singing. Of all of those imprisoned, they were the only ones who were truly free!
They were free of hatred, of hopelessness, of anything in the world that might imprison them. It calls to mind Romans 8:38 and 39. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
No prison could hold them if they knew that God was there. Even without the earthquake, they were not afraid. Uncomfortable, maybe, but not afraid.
When we also know that God is always with us, always loves us, we too can be conquerors in Christ Jesus.
There will always be things, and situations, and disturbances in our lives. But God is and always will be there. I love the story that Corrie Ten Boom wrote of her sister’s words in Ravensbrook before she died there in the prison camp. She said to tell the world that “There is no pit that God is not deeper still.” And she said that Corrie would be believed because she had been there. These are the words Corrie is best known for today, years after her death.
There is no pit in your life that is so deep and dark that God is not there. There is nowhere without hope. There is nowhere without God. Whether you can see or feel God isn’t relevant. If God is, it is the nature of God to be. It is the nature of God to be with us. It is the nature of God to save us.
Here on this journey through the weeks of Easter, we have arrived the conclusion of where we will be going in Acts. Next week, we will be celebrating Pentecost, when the church was born! Feel free to dress accordingly!
And as we come to the end of this journey, I call to mind Galatians 3:28. Now, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female – for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” Jews, Greeks, slaves, free, male and female, all have been invited.
(Intro to communion) The same holds true of this table in front of us. Here in the Presbyterian Church, we have an open table. It is never limited to anything except placing your faith in Jesus. You don’t have to be worthy, you only have to come.
