(To the reader: I created the following dramatic reading for this sermon. I recorded it onto a CD and then played it during the worship service. I portrayed Peter writing his account of the event to Timothy several years after it occurred as the CD played.)
My Dear Timothy,
I am sorry to hear of your mother’s death. She was a woman of God and a person whose faith has influenced many in the faith.
In his note to me about her death, Paul told me of how she was a source of strength to him and Silas for many years and that they will miss her letters that so deeply encouraged them. (Pause to dip pen in ink)
In your last note, you asked about several believers here and how they are doing. They are doing well in spite of the fact that they are all jailed at the present for telling the good news.
Tyara is doing especially well in spite of her physical pain from the beatings that she has received over the years for her witness. Though her leg is badly damaged, and probably damaged for life, she is still able to give aid to the other prisoners who are in far worse shape that she is. (Start of Track 2) I have seen the effects first hand when I have visited her and the others. The prisoners are moved to tears, and so are some of the guards. Her care has made it possible to share the Gospel with many. She is chained up but not chained in!
You have asked me from time to time to tell about my experience at Jerusalem when Herod Agrippa had me arrested and imprisoned. I have somewhat resisted telling you the story for reasons that are not clear to me but now feel that I need to tell you. (Pause, and count to 10)
Timothy, (short pause) I thought that I was going to see the Lord! I thought that it was time for me to pay the price for my commitment to Jesus, a commitment that I all too well remember I wasn’t going to pay at one point.
Yet, it was not to be… I am still here (Start of Track 3) and I still face death, as Paul has so eloquently stated from time to time, death for the sake of the Kingdom and the Gospel of our Lord and Savior.
(Pause) It was a smelly place. Not just the smell of the living that exist in close quarters, but also the smell of the dying and the dead. It is a smell that you do not forget.
The treatment was rough. The shackles and irons were painful. My right shoulder still suffers from the twisting that the guards gave me when they put me in the shackles that were attached to them.
To have little or no voluntary movement while attached to armed guards and to be subject to the sudden moves by two other men who forget they are attached to you, is quite discomforting. Of course some of the guards were more kind to you than others as they did not want the assignment of being attached to a ‘high value prisoner’ (Start of track 4) that if lost, meant their death if the prisoner was not re-taken.
But some did not care and were not going to take chances and so kept the chain very short and would jerk you around just to remind you who was in charge. (Pause for ink refill). I remember one small man, who was near death, being violently manipulated by a couple of the guards that were not well like by the rest of staff. I thought that at one point he was going to have his neck snapped in two.
During my stay, once or twice a day (depending the guards’ moods) we would be unshackled and allowed some exercise in a small courtyard. The daylight was at first not welcome because the intensity of it was painful.
But it allowed us to feel alive again and we began to welcome the chance to get outside. (Start of track 5) It was there that I realized one day how many were praying for me and my release as we were allowed to see a few visitors and mine told me that there was serious prayer for my release being done in numerous prayer gatherings around the city.
(Pause for ink refill). On the third day, I began to fear the worst and prepared myself, as best as I could, through earnest prayer, for my certain departure from this world and into the presence of the Savior. My fear was confirmed that afternoon when I was told that I would appear before Herod the next morning for trial, and, I thought, “certain execution.”
(Pause to 10) That I night, as the sun set in the west, I thought, ‘This sunset could be my sunrise into the eternal kingdom.’ I took comfort in that thought because I knew and believed that I would be with the Lord soon.
(Start of Track 6)Sleep came soon and suddenly. The tension on the chains was considerably loosened to allow me better movement. (Pause of 10 seconds) I wondered if the guards knew what was coming…
I do not know how long I had been asleep when I was nudged to consciousness. At first, I thought that it was daylight and I had been allowed to sleep longer on my last night of life.
But as my eyes adjusted, I could see darkness through the narrow windows to my right.
My guards stirred so slightly and then the intensity of light grew brighter and brighter. I moved and I heard the sound of metal hitting the stone floor and a voice telling me to ‘STAND UP!”
The light moderated somewhat when my vision adjusted to my surroundings and then when my conscious thought (Start of Track 7) was fully aware I realized that my chains had come off and I was actually standing. I heard movement nearby and my immediate thought was, ‘I’m dead! The guards have seen me and will kill me because they think I am trying to escape!’
But, then I heard that same voice say, ‘Get dressed and get your sandals on!’ As I did so, he then said, ‘Get your coat on and follow me!’
(Pause for pen refill and hold pen for 10 seconds)
As I look back now, I remember glancing at the chambers and hallways of sleeping guards and prisoners. Some of prisoners were fellow believers Timothy, men and women, young and old, Jewish and Gentile. Some of them would be released soon and continue to serve the Lord until death, or the Lord’s return. And some of them… would not live another week or even day.
(Start of Track 8)Perhaps that is one reason that I have hesitated to tell this story to you. For in the immediate days after my release I wondered aloud and in my heart ‘Why me? Why was I spared and others not?’ I still do not have a complete answer to that question except that God still had more work for me to do.
Then the cool night air hit me and I realized that the one whom I followed was definitely not a guard! He was an angel!
‘Gabriel?’ I whispered loudly, ‘is that you?’ He said nothing and was suddenly gone, leaving me alone in the middle of Jerusalem’ streets.
Timothy, at first, I thought that I had dreamed what was happening; that it was nothing but a vision! (Pause to dip pen and think for 5 seconds)
(Start of Track 9)However, as I stood there I finally realized that the Lord had saved me from certain death and me from trial!
Well, as daylight started to break, I knew that once I was discovered missing there would be a massive hunt for me. Therefore, I made the decision to go to a secluded spot outside of the Jerusalem.
Yet before I did, I headed for Mary’s house, John Mark’s mother, to let them know that I was okay. What a welcome I experienced there!
The gate was locked and I knocked as loudly as I felt that I could do without drawing attention to myself. Finally, Rhoda, one of the servants came to the door to see who it was.
What a welcome! She screamed when I told her who I was and then left me still standing in the street to go and tell the others. It was a few more moments before she convinced those inside that it was me! They thought it was my angel! (Start of Track 10) Now I could tell them about angels!
Well after I quieted them down, I told them what had happened. That’s when I told them to let James and the rest know what had happened. Then I left for my secluded location.
(Pause) It seems like yesterday, Timothy, that all of that happened. Many have believed, both Jew and Gentile! The Gospel has spread and many now say ‘Jesus is Lord!’ and not ‘Caesar is Lord!’
But many have made that proclamation at the risk (and reality) of death. You and I do, too!
Timothy, take care. Stay strong in the faith! I commend you for your commitment and faith! Stay strong in the power and hope of the Lord! Regards to those with you! And God’s peace and grace be with you all!
Peter
The remaining part of the sermon was as follows:
Where there is faith, there is persecution of one form or another. It runs from the occasional mockery to torture and death.
Although politics do play a role in the oppression of those who believe in and proclaim the name of Jesus, our battle, as Paul would write in Ephesians 6:12, ‘is against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.’
Almost daily in our world are believers arrested, beaten, and jailed. In Africa and Asia, Christianity is under almost constant attack.
Faith has a price and Jesus knew this. At key points in the gospels, He made clear to Peter and the others that they would be hated for being His followers and they saw that hate directed at Him the night of His arrest, during His trial, and at His crucifixion.
Our call as witnesses in our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and ends of the earth runs the risk of persecution being directed at us as well at the faith and the Name of the One in whom we proclaim ultimately loyalty and faith – Jesus Christ.
May we be strong in the Lord in these days as we live lives worthy of being called ‘Christian.’ Amen.
