What We Do Matters – August 11, 2024
Old Testament, Acts 16:16-34
August 11, 2024
At the time of our story for today, Paul was into his second missionary journey, which began in Acts 15. By this time, Paul is called Paul. He’s no longer Saul. And he’s traveling now with Silas. Barnabas, who accompanied him on his first missionary journey, is no longer with him. (They had a bit of a falling out, which is an interesting story. You can read about that in the 15th chapter.)
The other thing that’s happened here is that Luke has changed pronouns. Before, he described the events and people in Acts saying, “He did this” and “They went there.” Now, and for the rest of the book, it’s “We” and “Us.” That implies that maybe Luke had joined Paul on his journeys.
Our story for today is another of the “escape stories” in the book of Acts. But this one is different. Because the prisoners didn’t escape! Their chains fell off, and the doors were opened, and they stayed! And it changed the life of the Jailor who was in charge of them.
The story begins with how Paul and Silas ended up in Jail in the first place. They were in the city of Philippi. And yes, that’s one of the cities where Paul founded a church, And he later wrote a New Testament letter to them. And Philippi was a Roman colony. It had Roman culture and Roman laws. And that figures prominently in this story!
Well, they were going to “the place of prayer,” when they were met by this slave girl, who had a “spirit of divination.” And apparently she made her owners a lot of money by “soothsaying.” (That’s a fun word, isn’t it?)
She approached Paul “and us,” Luke says, and she started crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” It’s very interesting that the spirits, even the demons, knew things, just like they knew exactly who Jesus was in the Gospel stories!
Apparently, this went on for days! And it eventually became so annoying to Paul that at one point he turned cast the spirit out of the girl. And as the story goes, that angered the girl’s owners. Because they just saw their soothsaying business go down the tubes.
So they dragged Paul and Silas into the marketplace, in the center of the town, and accused them before every one of “disturbing the city,” and as Luke says, “by advocating customs that are unlawful for Romans to practice.” So they, and the crowds started beating them! Even the Roman magistrates joined in, ordering them to be beaten with rods. And that too would figure prominently in the story!
Well, at the end of all that, Paul and Silas were thrown in Jail. And the Jailor was charged to keep them safely! In other words, he was officially charged with keeping them from escaping. And that too would figure prominently in this story! So they were in jail and their feet were fastened in stocks. And Jails then were not like the jails we have today. They were nasty places!
So Paul and Silas were into this jail, feet in the stocks, and what were they doing? Recovering from their wounds? Trying to figure out what to do next? Thinking how miserable this was? No, they were praying and singing hymns to God! Is that not a lesson to us about faith in difficult times? (Seriously, we could stop right there!)
Well, the escape then happens. Sort of! There was a great earthquake and all the chains were unfastened, and the doors were all opened. And I never noticed this before, but Luke says, “Everyone’s chains were unfastened.” All of the prisoners! But they didn’t leave. And it appears that it wasn’t just Paul and Silas. Luke is a little fuzzy on that point, but it appears that none of the prisoners left!
However, the Jailer woke and saw all the doors opened. And so, he drew his sword to kill himself. Remember he was “charged with keeping them.” And the Roman laws were very strict! If he failed and the prisoners escaped, the jailor would be put to death! So he had a lot of “incentive” to keep the prisoners! Remember, the jailers of Peter didn’t fare so well in our story from last week! If you remember, Herod ordered them put to death!
But in this story, before the Jailor could kill himself, Paul and Silas cried out, “Wait! Wait! We’re still in here!” They didn’t leave! And again, did that mean none of them? Did Paul and Silas and their singing and praying have that much of an effect on the other prisoners? Did they talk to them and convince them to stay. It’s hard to know.
Part of the reason Paul and Silas stayed is because what happened in the next part of the story – the part we didn’t read. They knew they were unjustly jailed – and beaten! Paul was a Roman citizen, and to be thrown in jail the way they were was against the law! And for the Roman Magistrate to have done that was criminal. Remember Philippi was a Roman colony! Someone was going to get into real trouble here! And that’s evident from the way at the end of the story the Roman officials tried to release them “quietly.” But Paul didn’t go for that. He insisted on a public release and a public apology! Which they got! Roman law was strict, but it worked.
The other reason they didn’t leave is the one that makes this story so great! Paul and Silas stayed in jail when the doors were open because they had compassion on the jailor! They knew what would happen to him if all the prisoners escaped! He was about to kill himself, because that’s what would have happened to him! And he was so moved by their actions, that he was trembling with fear. So he asked, “What must I do to be saved?” And he was, he and all his family!
And I wonder. Had he been intrigued by these men praying and singing in jail with their feet in the stocks? Had he seen in them some strength that was compelling? Is that what moved him to ask about their faith? Maybe. But the thing that really moved him and changed his life – and saved his life, was Paul and Silas’ act of staying in that jail!
This is a story that says so powerfully that “What we do matters!” I was thinking that would be a nice catch phrase for the Church. “What we do matters!” It matters to people. And obviously that means it matters that we help people. It matters that we do God’s work in that way.
But it also has to do simply with how we treat people. Paul and Silas treated the Philippian Jailor with compassion! And their act of compassion saved his life. It showed him very powerfully the Love of God! It matters how we show God’s love to people.
It matters how we live our lives. I’ve been saying for years that our example is often the most important thing in reaching out to others with the message of Grace. We can’t just tell them about it. And especially we can’t just tell them about it, and then live in a way that’s contradictory to that Grace! It matters how we live our lives as God’s people.
So, sometimes it’s better to show the world that we are God’s people rather than tell the world. That’s especially true today in a world that has a lot of animosity toward us as God’s people. And they don’t like our message! The Romans had an animosity toward the Christians. But what won this Jailor over? Was it telling him about the faith? Was it their praying and singing while in chains? Maybe. But what really won him over was how they lived as God’s people. He wanted that, too!
Sometimes, when people come into churches, they see a lot of conflict. And they’re asking themselves, “Why would I want to be part of that?” In fact, that’s always going to be their question. Whether they see bad, or good. So it’s our job to live as God’s people. And when do that, as we live in his hope and his peace no matter what the circumstances, and they ask themselves, “Why would I want to be part of that?” And the answer is obvious! They want that for themselves. Just like this jailor did.
What we do matters! Think about it. When you had “Show and Tell” in school, the “Show” was pretty important! Wasn’t it? You couldn’t just “Tell.” And not just because it wasn’t just called, “Tell.” But because the “Showing” made it a bigger deal. It made more of an impression!
We make an impression on the world when we “show” we are God’s people! We are the “salt of the earth.” We bring the “flavor” of God’s love to the world in how we live our lives. We are the “light of the world.” The light of God’s love shines through us to others. And so let that indeed be our catch phrase. “What we do matters!”
Prayer
Eternal God, help us to live as your people. Help us to reach out to others with your love and Grace. And as Peter said, help us to have your hope inside us, and to be ready to give answer whenever we’re asked about it. Through our lives, help us to show your kingdom in our midst. For we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.