May 29, 2022
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois
Acts 16:16-34[1]
This story of Paul and Silas in Philippi,
as told by Luke, brings us a curious tale of liberation. In the healing of the
fortune-telling slave-girl and the salvation of the jailer, we see captives set
free, transformed into new beings by the work of God.
For many days the fortune-teller
follows Paul, announcing who he and his companions are, to Paul’s growing
frustration. Her cries may have initially been helpful, drawing a crowd to see
what the fuss was all about. Perhaps she saw them as fellow slaves, except
these were slaves to God, proclaiming salvation. Her status as property,
exploited for her talent, keeps her captive.
Though his motivation may have
been annoyance, in casting out the spirit of divination in the name of Jesus
Christ, Paul sets her free from both the possession by that spirit and the
possession by her owners. Though we don’t follow her story after she is healed,
she can no longer be exploited in this way by those who only thought to make
money from her. She is free from her torment, and perhaps set free from her
captors as well, by the transforming work of God in Christ.
Having lost their source of easy
money, her owners are enraged. Paul and Silas have broken their business model,
so they drag them before the authorities. Charged with disturbing the peace and
advocating unlawful customs, Paul and Silas are made out to be political
subversives, a threat to the status-quo. This charge, similar to that made
against another who upended tables in the temple, labels them as a threat to
the order of the state. They are beaten and imprisoned, made an example to
others who might become troublemakers.
Held as captives, their bodies
bruised and shackled, Paul and Silas remain free in spirit, courageously
praising God, singing and praying as their fellow prisoners listen. In the
middle of the night the earth quakes, the doors are opened, and the chains are
broken. The captives are set free. Yet one captive remains – the jailer who is
so fearful of the authorities he prepares to kill himself. Those held captive
in the prison are actually free in Christ, and it is the captor who holds the
keys who is shackled to his profession. Captive to the work of oppression and
punishment of dissent, the jailer finds God’s grace as Paul assures him “we are
all here.”
In this moment the jailer finds
the doors to his own inner prison have been opened and he asks the profound
question, “What must I do to be saved?”[2]
Perhaps he meant how could he be saved from the wrath of the authorities, but
there is much more theological depth to his question. What must I do to be
saved from what keeps me prisoner? How can I be saved from what is destroying
me? You and I may be held captive in a different way, but we understand his
need for liberation.
The answer is deceptively simple.
“Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”[3]
It is not simply a passive answer, that Jesus saves you and you don’t need to
do anything. The answer hints at the powers that hold us captive.
The word you would see repeated
through this story in the original Greek is kyrios or kirioi. The
word describes the owners of the slave-girl. The word describes the authorities
of the city, and even the emperor Caesar. It is the word the jailer uses to address
Paul and Silas, and it is a word that is used again and again to describe
Jesus. The word means “master” or “lord.”
The slave-girl is set free from
her masters. The jailer is set free from his lords, the authorities of the
city. In Jesus, they have a Lord who rises above all the others, a Master who will
not exploit them or use them to oppress others. Paul and Silas are “slaves of
the Most High God.” The thing is, their Lord is the way of salvation, the way
of freedom, the one who breaks the chains and releases the captives.
In the final scene we see the
reversal of the beating and imprisonment of Paul and Silas. The jailer is
transformed into the host who offers hospitality, washes their wounds, and
receives the freedom of new life in Christ that is offered in baptism. Through
prayer and worship, these faithful people bring transformation, release to the
captives, and the freedom of belonging only to God. Whatever holds you captive,
you have only one true Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe and be set
free. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment