Reading, Sermon and Prayers for 29 May 2022

READING: Acts 16:16-34

Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.” The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. 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. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 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 household.

SERMON

Being imprisoned when we have done nothing wrong cannot be a good place to be as Paul and Silas found out. But what about if we are imprisoned and laden with the emotional shackles with which we have trouble breaking free from?

The things in life, which we are afraid to rid ourselves from, the things which make us feel imprisoned? The things in our church mission we may be afraid to try because of either our fear of not being adequate or because of tradition and not being afraid to try something new?

I wish to tell you a story about an attempted escape; Harry Houdini, the famed escape artist issued a challenge wherever he went. He could be locked in any jail cell in the country, he claimed, and set himself free quickly and easily. Always he kept his promise, but one time something went wrong. Houdini entered the jail in his street clothes; the heavy, metal doors clanged shut behind him. He took from his belt a concealed piece of metal, strong and flexible. He set to work immediately, but something seemed to be unusual about this lock. For 30 minutes he worked and got nowhere. An hour passed, and still he had not opened the door. By now he was bathed in sweat and panting in exasperation, but he still could not pick the lock. Finally, after labouring for 2 hours, Harry Houdini collapsed in frustration and failure against the door he could not unlock. But when he fell against the door, it swung open! It had never been locked at all! But in his mind it was locked and that was all it took to keep him from opening the door and walking out of the jail cell.

Each person in today’s scripture from Acts is imprisoned in one way or another just like Harry Houdini. The slave girl is imprisoned in her insanity and bound by emotional shackles of her owners. Even though she says something good, she is enslaved to it.

Paul and Silas go to pray and she begins following them. She says something positive and true, but she does it in an irritating and insane way. She says over and over again, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.”

When Paul finally becomes tired of it, he says to the annoying spirit, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And with those words, she is freed. Freed of her insanity and her enslavement by her owners.

The story doesn’t tell us what her life is like afterward…if she is grateful or leads a productive life, but we cannot help but believe her life is better.

She now has a mental and spiritual health and she is no longer exploited by her owners. Her once owners’ means of making money are now ruined.

Paul and his friends are imprisoned as well. They are imprisoned by this slave girl’s insanity for many days, not being able to get rid of her, and she doesn’t stop her insane ways.

They are literally imprisoned by the community leaders and magistrates who place them in jail because of the disturbance concerning the slave girl that the owners raised because they had lost their means of making profit.

However, the amazing thing we see about Paul and Silas is that even though they have been beaten severely and are in prison, they are praying and singing hymns. The story states the other prisoners are listening to them, possibly some are inspired by them. They are bound by shackles, but their spirits soar and are free.

The slave girl owners are imprisoned by their own greed. They do not care about the girl’s well-being, that they are making profit off her insanity and oddity. They don’t want her to be whole and well. They care only for their profit. They are imprisoned by their prejudice against Paul and Silas because they are Jews. They appeal to the prejudice against the Jews that the leaders might have. The story never tells us if they are freed from their self-imposed prison, their self-imposed shackles of monetary gain and prejudice.

The magistrates are imprisoned by their tradition, pride and prejudice. The owners of the slave girl win their appeal by encouraging their prejudice against Jews. “They are Jews,” they say.

They appeal to their sense of tradition and custom. “They are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe,” they say.

No doubt the magistrates see a possible mob on their hands. It says that the crowd joined in attacking Paul and Silas. They don’t want to lose their pride or reputation, so they flex their muscles and have them beaten and thrown in prison. The magistrates do in the end apologize to Paul and Silas, when they learn they are Roman citizens. But they are worried about the crowd and ask Paul and Silas to leave the city. They are never truly freed from the things that cause them to be in the shackles of pride and reputation.

Other characters in the story who are imprisoned are, of course, the other prisoners there at the time Paul and Silas are in jail. We never really know what happens to them. Some of them, no doubt, are enslaved to wrongdoing or sin. At least, they do begin to open their hearts to Paul and Silas’ ministry by listening to their praying and singing.

The last person in this story who is imprisoned is the jailer. He is imprisoned by fear and insecurity. He knows that whatever sentence any of the prisoners has will be his sentence if any of them escapes. He evidently doesn’t want to suffer that punishment, because he nearly commits suicide.

Not only that, but you can’t help but think that this man has an insecurity that is already there because he is so quick to want to take his life under this circumstance. Here is where we see the greatest freeing of shackles, in this man’s life.

This jailer may have been one of the ones who beat Paul and Silas and perhaps other prisoners. He, no doubt, has heard about Paul and Silas’ preaching and the healing of the slave girl. He, no doubt, has heard them singing and praying and has probably marvelled at their calm.

He, no doubt, is literally and emotionally shaken by the earthquake. He, no doubt, is touched by Paul and Silas’ concern about his well-being.

After Paul cries out to him, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here,” he falls down before Paul and Silas, takes them outside and asks, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Whether he is talking about eternal salvation or his life being spared, it’s not clear.

But we do know that Paul uses it as an opportunity to speak to him about his faith. The time is ripe for the man. He doesn’t want to be in bondage any more, he wants to be made free and whole. He is baptized along with his household. One reason we know he has truly been made free is through his actions.

He washes Paul and Silas’ wounds. He brings them into his house. He sets food before them. He is a changed man. He is freed from his fear, insecurity and guilt he is rid of his shackles.

So what about the fears, concerns and deep rooted prejudices that society appears to bind us in shackles?

Fear or what others think, like the jailer or the magistrates?

Fear that we won’t have enough money, like the slave girl owners?

Fear of the future, like the jailer?

Fear of people who are different than us, like the magistrates and the owners?

Fear of what other may think leaving us to perhaps live afraid to speak about our personal problems, family problems, church problems?

Fear of people’s irritating ways or circumstances who irritate others and try to make other people’s lives miserable like the slave girl, the owners, the magistrates?

Do we allow them to ruin our day like Paul and Silas did with the slave girl?

Traditions and prejudices can be like shackles to a church. 8 words of a church fearing to reach out to evangelise in ways of fresh expressions could be, “But we never did it that way before.”

Are we prejudiced because someone is tall, short, young, old, man, woman, white, black, have an accent?

So what negative force in our lives do we need to give over to God to root out?

What is it that is keeping us from walking through our prison doors like Harry Houdini?

Don’t you want to be freed from your symbolic shackles?

Because Jesus wants us to be free like the slave girl, free like Paul and Silas, free like the jailer, free of prejudice, free of the fear for the future, free of the fear of what others may think, free – totally and openly free to speak of his love, free to speak of his mission, free to share with others his joy and sing his praise and free of the fear that we are not adequate to do his work.

So just push open the door, break free the shackles and continue to let Jesus our risen Saviour, work in our hearts and minds all the time, now and forever.

And has he walks by our side how can we be shackled and imprisoned?

Let me leave you with these words that Nelson Mandela spoke in 1994 at his inaugural speech:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us….
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Thanks be to God. Amen

PRAYERS

Let us pray to God in the love that he has shown and commanded.

Grant that your faithful people, chosen by your grace and sealed in baptism, may always proclaim your greatness by their deeds of love. Bless and guide all your people who are working for the spread of the Gospel throughout the world and within our communities.