Sermons for the Month
Door #1, or Door #2?
DATE: May 20th, 2007
SERVICE: Seventh Sunday of Easter
TEXT: Acts 16:16-34“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN
The account from the book of Acts that we read today was described as a "rollicking good story" in one article I was reading. And, it is just that. But, we did not read the ending which is not as entertaining as what precedes it, yet says a great dead. The next morning, after a night filled with an earthquake and conversions to the faith, the magistrates have a change of heart and send the police to the jailer telling them to release the prisoners. It's unclear if they are still at the jailers' home, or if they are back at the damaged prison, although the fact that they are told to "come out now and go in peace" makes it seems as if they are back in the jail cell. It's also unclear if the magistrate knew of the night's events and that's the reason for the decision, or if they simply decided to not create further upheaval. In any case, Paul refuses to leave. He wants a public apology since, because they are Roman citizens, they should have never been beaten and detained in the first place. When the magistrates heard they were Roman citizens, which evidently was news to them, they were afraid and came to them asking forgiveness. Then, Paul and Silas left, went to Lydia's home, had a uplifting gathering of the believers before going on their way to Thessalonica. Well, that's interesting you say, but so what? Well, think about it for a minute; why didn't Paul bring up the fact that they were Roman citizens in the first place and avoid being beaten and imprisoned? Did he forget? I doubt it. My guess, although there is no mention of this is the story, is that the Holy Spirit directed them not to make this fact known. After all three times earlier in this chapter specific direction was given by the Holy Spirit. And, it seems likely that the casting out of the spirit of divination from the fortune-telling girl was Spirit-led rather than being simply the result of Paul being annoyed. After all, that was the event that set into motion all that occurred. So, if it is true that Paul and Silas were directed not to make their Roman citizenship known, it means that they were being calling upon to trust God, no knowing what would happen next. So, even though they could have gotten out of it, they submitted to being stripped of their clothing, beaten with rods and thrown into a deep, dark prison cell, their feet fastened in the stocks. And, amazingly, in the midst of such suffering they sang hymns and prayed, having been given by the Holy Spirit the qualities we talked about last week, wisdom and a profound inner calm. THEN, God acts. An earthquake shakes the prison's foundations so that the doors and chains fall open. Yet, they do not escape; the jailer was so afraid of the punishment for allowing the prisoners to flee that he would have killed himself had it not been for Paul's intervention. As it turned out, he was saved not only from death at that moment, but from the power of death, as he and his family hear the word of the Lord, are baptized and minister to Paul and Silas' physical needs. At this point, if you were Paul or Silas, wouldn't you feel as if God's mission had been accomplished and you could move on before the sun rose? But, they didn't, and when the magistrates send word to let them go, they stayed. Was being acknowledged as Roman citizens and an apology really that important to them? I doubt it. Don't you suppose, though, that word spread that the magistrates had been seen at the jail? Don't you imagine that these events gave Paul and Silas more credibility? And, before they left, they gathered the believers together at Lydia's home for mutual encouragement - and did they ever leave them with a great story of God's faithfulness! All this because they paid attention to the Holy Spirit's leading, and acted accordingly. I was considering how to explain all this to the children during Explorers' Worship this morning. So, I had them imagine that they were being chased by people who did not like them. Ahead of them were two doors. Behind Door #1 is guaranteed safety; if they go through that door the crowd will not follow. Behind Door #2 is unlimited opportunity to trust God; if they go through that door they can be sure of God's love, but there are no guarantees concerning what the crowd will do, or about anything else. Now which one would they choose? Of course, Door #1 is VERY tempting, for good reason. But, I then said, what if the Holy Spirit told you to select Door #2? Now, let me ask you, what if the Holy Spirit told you to pick Door #2? Before you answer, let me say that if you do, you are promised that there will be unlimited opportunity to trust God in both joyful and challenging times. And, you are assured that, by the power of the Holy Spirit you will be able to do so. In fact, you will be so strengthened and comforted by the Holy Spirit that it will be possible to praise God in the face of an unknown future, because you will be confident that ultimately God's love will prevail. And, finally, more people will be positively impacted if you pick Door #2 than Door #1. Which Door is it, #1 or #2? Paul and Silas selected Door #2 when they kept quiet about their Roman citizenship. If they had spoken up, possibly ignoring the Spirit's guidance, they would have been spared the beating and imprisonment. But, what would have been lost? They would not have experienced the empowerment of the Spirit that made it possible to sing hymns in prison. They would not have witnessed the awesome earthquake that opened doors and chains. They would not have proclaimed the Good News to the jailer and his family, baptized them and gained acceptance for Christians in Philippi. They would not have left a great, encouraging story behind them for the other believers to share. Just think what a faith-building, church-expanding choice it turned out to be! You know, we might be surprised, if we paid close attention, how often we may chose between Door #1, the sure route, and Door #2, the trust route. How often when we make a decision is the Spirit saying to chose #2; "Go for it", we are told, "Trust in God in the face of the unknown." The question is this, are we willing to listen and to act accordingly?
AMEN