Close Encounters of the Third Kind Part II

And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Acts 16:31

Acts 16:25–40 – The Story of the Church: Living Into This Drama in the 21st Century
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost – September 19, 2021 (am)
  

Introduction:

The year was 1967.  I remember it because it was the year of the big snow.  1978 and 1980 may have had more on the ground, but it is 1967 that stands out in my memory.  It was a Saturday afternoon a week or two after the blizzard that dump approximately 17’ of snow on our neighborhood!  Donnie and Herbie Johnson, Roy Olson and the Nichols boys Bobby and Danny along with Paul Sanchti and myself came to the conclusion that it would really be fun to throw snowballs at all the houses in the neighborhood.  How we arrived at this really stupid decision is now looking back, a complete mystery to me!  But we did, and it was really fun.  But then we came to my own house.

Now, my Father who worked two jobs and spent most Saturdays doing the books at Save-A- Rama on the corner of Schmale and Geneva Road happened to be home on this unusual Saturday afternoon.  He was sitting in an easy chair in the living room, reading a Louis L’Amour western novel, plate of chocolate cookies on the lamp table next to him, cup of coffee on the other side, cigarette in one hand, turning pages in the smoke.  To this day, I do not believe that at that moment there was a more contented man on the planet.

Until his reverie was interrupted by the concussive force of a 2.5 lb. snowball hitting the window about 4” behind his head!  I will mercifully spare you the rest of the story, which was not pretty.  But later when my father came into my room to talk about it, he recounted the foolishness of our thinking, but that was not what was really bothering him. That I would throw snowballs at my own house was a mark of disrespect and dishonor even, and to think that I could treat our own sacred castle in that way was something he was unable to come to terms with.  After all, it was this very roof that kept the snow off my head as I slept.  Not only that, it was a sign of disrespect to him, of unacceptable derision of his very person. The talk went on for a while, and mostly I did not really get it.  I was more concerned that supper would be denied me once again!  But to this day the lesson has not left me.  It is why I push in my chair at a restaurant.  It is why we make the beds in our hotel rooms.  It is why we don’t put our bare feet up against the windshield when you give us a ride home in your car.  At least I am pretty sure we don’t!

One of the lessons from this section in the book of Acts is that honor will be demanded and will be given to the one to whom it is due.   It is a non-negotiable thing, and the apostle Paul will demand it, not for his own sake, but for the honor of the King in whose name he serves.

Act 2:  Greater Far!

In the previous message which I have titled in retrospect ‘The gospel must be enough.’  I presented four scenes if you will:

1.     The city of Philippi

2.     A most extraordinary woman

3.     A young woman doubly cursed

4.     The piper must be paid

In this message I will be presenting Act 2, Greater Far!  The scenes are as follows:

I.      Shaken foundations [25-26]

II.     A bright light in a very dark place [27-29]

III.   A ‘nest of improbabilities’ [30-34]

IV.   Roman soldier and Roman law in service of the most high God.  [35-39]

V.    Though the dogs bark, the caravan moves on!  [40]

As before we will walk through these five scenes and make some observations and ask some questions.  Because I want to take no chances, I am going to tell you up front what the takeaway will be, and it is this:  that the gospel of Jesus is greater far than the impressive strength of the cold human heart. It is greater far than the laws and conventions of empire.   It is greater far than the even stronger conventions of culture. It is greater far than the power of demonic oppression, and greater far than the one who would point a finger at you and me and pronounce us unworthy of the call of the Lord Jesus.  It is greater far than the outer limits of our suffering.  It is greater far than the irrational power of the human mob.  It is greater far than man’s false gods and wobbling philosophies.  We need no better place to stand, it is firm and immovable, and in its strength and might, it will stoop to comfort the sorrowful, to kiss the forehead of a frightened child and lift its voice to sing in all times and all places, even in a pitch black prison cell, and if there, then where is the place that  its light will  not shine!

I.               Shaken foundations [vs 25-26]

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 

So, the curtain lifts on this scene, and it is not a pretty one.  Paul and Silas are in the ‘inner prison’ placed there under the watchful eye of a jailer that we met only briefly last week.  They are sitting presumably with their feet in the stocks, stripped of their clothing perhaps, beaten, bloody, dirty abused and abased.  Not only that, but it is dark, probably pitch black.  They have no window into the night and it has been a very long day!  We do not know where Timothy and Luke were, possibly back at Lydia’s house pondering next steps.

It is midnight or thereabouts, and they are against all odds, singing, and praying.  And it says that the other prisoners were what?  Yes, listening.  [BTW there is certainly a lot of listening going on in this chapter, yes?]   So, the prisoners are listening, ears straining to hear the voices of these two strange men, in the dark, in their collective uncertainties, in their justifiable fear. And they begin to hear a low rumble.  [1]

[just as an aside by the way, one of our missionaries Tim Kelly and his wife Linda for many years hosted their church in their home for worship each Sunday morning.  When their church finally built a building and moved in, the neighbors of Tim and Linda approached them. Any idea why?  They said that they would miss the singing each week.  They could hear the voices from their back porches and kitchen tables.   The power of song is evocative and make no mistake, the world needs to hear us sing! That by the way is why I so like the church building in south Naperville, on Gartner Street I think, whose sanctuary overlooks the residential neighborhood in which it sits, and whose floor to ceiling glass allows everyone within visual distance to see and watch the timeless beauty of what it looks like when Christians open their mouths to sing. Makes me wonder if the windows open!  Now that would be something!]

The rumble becomes a cracking, wracking sound and the stones begin to grind upon one another.  The floor beneath their feet begins to move, to undulate.  Ever been in an earthquake?  I can only imagine the horrible sinking feeling of having the solid ground beneath your feet turn to jelly!  Can you imagine the special horror of being locked in a prison cell during the experience?  Even worse, can you imagine it if you were locked in a heavy stone prison with your feet in stocks!  [Talk about jailhouse Rock!]

Let’s go back to the response of the other prisoners.  Like so many others in this narrative, there is a whole lot of listening going on.  Paul appears to be like E. F. Hutton.  “When he speaks, people listen.” Like moths to a flame, they are drawn to the gospel presented with authenticity and passion.  People listened for words of life back then and they do today as well.

[I remember my aunt Myrna who made the unfortunate choice of marrying my uncle Richard.  Neither of them by their own admission knew the first thing about how to live life in anything resembling a functional order.  For them, life was like a chaotic scene of trying to outrun a growing snowball careening down a mountainside.  Until, they heard and saw the gospel played out in strength, and many years later Myrna said, ‘you know, Chuck and Gwen showed us, taught us how to live.’  A simple statement yes, and yet it underlines our best confession and our best hope.  Because there are many who would say to us, ‘we know that we don’t know how to live, and if you can show us.  We are all ears!]

The next thing that happens in this unlikely scene is that the building somehow hangs together but all the doors swing wide, and not only that but the bonds of every prisoner fall to the ground.  You can almost hear the stunned silence.  The only sound would be the creak of hinges and the clanking of heavy iron falling off wrists and ankles!  It is no wonder that every single prisoner simply sat in silent awe at the power of this unstoppable force, perhaps at the service of these brave and mysterious strangers.  As the curtain falls, we see the jailer, entering the prison and in shock and with a strange resolve, he draws his sword slowly out of its scabbard!

II.              A bright light in a very dark place.  [27-29]

 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer[a] called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas.

The curtain rises on a scene of shadow and darkness.  The jailer rushes in, keys in hand, but not needed and it is very dark.  Luke, who by now has demonstrated that no detail is without significance to the story, takes pains to make this darkness clear to us.    He cannot see what is going on, but with doors opened, stocks and manacles lying about on the cracked and heaved floors, he concludes the worst and takes out his sword to carry out the only honorable choice open to him.   But strangely Paul has a pretty uncanny insight and immediately calls out, “stop, do not do yourself harm.  We are all here!

Wow!  I would surely have been tempted to remain silent and wait for the next thing to happen.   But once again, Paul speaks and people listen, and thereby they live! Notice the jailer’s response.  He can only see dimly and immediately calls for lights.  They are brought and he rushes into the prison, and finds his way over fallen stones into the inner prison where he finds Paul and Silas, still wounded, still bleeding, still bruised, still perhaps without clothing…. And what does he do?  It says two things:

First, he trembled with fear, as well he might.  His life was on the line here!  Second, he fell down before Paul and Silas.  Note the incongruity!  He, the one with the sword, the torch, the tokens of power, the keeper of the keys, bows before these two men, ambassadors in the service of their King.  This is a brief scene, and as the lights fade to black, we cannot but be struck at the power of this most high God……….

III.             “A nest of improbabilities” [v 30-34][2] [acknowledge Stott here!]

 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

John Stott, in his commentary says that everything in this Act defies the laws of probabilities. Earthquake, shackles falling to the ground, Roman soldier falling to the ground in honor, if not misplaced worship of broken and bloody Paul and Silas.  And in this scene the improbabilities only grow and become even more unlikely! Why did he prostrate himself?  He may well have witnessed or heard about Paul’s casting out of the demon in the slave girl with the strange words, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!”  He may also have also witnessed the demeanor and courage of these two men as they bore the blows of the crowd and the magistrates.  Surely, he was a man who recognized authority when he saw it, and lying on the ground, he asked the single most prescient question in the world.  Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

Paul and Silas still in pain, still oozing blood, having been bound in the middle of an earthquake, have an answer, the only answer that in end means anything.  “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved, you and your household.”

It is interesting that ‘in the same hour’ the jailer took them into his house, doubtless after he had made sure that the prison doors were shut and guarded well for the remainder of the night. I say, interesting, because time seems to be of the essence in this scene.  Notice that the jailer was ‘baptized at once’.  There is a lot that happens before the dawning of a new day!

1.      Paul and Silas speak the word of the Lord to the jailer, and pointedly to all who were in his house.

2.     They are all baptized.

3.     The jailer washes and dresses their wounds.

4.     He sets food before them

5.     Finally, he rejoices with all his household.  Why?  That he had believed in God!

 And so it is, that in families, the Spirit of God may, and indeed often does convict and save members of our households.  It is why pioneering missionaries present themselves to tribal chiefs, for they understand that according to the work of the Spirit of God, when the top domino falls, the others may as well, and of course it is why parents intentionally raise their children in hope and confidence in the mercy of a gracious heavenly Father.  It is very telling here that we are told that Paul and Silas spoke the word of the Lord to everyone in the house.   We are left to marvel at the inescapable conclusion that the Holy Spirit brought the salvation of Jesus Christ to each member of this now greatly blessed household.   As the curtain drops, we hear the sound of praise and tears and great rejoicing.

IV.            Roman Soldier and Roman law in the service of the most High God. [ vs 35-39]

35 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore, come out now and go in peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” 38 The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. 39 So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city.

The curtain rises here on a bright dawn, but it would appear that Paul and Silas remain in prison.  The first thing that happens is that the police come to the prison with a message for the Roman soldier to give to Paul and Silas.  The jailer dutifully passes the message on, and you have to wonder if he felt any personal affront at the decidedly inelegant process, having to relay a message delivered by means of a lower authority in such a manner.   He bids them go in peace!  And that is where the story might well end….  but instead, the tables are turned.

The true authority here does not rest with the police officers, or the jailer, or even the magistrates.  And before this grand epic story is complete it will not even rest with Rome, or Caesar himself!  The true authority rests clearly with the sovereign God most high!  And Paul with determination and clarity lays out that chain of command with the words in vs 37 that apparently sent a chill up the spine of everyone who heard. 

I think it is worth noting that Luke takes the trouble to state the command of the magistrates, not once but twice.  Their faces will be rubbed in their own presumption before this scene is over.   Paul possibly says the words, “Civas Romanus Sum” [3] and the wheels of injustice grind to an immediate halt.  The Roman citizen had only to say those words and be immune to punishment.  No Roman citizen according to the Lex Julia, could be bound, or beaten by a magistrate or any other person or civil authority…. Let alone untried and uncondemned!  This was a violation that not only placed these authority figures on thin ice, but historically, Roman cities had lost their charters for infractions far less!

Paul follows this with an ultimatum that is as serious as a heart attack!  They will come down here personally and escort us out of the city.  And so, Stott points out, and hold on to this to try out at parties, ‘Paul seems to have been responsible for the first ever sit-in!” [3] And the authorities accede to this demand, Further, they publicly apologize to Paul and Silas.  And yet as they leave the prison and the curtain falls on this most unlikely scene, we are left with a couple of hard questions. 

Why this insistence of an escort out of the prison with dignity?  A number of things come to mind. 

1.      Paul was calling them back to their God appointed task, to administer justice fairly and equitably.

2.     Paul, whose eye was always on the future of the church, considered it important that it be founded not on the words of a punished law breaker, but upon the higher ground of apostolic authority and power and earned respect.

3.     It was important for the jailer, surely trained in the ways of power and authority, to see up close and personal how structures of true authority really worked in God’s economy and according to God’s righteous order.

The second question is for my money, lots harder.  If you remember I posed this question at the conclusion of last weeks message.  “Why did Paul wait to play his ‘Civas Romanus Sum’ card? Would it not have made a lot more sense to play it before the beatings and imprisonment?”

The answer I think tells us a lot about the man Paul, and also about the nature of suffering for the believer, and about the care of God for his church.   So, what are the possibilities here:

1.     Maybe he did tell them, but with the mob action nobody could really hear him?

2.     Maybe it did not occur to him until the wee hours of the morning, thinking and praying in his cell? 

3.     Or could it be that Paul was more than willing to spend and be spent and understood with peculiar Spirit led insight that his testimony before the Jailer and the government and the entire city required that this suffering be endured?

The first explanation ignores that fact that when Paul speaks anywhere and anytime in this chapter, people do what?  Yes, they listen.  Also, Paul has an ability to capture the attention of a crowd.   So, it seems unlikely that he tried to squirm out of this with protests that were not heeded.

The second explanation does not seem to hold water either.  He has been in this spot before.  He has already been stoned twice, left for dead, chased out of town and persecuted.  He has demonstrated already that he is a man of keen insight, self-possessed and in control of his full capacities.

I think the best explanation is in 1 Corinthians 12:14-15

Here for the third time, I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours but you. For children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15 I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less. 

Quite simply, he is more than ready to spend and to be spent for the souls of any and all he came in contact with. 

I want to make an observation about this matter of honor or dignity.  Paul seems quite concerned that he be allowed to leave this city with his head held high, as if this Most High God for whom he is an ambassador will receive the honor due his name.  Further, everything in this chapter has underscored the power and the gory of the Lord Jesus Christ.  And further, this respect and honor due will likely help in the incubation and encouragement of this fledgling church nurtured and founded upon his stripes!  Note also Paul’s words about this scene in 1 Thessalonians 2:1-2

For you yourselves know, brothers,[a] that our coming to you was not in vain. 2 But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.

It is quite apparent that Paul is still stung by the disrespect and mistreatment he received in Philippi.  But listen to what he says in 1 Thess 3:1-5a

Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, 2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's coworker[a] in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, 3 that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. 4 For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. 5 For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, 

So, we have Paul, willing to bear stripes and afflictions, knowing that they would come, nonetheless was willing to command the respect he had won and that was his by birthright, both into Roman citizenship as well a birthright to a greater Citizenship, one to which he was born again, so long ago on that Damascus Road.

Do you remember the story I told at the beginning?  It brings a smile to our faces, at least that is the intent, both at the foolishness of young boys, which seems to be a pretty bottomless pit, [sorry guys!]  and also for the, what I thought at the time as a kind of overwrought and over blown response on the part of my father.  But there is a gravity to his response as well, yes?  I had violated a code of respect and honor that he considered due his house and his name.  I never forgot that lesson actually, and still to this day, I push back against statements like the following:

-Hey Grandpa, could you…?    Hay is for horses!

-or worse, Hey Gramps!         Death by firing squad

In this world we do well to give honor to whom honor is due.  I am still learning that lesson every day.  Now, there is one additional scene, and it is only one verse.

V.             The dogs may bark, but the caravan moves on![4]

40 So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.

We come full circle beautifully here.  Paul and company will leave Philippi but not before they discharge one last important duty.  They visit Lydia for what purpose?  Why, to encourage the brothers.  A couple of observations here:

1.     Note, ‘the brothers.’  This is priceless and very illuminating.  While our story ties together the lives of three persons, Paul and his friends have been having many, many encounters, and it appears that a church has been born while we were concentrating on these three.   Paul’s eye is ever on the church.

2.     Why does he feel the need to see and to encourage the brothers?  The passage I quoted from earlier in 1 Thessalonians chapter three makes it pretty clear.  He wanted to make sure that his own sufferings did not inadvertently cause doubts or fears, or misplaced guilt to arise in the minds of these new believers.   To suffer was his destiny for their health and for the strength of this young church.   Paul the beaten and bruised was compelled to bring comfort to those who had become dear to him.  I love how Matthew Henry puts it:

“Young converts should have a great deal said to them to comfort them, for the joy of the Lord will be very much their strength.”  [Henry page 1702] [5]

This is a word for gentlemen like me.  The merciful word of comfort given out of a heart of love should not be hoarded.  It is true that the quality of mercy is not strained. 

The quality of mercy is not strained;
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'T is mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown:
Shakespeare, merchant of Venice, Act 4, scene one [6]

Conclusion:

You actually already know the conclusion.  I told you at the outset.  It is …. ‘greater far.’
The gospel of Jesus Christ, propelled by the power of the Holy Spirit, under the plan of our Father God from before the foundation of the world, will not, cannot go awry.  I have already given you a list of things in this chapter that it is greater than… Let me add a few more because it also has the clear affirmation of history:

The enlightenment did not stop it.  The corruption of the church down through the centuries did not stop it.  The scientific revolution did not stop it. Eugenics did not stop it. Living under an atomic shadow did not stop it.  Racial oppression could not stop it. The various plagues that have come and gone did not stop it.   It is greater far than the tsunami of blood that was the 20th century [108 million people essentially killed by the sword of war as well as untold millions more by the collateral damage] moral and ideological fatigue has not stopped it.  And it will stand unfazed like the great cliffs described in Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter, which remain unperturbed against the crashing waves that break and dissolve upon its base.    God remains sovereign and people remain… people! [and like my father liked to say, ‘where you have people…… you have problems.]  Even in times of pandemic and exquisite personal suffering, times of restricted freedoms, social disintegration, and polarizing anger even within the church, the gospel train will roll.  As our friend Eitan Kashtan has famously said, ‘yes the dog barks, but the caravan moves on.’  Praise God.

 [postscript]

You know though, I have come to care for these three persons, and I hope you have as well, and I hate to say farewell!  I feel like there needs to be a postscript of some kind.  I think what strikes me in this beautifully crafted story is the dialogue, clear, transparent, unveiled and to the point!  I am especially struck by the clarity and insight of the Holy Spirit inspired question of the jailer in 16:30. “What must I do to be saved?”  I am equally struck by Paul and Silas’ answer in vs 31, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household.”

There it is, the question we most long to be answered, and the answer so quickly and simply and fervently given!

For many of us today, we are on the other side of this question, and the answer as well.  Yet, it still rings with hope and joy for us.  Both the question and the answer to the question are as potent today as they were when the scene took place in time and space around 1961 years ago, give or take.  The point is that the scene took place in our world.  It still takes place today.

For others here today, or perhaps streaming the service, this question is still echoing with no answering surrender to the Lord Jesus.  You may be like my Aunt Myrna who had the enormous advantage of a dawning and increasingly clear understanding that she simply did not know how to do life.   She had tried to outrun the snowball, and was exhausted by the chase.  It is kind of like the great baseball pitcher Satchel Page once said, ‘if you are in a race, never look back.  They might be gaining on you!” [7] This passage is an invitation to surrender to Jesus.

And some of you may do life pretty well without Jesus!  You may be in the most precarious position of all.  Like Wes Karsten taught us this summer, there is great danger in being too full!  If you are here this morning, or tuning in on the stream, I am urging you to look over your shoulder today, because the snowball is gaining on you every day, and you will not outrun it, and you need to know that.  Our prayer is that you will know that when you come to terms with that quite uncomfortable truth, we are committed to being there for you, not as some sort of Spirit-guide or crystal ball gazer, or fortune teller, but simply as sinful, fractured people with a great and glorious Savior, and we would be honored to introduce you to him. 

 ___________________________

End notes:

1.      Stott, John.  The Spirit, The Church and the World IVP  1990
I have leaned on this commentary on the book of Acts for both details and general trajectory.  In particular  his insights on  the rights and responsibilities of Roman citizens were especially helpful.  

2.     Ibid:  p.  267
Stott refers to the scene in the prison as a ‘nest of improbabilities’ borrowing language from another author.

3.     Ibid p. 268
Stott describes in detail the various watchwords of citizenship and the rights afforded by them.  Also, here is where he refers to Paul’s refusal to leave as a “sit-in”.

4.     Kashtan, Eitan, phrase from a sermon at GCD in approx. 2016
The words struck a chord with me then because they helped me to define for myself the role of Elder as shepherd.  The caravan moves forward in spite of distractions and dangers along the way.

5.     Henry, Matthew.  Commentary in One Volume, Zondervan, p. 1702
Henry can be relied on to offer a devotional or shepherding sense to scripture. This quote is just one example.

6.     Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice, Act 4, scene one.
The soliloquy, from which I quote only a part, continues on to the concluding line, ‘when mercy seasons justice.’  One day I hope to read Shakespeare with understanding, but until then, I will probably continue to google, copy and paste!

7.     Great Satchel Paige quotes,  satchel paige quotes - Google Search
I actually saw Satchel Paige play.  His career as a pitcher spanned 50+ years, and he was winding up his career with the Atlanta Braves [?] and I saw him at Wrigley field when I was a kid, maybe around 13 years old.   He, like Yogi Berra, is known for the many quotes attributed to him:

Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you.

Just take the ball and throw it where you want to. Throw strikes. Home plate don't move.

Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines.

NEXT WEEK: The World Is Upside Down, Acts 17:1–15