Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Have you ever found yourself in a situation which turned 180 degrees within a moment or two? I left you yesterday in a first century dungeon and one of those radical change situations. Paul and Silas were deep inside a prison dungeon with their feet in stocks and their backs bleeding from a terrible beating, not with whips but with rods!
In our day, perhaps you’ve seen reports of this in some Central Asian countries. They use bamboo canes which rips the skin and tears muscle and can even bruise ribs. In great pain, Paul and Silas were singing songs to God and speaking loudly enough about Jesus to tell the other prisoners in the dungeon about the Gospel.
Suddenly an earthquake happened, and the doors of the prison were broken off their hinges and standing wide open. The Jailer, thinking the prisoners had run free, had drawn his knife ready to kill himself when Paul and Silas shouted that no one had run, everyone was ‘present and accounted for’! The jailer got a light and began coming down into the dungeon to see for himself.
The record says: “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?” (Acts 16:29,30) Do you see the dramatic change taking place in this situation? The jailer is addressing beaten prisoners as “Sirs“! The jailer is asking what he must do to be like them… saved! What lessons do we learn here my friends?
You and I probably find ourselves amazed at the rapid moral decline and open celebration of wickedness in our world. When you feel confronted, personally impacted by it, how do you respond?
Paul and Silas had been horribly abused by great injustice and mob violence, yet they had no advocate, no one was speaking up for them, they were helpless and in great pain. Yet their attitude did not reflect anything other than full trust that God was sovereign over it all, God was fully aware of all that was happening, and God was permitting this for some reason known only to Him.
But Paul and Silas were determined NOT to interfere with what God was doing and NOT to discredit or disqualify themselves from having the opportunity to speak God’s truth at the appropriate time. Had they been sitting in that dungeon cursing and screaming and threatening, now in this moment when the jailer comes with his light, they would have NO opportunity for anything other than to be re-shackled deeper in the dungeon.
Can you make the application to your life and mine and situations when we are confident we’ve been wronged?
Paul was quick with his response, and it was clear and concise. Pause a moment. Do you remember Peter wrote: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15) So… how do you respond when people ask you questions about God or your faith in God? Clear, concise or meandering and confusing?
Paul responded to the jailer with these words: “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved – you and your household.” Then Luke adds this: “Then Paul and Silas spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all 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 family.” (Acts 16:31-34)
Now look at this scene my friends and what do you see? Within a few moments do you see how much change has occurred, how different everything is? The jailer was almost desperate to hear an explanation from Paul and Silas regarding their behavior and their attitudes.
Why were they not angry and cursing? Why had they not run out of the prison when the doors were flung open? Why had they then helped the jailer learn of God rather than attacking him? The answer to all those questions and more is simple isn’t it? Jesus! It’s the total transformation an authentic relationship with Jesus accomplishes in your life!
Now let’s think back for a moment. Can you think of other examples in the Bible where people responded to injustice and abuse in such a way that God opened hearts to hear their explanation? How about Joseph, sold by his brothers as a slave, framed by his boss’s wife when he refused her seduction, forgotten by those he helped in prison. Yet Joseph kept his heart pure, clean, tender before God so when the opportunity came, Joseph was ready, and God elevated him out of that prison to a very high place of influence and authority in Egypt! (Gen. 39-45)
Or how about Daniel who also remained humble and true to what he knew to be right with God, and God positioned him to be a trusted advisor to kings! (Daniel 1) Or how about Daniels’ three friends threatened with a blazing furnace if they did not bow to a statue, and Jesus joined them in the fire and kept them from being burned! (Daniel 3) Then the king ordered them out of the fire and declared that their God should be the only God for everyone, because of what he had seen in them!
Listen again to Peter: “If you are insulted because of the name of Jesus Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you… If you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear the name of Jesus.” (1 Peter 4:14-16) This is exactly what was happening here with Paul, Silas, the jailer and his newly baptized family, as Paul and Silas eat a meal the jailer has placed before them! Now if it was midnight when the earthquake happened, is it by now 2am or later?
Finally, I presume everyone laid down for some rest, at the jailer’s house, with the jailer, Paul and Silas wondering what the next day would bring. Let’s do the same, let’s pause here pondering what God has invited us to learn about how our attitudes, words and choices either position us to offer much needed help to our world spinning out of control or further add to the confusion. I’ll meet you right back here tomorrow and we’ll be amazed at what happened next.
Today’s Scripture is Acts 16:27-34.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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