Miracles in the jail
01/06/25 01:13
I am learning to refer to myself as retired. When I first retired in 2020, I wasn’t fond of the term. Part of me wished I had continued working for a couple more years. When I got the opportunity to return to work in 2021 for two years, it was appreciated, and I embraced the work with joy. When I retired from that term of service, I was more prepared to retire, and after a couple more years, I feel like I’m settling into the routine.
There are, however, some things that don’t just go away with retirement. For more than four decades, the rhythm of my life revolved around the seasons of the church year. Worship planning and preaching were part of each week, except vacations and sabbaticals, and those were planned around the celebrations of the church year. The school year shaped our children’s lives, but they knew that family vacations would wait until after Pentecost. They understood Advent and Christmas because Advent was very busy in the church's life, but once Christmas came, the schedule of activities had more room for recreation.
While it doesn’t mean an adjustment in my schedule or a change in my work, today is the last Sunday of Easter. Pentecost is next Sunday. I don’t spend much time anticipating Sunday services these days. I can arrive at the church without knowing the day’s scripture reading. But years of experience have left me with many Sundays when I think of the texts that would shape worship were I still a working preacher. Today is one of those Sundays. Year C is the third year of the lectionary cycle, and the Revised Common Lectionary substitutes readings from the Acts of the Apostles for Eastertide, so the first reading for today in churches that follow the lectionary and use all four readings is the story of Paul and Silas in jail and the earthquake that released them. It appears in Acts 16. I’m pretty sure that if I were preaching this week, I’d focus on that text. It would be a difficult choice that I have made many times because the Gospel for the day is from John 17. It is the resurrected Christ’s prayer for the disciples, which includes the motto of the United Church of Christ, “that they all may be one.”
Both texts are wonderful and have the power to inspire many sermons.
The basic story of the Acts text is that Paul and Silas are traveling when they encounter a slave woman who brought her owners money by making predictions, and she began to follow them, crying out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God.” Acts reports that Paul became annoyed and ordered the spirit to leave her. This left her without her previous powers and her owners without the income she had produced. They brought charges against Paul and Silas, who were arrested, beaten, and thrown in jail in shackles. In the night, while they were praying and singing, an earthquake shook the prison to its foundations, the doors sprang open, and the chains were unfastened. The jailer, realizing what had happened, feared that all the prisoners had escaped and that he would be punished. He drew his sword intending to kill himself, but was interrupted by Paul calling out that they were all still there. The story continues with the jailer converting to Christianity and being baptized with his family by Paul and Silas.
People often hear that story and focus on the miracle of an earthquake that frees prisoners without injuries. It is a fantastic story. Like many biblical texts, many details are missing, but there is a connection between the prayers and the earthquake. Such a connection seems unlikely. Over the years, millions have prayed amid earthquakes that have continued to wreak havoc, including many deaths. People are still discovering bodies in the rubble after the April earthquake in Turkey. Just yesterday, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake shook Southwest Africa, and another struck off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan. The earthquake in the Acts story, however, was quite different. It was restricted to the jail facility and was quite specific in its effects. Doors were opened. Chains were released. Prisoners were set free.
As a preacher, however, I would be careful to point out the second miracle of the story. Paul was able to prevent the suicide of the jailer. As someone who has arrived at the scene of suicides too late for prevention many times in my life, I know the devastation of that trauma for loved ones and friends. I also have had the good fortune of using my training to intervene with individuals experiencing suicidal ideation and have witnessed them choose life. It is, without doubt, a miracle when death is averted.
The miracles of the bible do not change the laws of physics or the realities of human life. We do not become immortal. Every human being comes to the point of death. Those whose loved one is rescued from the edge of suicide will one day be parted from that loved one by death. We cannot avoid loss and grief. We can, however, celebrate the gift of life when a suicide is averted. Each day is a gift following such a crisis.
The reading from Acts for today ends with the report that “he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.” Through whatever circumstances, a brush with death became just a brush, and life prevailed. Everyone - the entire household - was able to share in the joy of the triumph of life. Were I preaching on the text, I would emphasize that Paul had a role in saving that life by calling out loudly. Sometimes, speaking up is what is needed to save a life. Sometimes it is all that is required.
One of the text's lessons is that we all have the power to speak up. We can ask a friend or loved one, “Are you OK?” We can remind them how much they are loved and that they don’t have to face depression alone. We can offer to be with them. May the story inspire us to speak up.
There are, however, some things that don’t just go away with retirement. For more than four decades, the rhythm of my life revolved around the seasons of the church year. Worship planning and preaching were part of each week, except vacations and sabbaticals, and those were planned around the celebrations of the church year. The school year shaped our children’s lives, but they knew that family vacations would wait until after Pentecost. They understood Advent and Christmas because Advent was very busy in the church's life, but once Christmas came, the schedule of activities had more room for recreation.
While it doesn’t mean an adjustment in my schedule or a change in my work, today is the last Sunday of Easter. Pentecost is next Sunday. I don’t spend much time anticipating Sunday services these days. I can arrive at the church without knowing the day’s scripture reading. But years of experience have left me with many Sundays when I think of the texts that would shape worship were I still a working preacher. Today is one of those Sundays. Year C is the third year of the lectionary cycle, and the Revised Common Lectionary substitutes readings from the Acts of the Apostles for Eastertide, so the first reading for today in churches that follow the lectionary and use all four readings is the story of Paul and Silas in jail and the earthquake that released them. It appears in Acts 16. I’m pretty sure that if I were preaching this week, I’d focus on that text. It would be a difficult choice that I have made many times because the Gospel for the day is from John 17. It is the resurrected Christ’s prayer for the disciples, which includes the motto of the United Church of Christ, “that they all may be one.”
Both texts are wonderful and have the power to inspire many sermons.
The basic story of the Acts text is that Paul and Silas are traveling when they encounter a slave woman who brought her owners money by making predictions, and she began to follow them, crying out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God.” Acts reports that Paul became annoyed and ordered the spirit to leave her. This left her without her previous powers and her owners without the income she had produced. They brought charges against Paul and Silas, who were arrested, beaten, and thrown in jail in shackles. In the night, while they were praying and singing, an earthquake shook the prison to its foundations, the doors sprang open, and the chains were unfastened. The jailer, realizing what had happened, feared that all the prisoners had escaped and that he would be punished. He drew his sword intending to kill himself, but was interrupted by Paul calling out that they were all still there. The story continues with the jailer converting to Christianity and being baptized with his family by Paul and Silas.
People often hear that story and focus on the miracle of an earthquake that frees prisoners without injuries. It is a fantastic story. Like many biblical texts, many details are missing, but there is a connection between the prayers and the earthquake. Such a connection seems unlikely. Over the years, millions have prayed amid earthquakes that have continued to wreak havoc, including many deaths. People are still discovering bodies in the rubble after the April earthquake in Turkey. Just yesterday, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake shook Southwest Africa, and another struck off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan. The earthquake in the Acts story, however, was quite different. It was restricted to the jail facility and was quite specific in its effects. Doors were opened. Chains were released. Prisoners were set free.
As a preacher, however, I would be careful to point out the second miracle of the story. Paul was able to prevent the suicide of the jailer. As someone who has arrived at the scene of suicides too late for prevention many times in my life, I know the devastation of that trauma for loved ones and friends. I also have had the good fortune of using my training to intervene with individuals experiencing suicidal ideation and have witnessed them choose life. It is, without doubt, a miracle when death is averted.
The miracles of the bible do not change the laws of physics or the realities of human life. We do not become immortal. Every human being comes to the point of death. Those whose loved one is rescued from the edge of suicide will one day be parted from that loved one by death. We cannot avoid loss and grief. We can, however, celebrate the gift of life when a suicide is averted. Each day is a gift following such a crisis.
The reading from Acts for today ends with the report that “he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.” Through whatever circumstances, a brush with death became just a brush, and life prevailed. Everyone - the entire household - was able to share in the joy of the triumph of life. Were I preaching on the text, I would emphasize that Paul had a role in saving that life by calling out loudly. Sometimes, speaking up is what is needed to save a life. Sometimes it is all that is required.
One of the text's lessons is that we all have the power to speak up. We can ask a friend or loved one, “Are you OK?” We can remind them how much they are loved and that they don’t have to face depression alone. We can offer to be with them. May the story inspire us to speak up.