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Devotional

God’s People, part 261: Jailer

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Read Acts 16:16-39

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”  (Matthew 5:43-44, NRSV)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

James Faulkner stars as Paul in a scene from in the film “Paul, Apostle of Christ.” The Catholic News Service classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. (CNS photo/Sony Pictures) See MOVIE-REVIEW-PAUL-APOSTLE-OF-CHRIST March 22, 2018.

Part 261: Jailer. We live in such a polemical time where we often being strongly encouraged to take one side or the other. For instance, in America, one is either a Republican or a Democrat. One is either for Black Lives Matter or All Lives Matter. One is either antiracist or racist. The list goes on and on and on. It would be easy for me to say that we are about as divided as I have ever seen in my lifetime; however, these are not the only, nor the most, divisive times in world history.

Paul lived in a very divisive time himself. The Roman Empire eventually crumbled because of political divisiveness and, truth be told, the there was much divisiveness in the church as well. Read 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philemon, 1 & 2 Timothy, 1, 2, & 3 John and other writings in the New Testament. In those epistles (aka letters) you will see that Paul, John and others were dealing with the polemics in the church as well.

Before I move forward with the jailer, I want to be clear that I am not making a moral judgment about any particular stance above. I am merely mentioning them because they have been the sharpest sides drawn as of the writing of this devotion. Nor am I saying that people should not stand up for what they truly believe in and are passionate about. The point of this piece is to show how the Gospel can and DOES change hearts and minds.

In our Scripture today, Paul and Silas find themselves in prison in Philippi, where they had spent time bringing the Good News to the gentiles in that city, nurturing and growing a nascent gentile church that they planted.  What happened was that Paul had cast out a demon out of a local slave girl who was being used by profiteers to make money. Due to her deliverance, she was not longer profitable for them and this caused them to grow enraged. They made legal complaints against both Paul and Silas, who were then locked up in prison.

While in prison, under the watch of a jailer, there was a great earthquake and the doors and bars were knocked a part and opened, leaving plenty of opportunitiy for Paul and Silas to escape. Instead, Paul and Silas urged all of the prisoners to stay put and not escape. This, action, may have you scratching your heads. Why not take the opportunity and get out of dodge? Well, it had the jailer scratching his head to and he was beyond thrilled that everyone was accounted for because, had they not been, he would have certainly been executed for a dereliction of duty.

We don’t know much about the jailer at all. He was most likely a local Philippian beholden to the local government there. More than likely he was a Greek gentile. No doubt, he could have cared less (initially) that Paul and Silas were in jail. They were rabble-rousing troublemakers and, besides, he had a single job to do: make sure they did not escape. Failure to do that job would have costed him his life.

By staying instead of fleeing, that caused Paul and Silas to penetrate the man’s heart. Who would do such a thing given such an opportunity. Who wouldn’t think of theselves first over a stranger, let alone an enemy. Clearly, these gentlemen thought of the jailer, valued the jailer’s life and were not the “lawless” men they had been accused of being.

Because of that, the jailer opened his heart up to the Good News of Jesus Christ that Paul and Silas shared with him. What GREAT news! They witnessed to this man and he and his whole family converted to being Christ-followers as a result! This man went from being a jailer to being a brother! This is the power of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Now, back to my preface above, this does not mean that people should not be standing up for what they believe in. I have marched and will continue to march for Black Lives, for equity, and for justice as long as I have legs and life to do so. I will stand up for the Good News of Jesus Christ, for the fact that we are all image bearers of God, and that for people to be treated equally with dignity, compassion, justice, mercy and respect. Paul and Silas were in jail for standing up for what they believe in despite the risks in doing so. That is what our Lord calls us to do as his followers.

With that said, we should also be careful that we are truly representing the Gospel when we do so. It is so easy to get sucked into the polemics, to get sucked into viewing the other as “evil” or “less than” and dehumanizing them. God is the judge of who is evil and who is not. We, on the other hand, are called to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and hold each other accountable to it out of love.

While there are many people who are jailers out there who may be on the wrong side of things, God still loves them and calls us to invite them into a relationship with Jesus Christ. Not all will accept that and we must stand our ground for Jesus regardless; however, we also might find discover Jesus Christ ACTUALLY has the power to transform hearts and minds and our faithfulness to HIM leads others such a place of transformation. In other words, while we stand against the oppressers of the world, let us still find room in our hearts to LOVE them like Christ does.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Hating an evil person is still hate and will lead us to evil; however, LOVE would have us oppose the evil of people and protect people from evil.

PRAYER
Lord, help me a bold and loving warrior for justice without losing myself to blind hate. Increase your love in my heart. Amen.

Devotional

God’s People, part 260: We

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Read Acts 16:6-10

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“Many people have set out to write accounts about the events that have been fulfilled among us. They used the eyewitness reports circulating among us from the early disciples.”  (Luke 1:1-2, NLT)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

Part 60: We. The people in the Bible we have been discussing as of late have been in Luke’s Acts of the Apostles, which is the second volume of a two volume account on the life, teachings, death and resurrection of the Christ and the workings of his earliest followers following his ascension into heaven. Up until this point, it was written in the third person, meaning that Luke telling of these acts of the apostles as though he was not there at the time that they happened.

With that said, something very intriguing and unique happens very subtly, and one could easily glaze right over it without even paying it any attention. But this detail is actually a rather important one and lends apostolic authority to Acts. Let’s take a look at what I am writing about. In Acts 16:6-9, let us look at how the author wrote:

“Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas. That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!””  (Acts 16:6-9, NLT)

Yet, in verse 10 Luke switches to the first person:

“So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there.”  (Acts 16:10, NLT, emphasis added)

What this indicates is that at this point in the journey Luke, the author of Acts, is with Paul as one of his fellow companions and missionaries. That makes Acts, from chapter 16 onward, a first-hand account of the travels of Paul. This, combined with Paul’s letters, gives us a real insight into Paul and his missionary journeys. Anti-theists and others will often question the reliability of Scriptures; however, here in Acts we have a first-hand account written down 2,000 years ago about the last two remaining missionary journeys of Paul.

If the reliability of sources like Plato’s writings on Socrates don’t get questioned, there is no reason why we should question the reliability of Luke’s Acts of the Apostles, the letters of Paul, or any of New Testament. Why? Because most of these writings were penned within 40 to 60 years after Christ died. Paul’s letters were written by him in real time, and Luke/Acts came out a mere 15 years or so after Paul’s death.

That is incredibly close to the time of the events described in terms of ancient manuscripts. For instance, Homer’s Iliad took place 400 years before Homer penned his poem recounting the Trojan War. 400 years! The earliest manuscripts we have of Homer’s Iliad are dated to the 10th century AD, while homer wrote it in the late 8th or early 7th centuries BC!!! Yet, no one spends much time questioning Homer’s existence or authorship.

On the other hand, the earliest fragment we have of a text in the New Testament is from the Gospel of John, dated to the early 2nd century AD. A mere 10 – 30 years after John wrote his Gospel. The earliest completed copies of a New Testament book dates to 200 AD, a mere 160 or so years after Christ, and the earliest completed copy of the New Testament dates to the 4th century (300s). So, the reliability of the New Testament is far greater than that of Homer’s Iliad. All of this, to say that we can trust what the Bible conveys because it contains eye-witness accounts from Luke, Paul and others and where there are accounts written second-hand, the events were so close to the people writing that it is more unreasonable to doubt their veracity than it is to not.

Let this be a challenge for us then. As Christians we need to take the Bible seriously. It is authoritative in conveying to us the way of Salvation and Christian living. Surely, there are somethings in it that no longer apply to us (e.g. laws on diet, clothing, tattoos, piercings, etc.); however, the core of the Bible is our authority and points us to Christ who died that we might have abundant and everlasting life. Let be a people of THE BOOK so that we might grow even closer to the TRUE WORD OF GOD: JESUS CHRIST. Amen.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
The WORD of God is our Lord Jesus Christ.

PRAYER
Lord, make us thirsty for your word so that we may grow even closer and connected to your LIVING WORD, Jesus Christ.

Devotional

God’s People, part 259: Timothy

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Read Acts 16:1-5

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“Timothy, please come as soon as you can.”  (2 Timothy 4:9, NLT)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

Part 259: Timothy. Timothy is one of the names that come up a lot when it comes to Paul. In fact, there are two letters in the New Testament that are addressed to him and, therefore, bear his name. He is known as a faithful companion and fellow missionary of Pauls, and someone Paul put a lot of trust in. Most who know of Timothy, probably never gave him or how he came to be with Paul much thought.

In Acts 16:1-5, we are told that Paul first met Timothy in Lystra, which is modern day Turkey. We are also told that Timothy’s mother was Jewish; however, his father was Greek. So, Timothy grew up in an interfaith household and he was never circumcised. He was well liked the believers in Lystra and Iconium (modern day Konya, Turkey).

Now, let me pause here for a moment. As has been previously written in this series, Paul fought for Gentile inclusion and he was adamant about not forcing Gentiles to get circumcised. An entire council was called on it in Jerusalem and the Apostles all eventually agreed with Paul, according to Luke in Acts. They even sent Paul, Barsabbas, and Silas to read a letter rebuking those who were opposing Paul and letting the churches know where they stood as Apostles.

Yet, here in Acts 16:1-5, we not only see that Timothy was uncircumcised, but that Paul had him circumcised out of deference to the Jews in the area. Why would Paul do this? This seems to be out of character for him, does it not? Why would Paul go against everything he just fought for and won.

It is here that we see something that is almost completely lost in modern Christianity. COMPROMISE. For Paul, everything came down to LOVE. That is obvious in 1 Corinthians 13 and here we get a glimpse of the application of Paul’s theology. In 1 Corinthians, Paul wrote:

“When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law. When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ. When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some.” (1 Corinthians 9:20-22, NLT)

So, it becomes clear that Paul had Timothy circumcised so that the Jewish believers would accept Timothy as one of their own and would send him with Paul with a blessing. To Paul, it did not matter whether Timothy was circumcised or not, but it did matter to not cause others to stumble or to cause unnecessary division. If Timothy was serious about journeying with Paul, he would have to concede this as a compromise of LOVE.

Of course, we know that he did. Timothy had the maturity to not only understand Paul’s reasoning, but to see it through. Timothy proved to be a most faithful servant and Apostle. He was young, but filled with God’s wisdom and Paul advised him to never allow someone to question his authority because of his age. What’s more, Timothy is listed as the co-author of 2 Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, and Philemon. Paul wrote about Timothy to the Philippians saying, “I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely cares about your welfare”  (2:20, NLT).

So, what can we pull from Timothy’s life, ministry and example. In this age of extremes and proud stubborness, I think it is important that we not only acknowledge Timothy’s ability to find the balance between loving compromise and bold resoluteness in the Gospel message. Let us be challenged to do what we must to win whoever we can for Jesus Christ. If that means we need to make some sacrifices and compromises, than amen! So be it; however, let us, like Timothy, never compromise the Gospel message or our role in spreading it.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“Virtue knows that it is impossible to get on without compromise, and tunes herself, as it were, a trifle sharp to allow for an inevitable fall in playing.” – Samuel Butler

PRAYER
Lord, keep me resolute in my faith; however, open my heart to holy and loving compromise so that I do not become a stumbling block to others seek you out. Amen.

Devotional

God’s People, part 258: Silas

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Read Acts 15:40-41

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not waver between ‘Yes’ and ‘No.’ He is the one whom Silas, Timothy, and I preached to you, and as God’s ultimate ‘Yes,’ he always does what he says.”  (2 Corinthians 1:19, NLT)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

Part 258: Silas. As with many of these people mentioned in Acts and in Paul’s epistles (letters), there is not a whole lot that is historically known about the life of Silas. We are not told who he was, where he came from, what his trade was, or anything apart from his association as being a fellow missionary with Paul. In fact, even Silas’ name is uncertain. In the book of the Acts of the Apostles, he is exclusively referred to by the Greek name, Silas. In Paul’s epistles, and in the first Epistle of Peter, he is named Sylvanus.

There is little doubt among scholars that Sylvanus and Silas are the same person. It could be that Sylvanus was the Romanized version of the Greek name Silas. Or it could be that Silas was a Greek nickname for Sylvanus. Regardless of what name he actually went by, Silas was a Christian who, along with Judas Barsabbas, was considered highly as a leader and a prophet.

After Paul and Barnabas separated, Paul chose Silas to be his partner and fellow missionary. While Barnabas traveled to Cyprus with John Mark, Paul and Silase embarked on Paul’s second missionary journey, which started off by traveling and ministering to churches in Syria and Cilicia. The account in Acts says that they strengthened churches in those areas.

Of course, that was where their missionary journey began, not where it ended. Paul’s association with Silas begins in Acts 15 and continues through Acts 18. In those chapters, we learn of the successes they had as well as the trials and tribulations. It was on this missionary journey that they met and converted Lydia who housed them during their stay in Philippi. Because she was located in what is now considered Europe, she is often referred to as the first European convert. Whether she was the first or not, she certainly was the first documented European convert.

Of course, Paul and Silas were both imprisoned while in Philippi and Lydia offered them to stay at her house following they were released. While in jail, though, an earthquake broke their cell doors open; however, they did not try to escape. As such, they became a powerful witness to the jailer who also converted to Christianity. They traveled and were met with resistance in Thessalonica, they convereted many more people in the more receptive city of Berea, and they debated with philosophers in the Areopagus in Athens, Greece.

From there Silas traveled with Paul to Corinth. Corinth was not an easy place for Paul to win converts or to establish a church. As his two existing epistles to the Corinthians indicate, Paul was deeply troubled and perplexed by that church. Acts records that after a while of preaching in this city, Paul “kicked the dust off of his sandals” and left Corinth. It appears that Silas may have stayed behind to continue ministering to the Corinthians; however, this cannot be certain. What is certain is that after Acts 18:5, Silas is never mentioned again. I do not think there was a rift between him and Paul, but his staying behind may have been planned and intentional.

The acts of Silas, friend and fellow missionary with Paul, should inspire us all. Here was another person of God who was willing to lay aside his life and place in society, and follow Jesus Christ at great cost to himself. He was imprisoned, threatened, and nearly lynched; however, his faithfulness led him to, along with Paul, establish the beginnings of the church in what is now modern day Europe!  We too can be just like Silas. The challenge for us is to open our hearts to Christ and to follow him where he leads. Are you willing to do this?

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“By faithfulness we are collected and wound up into unity within ourselves, whereas we had been scattered abroad in multiplicity.” – St. Augustine of Hippo

PRAYER
Lord, Help me to remain faithful like Silas, even when it is hard to do so. Amen.