Breaking Chains
May 08, 2016
Written by Kathryn Matthews
Written by Kathryn Matthews
Sunday, May 8
Seventh Sunday of Easter
Seventh Sunday of Easter
Focus Theme
Breaking Chains
Breaking Chains
Weekly Prayer
Precious Love, your ascended Son promised the gift of holy power. Send your Spirit of revelation and wisdom, that in the blessed freedom of hope, we may witness to the grace of forgiveness and sing songs of joy with the peoples of earth to the One who makes us one body. Amen.
Precious Love, your ascended Son promised the gift of holy power. Send your Spirit of revelation and wisdom, that in the blessed freedom of hope, we may witness to the grace of forgiveness and sing songs of joy with the peoples of earth to the One who makes us one body. Amen.
Focus Scripture
Acts 16:16-34
Acts 16:16-34
One day, as we were going to
the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and
brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. While she followed
Paul and us, she would cry out, "These men are slaves of the Most High
God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation." She kept doing this for many
days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I order
you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that
very hour. But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone,
they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the
authorities. When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said,
"These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews and are advocating
customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe." The
crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their
clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a
severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them
securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and
fastened their feet in the stocks.
About midnight Paul and
Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening
to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of
the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and
everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison
doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he
supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice,
"Do not harm yourself, for we are all here." The jailer called for
lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he
brought them outside and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
They answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and
your household." They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who
were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds;
then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up
into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household
rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.
All Readings For
This Sunday
Acts 16:16-34
Psalm 97
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
John 17:20-26
Acts 16:16-34
Psalm 97
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
John 17:20-26
Focus Questions
1. How does it feel to put
yourself in the place of each of these characters in the story?
2. What do we learn about
the people in this story who are on the edges of what's happening?
3. What mission are you on in your church, and what is at the heart of it?
3. What mission are you on in your church, and what is at the heart of it?
4. When has singing hymns
helped to sustain you?
5. Is Paul's undone work
left to later times and cultures, and if so, what is left for us to do, in our
own time?
Reflection by
Kate Matthews
The adventures of the
apostles continue in this wonderfully detailed story of exorcism and outrage,
mob scenes and courtroom drama, liberation and celebration, with Paul at the
center of the action, and God very busy at work in the town of Philippi. The
gospel is spreading, according to Luke, and the church is growing in leaps and
bounds, drawing converts (as usual) from the most unexpected places, and
succeeding in surprising ways. Our text this week teaches theology while
telling a story, perhaps the best way to do both.
In last week's reading from
Acts, we met Lydia, the Gentile woman of considerable means who brought herself
and her whole household to faith in Jesus Christ, with a group baptism held in
the midst of great joy. Paul and his entourage, including Silas, and the
narrator (perhaps Luke himself), and others, must have been feeling pretty good
about how things were going. They followed their routine of going to "the
place of prayer," perhaps down by the river where they had first met
Lydia, or even to a synagogue. We can believe that they kept to their practice
of prayer and teaching, preaching the good news of Jesus Christ, whether or not
things were going well.
Speaking from the margin
On his regular trips to the
place of prayer, Paul kept encountering a woman who was very different from
Lydia. While Lydia was a woman of position and many possessions, with her own
household and a business to run, this other woman, really a young girl, was a
person in the street, a slave-girl, a possession herself, owned by other humans
but also held captive by a spirit that appeared to give her special powers.
Scholars describe such
people as "diviners" who were believed to be able to predict the
future but also to see more deeply into realities the rest of us might miss; in
the Greek culture, these powers were linked to the god Apollo, whose worship
center at Delphi had a snake as his symbol. Paul Walaskay explains that people
would come to these people, also called "mantics," to ask them
questions which they would answer while in a trance, as if the god were
speaking through them. Just as we have shops on city streets with the sign
"Psychic" out front, it would not have been uncommon to encounter a
young girl like this one in urban settings, just tending to business.
A small-business
enterprise
The picture Walaskay paints
of this young girl is somewhat different, then, from the stories we have heard
about people tortured by spirits and demons usually encountered (and exorcized)
by Jesus and his followers. This girl is a lucrative small-business enterprise
for the men who own her. Like so many young girls, she is used by those who
have figured out a way to make money with her, but her strange public
announcements about Paul and his little band of missionaries, we suspect, do
not bring much income to her owners. Her wording sounds odd to our ears,
because she calls them "slaves," and refers to a God that is not her
own as "the Most High God," although it was not uncommon for Gentiles
to call the Jewish God by that name.
It's intriguing to hear the
extra meaning commentators read into what happens next: the text plainly says
that Paul was "very much annoyed," so it seems fair to say that this
exorcism almost feels like an impulsive action born of irritation. Paul is
tired of being heckled by the spirit that possesses her and can recognize who
he is, who his God is, and what he has to offer. He's focused on doing what he
came to do, and healing slave-girls doesn't appear to be at the top of his
agenda. Paul finds her distracting, ironically, even if she does proclaim the
truth. Is she too loud, or too repetitious, or is it just too much for the
truth to come from such a source? Interesting questions to consider, but in any
case, Paul turns and heals her, just to quiet her down.
What happens to the girl
now?
There are some readers of
this story, however, who believe that Paul was moved by compassion for the
young girl. Ron Hansen infers from the text that Paul could see the "alien
spirit" holding the girl hostage, a demon that was going to use the
Christian faith itself "for its own corrupt purposes, either to discredit
the faith or to hide behind it." This strikes me as a bit of a stretch,
because it doesn't seem like there was time for Paul to ponder what was
happening inside the girl. While Paul seems more intent on going about his
business without this pagan girl either supporting or impeding it, Hansen
claims that the girl's welfare is paramount in Paul's mind, more than even her
"false praise."
What is much more puzzling,
and much more troubling, is a question several commentators linger on: what
about this young girl's life afterward? Isn't she still a slave, and isn't Paul
moved to help her beyond freeing her from the spirit that possessed her?
Lawrence W. Farris has a provocative take on this passage: he's haunted by this
slave girl and by the way Paul fails to challenge the system of slavery that
holds her bound just as much as the spirit had: Paul doesn't try to share the
gospel with her.
Who
"distracts" us from mission?
Are we expecting too much of
Paul, a man of his time and culture? Curiously, Farris says that Paul is, in a
way, challenging the system that keeps the girl in bondage, but the text
doesn't really indicate that as much as it describes his annoyance at being
interrupted, or perhaps, heckled. Paul was on a mission, and he didn't really
see the girl or her healing as part of that mission, and certainly not as at
the heart of it.
What mission are you on in
your church, and what is at the heart of it? What "suffering slave
girls" may annoy you on your way and yet draw you back to the heart of
God's call? Would these marginalized people recognize you as a "slave of
the Most High God"? Is Paul's undone work left to later times and cultures,
and if so, what is left for us to do, too?
What keeps us bound?
There is another thread to
this interpretation that focuses on the many ways we humans are captive to
forces seemingly more powerful than we are. There are powers that keep us
bound: old prejudices, systemic injustice that we don't even see but certainly
benefit from, a need for security, fear that makes us strangers from one
another, resentment that grips us and keeps us apart...perhaps we don't call
these "demons" or even "spirits," but they are powerful
indeed and we need to be set free from them.
At the same time, this
metaphorical use of these words should never obscure our perception of the
reality of human trafficking, which is perniciously alive in the world today,
long after we may think that slavery is a thing of the past. This text provides
a good opportunity to lead our churches into deeper reflection on this topic,
and a deeper commitment to end this great evil.
Shall we disturb
"the peace"?
The girl is quickly left
behind when the men who own her decide to go after Paul and his companions. The
kangaroo court that follows seems to have little to do with the exorcism, when
the men make all sorts of accusations against the missionaries. They don't try
to recover the money they lost, Ron Hansen writes: "They don't want
justice; they want revenge." And they go about it in an ugly way, claiming
that these Jewish visitors were causing trouble with their strange customs and
teachings (16:20-21). The charge of disturbing the peace is an easy and vague enough
charge to put on "trouble-makers" of every kind, and this past week's
anniversary of the May 4 Kent State tragedy is a reminder that this is true in
every age. Paul Walaskay notes the irony in this charge, since the slave girl
was actually the one disturbing the peace, not Paul (Acts, Westminster Bible
Companion).
What is really going on
here? Is Paul, as some scholars claim, threatening the economic injustice of
slavery, even indirectly, by depriving these ancient "businessmen" of
their livelihood? Should the church hear a warning here, as Ronald Cole-Turner
suggests, that we will get into trouble, too, if we speak out for economic
justice, even in a capitalistic culture like ours, where business reigns
supreme? Is capitalism a god, a spirit, a power that must not be questioned,
let alone silenced? Is it inappropriate, as we go about our ministry, like
Paul, to do or say things that might in fact "disturb the peace," the
strange peace we have made with systemic injustice?
Singing in prison
We do not know what is in
Paul's heart and mind when he drives the spirit from the girl, but we do know
the price he and Silas pay, after the crowd turns on them, and the authorities
order them flogged and thrown in the deepest, darkest part of the prison, where
despair thrives. And yet that is exactly the opposite of what happens, because
we read of the two men, chained at their ankles and unable to move around,
still singing hymns and praying and capturing the rapt attention of all the
other prisoners. More excitement ensues, however, when an earthquake hits and
the prison that holds Paul and Silas captive is broken open and they are able,
if they wish, to walk free.
We don't know why Paul
doesn't run, but he seems to know the price that his jailer will pay: Ron
Hansen notes the distinctive compassion of Christian practice that leaves no
one behind and no one out, even the most unexpected people, like slaves and
jailors, even if it would things much easier. What happens next is one more
illustration of the power of the gospel to transform lives, when the jailer and
his family (like Lydia and her household) are baptized into the faith. As so
often happens, these are outsiders coming in, responding wholeheartedly to the
good news Paul preaches, an inclusive gospel of grace that is summed up so
powerfully in Paul's letter to the Galatians. Paul Walaskay draws a wonderful
parallel between this text and Paul's familiar baptismal text in Galatians
3:28, for we see here no difference, no lines drawn between people coming from
very different backgrounds and places: "Our narrator," he writes,
"has skillfully expanded Paul's groundbreaking statement in Galatians 3:28
into an elegant story. 'There is no longer Jew [Paul and Silas] or Greek
[Lydia, the mantic, the jailer], there is no longer slave [the mantic] or free
[Lydia, Paul], there is no longer male [Paul, Silas, the jailer], or female
[Lydia, the mantic]; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.'"
Being free, being saved
Once again, we hear the
question of liberation, of salvation, of freedom. The jailer asks Paul what he
must do to be saved, and Paul answers simply that he should "believe on
the Lord Jesus." This is still a difficult question today, and Paul's
answer presents its own challenges as well. Perhaps we need to spend much more
time on what it means to "believe" (and Marcus Borg has written so
helpfully on this in books like The Heart of Christianity), and what it means
to be free (and not just in the sometimes worn-out, political sense in which
"freedom" is used in order to justify war).
One of the most powerful
captivities of our age, besides materialism and militarism, is the way fear can
imprison us in our convictions and our desire for security, making us unable to
open our hearts and minds to others, to events, to the God who still speaks
through them. How amazed the jailer must be, just as he's about to kill
himself, to see that the prisoners are still there! Fear almost leads to death,
but compassion leads to his life, and his family's life, being transformed. It
would be wonderful indeed to know what happened to the jailer after Paul left,
but perhaps we get a hint of that in our own day, every time we hear the rest
of the story from those who have found their way to faith, healing, justice,
and peace.
The power of song
A note about Paul and Silas
singing, late at night, in prison: when we think of slavery and, later, the
Civil Rights movement in our own country, we remember the power of prayer and
song in holding a people together who were in their own form of captivity.
There is hardly a better, and more appropriate place, for prayer and singing
hymns.
Lawrence Farris observes
that everyone in this story needs to be freed, not only the slave girl but also
the men who used her (possessed by greed), the men who judged Paul (possessed
by fear and a hunger for power or maybe for the public peace), the jailer (a
victim in his own way), and, most surprisingly of all, Paul and Silas
themselves, who need to be freed from their narrow way of thinking.
Learning from our
distractions
What's the surprise that
greets us on our way to ministry, the obstacle that has something important to
teach us, or better yet, the opportunity that obstacle may offer for us to do
something really wonderful for the sake of the gospel? Whether it's small and
personal, for one individual, or big and communal (maybe even global!), like
taking down a corrupt system, it is still a call. And we are free to say yes,
or to say no and continue on our way.
The details that follow in
the story of Paul's trial, imprisonment, and release, bring the story alive for
us. What does it feel like to put yourself in the place of each of these
characters in the story? Are there powers that keep you bound? Are there tasks
that distract you from God's own mission? What do we learn about the people in
this story who are on the edges of what's happening? For example, how does it
strike you to have a name attached to a woman in last week's reading (Lydia)
but not to the man (the jailer) in this week's reading — unusual for the Bible!
But of course the possessed slave girl is unnamed, and she is also unnoticed as
a human being, as a child of God.
Who we are, and what we
do, as followers of Jesus
There is one more note that
is irresistible: how can we read this story and not have our memories come
alive with all the talk of washing wounds, being baptized, and sharing a meal?
Doesn't that sound familiar to us across all the centuries, and isn't it at the
heart of who we are as followers of Jesus? Just as we read the stories — the adventures
— of these apostles and teachers, we might turn an attentive ear to the stories
of those around us, and the amazing and holy moments in our own lives as well,
when God has been most certainly at work, bringing freedom, new life, new
possibilities for the world God loves.
We don't just read a story
like Paul's, or Peter's, or Lydia's: we are part of that great story, that
great adventure. In the weeks ahead, the adventures continue, throughout the
book of the Acts of the Apostles, but even today, two thousand years later, in
the church that claims to follow Jesus in our day, and in a world still
captive, a world still hungry for good news.
A preaching version of this commentary (with book titles) is at http://www.ucc.org/worship_samuel.
A preaching version of this commentary (with book titles) is at http://www.ucc.org/worship_samuel.
The Rev. Kathryn Matthews
serves as dean of Amistad Chapel at the national offices of the United Church
of Christ in Cleveland, Ohio (https://www.facebook.com/AmistadChapel).
You're invited to share your
reflections on this text in the comments on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SermonSeeds.
For further
reflection
William Gurnall, 17th
century
"And while God had work for Paul, he found him friends both in court and prison. Let persecutors send saints to prison, God can provide a keeper for their turn."
"And while God had work for Paul, he found him friends both in court and prison. Let persecutors send saints to prison, God can provide a keeper for their turn."
Charles W. Colson, 20th
century
"I can work for the Lord in or out of prison."
"I can work for the Lord in or out of prison."
Gene Tierney, 20th
century
"I existed in a world that never is--the prison of the mind."
Thucydides, 5th century B.C.E.
"The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage."
"I existed in a world that never is--the prison of the mind."
Thucydides, 5th century B.C.E.
"The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage."
Walter Cronkite, 20th
century
"There is no such thing as a little freedom. Either you are all free, or you are not free."
"There is no such thing as a little freedom. Either you are all free, or you are not free."
Laura Hillenbrand,
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, 21st
century
"Without dignity, identity is erased. In its absence, [people] are defined not by themselves, but by their captors and the circumstances in which they are forced to live.”
"Without dignity, identity is erased. In its absence, [people] are defined not by themselves, but by their captors and the circumstances in which they are forced to live.”
Rosa Luxemburg, 20th
century
"Those who do not move, do not notice their chains."
"Those who do not move, do not notice their chains."
Paulo Freire, Pedagogy
of the Oppressed, 20th century
"To simply think about the people, as the dominators do, without any self-giving in that thought, to fail to think with the people, is a sure way to cease being revolutionary leaders."
"To simply think about the people, as the dominators do, without any self-giving in that thought, to fail to think with the people, is a sure way to cease being revolutionary leaders."
