"God & Country" Sermon: Acts 16:25-40

“God & Country”
[Acts 16:25-40]
August 1, 2010 Second Reformed Church

Paul, Silas, Timothy, Luke, and the rest of their missionary team were preaching in Philippi in Macedonia, just north of Greece. And one day when they went to the place of prayer by the river, they were met by a slave girl who could tell fortunes because she was demon-possessed. And the demon. kept proclaiming, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation. These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation. These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” Over and over again, out of fear, the demon cried out – truthfully.

After some time of this, Paul got annoyed, because the demon’s proclamation – though it was true – was distracting from the Message – so Paul cast the demon out of her in the Name of Jesus, and she was free from the demon. And she was unable to work as a fortune-teller anymore, which angered her owners. So they dragged Paul and Silas to the magistrates and accused them of breaking Roman law – of trying to convert people to the belief in a god that was not recognized by the state. The crowd with them was in a frenzy, so the magistrates ignored the law, themselves, which said Paul and Silas were to give a defense before punishment was rendered, and the crowd beat Paul and Silas with rods.

Now, that may sound terrible enough to us, but the word that is literally translated “beat...with rods” is a word that is only used in one specific way in the New Testament – to refer to the Roman practice of scourging. Scourging was “scouring with the flog.” Remember, Jesus was flogged. The flog was a whip that had pieces of metal or glass or some other hard, sharp object imbedded in the ends of it, so when the whip came down in would embed itself in the flesh and tear as it was pulled out. Now, when you scour a pot, what do you do? You clean it quite vigorously all over to remove any dirt from it, right? So, let us understand, Paul and Silas were not merely beaten with pipes; they were whipped with the flog – all over their body – until it had scoured them. A horrific punishment. And then they were thrown in the interior jail and chained in the stocks so they couldn’t move, because the people were afraid of the Power of the Holy Spirit in them.

After this horrific and unjust treatment, we come to this morning’s Scripture: how did Paul and Silas respond to this unjust treatment? They prayed and sang hymns to God. They had an all-night revival meeting in their cell – praising God and praying for the spreading of the Gospel – and that it might all be to the Glory of God. We’re they nuts?

Remember what Peter wrote, “Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (I Peter 4:16-17, ESV).

If we suffer as a Christian, that ought to lead us to prayer and praise. Why? Not because we should enjoy suffering; suffering is not enjoyable, and God doesn’t ask us to be happy about suffering. No, if we suffer as a Christian, we ought to be led to pray and praise, because, if we are suffering for being a Christian, that means our persecutors understood what we were saying about Jesus and His Gospel. And, if we suffer as a Christian, then we pray and praise, because God is our Hope – and He is our Sure Hope. He cannot fail, so we are right and wise to trust our futures to Him.

So, Paul and Silas were praying and singing to God, despite their injuries, because they knew the Gospel had been heard and God was faithful to them and would save them in eternity, no matter what happened to them on earth at the hands of those who were against the Gospel. And Luke tells us: “and the prisoners were listening to them” – and we can assume the guards were listening to them.

We never know who is listening to us and who sees us and who might respond to the Gospel, though we never know about it. You could be passionately explaining the Gospel to someone and a totally different person who just happens to be passing by is the one who turns out to hear and repent and believe in the Gospel. Or you may be doing something, not particular thinking about making an impression for the Gospel, but the way that you do whatever it is, does make an impression on someone and because of it, they turn and repent and believe in Jesus. We never know. That is just as true concerning our sin: we don’t know who will overhear our sinful words or see us do something we ought not to do.

We are called to live lives of holiness in response to what God has done for us in Jesus Christ – and people will listen and watch – even when we don’t realize it. And they will hear and respond in part due to what they see and hear in us. So let us be examples worthy of our Savior.

God chose at that moment that Paul and Silas were praying and singing and everyone was listening to them to cause an earthquake to occur, which opened the chains and the prison doors of all of the prisoners – not just Paul and Silas – suddenly, everyone was free. And the guard took out his sword and got ready to commit suicide. And we need to understand this was not the coward’s way out by Roman standards. He knew he couldn’t capture all the prisoners again – some would surely escape – every door was open, every chain was off. He could not fulfill his duty to guard the prisoners. Suicide, in ancient Rome, was considered a heroic and rightful act. Since he could not keep all the prisoners as he was charged to do, it would be a great honor for him to commit suicide.

Paul knew this and cried out with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” No one had left. Everyone was still in their cell. God had set everyone free, but they had remained where they had been imprisoned. Normally, if a prisoner has a way of escape, he escapes. Why didn’t these prisoners run? Because they had heard Paul and Silas singing and praying.

Now, some might wonder why we should care about the jailer: wasn’t he on the side of those who put Paul and Silas in prison? Why should Paul cry out to save him? Because love for our neighbor includes love for those who want to kill us. Jesus did not say, “Love your neighbor if he or she is someone you like.” No, Jesus said, “Love your neighbor” – and that includes the people you like, the people you don’t like, the people who don’t like you, and even those who want to see you dead.

The jailer couldn’t believe it – everyone was there. So, he rushed into Paul and Silas’ cell and fell on his knees and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” If the core question of philosophy is, “Why is there something rather than nothing?” The core question of theology is “What must I do to be saved?” The jailer was a wise man – he understood what had happened. He knew that Paul and Silas were the men to talk to about what happened and what he should do.

We never know who’s listening or watching, so we ought to be on our guard; we ought to be ready at any time for anyone. Remember what Peter wrote, “[always be prepared] to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (I Peter 3:15b, ESV).

What do you say when someone asks you why you come to worship? What do you say when someone asks you why you give to the church? What do you say when the Jehovah’s Witnesses or the Mormons come to your door? “[always be prepared] to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (I Peter 3:15b, ESV).

“What must I do to be saved?” There is only one answer: “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.” Again, Paul writes, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9, ESV). That is the answer and the hope for every person throughout time, space, and history.

And the jailer believed, and he brought them to his home to tell the Gospel to his family, and they all believed. And he washed their wounds, and they baptized him and his family. And they all rejoiced in the Lord, their God.

But that’s not the end of the story: Paul and Silas were still prisoners. So they returned to the jail and waited until the morning. Then the magistrates sent word by the police to let Paul and Silas go. No questions, no trial, no further punishment. We can imagine the jailer being thrilled to hear this, and he went and told Paul and Silas that they were free to go and preach the Gospel

But Paul said, “We’re not leaving. We were publically beaten – scourged, without condemnation, without trial, and thrown in prison. We are Roman citizens. Now they think we will secretly go away? No Let them come and face us.”

What was going on? Shouldn’t Paul have just forgiven them and gone on with his missionary journey? They could have pushed for their death, why is he making an issue of this? Because even though we are to be willing and ready to suffer for Christ and His Gospel, we are not called to be doormats or to give up the rights we have as citizens.

Paul and Silas rejoiced at suffering for Christ. Paul and Silas rejoiced at the conversion of the jailer and his family. But it is not against Christ that we assert the rights that have been given to citizens. And according to the Roman Porcian Law, Roman citizens were exempt from scourging. According to the law, all a person had to do was say, “I am a Roman citizen,” and it was illegal for them to be scourged. Never mind the fact that they had been scourged without trial or defense – which was against Roman law – they had been punished in a way that was against the law to inflict on a Roman citizen.

So Paul said, “No way. We are Roman citizens, and we are not going to slink away and ignore the fact that our civil rights have been violated. The magistrates will have to come here to tell us that we have been released.”

So the police told the magistrates, and the magistrates were afraid – they had broken the law – and broken it against Roman citizens. Civilly, they couldn’t have done much worse. So they went to the prison and offered apologies to Paul and Silas, which they accepted. And then the magistrates asked them if they would leave the city, and they said they would. So, after one final meeting with Lydia and the other Christians, Paul and Silas were off to their next stop.

How then shall we live?

First, let us be willing to suffer for the sake of Christ and His Gospel. Let us open our mouths and politely, honestly, rightly, tell others Who Jesus is and what He has done as the Savior of all those who will believe. And if those we tell choose to be violent against us, let us rejoice that the Gospel has been heard, thanking God for the opportunity to be His witnesses. And let us pray for all those we speak to.

Let us also remember that we don’t know who will hear and see us and how they will be affected. It is not just the people that we specifically talk with that response to what we say and do. So let us be careful and live lives of holiness so those who see us will not have a reason to turn from Christ because of what they have see or heard from us when we didn’t think anyone was watching.

Second, let us remember that we are dual citizens: we are citizens of heaven, and we are citizens of earthly realms. First, it is interesting to note that it is to the church at Philippi that Paul writes these words: “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now even tell you with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” (Philippians 3:17-21, ESV).

As citizens of heaven, we will shortly meet with our God and Savior as we receive the Bread and the Cup of the Lord’s Supper, as we eat and He meets with us and gives us His Grace that we would be able to do everything He has planned for us. And as Paul has said, one aspect of the Lord’s Supper is that we remember our Future Hope in the Return of Jesus and our being made completely holy like Him. Let us keep that Hope before us as we proclaim the Gospel and suffer as we are called to suffer for His Name.

Yet, we are also citizens of our country here on earth. We are wise to use the rights that we have been given to further the cause of the Gospel – to seek to make things better for all of our neighbors, not just Christians – so that we might witness to the world that we love our neighbors because Jesus first loved us.

What does that look like? One thing that we are allowed to do in this country is to contact our leaders to express our thanks and to ask that change occur. Paul writes, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer” (Romans 13:1-4, ESV).

What does Paul tells us the job of the government is? To protect the people and to punish evil. That is what government is to do, and when it does not do that, or if it tries to do things it ought not to do, we are to stand up and complain – as citizens. One way we can do that is through writing letters or making phone calls to our leaders. And I know, some of you are probably thinking, “That’s a waste of time; they will never see the letter, and they will never do anything about it.” That may be true. I have written many letters, and I have only gotten any kind of a response from two people. But that’s not the point: the point is that we as citizens have the right to stand up and make sure our government is doing what it ought to be doing. And as Christians, we have the obligation to stand up to make sure that everything is being done for the furtherance of the joy of all people.

Yes, this is a fallen, sinful world. There will continue to be unjust suffering and the denial of rights until Jesus returns. We may never see the effect of the letter or the comment we make for the good of others. But, if we do nothing, we have received payment in full.

Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You for making us Your people, citizens of Heaven, with the sure Hope of Salvation in Jesus – in this world and the next. We rejoice in living and witnessing for You, not matter how the world responds, just so long as the world knows there is Only Salvation in Jesus Alone. We ask that You would help us to be good citizens in our countries, doing what is right, loving our neighbors, and standing up against the wrong. And may this all be done for Your Glory and in Jesus’ Name, Amen.