September 20, 2009
Acts 16: 25-34
Singing, Praying, Speaking the Word ‘til the Walls Come Down
Pastor Chris Enstad
Brothers and sisters, grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
If you were thrown in prison under false charges and the walls of that prison were shaken by the hand of God so that your path to freedom lay right there in front of you, what would you? The answer to that question is at the very root and foundation of who we are being called to be as Christians in the world as individuals, families, and groups, from the very tiniest members of the body to the oldest.
The actions of Paul and Silas that we just heard read this morning are an example of two men with a faith that was alive, who were planting churches that they expected to be active in the world, and were representatives of a movement of a people who are grounded in the story of God and his Son Jesus Christ to the point that it had moved well out of the rational, head-located, knowledge based ideas of faith and theology into actual lives that lived in expectation that God was active in the world and that wherever God was stuff would happen. Amazing transformative stuff.. There is often a difference between hearing that Jesus died for you and seeing the result of that truth in someone’s life.
Paul and Silas had been thrown in prison for pulling a demon out of a young girl. That girl was being used to make money for her family by telling people their futures and so, by healing her, Paul and Silas were accused of taking away the family’s source of income… so, of to prison they were sent.
We come upon these two men in the text we just heard read singing hymns and praying to God. And the other prisoners were listening. Now, we don’t know much about how those songs were being sung or how those prayers were being prayed, but, I believe it is safe to infer that they were not singing and praying in fear and trembling because the scene of the other prisoners listening seems to suggest that there was at least a modicum of respect being shown these two men, again, falsely imprisoned, and singing hymns and praying to God.
The hand of God shook the prison so much so that not only were the doors rent from their hinges but the shackles fell off of the prisoners. They were free. And they stayed.
The guard, having dishonored his position, was prepared to kill himself when Paul and Silas called out. “We are still here!” Who are these men who, when the walls of their prison were torn down, and their shackles removed, had the courage and desire to stay right here? I mean, who does that?
Exactly. What kind of a person is so confident in their future, who is so sure of their status before God, who has placed their trust in their inheritance of everlasting life, that they would rather stay put then run. That they were prepared to speak the Word of Jesus Christ even to their guard who, if they had let him fall on his sword, would have made their escape even easier! What kind of person would be prepared to do such a thing?
Well, there is Paul. There is Silas. And, brothers and sisters, there is each and every one of you.
More on that in a moment.
After preaching to the guard he invited the two men to his house and had his entire household baptized that day. They shared a feast, the celebrated the conversion of the guard, a guard who, himself, had heard the word of God, seen its effect on how people live their lives, and his entire household was baptized that day.
Folks, when the Word of God is heard, read, preached, or taught, whether at church and even in our homes… stuff starts to happen. Lives are transformed, prison walls some falsely encaging us, some of our own making, start to shatter and fall, and rather than run, rather then let someone or something drive us hither and thither, we stay put to discern where God is going to use us, and all of that powerful stuff starts happening all over again.
Isn’t this an amazing God? Isn’t this an amazing story, a story of Jesus Christ that is a living Word, a Word that breaks into our lives with the power to create something new?
What if, what if we rose up people and families that had the power and presence to engage with the world like Paul and Silas did? What if we unleashed the members of this to truly take their authority as priests of God seriously and taught God’s word to their children, to themselves, and then went out into the world to share that Good News with others and made that service a priority ahead of all other priorities in their lives? What if?
Well, that is exactly what we are praying is going to start happening right here at Mount Olivet. Building on all of the great work that our families and staff have been doing for the past several years, this is the year we, as a family, are going to break out of the way things have always been done in the church, where the staff is the repository of all things Christian and we drop our kids off to receive this knowledge in the hopes not that they will be transformed as much as just that they learn to behave and be good kids. To a new, in fact old, way of being the church where we come to this place to worship God, to learn maybe something new about God, to hear and engage with this Living Word in community with each other, but then return to our homes to convert our very lives over to God and, in that conversion, engage with the world not out of our anxieties or tiredness or never-enoughness but with peace that passes all understanding, with joy and thanksgiving that God is active in the world saving others maybe even through our hands our hearts, and with the sense that all is good, there is always enough, and how could we not give to God the first fruits not just of our treasure but of our talents, our time, our hearts, and our hands each and every day?
Wouldn’t it be something for someone to walk into this place expecting to be spectators and instead they are invited to participate with us in our work together in God’s mission field?
Wouldn’t it be something for a youth to be a non-anxious presence in a kids life that isn’t one of the “cool” kids because they have little regard for what status others attach to them knowing that it is what God already thinks of him or her that really matters? And that they would live their lives that way?
We are inviting all of our families, young and old, with kids, empty nesters, our older wiser Lutherans, to join with each other in exploring new ways of finding the time, space, and priority to make God’s Word a regular part of our lives. Wherever God’s Word shows up, things start to happen. Is your family life really a picture of the walking dead? Is your marriage on cruise control? Are you spinning your wheels looking for purpose because you last child moved out and all of the sudden you have all of this time on your hands? Are you retired and feeling like you have so much to offer and no way to connect with these families that are moving so incredibly fast through life that they blow right by you?
Stay tuned, and show up.
Technorati Tags: sermons
great sermon - you are connecting with the very same thing i have been feeling called to preach about. i think the Spirit is moving the Churches in this direction and people are starting to hear.
Posted by: Karen | October 02, 2009 at 02:21 AM