Sermon: Get Out of Jail Free
According to Will Willimon, the author of the book, What’s Right With The Church, it all started harmlessly enough. Some years back now a group of church women – not the PW, Presbyterian Women, but the UMW – United Methodist Women – were looking to do some local mission and they decided to make toiletry kits for the inmates at the local jail in Pine Mountain – a small resort community. One of the women met with the local jailer: “It’s not our job to make life soft for them,” he said, “but I’ve got no objection to you church ladies doing a little something – just keep it simple.” Once these women began bringing these kits to the prison, they began to notice things that did not seem quite right to them. They noticed that the women inmates were being harassed by some of the male policemen. When the church women started putting a quarter in the kits, so the inmates could make phone calls, they found out that their phone privileges were severely limited. The church women volunteered to help with that too. The jailer at first refused, but eventually relented. As they spent more time at the jail, they saw more things wrong – excessive force being used, money being exchanged for lighter sentences, police joking about filling their quotes for the month. A chance conversation with the town mayor’s wife revealed that the town collected over $100,000 a year from its jail operations, and they liked that just fine. So the women started complaining to the jailer about what they saw, and asked the jailer to look into it. “I knew we were asking for trouble when we let you women stick your noses into things,” he said,” You should stay out of what’s none of your business – and stick to church work.” One of the UMW leaders, Myrtle Thompson, replied, “But this is church business. And if we don’t get good answers from you, we’re calling the State Law Enforcement Division.” The jailer refused to cooperate: “You should stick to saving souls, and let me handle the criminal element.” As the meeting ended, another leader, Florence Smith, said, “You’re going to find out what a mistake you made messing around with a group of Christians. Remember, some of our best friends spent time in jail.” To make a long story short, the women did call the state enforcement office, which led to an investigation; the city was charged with several offenses; the jailer was removed, and things changed at that jail – and it all started with a group of UMC women making toiletry kits for folks in their local jail. “Remember, some of our best friends spent time in jail.” At first these words probably strike us as rather odd, especially from the lips of a nice United Methodist Church woman. We do not typically think of “church people” and “spending time in jail” in the same context; such folks are usually in very different camps. I don’t recall visiting any of you in jail – unless some of you have something you want to share with me later….? Yet if we think for a minute, we know that this woman, Florence Smith, is exactly correct. Think about it - Moses, some of the prophets, and John the Baptist – they all spent some time in prison. Jesus himself was arrested – twice in Acts we read of Peter and John thrown in jail. And John, author of the Book of Revelation, was on the prison island of Patmos. Then there’s Paul - who spent a lot of time in jail and under house arrest. And in the annals of church history there are many saints and martyrs who were imprisoned for their faith – as well as many others even recently who spent time in jail. Indeed “some of our best friends have spent time in jail.” So it was for Paul and Silas, as we read here in Acts 16 – where we find two of our best friends - thrown in another jail, in another city – named Philippi, being subjected to excessive force. What happened in that jail – and to this other jailer – seems at first a bit odd, even hard to believe. But the story has much to tell us, and much to encourage us – about the essential good news of the gospel we still proclaim, and believe in. In this story I also see us learning something about true freedom and wholeness in life. We’ve heard the story: at first it sounds so very human and real. Paul is getting annoyed by the constant shouting from a slave girl – something of a psychic – a fortune teller. Paul yells at the spirit - the demon in this girl, to “come out of her.” The owners notice how their “lucrative little business was suddenly bankrupt” so they find Paul and Silas, rough them up, and have them arrested, tried, beaten and thrown into prison. Such treatment, particularly being beaten in public, was against Roman law – and later in chapter 16 you can read about how Paul uses this to his advantage, since he and Silas are Roman citizens. In prison – they are praying and singing hymns. I find that remarkable really – this is not the place or the circumstances we’d think about singing hymns. And yet it is revealing in history how many people over the centuries have done just that - people like Terry Anderson, who did this during his 444 day imprisonment during the Iran Hostage Crisis. And Dietrich Bonhoeffer, imprisoned in two concentration camps for this his involvement in the plot to overthrow Hitler. These Nazi concentration camps were highly regulated, with meals, jobs, sleeping and rising all done at certain times, on the precise hour, every day. And Bonhoeffer, rather than become angry and bitter about all of this, he chose to redeem the prison schedule by developing a schedule of prayers for these hours - much as Roman Catholic sisters and brothers do in convents and monasteries - like Gethsemane here in Kentucky. And he encouraged his fellow prisoners to do the same. Anderson and Bonhoeffer were following the example of Paul and Silas. In the story, as they were praying and singing there was the earthquake. In his commentary on this story, John Calvin writes, “The prayers of the godly do shake both heaven and earth.” That’s a good word to remember: “The prayers of the godly do shake both heaven and earth.” The prison doors bust open, and miraculously the chains and leg irons broke apart – Paul and Silas and the other prisoners were free. It was a “get out of jail free” card event – just like you get in the game Monopoly. And I do trust you all know that this game is all based on streets and business of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Get out of jail free – whether the result of some hymns and prayers of Paul and Silas – or the result of a chance earthquake – or both - it was then time to go, time to get out. The jailer is roused from sleep, sees the prison door wide open – figures all the prisoners have escaped - and he knows in that instant his life is over. In those days jailers kept their prisoners locked up on pain of their own life. If a prisoner escapes, the jailer was punished for it. And if several escape, the jailer would face capital punishment. He decides on suicide, right now – but he stops when he hears Paul shouting “Don’t to that, we are all still here.” Again, how odd. Why did Paul and Silas and the other prisoners stay in the prison, when they could have just run away and into freedom? Why stay when you have a get out of jail free card? Could there be larger issues here, more important matters? Paul and Silas were in Philippi – their first visit on European soil, to tell the story of Jesus, to preach and teach this new found faith to others – and didn’t others include fellow prisoners, and even jailers? Now the jailer is really shaken – confused and perplexed about all of this. Already saved from suicide, he is moved to ask a larger question. “Sirs – (not prisoners, not criminals, not guilty persons), Sirs - what must I do to be saved, to really live?” “I want to know what’s really going on here, and I think you have some answers?” Paul and Silas then give him the most direct, straightforward answer to that question. It was the essential, unadorned good news then, as it still is today: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” Or as we heard in the Message version, “Put your entire trust in the Master Jesus. Then you’ll live as you were meant to live – and everyone in your house included.” I like the way the Eugene Peterson puts this in the Message version - because we sometimes get confused with the word “believe” – and think that “believe” means to “acknowledge the existence of.” So some think, you can believe in God and believe in UFO’s – and it’s the same – you “acknowledge the existence of God, and, maybe, of UFO.” You believe these both exist. When surveys reveal that some 90% of Americans “believe” in God, I suspect many of them mean they think that God exists. This is not what Paul and Silas mean. They mean – and the church’s message means “Believe in, believe on Jesus Christ – put you faith and trust in Christ – place your entire trust, in all of life and even at the point of your own death – put your entire trust in Jesus – and then you will live fully and whole and abundantly – just as God means for you to live. That’s the real good news of the gospel. Paul and Silas tell more everyone more about Jesus. The jailer is moved to wash and treat their wounds; he and his family set a festive meal before them, and then he wants to be baptized – him, and his entire family. This was some conversion experience for this jailer – It was all “a night to remember.” Paul and Silas could have used their get out of jail free card. Instead those chose to stay - and to share this good news with other prisoners, and with the jailer. And by so doing they offered these others a truer freedom, and a deeper and lasting salvation from anything that could ever imprison or oppress or hurt. Friends - that freedom, that salvation, that “trust in” and that faith is ours as well. Never forget that – hold fast to that good news – continue to place your entire trust in Jesus at Christ - and you and I will continue to really life – here, and in that life yet to come – just as God intends for us to live. And all God’s people said. Amen |