September 27/28, 2009

Pastor Waldschmidt
September 27th, 2009

Acts 16:22-34 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"
The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household." Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.
WHAT IS THERE TO SING ABOUT?
I. The Father who can do anything.
II. The son who redeemed us.
III. The Holy Spirit who brings us to faith.
In the name of the Father who gave us mouths to sing with, and of the Son who gave us reason to sing and of the Holy Spirit who worked faith in our hearts that is reflected in our songs, dear fellow redeemed children of God,
A pastor friend once told me the story of how he and a friend were out on a canoe on a choppy day and the canoe overturned. They spent several hours clinging to the canoe waiting to be rescued. They were both nearly exhausted. He confided to me that near the end of the ordeal he was singing, “I Am Jesus’ Little Lamb.” Some might ask, what did he have to sing about? Here he was in this awful situation facing exhaustion and maybe even death and he is singing. What is there to sing about?
In God’s Word today we see another pair of exhausted children of God. They have been beaten up and whipped for preaching about Jesus. Now they are sitting in jail in the stocks. Yet we hear about them singing praises to God. So we ask ourselves, “What is there to sing about?” As we look at God’s word today let’s see that there is plenty to sing about- plenty for Paul and Silas to sing about- plenty for you and me, often exhausted children of God, to sing about. We have a heavenly Father who can do anything. The Heavenly Father sent His Son to redeem us. We can sing about the Holy Spirit who brings us to faith.
This might seem like a silly question but have you ever gotten into trouble? That’s not a very nice feeling is it? Scripture says, “No discipline is pleasant at the time.” But later that discipline works something good. If getting into trouble is not very nice when we have done something wrong, imagine how Paul and Silas felt when they got into trouble for doing the right thing. They came to Philippi and were telling people about Jesus. There was a slave girl in the city who was really in bondage in two ways. She was owned by some people who were more concerned about making money than they were about her and she was possessed by an evil spirit. Apparently this evil spirit would “perform” by doing some fortune telling for people. She made all kinds of money for her owners. The evil spirit must have recognized Paul and Silas as being servants of the true God and took sort of an unusual plan of attack. The evil spirit made the girl follow Paul and Silas around shouting that “these men are servants of the Most High God who are telling you the way to be saved.” The evil spirit must have been saying this sarcastically or in a way that distracted from what Paul was saying because finally Paul became so troubled that he turned and said, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” Now Jesus is stronger than any evil spirit so the evil spirit had to come out. Then the slave girl’s owner found out that their “money making machine” was gone. They were not happy and they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the town’s magistrates. The crowd became an angry mob and “joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stock.”
On a pain scale of 1-10 flogging would probably be a 13. With rods or whips the skin on Paul and Silas’ back was ripped apart. They were thrown into the maximum security part of the prison and they were placed in the stocks. The stocks were not made to make the prisoner more comfortable. The prisoners legs where spread far apart and fastened tight. Soon terrible leg cramps would shoot through the muscles but you couldn’t move your legs in the stocks. To human eyes, there was not much to sing about. “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” After all of that, Paul and Silas are singing hymns of praise to God. They knew their Heavenly Father was with them. They were singing a hymn of praise to the heavenly Father who can do anything who was just about to do a miracle. “Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose.”
Now I’ve seen pictures of earthquakes but they are not exactly surgical strikes. Normally in earthquakes, yes, the doors open up but that’s because the roof is collapsing in on them. Yes, chains come loose in earthquakes but that is mainly because the prison walls are being smashed apart. But in the middle of this violent earthquake, the Father who can do anything is at work. The doors are the prison were thrown open even deep into the maximum security portion of the prison where Paul and Silas were but yet no one is injured.
Has there been an earthquake in your life that you have been dealing with lately? Or maybe a flood of tears? You can sing a hymn of praise because your Heavenly Father can do anything. That Heavenly Father who can do anything promises that he is at work in the middle of that earthquake working some kind of a blessing for you. You know that that Heavenly Father loves you because He sent His Son to redeem you. There’s another thing for us to sing about- the Son who redeemed us.
“The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"
The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household." Those doors opening up meant that humanly speaking there was nothing to sing about that night for the jailer. As a Roman jailer whose prisoner escaped, you got what they were going to get. For this jailer apparently that meant a death sentence would be coming his way. It would seem that the jailer lived next door to the jail or in a house connected to the jail because he is right there and he is terrified. He saw those open cell doors and figured that it would be better for him to kill himself rather than face the Roman death sentence. He pulled out his sword but Paul quickly shouted that everyone is still there. It’s all OK. Apparently the jailer had been listening to some of what Paul and Silas were singing about because he fell at the feet of Paul and Silas and asked “What must I do to be saved?”
With the crumbling of that sturdy jail, the jailer was reminded that there would be a day where his life would come to an end. His conscience told him there was a wise and powerful God out there that he had disobeyed. He was reminded that what the Bible says is true, that “the fool has said in his heart, “there is no god.” Now he asks these servants of God “what must I do to be saved.” Paul and Silas point them to Jesus.
The Son who redeemed us is someone for us to sing about because he has redeemed us. There is a Chinese proverb that says, “In a broken nest there are no whole eggs.” That proverb brings out the truth of the Bible when it says, “flesh gives birth to flesh” and all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The world we live in is a broken nest and we are all cracked eggs. We’re born with a sinful nature and our sins have wrecked not only our lives but have wrecked our relationship with the one who can send an earthquake to open up prison doors. Since we have followed the devil over and over again we deserved to be imprisoned with him in the prisons of hell forever. There was no way for us to save ourselves. But God made a way for us to be saved. He sent His Son to redeem us. That’s something for us to sing about! Why would we sing about someone’s cruel and bloody death on a stake in the ground? We sing about it because of what it means for us. Jesus’ blood covers our sin. “Jesus thy Blood and Righteousness, my beauty are my glorious dress.” Jesus’ resurrection means we are going to live in heaven when we die. Because of Jesus we can sing, “I know that my Redeemer lives.”
Did you remember that the other prisoners are listening that night in the prison? They weren’t listening to the hymns because there was nothing else on the prison system radio or TV. The Bible uses the word for listening that is used when a doctor listens close for a heartbeat. The prisoners heard about Jesus. There were others listening to God’s word that night too. The jailer’s family got to hear to good news too. The Holy Spirit worked faith in your heart too. That’s another thing for us to sing about!
Can you imagine the contrast of the sounds that evening. The sounds of the jail doors opening up, the chains falling off, the terror of the prisoners who must have thought they would be crushed under the weight of the roof. The jailer must have hurried out of his house with his children screaming after the violent earthquake. In the midst of that chaos came the calming message of the Gospel. In the middle of that earth quake the Holy Spirit was working through God’s word bringing hearts to faith and strengthening faith. That’s something for us to sing about.
In the midst of all of the chaos of our lives God comes to us with the message of the Gospel. Woven into the hymns we sing is that Gospel message. That’s why the message is so comforting to us. There’s a contrast of sounds between the chaos of the world around us and the peace and calm the Holy Spirit brings us.
Whether it is here in church as our choirs sing or as we sing together or sittiing at home in our rocking chairs where only the Lord can hear or in the hospital room as we softly sing those hymns from memory, with His Word in song, God calms our hearts. He calms us with the same message he used with the jailer. Our God loves us, that he has redeemed us and we are His dear children. That’s something for us to sing about. Amen.