A Curious Faith

Before we begin, allow me to add a little context to text on this morning.

Today we continue to journey with Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke as they have settled in the Roman colony of Philippi.

Remember last week we talked about how Paul had a vision urging he and his companions to travel to Macedonia.

They go to Macedonia and settle in the leading district and Roman colony, Philippi where they meet Lydia. During this encounter with Lydia, she and her entire household is converted.

Lydia takes them into her home and provides hospitality to them.

Now something that I think is important for us to know when reading today’s text is the significance of Philippi.

Philippi is a Roman colony. It’s very pro Roman. It was colonized by soldiers who fought for Augustus and Mark Antony when they defeated the assassins of Julius Caesar; Brutus and Cassius.

That battle was known as the battle of Philippi. This battle was critical to the transition for Rome which went from this time of civil war to an empire. This battle likely was the catalyst to Rome becoming the superpower of the time.

After that battle, Augustus gave Philippi to his troops in Philippi.

This was long time before our text happened which was almost 100 years before this story is set.

This place is very tied into Roman history.

You’ve got descendants of soldiers who fought for the first emperor of Rome.

So, Paul and Silas were one day going to the place of prayer where they encounter aa slave-girl who was demon-possessed and Luke tells us that she made her owners a lot of money through fortune telling.

Long story short, Paul casts the demon out of the slave girl because the demon which possessed her kept provoking Paul and Silas.

The demon was a priestess of Augustus’ favorite deity, Apollos.

Paul and Silas casts out this demon and those around them see the power of Paul and Silas’ God. They see the power of the Spirit.

But them casting out that python spirit came with some consequences.

When the demon came out of her, the slave girl no longer could do what made her owners a lot of money.

As a result, she became useless to her owners.

The gravy train for her owners had come to a halt.

And you can imagine, they were not thrilled about that.

They wanted revenge so they bring a charge against Paul and Silas.

Remember Paul and Silas are Jews and the owners say that these are Jews and they advocating for laws and customs that are not lawful for Romans to observe.

This is a bad thing. This is an ugly crime.

“You can’t trust these Jews is at the heart of this accusation.”

So, we see where this Roman way of doing things become a problem for Paul and Silas.

They show that their God has more power than the emperor Augustus’ favorite deity and likely the deity of the land by casting out that demon.

They mess up the money for the slave girl’s owners.

All of this takes place in probably the most Roman place or colony within the empire.

This entire event causes and an uproar. They have disturbed the peace.

So, they are arrested and tried without due process. Even though Paul is a Jew, he is a Roman citizens.

Roman citizens are typically treated better and given more rights than what was displayed with Paul and Silas.

Paul never mentions that he is a citizen but nevertheless, they are beaten and thrown into jail and this gets us to our part of the story.

Acts 16:25-34

The New Revised Standard Version Paul and Silas in Prison

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 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. 27 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. 28 But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. 34 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.

This is the word of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

I. Introduction:

On last week we talked briefly about the founder of Methodism, John Wesley.

We talked about how Wesley’s plan wasn’t necessarily God’s plan and how a failed trip in Georgia changed the trajectory of Wesley’s faith journey.

Today, we revisit a detail in Wesley’s story I shared with you on last week.

I mentioned how Wesley who in a sense was already wrestling with his faith prior to going to Georgia was trapped on a boat at sea during a storm.

He and all those around him were afraid as water began to flood the vessel.

Everyone on that boat thought that they were in their last moments on earth.

Everyone was quaking in their boats.

They were crying.

Some were praying.

Some were preparing to meet their maker.

Except one group of christians....

The German Moravians.

Wesley recorded in his journal how during that storm, the Moravians were praising God while everyone else feared for their life.

In observing this Wesley looked deep within himself and began to wrestle even more with his faith as he wondered if he truly believed.

Did he truly have faith?

Better yet, how does one get the peace that these Moravians displayed.

How does one obtain this faith of the Moravians?

Wesley was curious.

He was curious about their faith and how they had gained so much confidence in God that they could praise him amid a violent and life-threatening storm at sea.

Wesley wanted to experience this sort of faith.

The faith that causes one to live without fear and a faith that yields peace in the most chaotic situations.

The Moravian’s faith awakened some senses within Wesley.

Their faith made Wesley curious and I don’t believe that Wesley was the only one asking this question.

I believe that the other passengers wondered the same thing.

And this sense of curiosity probably caused people to want to know how does one become this faithful.

The Moravians faith sparked some curiosity within many on that boat and after experiencing the faith of the Moravians, their lives, especially Wesley’s life would never be the same again.

II. Does our faith spark curiosity.

In reflecting upon our text on this morning and in thinking about Wesley’s encounter with the Moravian Christians.

I asked myself, “Does my faith spark curiosity within others?”

Does the way that I live inspire others to become more curious about their own faith?

Does the way that I live inspire others or peak their curiosity.

Friends I pondered this thought for most of the week and I began to reflect upon my own faith journey and wondering whether or not if my faith was something out of the ordinary.

Do I exhibit a level of patience and peace in the midst of chaos?

Is my love for neighbor, especially those I disagree with one that overshadows our differences?

Do people see kindness in me in less than optimal situations?

Do I display selfless generosity?

Do I serve God with reckless abandonment?

Does my presence exude love?

A group of us were talking earlier this week and our good friend and brother, Eddie Spencer came up in the conversation.

One of us had called to check on Eddie and they asked him how he was doing.

Now, we all here know what Pastor Eddie has been going through.

We know the health challenges he’s been having.

We know the toll that cancer has on one’s body. Some of us may have experienced this or watched our family members struggle with this.

If you asked the average person how they were doing while going through cancer, they wouldn’t respond the way that Eddie responded.

Every time one of us call Eddie, he says, “I’m doing good and I’m blessed” and he immediately shifts the conversation to ask you how you’re doing.

And for many of us it drives us wild because we wonder how can someone who is going through what Eddie is going through...how can they be concerned about others when they have more than enough about themselves to be concerned about.

Y’all, the answer is simple, it’s faith!

Eddie in his suffering is exhibiting a faith that sparks curiosity.

And this is what we see here with Paul and Silas.

They have been beaten.

Wrongly arrested.

Not given due process.

And locked within the inner most cell

Yet, they are praising God even though they are facing similar charges.

It makes me wonder what kind of faith allows a person to praise and sing in an overcrowded, hot, stinky cell in a foreign land.

I wonder if those giants like

Dr. Martin Luther King,

Medgar Evers,

Fannie Lou Hamer,

and the Rev. Dr. Ed King

thought of this text as they were sitting in a jail cell not knowing if they would see the light of day again.

Singing and praising in the midst of uncomfortable situations if nothing else will lead a person to ask, “what is wrong with that fellow?”

I believe that those who were locked up with Paul and Silas were asking that same question.

How in the world can they sing and praise and we’re locked up in a Roman cell?

But in asking that question, their curiosity was sparked.

You see sometimes the smallest things spark curiosity.

And what do we do when our curiosity is sparked?

We investigate.

We ask questions.

We want to get to the bottom of the issue.

You see, God created us to ask questions. God created us to be inquisitive creatures.

Isn’t that the reason we ate the forbidden pomegranate?

Now in no way am I saying that God doomed us because he didn’t.

We doomed ourselves.

We knew right from wrong and God warned us about our inquisitive nature when he told us not to eat from the tree.

But that story serves as a reminder that we’ve always been inquisitive creatures.

We’ve always wanted to know the why to things.

And that inquisitive nature gets us in trouble sometimes but it is through that inquisitive nature that the Spirit of God peaks our curiosity.

Paul and Silas’ confidence and faith in God peaked the curiosity of all those in the cell.

It peaked their curiosity so much that when an earthquake occurred offered everyone in the cell an escape route.

No one left. They just had to see and hear what these men of God were about.

They had to hear the Spirit bear witness.

It was like binge watching a tv series that you’ve discovered. Once it peaks your interest, you can’t wait to see what’s next.

Those in the cell with Paul and Silas couldn’t wait to know more about this way that leads to freedom.

They didn’t want to leave the cell.

And because those in the cell curiosity was peaked, another person’s life was impacted there in the jail.

Luke tells us that the jailor came down expecting everyone to be gone and so he was about to take his own life.

Paul and Silas tell him to spare his life because no one had escaped.

They were all there and accounted for.

The jailor who probably heard all of this singing and praising himself is probably wondering,

“How in the world did these men get everyone in this cell to stay?”

“How did they get hardened criminals not to escape.”

Some of these men may be facing capitol punishment.

Some of these men may never see the light of day again.

Some of them will die in here and they know it.

Yet, they were convinced by these men to stay?

“Who are these two Jews?”

“Where did they come from?”

“What is this power that worketh within them”

“How can I receive that power?”

And that my friends is the million dollar question.

How do I become like these men?

How do I become like Paul and Silas?

The answer is two-fold, you become like Paul and Silas by becoming like Jesus the Christ.

Oh , and how did become like him?

Luke gives us the answer in verse 31 and Paul gave him and others the answer:

“You become like him by believing on him, you and your household will be saved.”

But be warned when you do this:

You’re going to love others differently

You’re going to have a sense of peace in times of difficulty

You’re going to find those other gods useless

The Roman way won’t be the way anymore.

You won’t be a good Roman.

You are going to begin to think different, do different, and live different

The Spirit is about to do a work within you.

The jailor believed and he and his household was saved.

Friends, I don’t know about you but I long to hear this question from someone,

“What must I do to be saved?”

“What must I do to secure my eternal security?”

“What must I do to experience peace in the hell that is called life?”

All throughout the book of Acts we see this common question asked by others to the early church founders and the question was asked because their faith peaked their curiosity.

The spirit was there bearing witness through the faith of the early church leaders.

I believe the Spirit wants to bear witness through our faith.

There are people right here in our community, right here in our that are asking the jailor the very question that he asked Paul and Silas:

“What must I do to be saved?”

“What must I do to get a spiritual relief?”

But before that question is asked of us, they have to see our faith in action.

They have to see something in us that peaks their curiosity.

I’m not saying go and get locked up to minister to the people in jail.

But I am saying that we should allow the Spirit to guide every aspect of our lives.

It is through the Spirit that we encounter people.

It is through the Spirit that we can bear witness to others.

So I ask you the same question I’ve been reflecting upon all week.

“Does your faith spark curiosity in others?”

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.