An Ironic Escape

Today’s story of Paul’s liberation from prison is one of two such stories in Acts. The other occurs in Acts 12:6-10 , which tells the story of the apostle Peter being freed. In Peter’s case, an angel freed him from his shackles, then led him out of the prison, passing by the guards unseen and out into the city through locked gates.

Like Peter, Paul was imprisoned for preaching the gospel, the good news of the messiah - Jesus Christ. Roman order and prosperity – Pax Romana - was based on a government that threatened crucifixion, torture, and condemnation to the mines or to the wild beasts in the arena for anyone who disrupted that order and prosperity. Christians were often deemed subversive.[1]They refused to bow down to worship Caesar as a god.

Paul and Silas are brought before the city’s magistrates – or judges – because, according to their accusers, “These men, these Jews, are disturbing our city and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us, being Romans, to adopt or observe.” (16:20-21). They were held in a jail cell while the magistrates – the city’s judges – consider the case brought against them. Publicly stripped and severely beaten, they were chained and put into stocks in the inner cell of the prison, a place reserved for dangerous, low-class offenders.[2]

This is, of course, ironic for Paul, who in his prior life hunted down Christians to imprison them. Now he finds himself in chains. He will ultimately die in Rome after a lengthy imprisonment.[3]But what is even more ironic in today’s text is that Paul finds liberation in his captivity, while those individuals who seem free are actually enslaved by their greed and ambitions.

Beaten, naked, and shackled in a crowded jail cell, Paul and Silas are by no means in despair. In fact, they sing hymns. The text tells us,

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.

Now, I don’t know about you, but if I was chained up in a jail cell after having been beaten I don’t think I would be singing. Why do Paul and Silas sing? Because they consider it an honor to be in chains for proclaiming the gospel. In Acts 20:23 Paul says, “I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” And in Acts 28:20, Paul declares “It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.” Ironically, imprisonment, for Paul and Silas, is a cause for singing. Paul and Silas are freed by their refusal to see their chains as a limitation. Instead, even while in chains, they proclaim the gospel by singing hymns and worshiping God. And after they worship God, they are miraculously set free from their chains by a violent earthquake.

Now, let’s take a look at the other characters in this story. They are not imprisoned in a cell, but instead are imprisoned by their greed, by their prejudice, by their fear of failure and public opinion

Enslaved by the World

Of course, the young girl in this story, the one with “a spirit of divination” is enslaved by her owners, who exploit her out of greed. The text says she “brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling (16:16). The city magistrates, who are Greek, are enslaved by their racist views about Jewish people. The girl’s owners exploit these views to have Paul and Silas locked up in jail. And the jailor is enslaved by his fear of the shame of failure. He would rather die by suicide than accept the shame of having let his prisoners escape. Let’s start at the beginning of today’s text.

Acts 16:16-19 – A girl enslaved by greed

16 One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a female slave who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. 17 While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” 18 She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour. 19 But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities.

This story reminds me of the Disney movie Tangled. It is about Rapunzel, who was trapped in a high tower by a wicked witch, who is pretending to be Rapunzel’s mother. The witch is exploiting her because of her very long hair that has healing properties. A man named Finn stumbles upon the tower and sets Rapunzel free. In the dramatic conclusion, the witch has mortally wounded Finn, the man who set Rapunzel free. But Rapunzel promises to remain captive if she is permitted to heal Finn with her magic hair. As she kneels to heal him, Finn cuts off her hair, sacrificing his life but rendering her useless to the witch who has kept her captive for 16 years. Finn freed Rapunzel by taking away the power that the witch was exploiting. Of course, as with any good fairytale, we have a happy ending as Finn is healed by Rapunzel’s tears.

In today’s text, the girl is not the only one enslaved by greed. Her handlers are dependent on the girl for the fortune she brings them. They seem to have cast their lot solely on exploiting her abilities. And once those abilities are gone, so is their primary source of income. They are also enslaved by greed.

As the text continues, we are introduced to the city’ leaders.

Acts 16:20-24 – Magistrates enslaved by prejudice

20 When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, “These men, these Jews, are disturbing our city 21 and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us, being Romans, to adopt or observe.” 22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. 23 After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. 24 Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

The girls owners bring a lawsuit against Paul. But instead of pursuing the case on its merits – the loss of income, the owners are clever enough to instead lace their claim with racism and prejudice: “These men, these JEWS, are advocating customs that are not lawful for us.” Robert Wall, in his commentary on this passage, says that their charge…

appeals to Roman anti-Semitism and is propagandistic without legal merit. The clear intent is to incite prejudice against Jews… and it is this appeal that sparks the crowd’s hostilities against Paul.[4]

The cities leaders are enslaved by their prejudice. The owners know this, and so they exploit it for their own gain. This proves to be successful, and the men are thrown in jail. Miraculously, though, Paul and Silas are freed due to an earthquake that loosens the chains from their anchor in the jail floor. This introduces us to the next character in the story, the jailer.

Acts 16:27-30 – A Jailer enslaved by fear of shame

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?”

The jailer is enslaved by fear of failure, and the shame he will feel as a result of it. This fear is so powerful that he is willing to take his own life to avoid it.

[slide – What enslaves us?]

Application: What is it that enslaves us?

So, what does this story have to teach us today? It makes me ask the question: What is it that enslaves each of us?

Some of us are enslaved by greed. Like the girl’s owners, we are willing to exploit others to increase our fortune. We exploit ourselves, too. We work ourselves so hard, working long hours, driving ourselves to exhaustion in pursuit of wealth and success.

Some of us are enslaved by prejudice, like the magistrates. In today’s world that is often reflected in social class. We think we are better than others, than the “rabble” as Mr. Potter put it in the movie “A Wonderful Life.” We fail to realize just how much of our success is attributable to good connections, good education, and just plain good luck. We fail to realize that if some of the “rabble” had the same opportunities, the same connections, education and fortunate timing, they would be just as successful as we are.

Some of us are enslaved by public opinion. Like the jailer, we would rather die than face the condemnation of our peers. Young people are especially prone to this fear. Bullying through social media has led more than one young person to suicide.

Some of us are enslaved by addiction. We are powerless against drugs or alcohol, and would sacrifice our livelihoods, our families, our future to sustain the high we get from the drugs. There is at least one person here who has broken the chains of addiction and is living free. Not everyone is able to do that. My friend’s brother, who is my age, is institutionalized in a memory care facility because of dementia brought on by alcohol abuse. He doesn’t know where he is. He doesn’t understand why he can’t leave and go to work. He is in the care of hospice.

So how do we free ourselves from our chains, from the jail of our own making? We look to God. In the words of Paul & Silas,

31 “Believe in 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.

Jessica Miller Kelley points out the final irony in this passage:

The jailer … ironically does what he was afraid the earthquake had done—liberates them from prison and brings them out to his own home...[5]

When we keep our eyes focused on God and God’s love, we will find out that nothing else matters. Addiction, fear, prejudice and greed lose their power over us when we trust in God. We are God’s beloved children. Nothing we do, or fail to do, can separate us from God’s love if we just turn to God and ask for help. My prayer for us today is that we will turn to God when we find ourselves trapped, and trust God to free us. May it be so. Amen.

[1]The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary: Roman Empire

[2] Bible Study Magazine, Volume 10: Philippi

[3] The Least of These: Paul and the Marginalized: Paul in Chains

[4] Robert W. Wall, “The Acts of the Apostles,” in New Interpreter’s Bible, ed. Leander E. Keck, vol. 10 (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994–2004), 233.

[5] Jessica Miller Kelley, ed., A Preacher’s Guide to Lectionary Sermon Series: Thematic Plans for Years A, B, and C, First edition (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2016), 213.

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