Men on Mission

Acts 16:22-31

Introduction: :  It was a warm night in August of 1932. When a then nationally known musician arrived at a large revival meeting in which he was set to be the featured soloist. Although He did not want to leave his pregnant wife at home in Chicago, aware that she could go into labor any day now, he needed to provide for his family. As he finished his set that night and the crowd erupted with applause, he was on his way to his seat when was interrupted by a young man with a Western Union telegram with his name on it. As he opened the envelope to read the telegram, the words pasted on the Yellow Sheet of Paper simply read: YOUR WIFE IS DEAD…..

                  At that moment Thomas Dorsey rushed back to his Apartment on the Southside of Chicago, only to discover that his wife and baby boy had both passed away during childbirth. Thomas Dorsey would later say that “I buried Nettie and my baby boy together in the same casket, and then after that I completely fell apart”.

Dorsey closed himself off for days, barely eating and not getting any sleep. Until one day, through his tears, and his pain it was if God had spoken to him. And in the midst of his heartache, and frustration he did not turn to alcohol or to drugs, but instead he turned to the piano. That particular night he made his way down to the neighborhood music school, sat down at the piano, played a medley and penned these words. “Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, let me stand. I am tired, I’m weak, I’m alone. Through the Storm, through the night, Lead me on to the light. Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home!” And the father of Gospel of Music would give birth to a genre of Music that would point people to find hope, meaning, and significance in Jesus Christ. Gospel Music would be the soundtrack of the black church, but it’s very beginnings are rooted in God providing grace in the midst of a dark situation.

                  The very affliction that Thomas Dorsey dealt with, would be his platform for proclamation to lead others out of bondage. Just as there were millions that would be ministered to through his ministry and the path that he would pave for Gospel music… The same is true for you and I… That someone’s deliverance may be tied to your current struggle and commitment to the mission!!!

Friends the story of the Father of Gospel music points to the claim that I want to argue for this text today. This narrative in the Book of Acts is placed here to present to us that…. 

Primary Claim: Men on Mission are equipped to withstand the trials of life by embodying a testimony that exalts Jesus Christ!

That’s my claim this morning and that is the truth that this passage is pressing upon us!

Transitions Sequence: Friends, that’s were our passage meets us this morning. Go with me, as enter the scene of Acts chapter 16…. And witness how the stories of these men collide.

As he finished eating his breakfast that morning, he hugged his children and kissed his wife as he prepared to depart for another day at the job. This retired centurion soldier, was now putting his military training to good use by inflicting pain upon convicted criminals. He was the local jailer…. and as he said goodbye to his family he was unaware, that the events that lied ahead of him would alter the eternal trajectory of him and everyone in his house.

Meanwhile, some missionaries have entered the city of Philippi. After receiving a vision from the Lord. The Apostle Paul arrived in city of Philippi, being accompanied by Luke, Timothy, and Silas. They have just witnessed the first convert of His second missionary journey come to faith in Christ. After they baptized her, they left Lydia’s house, and were on their way to the house of prayer. When all of the sudden they were startled by a loud and ominous voice.  They were being followed by a young, enslaved woman that was filled with an evil spirit of divination. And to make matters worse her masters were profiting from her affliction. She made them money by telling the fortunes of others. 

                  As the young woman followed the evangelist around, her voice may have been boisterous and alarming, but the content of her cries contained the Truth. She yelled aloud, “These men are bond servants of the Most-High God and they are proclaiming the way of Salvation”! Here, were are reminded, that just as Legion shuttered in the presence of Jesus, Even the demons tremble and the name of Jesus, and they too can’t help but testify of the Power God!!! ….. For days she followed them, making this declaration so much so that the Bible says Paul became “Greatly annoyed”. Paul, the very one that wrote about the fruit of the Spirit and taught us about patience, was “Greatly annoyed”. Paul reached his breaking point! When he did, he didn’t tell her to quiet down, nor did he tell her to go away, but instead he commanded the evil spirit out of her. Paul says” I command you in the name of Jesus to come out of her!” And at that very moment the evil spirit came out of her.

                  What would be a reason to rejoice for some, was the exact opposite for these men. Her masters were so consumed with greed that all they could we see is their hope for profit was now gone. They were ok with them preaching Jesus as long it doesn’t mess with their money or privilege.  And in a fit of rage they grabbed two of the four Missionaries, Paul and Silas, and used their ethnic privilege to incriminate these two Jewish men. They, along with the crowd grabbed Paul and Silas carried them to the chief magistrates and began to plead their case. They began with a racial slur…... These Jews, are throwing our city into confusion, by proclaiming customs that are not lawful for us to accept as Romans.

You can feel the injustice leaping off the page. You can feel the injustice coming off the page. As their ethnicity is brought into the argument. Paul and Silas are not only falsely accused by the crowd; the magistrates, who were the enforcers of the law, did not even ensure that these men got a proper trail, as the law required. But instead they stripped the robes off of Paul and Silas and began to beat them with rods!!!

This passage does not suggest that we are to stand by passively as injustice ensues. No, No, No… We are to fight injustice and unrighteousness because it is a Gospel issue.

But Rather this text is pointing to the fact that sometimes God will allow the dimness of your circumstances to be a platform for power of God!  In this scene, that power is displayed through Men on a Mission to get the Gospel out!

In light of that reality……

Organizational Sentence: Luke lays out four distinct reasons why ought to celebrate men on mission.

Transition Statement: The first reason you and I ought to celebrate men on mission is because of The Pain we have to Endure.

I. The Pain we have to endure (v.22-24)

That’s right … The Pain we have to endure. . I don’t when it happens but life has a way of turning our black boy joy into moments of Pain.  It seems like being a black man is a constant reminder of pain.

Social Pain: We are wounded Socially by the Social pain of rejection and misunderstanding. Being feared, profiled, and even avoided in public places. The emotional exhaustion of having to code switch and work so your not perceived as to aggressive or uneducated... as if passion and intelligence cant coexist.

Societal Pain:  Walled off societally by the Societal Pain of economic marginalization. Educational inequalities, and Racial profiling

Systemic Pain: We are weighed down systemically by Mass Incarceration, housing discrimination, health care discrimination, and systems that reward whitness and criminalize black culture.

Spiritual Pain: We are Wounded Spiritually by the pain of a loss of our Identity in Christ….. Feeling abandoned….

We have to endure pain… but I am so grateful that we know the one that transforms our pain into purpose. Paul and Silas are enduring pain.

Paul and Silas are stripped down to their underwear and beaten with rods and are now being carried to the local prison. For Paul this was nothing new, as matter of fact both of the times that Paul is beaten in the book of Acts it was a result of someone losing money.

 Paul one who is known to put up a fight, one with a blazing intellect and had enough knowledge to appeal to his rights as a Roman citizen, but he does not do this. Instead Paul and Silas don’t fight, they don’t run, but they face their pain head on.

                  The Bible says that after they were stricken with many blows, the crowd drug Paul and Silas down to the prison. As they arrived at the prison, there is much commotion, and now Paul and Silas are introduced to this jailor in a rather unusual fashion. With no trail, no hearing, no opportunity to defend themselves, and without putting up a fight…. They were thrown into Prison by the crowd and the chief magistrates, and they commanded the Jailor to guard them securely.

                  The jailor did his job.  He treated his prisoners as dangerous criminals. His treatment surely reflected his own attitude more than the seriousness of their alleged crimes. This prison was literally a dungeon. The jailor received them at the entrance and forced them down to the lowest part of the dungeon. It was not the jailors business to take any thought for the prisoner’s comfort but to make sure that they did not escape. So he placed them in the inner cell, a place reserved for the most dangerous criminals. Then He forced them to the ground and fastened their feet into the stocks.

Paul and Silas had been stripped, beaten, placed in prison, and are now locked in the inner most part of the prison. Not because they had been terrible people, not because they have been disobedient, but as a result of them doing the will of God. Friends we often speak of the will of God as that the brings us out of trouble, but in this case and in what may be the case in some of our lives. The Will of God has gotten them in what looks like a troublesome situation.

                  Friends it’s easy to see the glory of God when days are bright, and you are on cushioned seats, in an air conditioned building, and life is going well. But can we embrace the dark days as part of God’s plan too. Even when it seems dark God is at work! You may not be able to trace His hand but you can Trust His word!  

                  Her name is Corrie Ten Boom, that wonderful 20th century Dutch Christian writer, In Her book “The Hiding Place” wrote of her experience in a Nazi prison camp during the Holocaust.

She stated that she came to discover that God is at work even in the most horrific of circumstances. Her and her sister Betsie were together and they found comfort in prayer and time in the scriptures as they read an old, tattered bible that they were able to keep. This brought them joy in dark circumstances.

 Yet, in the midst of the suffering, the women prisoners around Corrie and Betsie found comfort in the little Bible studies they held in the barracks. Corrie writes they gathered around the Bible "like waifs clustered around a blazing fire…The blacker the night around us grew, the brighter and truer and more beautiful burned the Word of God."

Until one day Corrie would reach her breaking point, When they were moved to Barracks 28, Corrie was horrified by the fact that their reeking, straw-bed platforms swarmed with fleas. How could they live in such a place?

It was Betsie who discovered God's answer:

"'"Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus." That's it, Corrie! That's His answer. "Give thanks in all circumstances!" That's what we can do. We can start right now to thank God for every single thing about this new barracks!'

"They stared at her; then around me at the dark, foul-aired room…"

They thanked God for the fact they were together. They thanked God they had a Bible. They even thanked God for the horrible crowds of prisoners, that more people would be able to hear God's Word. And then, Betsie thanked God for the fleas.

"The fleas! This was too much. 'Betsie, there's no way even God can make me grateful for a flea.'

"'"Give thanks in all circumstances,"' she quoted. 'It doesn't say, "in pleasant circumstances."  Fleas are part of this place where God has put us.'

"And so we stood between tiers of bunks and gave thanks for fleas. But this time I was sure Betsie was wrong."

One day there were some Nazi prison guards were going from one cabin to another harassing the people and abusing the women, they stopped at number 26, then number 27, but when they got to Barrak 28, they did not go in…. Because it was infested with fleas! Turns out that Betsie was right… Thank God for the fleas.

We all have "fleas" in our lives. We all have those things that we can see no use for, things that are obviously horrible, unpleasant, painful things that we want gone. No life is free of "fleas", but if Corrie and Betsie can be our examples, God can use even these nasty insects for our protection and blessing.

Every now and then we have to thank God for the fleas

God I don’t know why I’m in this situation but I thank you for the fleas!

God I don’t know why you took this person out of my life… but I thank you for the fleas!

God I don’t know why you have been diagnosed with this illness… But I thank you for the fleas!!

Friends God is at work in the darkest of situations. God has a way of causing the very thing that hurt you to become the very thing that brings you protection and provision. For we know that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose!!

II. The Praise we get to express (v. 25-26)

III. The Problems we have to expose (v.27-29)

IV. The People we get to evangelize (v.30-31)