A Tale of Two Women & a Jailer

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Map of Paul’s Missionary Journeys

Context:

Last week, we were back in Acts chapter 9. We saw two conversions - Saul who was interrupted in his harassment of the early Christians (or followers of the Way) and who encountered the risen and ascended Jesus and was set on a new trajectory. And then Ananias, who had already become a follower of the Way but who was also interrupted by Jesus and asked to trust and to come to see Saul not as the danger and threat he had been, but as a brother.

Saul of Tarsus. And Ananias of Damascus. Two conversions of two men, neither from Jerusalem or Judea or Samaria… and not quite from the ends of the earth.

In chapter 10, the focus of the story would turn back to Peter, on whom the opening 8 chapters of Acts had been about.

In chapter 11, Barnabas goes to Tarsus to get Saul, taking him back to Antioch where they spent a year together before heading out on the missionary journeys.

In chapter 12, the attention goes back to Peter.

In chapter 13 and 14, Barnabas and Saul are finally on the road. It is in this context that we begin to see Saul referred to by his Latin name, Paul, or in Greek Paulus. It was common in that time for Jews to have both a Hebrew name as well a Greek or Latin name. Paul and Barnabas travel what comes to be known as the first missionary journey. (back of the bible maps)

In chapter 15, the back and forth between Peter and Saul/Paul finally comes to an actual dispute. The Jerusalem Council is called and the questions are being debated. Can Gentiles be included? If yes, what are the stipulations to their inclusion? Circumcision?

At the end of chapter 15, Paul and Barnabas have a disagreement. They see things differently about who to take with them and so they part company. Which is why it’s not the duo of Paul & Barnabas anymore in our reading today. Silas is Paul’s new travel companion. (And this is the beginning of the 2nd missionary journey - which takes them way farther west than the first trip…the ends of the earth just as Jesus promised.)

Picking up this week in Acts chapter 16, we

My challenge to you at the outset, is to notice all the other characters in the reading OTHER than Paul & Silas. Let’s make sure we give at least a little bit of attention to the ensemble cast. Because some of them are going to show up again. Later in the text, in Acts and in our summer series in that will unpack Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi. Which (SPOILER ALERT!) is where today’s reading takes place…

So, as we turn now to hear to this familiar story, though perhaps with more context than we’re used to, I invite Linda to come and you all to stand for the reading:

Acts 16:11–40 CEB

11 We sailed from Troas straight for Samothrace and came to Neapolis the following day. 12 From there we went to Philippi, a city of Macedonia’s first district and a Roman colony. We stayed in that city several days. 13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the riverbank, where we thought there might be a place for prayer. We sat down and began to talk with the women who had gathered. 14 One of those women was Lydia, a Gentile God-worshipper from the city of Thyatira, a dealer in purple cloth. As she listened, the Lord enabled her to embrace Paul’s message. 15 Once she and her household were baptized, she urged, “Now that you have decided that I am a believer in the Lord, come and stay in my house.” And she persuaded us. 16 One day, when we were on the way to the place for prayer, we met a slave woman. She had a spirit that enabled her to predict the future. She made a lot of money for her owners through fortune-telling. 17 She began following Paul and us, shouting, “These people are servants of the Most High God! They are proclaiming a way of salvation to you!” 18 She did this for many days. This annoyed Paul so much that he finally turned and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to leave her!” It left her at that very moment. 19 Her owners realized that their hope for making money was gone. They grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the officials in the city center. 20 When her owners approached the legal authorities, they said, “These people are causing an uproar in our city. They are Jews 21 who promote customs that we Romans can’t accept or practice.” 22 The crowd joined in the attacks against Paul and Silas, so the authorities ordered that they be stripped of their clothes and beaten with a rod. 23 When Paul and Silas had been severely beaten, the authorities threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to secure them with great care. 24 When he received these instructions, he threw them into the innermost cell and secured their feet in stocks. 25 Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 All at once there was such a violent earthquake that it shook the prison’s foundations. The doors flew open and everyone’s chains came loose. 27 When the jailer awoke and saw the open doors of the prison, he thought the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul shouted loudly, “Don’t harm yourself! We’re all here!” 29 The jailer called for some lights, rushed in, and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He led them outside and asked, “Honorable masters, what must I do to be rescued?” 31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your entire household.” 32 They spoke the Lord’s word to him and everyone else in his house. 33 Right then, in the middle of the night, the jailer welcomed them and washed their wounds. He and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. 34 He brought them into his home and gave them a meal. He was overjoyed because he and everyone in his household had come to believe in God. 35 The next morning the legal authorities sent the police to the jailer with the order “Release those people.” 36 So the jailer reported this to Paul, informing him, “The authorities sent word that you both are to be released. You can leave now. Go in peace.” 37 Paul told the police, “Even though we are Roman citizens, they beat us publicly without first finding us guilty of a crime, and they threw us into prison. And now they want to send us away secretly? No way! They themselves will have to come and escort us out.” 38 The police reported this to the legal authorities, who were alarmed to learn that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. 39 They came and consoled Paul and Silas, escorting them out of prison and begging them to leave the city. 40 Paul and Silas left the prison and made their way to Lydia’s house where they encouraged the brothers and sisters. Then they left Philippi.

So there’s the Paul & Silas part of the story.

And it is epic. In fact, so epic, that this is likely the part of the story you’re most familiar with.

But what about Lydia, who is converted at the beginning of our text and is the host and provider of a safe space for Paul & Silas at the end. (And then of course, we know that her home will be the gathering place for the church at Philippi. Perhaps the church that is having its early origin in these verses we read today.

What about the slave girl? What about her owners who were so mad about losing profits, they had Paul & Silas arrested?

And what about the jailer?

Now, the jailer, because he’s part of the Paul & Silas story gets more air time. We think of the way that this guy has the worst day at work ever… I mean. His day has gotten about as bad as it could. Until those voices call out, “Do not harm yourself. We are all here.”

Can you imagine the exhale? The relief?

Perhaps you have experienced a moment when you thought all was lost…only to hear someone call out to you - Do not harm yourself! Things are not as they appear. All is not lost. It’s going to be okay.

The jailer’s conversion is dramatic. And it involves his whole household. His family. His slaves. Everyone.

And the next thing you know, he’s tending to the wounds of the former prisoners. Hosting them in his home.

Since we’re talking about the jailer and his household…including his slaves. What about the slave girl? What is her part in this story?

This is the unfinished bit.

She is a slave to begin with. And a slave as far as we know at the end of the story.

The only thing we know for sure is this:

Her owners are deeply unhappy about her no longer bringing in the money she used to. She doesn’t have that skill anymore - ever since the spirit that enabled that was silenced and sent away by Paul.

She is still a slave. But not she doesn’t serve the same purpose. She’s vulnerable.

And she’s not the point of Luke’s story and so we hear of the jailer and his slaves. But no more about this girl.

Does God care enough about her to set her free from the spirit but not enough to release her from the bondage of slavery?

No. Of course not. But also, we have nothing that would tell us that she was not put into even more precarious social and even physical situation.

The slave girl reminds us the the biblical story doesn’t always answer the questions we wish it did.

So, in addition to Paul & Silas, there is the jailer & his household. The slave girl who is set free from one type of oppression, but not another.

And there is one more character who we met at the beginning of our reading and again at the end.

Lydia.

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary Lydia (Person)

A devout Jew from Thyatira who was converted by Paul in the city of Philippi, as recorded in Acts 16:11–15. Lydia was a worshiper of (the one true) God, i.e., she was a practicing Jew. This may have been a lifelong commitment since there was a colony of Jews in Thyatira (Josephus Ant 12.119; Bruce 1951: 312–14). That she was meeting beside a stream on the Sabbath for prayer suggests that there were not enough Jewish men in Philippi to make up a quorum and establish a proper synagogue. Here we see a subtle but important point that Luke is trying to make—while Lydia could not be a founding member of a Jewish synagogue, she can be and is the first European convert to Christendom, and in fact is the founding member of the Christian community which begins to meet in her household (16:40). Jewish women in the Diaspora did participate in the Hellenistic renaissance and may have formed their own religious groups and held meetings for worship or prayer (as may be the case in this story). Nevertheless, there is no evidence of their being allowed to make up the quorum of a synagogue even in less restrictive environments like Macedonia. The evidence of women being financial patrons of Diaspora synagogues does not support another conclusion.

Note also that Lydia felt free, perhaps because of the liberating effect of the Gospel, to go against Jewish custom not only in speaking to Paul in public but also in inviting Paul and those with him, who were total strangers, to come and stay in her house (16:15). Herein we see a story of how the Gospel can free women from previous restraints, giving them new roles even as founding members of new Christian house churches.

It may be that, since the women of Macedonia were often noted for taking leading roles in society even before the time of Alexander the Great (Witherington 1988: 12–13), Lydia’s new roles would have caused little or no surprise in the larger community. If, however, there were male Jews in Philippi her leadership role probably would have been surprising to them. Lydia, upon hearing the word of the Lord from Paul, was baptized, receiving the covenant sign of the new religion, something she could not do in Judaism. Thus Luke presents a story illustrating how the Gospel is for all sorts of people regardless of their gender, previous religious background, or economic status.

Lydia’s home becomes a location of encouragement.

And where does all of this occur again?

Philippi.

A church will come to exist here… and Paul will write to them. And we will read that letter in 2022 and it will encourage us and challenge us. Much as it has down through the centuries and across continents where it has been read in translation just as we read it in translation.

And that church will include at least a few now familiar faces… Lydia and her household, the jailer and his household. A rich woman. A disgraced jailer. (Or did he get his job back?) Slaves and children, and likely the jailer’s wife.

But there’s a face I’ll always be wondering about as we read Philippians. Trying to catch a glimpse of her as we read the letter… is the slave girl among the church at Philippi?

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