The life-thesis for our Story today could be composed in the following manner: Christ destroys human commonalities. Y'see, the first of Yesterday's Stories is really very bittersweet. Actually, bittersweet isn't strong enough. Desecratedglorious is a little better.
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Eyes slowly, yet certainly closing, Paul tried hard to think of all the people and places he could pray for. His journeys had been long, but often fruitful. After parting with Barnabas just a few short days ago, he traveled with a fellow Christian named Silas to a billion places in just a short amount of time. Cicilia, Syria, Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, Phrygia, Galatia... You name it. Tonight, they were finishing up their trip towards Troas.
Paul was very tempted to be just a little frustrated at God's sense of humor. On one of the nights when he was most drowsy, his sleep wasn't restful at all.
"HELP! Come over to Macedonia and help us!"
The very obscure, dark-skinned man appeared out of nowhere and jumped into Paul's dream like Steve blue-ska-dooing into one of Blue's picture frames! The next morning, Paul only vaguely recollected the man... And then there was the part of the dream where he was flying with penguin wings through an African jungle filled with guerrilla sharks in togas.
He decided not to tell Silas that part.
They did, however, thoroughly discuss the Macedonian man begging for help. It was odd, but certainly not a coincidence. After prayer and contemplation, he was resolved that the dream was from the Lord.
With this new and rather unexpected information, Paul and Silas began to prepare the boat to sail to Macedonia that they might preach the gospel to those living there.
A few pit stops later, Paul stepped onto the docks at Philippi. As convinced as ever that this was where God wanted him to be, he summoned Silas to follow and began walking through the crowded Macedonian streets. The air was salty, the people were busy, and the gospel was powerful. Paul had seen hundreds of transformed lives, including, firstly, his own.
He could not stop praising God.
They found a place to stay and lodged there a few nights. As Sabbath dawned, they went to a place near the closest river, which held a group of people meeting for prayer. It was wonderfully refreshing, and a moment that Paul cherished. They were met with great hospitality. Silas was about to bring the terribly suspicious (and unorthodox) group of people heading towards them to Paul's attention, but Paul was busy meeting with the fellow believers and preparing to pray. The group emerged swiftly and furtively without warning, but certainlywith reason.
Silas thought of them almost as he would his own church. Diverse, dedicated, determined.
There were two older men following closely behind a very young, frail girl. The men stopped and watched as they came to the edge of the clearing, leaving the girl to walk straight up to Paul and himself alone.
She approached without fear and shouted, no, rather screamed: “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation."
Silas was rather taken aback. This girl, at such a young age, was certainly not learned in these things, but she said it with such authority. He was baffled.
Paul, on the other hand, was not.
He ignored the girl, and continued with the work at hand. In fact, that was the situation for multiple days. Silas couldn't make it out. Why let her do this and distract so many from our work, he pondered? There wasn't a whole lot he understood about the situation, until one day when it started making sense.
Maybe Paul was trying to be patient; maybe he was waiting for God's timing. Either way, the girl was just about to repeat the phrase for the thousandth time when Paul yelled at her, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.”
...And the pieces fell into place.
He wasn't yelling at the girl, or ignoring the girl, or even looking at the girl.
He was looking at a demon.
An evil spirit, used by Satan for his own pleasure.
An evil being that, in turn, was using this little girl.
An evil nothing, that was banished by the name and power of Jesus.
The girl fell to the ground panting, afraid, scared. Just a moment ago, she was talking with her mother about their new found religion. Then, a blur, and now these strange men staring down at her.
Her "escorts" close by were not at all interested in the girl's well being. Through her divining spirit and seemingly prophetic powers, the girl had been their source of profit for years. They were outraged at Paul and Silas. One grabbed Paul's shirt. Another grabbed Silas' hair. Yet another starting kicking their shins fiercely.
The two men were dragged along and thrown to the ground at the feet of the local magistrates. “These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe," they falsely claimed.
Even false claims said cleverly can influence people, though.
The multitudes rose up, the magistrates delivered their sentence, and Paul and Silas were in jail. The jailer took their already bloody backs and shoved them against a cold, inhospitable wall. Hands chained, the jailer left the two men in as secure a spot as possible.
So.
Here are our heroes. Our great men of the faith, our forefathers, with no strength, no comfort, and no hope in this foreign city. Bound, stuck, and technically, criminals.
This situation brings us a question: what do they do now? A much more important question is this: what would you do if you were in their situation?
Wanna' know what I would have done? Wanna' know what you would have done? We both would have been scared.
Scared of what the authorities might do. Scared of how the churches might feel. Scared of what God would think.
Wanna' know what Paul and Silas did? Wanna' know how powerful their love for Christ was?
It was more powerful than fear, and bitterness, and despair.
It contains so much power that it strengthened them in the darkest time. So much influence that it turned their eyes from the circumstances and straight to Jesus. So much love that it lifted them up when they should have been down.
Their response? Worship. Unabashed, full fledged, straight up worship. Singing their hearts and lungs out to the Lord that saved their souls and would bring glory out of this desecrated time. Everyone in the jail heard this strange noise, but this pair didn't care. They were too busy loving Christ and embracing his presence.
Now, what if the curtain closes on this scene. In a couple moments, it lifts back up and reveals Paul and Silas at the stake, about to be publicly executed for their actions. Would their mindsets have changed? Not for an instant.
Of course, that's not nearly the situation God had planned for them. Instead, they witnessed both the immense power God has and a man getting saved.
It was a good night.
Through these men, the Holy Spirit spared lives, saved souls, and set a course for generations of believers. For us.
Will we ever be in situations like Paul and Silas? Probably not. No, we'll probably all live peaceful, great, happy lives in the US of A, with a good family and a great God. Do we have the capacity to do great things like Paul and Silas? To look death in the face and sing praises to the One who conquered death?
Cheeseballs, yes.
Think about what made these men great. It certainly wasn't their own wisdom or grandeur. It was the love and mercy of Christ, and only the love and mercy of Christ.
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"Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace."
Andrew
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