Thirty Days Hath September

Acts 16:19-24

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

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I hear the train a comin'
It's rollin' 'round the bend
And I ain't seen the sunshine
Since, I don't know when.
I'm stuck in Folsom Prison
And time keeps draggin' on
But that train keeps a-rollin'
On down to San Antone.

"Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash

So the little girl's owners were now busted. Paul and Silas might as well had burned down their factory. Isn't it the truth, when you're different from the people of the land and you rake a little muck you're gonna end up in jail. It's a story as old as scripture.

They invoked the name of Rome against these Jewish men saying they were bringing unlawful customs and disturbing the city. The crowd attacked them, the magistrates attacked them. They were stripped and beaten. They were imprisoned and "kept securely." This means they were tossed deep in the prison and bound in stocks. Stuck in their own version of Folsom, they were in no place to see the sunshine.

In our day and age, Christians are the virtual majority, nominally if not actually. We are the crowd and the magistrates. It's when we see nuts and wackos that we begin to worry.

As disciples, we need to discern the message of prophets to see how they line up with what Christ wants in our world. I believe when we do this, we will be much more suspect of the people who represent the society and accepting of the people who look like they don't belong.

Just like in Acts 16. Real disciples may not see the sunshine, but they may have a far better grip on the Son-shine than most others.