The Midnight Special

Acts 16:25-34

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 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. 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. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. 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.

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Well, you wake up in the mornin, you hear the work bell ring,
And they march you to the table to see the same old thing.
Aint no food upon the table, and no pork up in the pan.
But you better not complain, boy, you get in trouble with the man.

Let the Midnight Special shine a light on me,
Let the Midnight Special shine a light on me,
Let the Midnight Special shine a light on me,
Let the Midnight Special shine a everlovin' light on me.

"The Midnight Special" performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival

There are two ways to consider the experience of the prisoner seeing the light of the special. The first is that it is quite possible that that sight could drive a man mad. Every night, after lights out, just when the noises of the night might settle a bit, in comes the light of freedom, shining on your wall, shining in your eyes, and there is nothing a man can do but watch it go by, knowing that it's going to happen again and again and again. Doing time can't be easy, but this reminder freedom may be too much to bear.

But then again, there is always the light of hope. This seems to be the way of the man in the song, waiting for "the Midnight Special shine a everlovin' light on me."

Paul was in this situation. He and Silas were in prison, it was about midnight, and they were singing Psalms. With all of the noises I can imagine around a prison, I can't imagine singing the Psalms at Midnight, but there it is.

Suddenly, an earthquake causes the doors to fly open and the chains to be loosed on all of the prisoners. The jailer, the man trusted with the care of the prisoners knew that if everyone escaped, his life was forfeit. He even drew his sword before even looking because who expects loosed prisoners to stay in their cells? Not that guy for sure.

This is where the witness of verse twenty-eight cries out in the night, "But Paul shouted in a loud voice, 'Do not harm yourself, for weare all here.'"

Paul stayed and Silas stayed because the witness they had to share with the world was more important than running out. Paul and Silas stayed because what they needed to do they could not do as fugitives. They had more important work to do and trusted God that it would not mean leaving them in this jail.

By this witness, the kingdom of heaven became richer. Because these men did not lose hope, the kingdom of heaven became richer. Don't lose hope. The kingdom of heaven is here.

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.

Witching Season

Acts 16:16-18

One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.” 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.

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When I look over my shoulder,
What do you think I see?
Some other cat looking over
His shoulder at me
And he's strange, sure he's strange.

You've got to pick up every stitch,
You've got to pick up every stitch,
Beatniks are out to make it rich,
Oh no, must be the season of the witch,
Must be the season of the witch, yeah,
Must be the season of the witch.

"Season of the Witch" by Donovan

Most of the time, the day passes in a relatively uneventful fashion. More often than not, the day goes as expected. Sure, there will be the periodic blip on the radar, but nothing that is too far out of everyday experience. And then some days, everything is a little off center.

Paul and Silas were heading to the place of prayer when a girl just went nuts! She had a "gift" of divination" and told everyone with ears to hear that “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.” And she just kept it up! She was a dog with a bone and was not giving it up!

She was like the head of a circus parade telling everyone what was behind her, and Paul and Silas were not amused. So Paul exercised the spirit within her, ending her season as a seer.

Here's something odd, the girl is telling the truth. She's doing the right thing, but she's doing it for the wrong reason. She's telling the world the truth about Paul and Silas, but that spirit knows it will be nothing but a pain for Jesus, his apostles, and his disciples when shared poorly. So by the Spirit of Christ, the bad spirit was called out the girl.

This is our call, not just to do the right things, but to do them the right way. When we do them in a way to bring scandal to the gospel, God can keep us from doing it at all.

Rollin' the Bones, Castin' the Lots

Acts 1:24-26

Then they prayed and said, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.

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Always in a hurry, I never stop to worry
Don't see the time flashin' by
Honey, got no money
I'm all sixes and sevens and nines
Say now, baby, I'm the rank outsider
You can be my partner in crime

But baby, get it straight
You got to roll me and call me the tumblin'
Roll me and call me the tumblin' dice

"Tumblin' Dice" by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards recorded by The Rolling Stones

In my faith tradition, the selection of church leaders can be a long and convoluted process. The selection of either Deacons (a ministry of compassion) Elders (a ministry of leadership) begins with a nominating committee. They prayerfully consider those in the congregation who the Lord wants to serve the church. That's right, it's not who they think should lead, they are to discern who God has already called. If they accept the Committee's nomination then the congregation elects them... or not.

Don't get me started on what it takes to ordain and install a Minister in my denomination. There are books written on that subject.

In Acts, the eleven know it's time to be twelve again. They have a set of qualifications. The new 12th will be "one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us--one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection." (Acts 1:21-22) They know who it should be, they just don't know how to pick between the two they finally identified, so they cast lots.

They take a "rank outsider" and make them a full "partner in crime." They do this by rollin' the bones, tumblin' the dice, castin' the lots. They trust not in chance, but that by this humanly random act the divine will intervene and show them the way. They trust the sovereignty of God to take dominion over the lot.

I'm not saying you should flip a coin in the name of the Lord, but I am saying that to make important decisions we must first consider what is important to God, as the eleven did when nominating the 12th. Then let God show you the way. Have faith, trust in the word of the Lord, and know God is always in control.