Acts 16: 16-40
About Midnight

Why not a passage on the resurrection…? 

In the New Testament there are passages that speak of the resurrection itself, and there are many other passages which do not mention the resurrection directly, yet still demonstrate the implications of Jesus’ resurrection for the lives of his followers. 

Today we pick up the trail of Paul in Philippi, a Roman colony in the region of Macedonia where Paul has come in response to a dream.  He has already begun to preach and at least one person, Lydia (a god fearing Gentile) has believed and welcomed the Christian missionaries into her home. 

As I read, consider:  How do we see Resurrection Life at work in Paul and Silas?

Scripture Reading 
In his play, “No Exit”, Jean Paul Sartre presents us with three people who have been locked away together in Hell.  But this Hell is not at all what they had expected.  There are no torture chambers or assaulting demons – only a room without windows or mirrors behind a door in a hall in a seemingly endless hotel, where the lights are never turned off, no one ever sleeps , and it’s a bit too warm for anyone’s comfort.  The room is appointed with three couches, one for each of the three new residents who discover – to their terror – that they’ve each been condemned to occupy this same small space together forever: an eternity without rest from others. 

The central player, Garcin, quickly realizes that in this Hell he no longer has the physical capacity to blink. 

GARCIN: … …Ah, I see; it’s life without a break.

      (Sartre, No Exit, 3)

GARCIN:  So one has to live with one’s eyes open all the time?

VALET:  To live, did you say?

      (Sartre, No Exit, 4) 

The entire play takes place within the one room.  And as dialog progresses each character eventually discloses the terrible sins they committed on earth and for which they were assigned to Hell:  murder and betrayal, envy and adultery and cowardice.  Eventually the three souls recognize that they have, in fact, been hand-selected to torment one another eternally. 
Throughout the play, Garcin, tries and fails again and again to retreat into the recesses of his own mind and escape the constant gaze and invasive chatter of his two companions by covering his face with his hands. 

GARCIN:  …I want to think things out, you know; to set my life in order.

      (Sartre, So Exit, 7) 

At one point the door opens, but Garcin lacks the courage to leave, fearful of what lies outside and wanting the approval of his companions. 

At the climax, Garcin famously concludes… 

GARCIN:  …There’s no need for red-hot pokers.  HELL IS—OTHER PEOPLE!

     (Sartre, No Exit, 47) 

Sartre (who is still massively influential in contemporary culture) wants us to conclude that we should have no concern for what other people think and take absolute responsibility for ourselves and to ourselves alone, judging ourselves alone, determining life solely by individual choice.  So we escape this Hell of others by radically rejecting the judgments of others and deciding for ourselves alone.  By doing so, we take up the proper human role of a “being-for-itself” and thus the world will be a better place as people choose according to their true desires (not the desires of others). 

This notion of personal autonomy does have a certain appeal to the self doesn’t it?   (But is it true?) 

As a Christian I emphatically disagree with Sartre’s conclusion in No Exit, yet I think his drama does highlight some of the darker follies of human (sin) nature. 

We can become so consumed with our own self-centered thoughts and desires, always in comparison with other people, that we end up creating a kind of Hell on earth where so much human interaction becomes driven by selfish and deceitful manipulation of our neighbors (our spouses, our parents, our children, our friends, our co-workers), always wanting to dominate the next person and yet desiring their favor in the same moment. 

We ask ourselves…

How can I get what I want out of other people?  How can I get other people out of my way?  And yet, How can I live unless I have their approval? 

Christian disciples don’t have to live this way.  On the one hand we cannot accept Sartre’s radical individualism because we know we are accountable to our neighbors.  And yet, on the other hand, we cannot live simply by reference to other people, because we bear a testimony that there is a Higher Reference, a Higher Person, a Higher Judge, a Living God. 
Our salvation lies not in ourselves, but in Another. 

Acts 16:25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 

Locked away in the inner prison, their feet bound to the stocks in shackles, stripped naked and bearing the marks of the rod on their backs from the public beating and humiliation.  And yet… 
(Acts 16:25) About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God… 

Even if there were no earthquake and the foundations were not shaken, if the doors had stayed closed and the shackles tight, it seems to me we would already have in verse 25 one of the most hopeful passages in all of Scripture. 

Acts 16:25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 

Paul and Silas, bound there in the inner prison, did not brood over their past sins and bad decisions; we are not told whether they wondered, “Why did we ever come to Macedonia?  What business have we in Roman Philippi?”  They were not filled with regret and worry over damaged reputation. They did not begin blaming one another or shouting down the guards.  They did not pride themselves in their individual freedom of decision.

Paul and Silas have a higher Reference Point – a Referent outside of themselves.  Prison doors cannot bar away the presence of the Living God.  Shackles cannot bind the heart of praise. 

The two men probably did not feel like singing that night. 

It wasn’t like Sunday morning coming to church after you’ve had a decent week and you’re heartened by the familiar tune on the piano, well dressed in a warm room full of people who share your confession, poised to receive Word and Sacrament. 

It wasn’t like that.  In Philippi it was about midnight… 

What do you do when it’s “about midnight” in your own life?  Where do you turn when your circumstances seem to bind in all around you?  When you are accused by others and condemned as a disruptor for the sake of your devotion to Christ, when it just doesn’t seem to make sense anymore to bear your cross, when your Christian faith causes trouble for others – be it your spouse, your children, your mother, or your boss – do you resort to shame and blame, self-pity and despair?  Or can you, in that place, lift your voice to worship the Living God. 

When it’s about midnight and the shackles are feeling tight…the answer for Christians is worship.  It’s not so much looking inward as looking upward and outward. 

You will not find the solution in yourself.  It needs to come from outside – extra nos. We’re not turning to ourselves but to our Savior. 
If Paul and Silas can worship while bearing physical bruises and chains, there is hope that you and I can learn to worship while bearing psychological and spiritual bruises and chains – as well as physical ones if it comes to it. 

There in the darkness, in the damp and the cold and the misery of that cell, yet there was worship – two new inmates calling out in prayer and song to their God. 
…and the prisoners were listening to them, 

The world is hungry for this kind of hope – skeptical and suspect, yes, but hungry and desperate all the same. 

What is it with these men?  Where do they get this relentless hope? What gives with Paul?  Why not give up or give in?  Does he not ever despair?  Why does he even care about the people of Roman Philippi?  Does he have some secret selfish motive?  No. 

Paul and Silas are convinced in every inch of their beings that Messiah is alive – that Messiah was killed on a Roman cross and buried outside Jerusalem, but then he got up from his grave.  The same Jesus whom Paul had once despised turned out to be his Savior.  Jesus met him on the road, gave him a second chance and sent him on a mission.  And Paul’s not gonna pass up that chance sitting down or looking backwards simply because he’s stuck in a Roman jail. 

Paul is not a “being-for-itself” (i.e. “a man for himself”) as Sartre would have us all become (in his utopia of self-interest).  No, Paul is a being-for-Jesus Christ.  He follows the one who gave his life as a man for others.  He lives and prays and sings because Jesus himself is alive.  So it is here on the lips of worship we find the implications of Resurrection Life for the Christian. 

And True worship changes everything. 

The worshipful posture of Paul and Silas stands in stark contrast to that of the people around them in this Roman colony.  The presence of the gospel shines like a light, exposing the deeds of darkness. 

      The slave owners

      The jailer,

      The magistrates 

1.  Slave owners : gospel exposes greed

Acts 16:16-21 16 As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.  17 She followed Paul and us, crying out, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation."  18 And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour. 

[Where your text says “a spirit of divination”, the Greek reads literally “a Python spirit”.  The most famous oracle in the Empire was the oracle at Delphi (formerly Pythia), where a spirit envisioned as a snake spoke through women as fortune telling priestesses (called Pythiai), and all of this inspired by the Pythian god, Apollo (whom is said to have defeated the Python spirit, cf. Ovid). (cf. Witherington, Acts)] 

Divination, augury, fortune-telling and soothsaying were common religious practices and also lucrative practices in the ancient world.

This girl apparently was not a pretender, but one genuinely possessed of a powerful demonic spirit of some kind. Her declaration is true in a way, but unspecified – and therefore misleading.  From her lips “the most High God” may be perceived as Jupiter or Zeus – head of the Pantheon.  From her lips salvation may also be generic. 

[The term “Most High God” (tou/ qeou/ tou/ u`yi,stou) was a biblically warranted, but rare way of referring to the God of Israel. Yet it was also a way of referring to any perceived “Most High God”.] 

At any rate, Paul (like Jesus) did not accept testimony from demons and he not only silenced her, but also delivered her for the afflicting spirit – “in the name of Jesus Christ”.  Paul does not worship a generic deity, but only the God revealed in Jesus of Nazareth. 

19 But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.  20 And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, "These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city.  21 They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice." 

These people have a business partnership, and Paul has destroyed their source of revenue.   Apparently, in the ancient world, much like today, to damage income or to cut cash flow was a cardinal sin, regardless of the motive behind the cut. 

When the spirit goes out, so goes the slave owners hope of gain.

[The same word - evxh/lqen – is used to describe the spirit leaving and the hope of gain leaving.] 

Her owners are what we call money-motivated and they could care less about the condition of the girl who has been working for them.  She was a means to an end, having lost her lucrative talent, she has lost her value to them.  Money itself is a classic stumbling block which easily tempts us to manipulate others for our own gain without regard for their welfare.  Money often blinds us to true value, and works to conceal much evil.  It is not evil in itself, but it is the root of all kinds of evil which contributes to the kind of Hell which Sartre envisions. 
In our own culture we tend to speak of income and employment as unqualified goods.  Generating revenue is counted as virtue; it matters little what generates cash flow so long as the cash keeps coming in.  If the product degrades people or exploits people, who cares, so long as profit margins trend upward. 

No, not all employment is good.  Not all income is worthy.

If you are employed in and/ or gaining income from the exploitation of others then that’s a problem.  If your income source is also a source of oppression or degradation, then as a Christian, its time for that income stream to cease –  and to bear it without complaint. 

The slave owners, in their money driven rage, prove that, though they are in the business of religion, yet they have no true transcendent reference.  They don’t understand worship (like Paul and Silas). 

the jailer: the gospel exposes pride

Acts 16:27-28 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.  28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here." 

For the Romans and Greeks suicide was considered a noble action.  The Roman motto was “death before dishonor”.  The jailer was accountable for missing prisoners, and the law generally required that he himself would bear any punishment intended for escapees – whether public beating or public execution.  Having failed in his duty, suicide was the only noble option remaining.

The Roman Writer, Pliny the Elder, a contemporary of Luke, says:

“...Life is not so desirable a thing as to be protracted at any cost. Whoever you are, you are sure to die, even though your life has been full of abomination and crime. The chief of all remedies for a troubled mind is the feeling that among the blessings which Nature gives to man, there is none greater than an opportune death; and the best of it is that every one can avail himself of it.”

      { Hist. Nat. Lib. xxviii., 1.} 

So in good Roman fashion the jailer draws his blade for the deed.  But a voice calls in the dark, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here." 

The doors are opened and the shackles are loosed, but Paul and the prisoners remain.  Why call on the jailer?  Does not Paul wish to escape? 

No.  Because, unlike the jailer, Paul is already free.  His is not the freedom of an independent conscience, but the freedom of a conscience bound to Jesus Christ – and Paul wants to help the jailer escape; it’s why he came to Philippi – because he loves people like this jailer. 

The jailer is the one who is still bound to a system which bases his worth entirely on performance and personal pride and worldly success.  Paul has a new measure of success and salvation – the name of Jesus Christ. 

Acts 16:30-31 Then he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"  31 And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." 

Arthur Schopenhauer, a German atheistic philosopher of the 18th century, once complained that the Christian clergy had no solid warrant for condemning suicide, defying them to provide arguments. 

“The extraordinary energy and zeal with which the clergy of monotheistic religions attack suicide is not supported either by any passages in the Bible or by any considerations of weight; so that it looks as though they must have some secret reason for their contention.”

      (Schopenhauer, Studies In Pessimism: Immortality: On Suicide) 

I would suggest to Schopenhauer that the only secret reason for our contention, as Christians, against suicide is the open secret at the center of our confession – that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, that in his death he atoned for all our sins and purchased us for God – so that now, belonging to him, we have no right to declare our own lives unworthy when God has named us infinitely worthy in Jesus Christ.  To do so would be an offense to the cross.  All our dishonor was crucified there – all our shame, our despair, our pain is answered there – and by virtue of the resurrection His honor now belongs to us. 

I don’t think suicide is the unpardonable sin for Christians – Christians are still vulnerable to despair, and so we must speak to one another mercifully when tempted and support one another in reminder of our hope – but suicide is a heinous sin in so far as it disregards what He has called lovely – that for which He died.  And it misunderstands the power of Resurrection Life. 

Please don’t harm yourself Mr. Jailer; I’ve got good news to tell you. 

It is because we have hope Mr. Schopenhauer that we do not kill ourselves. 

Some of you have asked me recently why the resurrection is so important (once you’ve got the atoning death).  Well…if all you’ve got is a dead Messiah, then death still has the victory.  If his bones are still there in the tomb, then Christ died for nothing and we are still in our sins. 

But if He did get up, then all his words are vindicated for us, then all God’s promises are “yes” for us in Jesus Christ; our salvation is already won (no matter what else may occur); it is His resurrection which secures our hope. 

Without resurrection there truly is “No Exit” from the human predicament. 

In the same essay Schopenhauer speculates about why Christians might be anti-suicide; he says… 

“The inmost kernel of Christianity is the truth that suffering--_the Cross_--is the real end and object of life. Hence Christianity condemns suicide as thwarting this end; whilst the ancient world, taking a lower point of view, held it in approval, nay, in honor.”

      (Schopenhauer, Studies In Pessimism: Immortality: On Suicide) 

Nay, Mr. Schopenhauer, here again you have missed the heart of Christian confession.  Yours is the conclusion of a mind with no category for resurrection.  Yes, the cross enables us to suffer with redemptive purpose like Jesus, like Paul and Silas do here.  But no, suffering is by no means the end and object of the Christian life.  Nay, our end and object is the worship and glory of the Living God. 

It is the resurrection of Messiah, which demonstrates to all humanity, that Israel’s God is the Only God worthy of worship.  His resurrection is not myth, but reality.  And in his resurrection, by baptism through faith, we have also already been raised. 

Colossians 3:1-4 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 

the magistrates :  gospel exposes fear 
At long last Paul claims his rights as a Roman Citizen… 

Acts 16:37-39 37 But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out."  38 The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens.  39 So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. 

The magistrates beat Paul and Silas to appease the crowd.  They never even questioned them.  They were not interested in justice.  They were interested in keeping an unjust peace to maintain the status quo.  They show no interest in learning what the disruption is really all about.  They assume these Jews are foreigners, without considering that they could be citizens.  So now those who at first took advantage to abuse a person of lower social status, these now fear for their own status because of their corruption of Roman law. 

Why didn’t Paul play this card before…?  And why pull it now? 

It’s his second chance to walk away, and yet he refuses to leave the jailhouse.  Is he a glutton for punishment? 

Once again, Paul does this because he’s here for mission.  He wants those officials to know that it’s not just another disruptive Jew, but a fellow Roman who preaches this salvation in Jesus Christ.  He does it for the sake of the reputation of the church, but - more importantly - for the sake of these officials themselves.  They and all of Philippi should know that Romans also worship Jesus. 

Here the authorities wish to be rid of one who messes with their system, but if Paul himself is a member of their system, then the stakes are higher. He and his disruptive proclamation may just break the Roman matrix all together – esp. if earthquakes follow with him; the foundations are truly beginning to shake in the Empire. 

After all, the crowds in the next town will complain that these missionaries “have turned the world upside down.” (Acts 17:6) 

The church of Jesus Christ does not operate on a spiritual jet-stream above the political sphere.  No, our confession and our practice take shape within the world of human events and political upheaval.  Confessing Christ does not transport us out of the world.  We still hold our various citizenship identity cards, homelands, power structures, and the blessings and curses which go together with them.  If you are an American citizen, then wherever you travel you carry that identity and its political implications with you – and you need not pretend otherwise.  It may seem to your advantage in some places and to your disadvantage in others, but you cannot and need not escape this political identity altogether as a Christian.  The vital question is not how do I avoid political entanglement, but how do I operate as a Christian within the political world of nation states and I. D. cards.  Paul plays his role to the upmost advantage for the name of Jesus and the reputation of Christ’s church. 

Once again, the magistrates see only one plane here, but Paul understands there are two.  He did not shout about his citizenship during the mock trial and beating, perhaps because he didn’t have the chance, but perhaps more likely because he did not want anyone to suppose that he was not willing to suffer for the name of Jesus, his true king. 

This is the power of resurrection life, not suffering for the sake of suffering, but suffering to demonstrate for others the indestructible power of the Living Christ. 

His visit to Lydia to encourage the brothers is another defiant step, showing his freedom to leave the city at his leisure.   And his encouragement to the new believers, was probably not so much “look how much we suffered for Jesus” but “look what God does when we worship him” 

Conclusion

Paul would later write to the new church in Philippi, instructing them to…

Philippians 4:4-7 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.  5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;  6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

And to the church in Colossae he wrote:

Colossians 3:14-17   15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.  16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.  17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 

Francis Schaeffer says this in his book True Spirituality:

“When I lack proper contentment, I have forgotten that God is god.  We are now speaking about a practical test to judge if we are coveting against God.  A quiet disposition and a heart giving thanks is the real test of the extent to which we love and trust God at that moment.  I would like to give some strong words to you from the Bible to remind us that this is God’s own standard for Christians.  “But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient; but, rather giving of thanks” (Ephesians 5:3, 4).

Thus, this “giving of thanks” is in contrast to the whole black list that stands above.  In Ephesians 5:20 it is even stronger: “giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  How inclusive are these “all things” for which we are to give thanks?  These same “all things” are also mentioned in the book of Romans (chapter 8, verse 28): “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love /god to them who are the called according to his purpose.”  This is not a kind of magic; the infinite-personal God promises that He will work all things together for the Christian’s good.” 

“It is not that Christians are to “give thanks” with a plastic smile, saying things are wonderful when they are hard.  It is knowing that the hard things are really hard things, a result of the abnormality since the Fall, yet not revolting against God when the hard things come.

It is in this sense we are to say, “thank you.”  I know that even out of this part of the battle and tears, my Heavenly Father will bring good – even though I may not know how all the pieces fit together”

      (Francis Shaeffer, True Spirituality, 8-10) 

It is our personal connection to the Risen Savior demonstrated in worship that ensures deliverance from the bleak Hell of Sartre’s No Exit.  It is the Savior himself who delivers us from the black battle with ourselves, within our own minds and hearts, and the battle with others.  We don’t have to contend selfishly anymore for Jesus has loved us; He contends for us, and the battle belongs to Him.  It is Jesus alone who enables us to praise in the dark of midnight like Paul and Silas. 

Can you imagine what it would be like if in the performance of Sartre’s play one of the characters were to stand up and just begin praising Jesus Christ there in the confines of Hell?  What an astounding shock it would be to the audience! 

And it is an astounding shock to the audience today. 

This is the world that we live in. 

So many people believe that the world of sadistic self-interest which Sartre describes is, in fact, the only world there is.  But every time we lift our voices above the din to call upon the name of Christ we testify that the world is not at all as dark they surmise – that it is not a closed system from which we can only turn inward for escape, but there is a Living God and Savior who has loved the world and whose love requires our praise. 

I encourage you Christian, praise Him, worship Him, and demonstrate his living glory to a watching world!  And remember that the other prisoners are listening.