Loving God, you invite us into the kind of loving service that sets the captives free.  Teach us to trust you above all else, and fill us with your love, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

           Way back when Jesus started his public ministry, he read from the Isaiah scroll in the synagogue at Nazareth.  Part of what he read was this: “He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free” (Lk. 4:18).  In today’s reading from Acts, after Jesus’ death and resurrection, there are still captives that need release.  Some of these captives have, quite literally, been put in prison.  Others are not physically chained up, but still need to be set free.

         One of the people in today’s reading who often gets overlooked is the slave girl.  Paul and his companions encounter her at Philippi (in modern day Greece).  She has what is referred to as “a spirit of divination” (Acts 16:16), which apparently allows her to see the truth.  She knows exactly who Paul and Silas are and what they have come to proclaim.  Her owners find this gift to be quite lucrative, as they engage her in the business of fortune-telling.  Paul, however, finds her proclamation to be annoying, and orders the spirit to come out of her in the name of Jesus Christ.

         The spirit, it seems, is compelled to obey, and leaves the girl.  While her owners are greatly upset at the loss of a significant revenue stream, we never hear how the girl feels about any of this!  We also never hear what happens to her.  Was she beaten and punished?  Was she forced into prostitution to make up the lost revenue?  Was she sold?  Converted? Set free?  We just don’t know.

         While the slave girl is the person in the story who would most likely get Jesus’ attention, it is perhaps not surprising that she is treated like a footnote in the story.  The focus, after all, is on Paul and Silas and the conversion of the jailer and his family.  For, even though he is the one with the keys to the jail, it seems that he, too, needs to be set free.

         We know from a previous story in Acts that, when Peter was led out of prison by an angel, the guards were subsequently executed by Herod (Acts 12:19).  Surely a similar fate would have come to the jailer in today’s reading if all of the prisoners were suddenly gone.  This explains why the jailer is ready to fall on his sword when he sees that all of the prison doors are open.  Paul and Silas, however, prevent this from happening.  They shout that they are all still there, which is pretty amazing, all things considered.  As it turns out, the jailer, too, was in need of salvation, and the peace of Christ came to his house that day.

         Throughout the book of Acts, those who believe in Jesus keep getting thrown into prison, and God keeps letting them out.  Sometimes angels are involved – sometimes an earthquake – just as “the word of God is not chained” (2 Tim. 2:9), so throwing followers of Jesus into prison does not stop the spread of the good news.  Just as locked doors cannot keep the risen Jesus away, so, prison doors are no match for the power of God.

         Even today, though, there continue to be captives longing to be set free.  There are still people who have been unjustly imprisoned.  There are still slaves and victims of human trafficking.  There are still people who are trapped in an unjust system and can’t seem to find a way out.  There are still victims of abuse and violence.  Just as Jesus sought release for the captives, so his followers work for justice and peace through organizations like KAIROS (in Canada) and others around the world.

         Some, however, are held captive by things that are not always visible – things like addictions, or fear, or massive debt, or the quest for riches and fame.  And – if Google is to be believed – eating and the quest to lose weight are also things that hold people captive.  There are all kinds of things that can have a hold over us, even when we are not literally being held captive.

         The gospel, however, proclaims that Jesus sets the captives free.  Ironically, Paul speaks of himself as a slave of Jesus Christ, just as the girl in today’s reading proclaims, “these men are slaves of the Most High God” (Acts 16:17).  To be fair, in Greek, the same word can mean either servant or slave.  To be a servant of Jesus Christ is not oppressive, but is based in love – God’s love for us, our love for God, and the love of Christ at work in us for the sake of others.

         Certainly, we are asked to put God above all else in our lives – making God the one in charge, rather than us.  However, unlike other taskmasters, God is loving, trustworthy, and life-giving – setting us free to live in love, because of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Easter 4 (NL 4)                                 Acts 16:16-34

May 8, 2022

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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