These events we read today occurred during Paul’s second missionary journey. Paul has travelled overland from Antioch in Syria, through modern day Turkey. He then crosses the Agean Sea by boat and enters modern day Greece. He is probably the first Christian missionary to set forth in Europe. He has bypassed whole provinces to get there. He has gone there in response to a revelation. And the first major city Paul reaches is Philippi. We know of Philippi because of the letter to the Philippians. Paul would write that some 10 years after the events we read about today. It is a letter full of affection and Christian love. For Paul writes it from house arrest in Rome, to thank the Philippians for the gift they have sent him.
But how come there was a church in Philippi at all? That is what Acts chapter 16 is about. There is a church there because Paul and Silas and Timothy went there. They preached the gospel there. They suffered for the gospel there. And God blessed their faithful gospel witness.
The city of Philippi was a proud city. It was a Roman colony. It was like a massive RSL club. Because Philippi was where Roman soldiers went to retire. It was governed as if it was in Italy. So it had all the privileges of Rome. It was a Rome away from home, if you like.
It doesn’t seem that there was a large Jewish presence in Philippi at all. There was apparently no synagogue within the city. There probably was no building. Paul doesn’t meet any Jewish men. He does, however, meet some women by the river. However, there is no evidence that they are Jewish. We learn about one of those women: Lydia. Her name isn’t Jewish. She is described as one who worships God. And often that description refers to the Gentiles who gathered around the synagogue to worship the God of Israel. So it seems probable that Lydia was a Gentile. Paul went looking for the Jewish men, and it seems he only found Gentile women. But that didn’t stop him preaching the gospel.
Lydia was also reasonably wealthy. We know this because she traded in purple cloth. Purple dye was very expensive. Purple clothes were only worn by royalty or rich people. So she moved in the upper socio-economic strata of society. She was also the head of her household, a matriarch, and a patroness. Perhaps she was widowed, perhaps single. Either way, she was responsible for the dependents under her roof. Moreover, she had a house in which Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke could lodge with propriety. Later, the church would meet in her house (Acts 16:40). So she seems a substantial woman, of means.
But the most important thing about Lydia is this. She became a Christian. Acts chapter 16 verse 14:
One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. (Acts 16:14 NIV)
By the river outside Philippi, a miracle was happening. The heart surgeon, the Lord Jesus Christ was busy. Jesus did his open-heart surgery on Lydia. That’s why she could respond to Paul’s message
You see, the Lord must work faith in Christ in us, if we are to have faith in him as Lord. God must give us faith in Jesus. There is no other way.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV)
Even the faith that unites us to Jesus, that saves and justifies us, is itself a gift from God, and not from ourselves.
Why must this be? Because we are so dull and sinful and slow of heart to believe that God must open up our hearts to give us the faith that we should have, but don’t. Our articles talk about this. God must work in us, if we are to work out faith in Christ. Article 10 of the 39 articles, found in the back of prayer books says:
The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such, that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and good works, to faith , and calling upon God: Wherefore, we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing (that is, going before) us, that we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will.
We need prevenient grace. The grace that goes before. We need an effectually calling by the Holy Spirit, so that we will come to God. Not just an outward call, from the words of the gospel, although we need that. But in addition we need an inner, effectual call, by the Holy Spirit, that gives us faith in the Son so we can be saved.
And we see the effects of the Lord’s open-heart surgery on Lydia in verse 15.
When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us. (Acts 16:15 NIV)
I’ve heard it said that the last part of a person converted is the wallet. But not here. No, Lydia, becomes a Christian, she leads her whole household to faith in Christ. And then she puts all her resources at the disposal of the gospel. ‘I have a house, you have bodies that need food and shelter. Come over, Paul, Silas, Timothy, Luke and whoever else. My home is your home. Enjoy my hospitality. For I am a believer in the Lord, too. We are now brother and sister in Christ.’
And like a very clever aunt or grandma, Lydia knows the arguments to use to make Paul accept her generosity. ‘If you don’t come and stay with me, is it because you don’t think I’m really a Christian?’ So Lydia gets them to stay over. And in this way Paul and his companions saw how faithful Jesus is when he promised:
Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. (Mark 10:29-30 NIV)
Lydia practiced hospitality. And we too are called to practice hospitality. The New Testament commands every Christian to practice hospitality (Romans 12:13, Hebrews 13:2, 1 Peter 4:9).
The first Protestant bible I had was a cheap NIV give away bible. And there was a misprint on Romans 12:13, ‘Practice hospitality’. The verse was there twice. Obviously it was something that God wanted me to do!
God has provided everything we have for us. And we get to be like him. We get to give. That’s how we are made more and more like Jesus. We get to be like God. We get to be kind and generous, and give rather than receive. We get to be the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to other Christians, to be their family now. We get to be hospitable. We get to give.
Well, in Philippi there was another lady. She was way over at the other end of the socio-economic spectrum. She was a slave girl. Worse than that for her, she had a demon, an unclean spirit. And she was used by her masters as kind of a travelling fortune-teller. She was a good little earner for them.
But it seems that, just as the demons knew who Jesus was[1], so this spirit that possessed her knew who Paul and his companions were. Chapter 16 verses 17 to 18:
This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants [stronger – slaves] of the Most High God, who are telling you the way [or a way] to be saved." She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her. (Acts 16:17-18 NIV)
Now this whole situation is very interesting for a lot of reasons. For example, what did the spirit mean? Was this evil spirit distorting the message somehow? And if it was speaking the truth, why did Paul get upset about it? Wasn’t it free advertising?
Paul and his companions certainly were slaves of the Most High God. And they were certainly telling people the way to be saved. In fact, eternal salvation is the very thing they offer. This is Paul’s program.
For this is what the Lord has commanded us: "'I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'" (Acts 13:47 quoting Isaiah 49:6 NIV)
Jesus is for all, his death was for both Jews and Gentiles. All people can be saved through his death and resurrection. So that people can be saved from hell and given a place in the new heaven and earth. So we know that the slave girl is speaking truthfully.
So why was Paul disturbed? Well, there are ways to announce things, aren’t there. Paul usually didn’t stand on street corners and yell at people. He went to synagogues, he went to homes, he hired his own halls. He conversed with people, he didn’t yell at them. There are socially appropriate ways and times and places to share the gospel with people. And perhaps Paul thought that yelling at people in the middle of the city wasn’t an appropriate one.
I have seen a couple of times now a group of middle aged men. They would walk down the main street of a shopping centre. They wear conservative clothes, they carry placards and signs, one had a piano accordian, one wore a PA on his back while the other held the microphone. They sung a hymn. As they walked, someone preached the message. Their message was spot on. 'Believe in Jesus and you will be saved from hell because Jesus died on the cross.'
But the manner was weird. They looked weird, they weren’t looking at people, they were just sending these words and noises into the air. It was creating a spectacle, not communicating with people. It wasn’t preaching that sought to communicate in a relationship. It just sought to throw a true message into the air, and walk on.
The mistake wasn’t that they were in public, as if the gospel of Jesus is only for private space. Nor is it that I’m against soap-box preaching, if that is culturally appropriate – although we don’t have a culture of that anymore. Our message is appropriate for the public space. But a much better way is talking to people one to one, inviting people to engage with us, to converse with us. Asking people if they would like to hear about Jesus, and then speaking with them, not at them. There are other ways, Setting up a bookstall on a corner and offering free bibles and conversations to passers by. Or going down to a local park and talk to people who were sitting down. It preaches the same message in public, but does so in relationship and in ways that are culturally acceptable – ways which aren’t weird.
So for mine, I’m not surprised that Paul was annoyed about this slave-girl. My guess is he didn’t want to create a spectacle for his young church. And the reason he didn’t rebuke the spirit sooner was probably that he could foresee what the consequences would be. But sometimes, there is only so much you can put up with.
But when Paul sent the spirit out of her, that wasn’t all that went out. Verses 19 to 21
When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice." (Act 16:19-21 NIV)
When the Spirit went out of the girl, so did the owners hope of profit. They didn’t care so much about the girl. She was just a unit of production. So what if she had a demon? She was useful for making money. Throw in a dash of anti-Semitism, a bit of rabble rousing, and a thoroughly us-and-them attitude, and you had the sum total of their claim against Paul. ‘This new message is alien and expensive and it has cost us. We want to see some punishment!’
The gospel of Jesus is always expensive, wherever it goes. Because it sees people as more important than profit. And honouring God and his Christ as more important than money.
Take modern Australian society. Our government is thoroughly indebted to having a population, or a part of it, that gambles, drinks alcohol and smokes. The state wouldn’t be able to provide the services it does without revenue from these sources.
It is a well known axiom in law that it is cheaper to kill than to maim. That’s why things like abortion and euthanasia will always be attractive to a materialistic, hedonistic, society. It minimizes discomfort and gives us more pocket money!
Jesus himself said that we cannot serve both God and money. We would be devoted to one, and despise the other. And Lydia and the slave owners provide an example of each devotion. Lydia is devoted to God. So she is generous and opens her home up to the gospel and it’s use. The slave owners are devoted to money. So when their slave girl is released from demonic possession, all they can think about is their loss of profit. One gives open handedly, the other takes greedily. We need to trust Jesus when he said, ‘it is more blessed to give than receive’. We need to do what is right, not what is profitable.
Well, Paul and Silas end up in prison. Quite unjustly, we might add. But through this injustice, God is going to bring about salvation. That is the way God loves to work, it seems – whether it is Joseph, or Daniel, or David or the Prophets like Ezekiel and Isaiah, or like Jesus himself. Through human wickedness God brings salvation. For that is why Paul and Silas are in Philippi: to bring the message of salvation.
Paul and Silas are treated harshly and unjustly. But through this treatment, and their response to it, they will save one of their oppressors. Paul and Silas are handed over to the jailer, and he puts their feet in stocks in the high security section of the prison. They respond to this injustice not with cursing, not with complaint, but with prayer and praise. Though he slays me, yet I will trust in him. And then God works a miracle. He sends an earthquake, strong enough to open the doors and loosen everyone’s chains, but moderate enough not to bring the roof of the prison down. What a clever earthquake God sent!
And so Paul started singing, ‘My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth and followed thee!’ Paul got up, and like the Apostles in Acts chapter 5, and like Peter in Acts chapter 12, he and Silas walked out of the prison.
No, Paul didn’t do that! Paul and Silas stayed where they were. And what’s more impressive, they persuaded the other prisoners not to escape.
Why? They were loving their enemies. Jesus taught his disciples:
27 " Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. … 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:27-37 NIV)
What happened to the jailers in chapter 12 when Peter escaped? They were put to death! (Acts 12:19) That was the standard punishment for having a prisoner escape on your watch. So Paul didn’t do that. He loved the jailer, his persecutor, that threw him into the high security prison and fastened his feet in stocks. And this gave him a wonderful opportunity for ministry.
27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!" 29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved - you and your household." (Acts 16:27-31 NIV)
Paul and Silas have come to Philippi to tell people the way to be saved. And their love of their enemy, the jailer, has given them an opportunity to see salvation extended to one of their persecutors. In fact, the jailer’s whole family that night was baptized. The jailer took Paul and Silas and washed their wounds. And they took the jailer and washed his sins away. And then they shared a midnight meal together. Again, Christian faith is expressed through hospitality and Christian generosity.
Paul could have thought of himself, and walked out. But this house would this night have been a house of mourning. A wife now widowed, children now orphaned. But because Paul and Silas thought of others, and stayed, this whole family was saved not just this grief, but eternal grief.
The Christianity we see here is full of hope. It is optimistic. It sees behind the persecutor and the enemy a sinner needing to be saved. And why not – was not Paul the arch-persecutor himself? And look what God did for him. It is God’s place for exacting justice on the wicked, not ours. Our place is to extend mercy to the ungrateful and the wicked. Because that is what God is like also. And by loving our enemies we become like God our Father and Jesus the Son, who loves his enemies and does good to those who hate him.
All this doesn’t mean Paul is a doormat. No, Paul is his own man. He is not weak. When he decided not to walk out of jail, he acted deliberately and on principle.
And we see Paul’s strength of character, firmness, and independence at the end of the chapter. In verse 35, the magistrates want Paul and Silas released. They have had a change of heart. They probably realize how unjust they have been. And perhaps the earthquake helped the magistrates come to this conclusion.
The magistrates just want the problem to go away. But Paul refuses to go quietly. ‘No!’ says Paul. ‘You publicly humiliated us. You broke your own law. And now you send some underling to try and get us to quietly disappear. You magistrates come to the prison. You escort us out. You publicly show that you were in the wrong and we were innocent.’
Why does Paul do this? Well, the integrity of the mission is at stake. When Paul and Silas were beaten, their gospel was shamed also. And Paul is thinking about Lydia, her household, the Jailer, and everyone else who has come to Christ. He doesn’t want them stigmatized. So that people would say to them, Oh yes, you too are a bunch of criminals and rabble-rousers and trouble makers. Rather, Paul is making it clear that there is nothing illegal or subversive about Christianity. In this, Paul is caring for the small, infant church that he will leave behind.
That is why he doesn’t obey the leaders. They beg Paul to leave the city. But he doesn’t. At least, not straight away. He is a free man. He has done nothing wrong. So he will go over to Lydia’s and encourage the brothers.
Good to see there are some brothers now! The church in Philippi started off with just women in Lydia’s house. Now there are some men as well. Because men need saving. Men die too, and are judged by God too. So men need to be forgiven, just as much as women. Christianity is not just for women and children. That is a message that Aussie Men need to hear. And only after Paul encourages and comforts and exhorts the church in Lydia’s house does he leave.
Paul no doubt visited them again in his third missionary journey. He expressed the hope of seeing them after his first trial in Rome. But Acts 16 was how the Philippian church was founded. Through Paul’s preaching, a generous lady dressed in purple, and a preserved persecuting jailer.
Let’s pray.
[1] Eg Mark 1:24, Mark 5:7, Luke 4:34, 8:28 cf Mark 9:20