“A Liberating Faith” – Acts 16:25-34 – May 20, 2007

Each year approximately 600,000 prisoners are released from prison. Unfortunately two thirds of them will return within three years. Since most prisoners are released into a world without sufficient support systems, adequate job training and social skills they are not able to assimilate into society. Those who do adjust have truly been rehabilitated or transformed.

Paul and Silas were imprisoned, not because of a crime, but because of their beliefs. They were in the transformation business, converting pagans to the Christian faith, saving the lost, and restoring lives to wholeness.

Paul and Silas were men of faith who weren’t afraid to rock the boat. Their mission was to strengthen the church and bring new people into the faith. They frequently spoke out and did some things that really went against the grain. They stood up for their beliefs and in the process they were beaten badly and thrown in jail for trying to right a wrong.

They silenced a slave girl who was doing some fortune telling. Some men were profiting from the girl and exploiting her talents. Those who were making money at the expense of the slave girl accused Paul and Silas of breaking local traditions and had them arrested. No one cared about the slave girl, except for Paul and Silas, but their courage to stand up for her made them condemned men. They had liberated a woman who was being taken advantage of because they were passionate about those who were oppressed. But, some mean spirited men, who only cared about their profits, brought charges against them.

While they were in prison they sang and prayed. They didn't complain or whine or give up. Instead they witnessed to their faith. They were not ashamed of their beliefs and they weren't afraid to make their faith visible. Paul and Silas were free to express their faith even while confined. They used their confinement as an opportunity to worship.

During their imprisonment there was an earthquake and the doors of the cell became opened and their chains were unfastened. In the midst of their confinement they were liberated by the grace of God. Then they were free, but they didn’t flee. Instead they were concerned for the jailor who was about to kill himself for losing his prisoners. “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here,” they shouted.

As men of faith, Paul and Silas used every opportunity to liberate others. They liberated both the slave girl and the jailor. They too are liberated from their confined situation. The fact that they were in a prison cell, chained to the walls, did not keep them from being free.

I believe the great prison escape of Paul and Silas is a symbol of God’s grace upon the faithful. Nothing can separate us from the love of God, including prison walls. We are free, not because we aren’t behind bars, but because we can express our faith with confidence and joy. God wants us all to be liberated; from fear, from guilt, from despair. We experience that liberation when we spend our lives liberating others. Just as God used the earthquake to free the two disciples, God will free us as well.

Paul and Silas used their imprisonment as an opportunity to share their faith. They made the best of a bad situation by praying and singing hymns. Did you know that Sir Walter Raleigh wrote “The History of the World” during his sixteen year imprisonment? Martin Luther translated the Bible from Latin into German while under house arrest at Wartburg Castle. John Bunyan wrote “Pilgrim’s Progress” in the Bedford jail. Martin Luther King wrote his most famous treatise against segregation from a cell in a Birmingham jail.

Others have made tremendous contributions to society while being confined, but not behind bars. Beethoven, for example, composed some of his greatest music after becoming deaf. John Milton wrote most of his spiritual poems after going blind. Joni Eareckson became paralyzed after an automobile accident, but afterward she became a much-loved speaker, singer, writer and artist.

Imprisonment, paralysis, or disabilities can make our lives one of hopelessness and despair. On the other hand, we can embrace our predicament and be liberated by using our talents to help others. God wants us to share our talents and our faith. Sharing our faith with others is what saves the lost and gives people hope.

Too often we allow fear to imprison on. Perhaps we are afraid of the unknown or we are afraid to change. And sometimes there is a way out but we can’t see because fear holds us back.

One time Mishi Dobos stopped by his family’s summer cottage to see if there were any repairs that needed to be done. He happened to notice the garden well, a solid brick structure, four feet in diameter. He walked over to the well with a flashlight and peered into the abyss. He didn’t notice the moss on the rim and unfortunately he plummeted feet first into the seventy-four-foot shaft. Thankfully he landed in soft mud which kept him from getting seriously hurt. For three days, Mishi shouted for help but no help came.

On the fourth day he was attempting to make a place to sit. He ripped off a carpenter’s clamp which is a foot-long piece of metal with upturned ends, from some rotting wood. He wondered how that might help him. He studied the well walls and noticed a brick was missing. An idea came to him. He could use the clamp to chip out bricks in a staggered pattern and climb up the wall. Mishi went to work and three days later he removed enough bricks to climb out of the well.

Sometimes there is a way out of our predicament but we are so overwhelmed with fear and anxiety that we simply don’t see it. For Paul and Silas, God provided an earthquake. For Mishi, God provided a carpenter’s clamp. In both situations those imprisoned or trapped were liberated by the grace of God.

I believe that what imprisons us more than anything is guilt. Guilt holds us back. Guilt causes us stress and unhappiness. Guilt keeps prevents us from moving forward. As long as we are experiencing guilt, we are not free.

In February, 1960, Adolf Coors III was kidnapped and held for ransom. His body was found seven months later on a remote hillside. He had been shot to death. His son, Adolf Coors IV was fifteen years old at the time. He lost his father and his best friend. For years, Coors hated Joseph Corbett, the man who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for murdering the elder Coors.

Fifteen years later Coors became a Christian, just like the jailor in our story. His life was transformed. He realized his hatred for Corbet hindered his growth as a person of faith and alienated him from other people. He prayed, asking God to help him. Finally Coors decided to visit his father’s slayer at Canon City Penitentiary in Colorado. Corbett refused to see him so Coors left a Bible for him with an inscription. It read, “I’m here to see you today and I’m sorry that we could not meet. As a Christian man I am compelled to forgive you and ask you to forgive me for the hatred for you I have held in my heart.” After fifteen years, young Coors was free.

Forgiveness can collapse the walls of shame or guilt. Forgiveness sets us free and enables us to live our lives in wholeness and peace. It is most likely that the jailor experienced forgiveness from Paul and Silas and likewise the young slave girl also experienced forgiveness for her evil ways. We can be certain that they were both liberated because of the faith of two believers. And, it was also the faith of Paul and Silas that enabled them to be liberated from prison. Once again they were free to express their faith beyond the walls of prison.

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio