A party happens when those who are distracted from God recognize and respond to their need for God...

This week, we have been looking at an event from history involving a retired Roman soldier who was a jailer that is recorded for us in a letter in the New Testament of the Bible, called the book of Acts. In Acts 16, the Apostle Paul and his traveling companions were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination.

Luke tells us that upon crossing paths with this demon possessed slave girl and her masters, the slave girl cried out with a loud voice "These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation." After putting up with her presence and proclamation for several days, Paul, annoyed with the situation, confronted the demon who had possessed this girl and, through the power of the Holy Spirit, rid the girl of the demon. However, while the girl was now freed from the enslavement of a demon, she was not freed from the enslavement of her earthly masters.

Upon recognizing that they would no longer be able to exploit the slave girl for a profit, her masters responded by grabbing Paul and Silas and dragging them into the marketplace, where they were accused before the magistrate of disturbing the peace and order of the Roman civil and religious practices by advocating and promoting that the residents of the city become Jewish. As a result of the accusations and the anti-Jewish sentiment in Philippi, Luke tells us that the magistrates pronounced a judgment where they were handed over to the local jailer to be incarcerated for an unspecified period of time. Now in the culture of the 1^st century, the jailer most likely was a retired Roman soldier. During this time in history, and especially in Philippi, Roman soldiers were respected and looked up to.

After being ordered by the magistrate to guard Paul and Silas securely, Luke tells us that the jailer placed Paul and Silas in the inner prison, which was most likely the most secure cell that was located in the center of the prison.  And to make sure that Paul and Silas had no chance to escape, the jailer placed both men in stocks. The jailer, having done his job by locking Paul and Silas in stocks after placing them in a secure cell in the center of the prison could relax.

For the jailer, life was easy. For the jailer, life was comfortable. For the jailer life was comfortable because he was enjoying the rhythm and routine of his life. All of his hard work as a soldier placed him in a position to have financial stability and a comfortable lifestyle. A comfortably simple and stress-free life.  For the jailer it was time to coast and catch some sleep because he was confident and comfortable in his comfortable life that was smooth sailing. However, while the jailer was asleep enjoying his comfortable life, something was about to occur that would shake things up literally and figuratively for the jailer. Something that Luke records for us in Acts 16:25:

 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; ²⁶ and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened. ²⁷ When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.

Luke tells us that about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Evidently, all the prisoners were confined to the “inner cell” overnight. While that would have made the jailers job even more comfortable, this would have been very uncomfortable for the prisoners, who would suffer from overcrowding and poor ventilation.

As Paul and Silas were praying and singing; as the rest of the prisoners listened to Paul and Silas praying and singing, Luke tells us that a violent earthquake shook the prison, opening the doors of the prison and releasing the chains that held all of the prisoners. The jailer, who was asleep, confident that the prisoners were safe and secure in the inner cell, was jarred awake by the violence of the earthquake. Once the jailer had come awake from his sleep, he discovered the reality that the doors of the prison were opened and there was silence from the inner cells where earlier there had been singing and talking.

The jailer immediately recognized that this was no ordinary earthquake. After all, earthquakes do not open doors and unfasten chains, earthquakes destroy doors and chains. Upon seeing the open doors and hearing the absence of noise from the prison cells, the jailer came to the understandable conclusion that all of the prisoners had escaped. And as a Roman soldier who lived with a clear understanding of his duties and responsibilities, he recognized that he would be found guilty of allowing the prisoners to escape and would be put to death.

As a result of knowing that he faced certain death for failing to do the only job that he had to do, the jailer decided that the honorable thing to do would be to kill himself.  However, as the Roman Soldier drew his sword to end his life, he heard something most unexpected, which Luke records for us in verse 28-32:

 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!" ²⁹ And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, ³⁰ and after he brought them out, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" ³¹ They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." ³² And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house.

Luke tells us that as the jailer drew his sword to end his life, Paul spoke up so as to save his life. Upon discovered that Paul, Silas, and the other prisoners were all still present in the jail, the jailer responded by falling before Paul and Silas’s feet as he trembled in fear. After bringing them out of the cell and away from the other prisoners, the jailer, his face covered with fear, asked a very pointed question: "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

Now a natural question that could arise here is “Well Dave, what would cause the jailer to say "Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And is he talking about being saved spiritually and not simply about being saved physically?” If that question is running through your mind, I just want to let you know that it is a fair question.

And my response to that question is this: As a retired Roman jailer who was well respected in the community, the jailer would have been very familiar with those who lived in the city. The jailer would have known about the fortune telling slave girl and her two masters. The jailer would have heard about how the slave girl had proclaimed that Paul and Silas were bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation. The jailer would have heard about how Paul and Silas had caused the slave girl to longer be able to tell the future. The jailer would have heard the charges against Paul and Silas that they were trying to convert people a new religion so that they would worship the One True God. The jailer would have heard Paul and Silas praying and singing songs to this God. The jailer would recognize that, while he had been in earthquakes before, this earthquake was no ordinary earthquake. The jailer would also recognize that there was something different about Paul and Silas because none of the other prisoners had tried to escape after they had been given the opportunity to escape.

The jailer could easily connect all of these dots to come to the conclusion that this earthquake was evidence that Paul and Silas were spokesmen for God who were delivering a true message from God. And as a result of that connection and conclusion, the jailer came to the place of asking these two men who were speaking on behalf of the one true God how he could be rescued from his selfishness and rebellion that had led him to do things throughout his life as a soldier that would have hurt God and others so that he could experience rescue and a relationship with the one true God. You see, for the jailer, he needed an earthquake to wake him up spiritually. This jailer had to experience a literal earthquake before he realized his need for rescue and a relationship with the One True God.

After expressing that he needed to be rescued, Paul and Silas explained how he could experience that rescue and relationship with God. Paul and Silas stated to the jailer and to his family "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." What is so interesting is that the phrase, believe in, in the language that this letter was originally written in, is that same word that is translated trust in our English Bibles. This word literally means to entrust oneself with complete confidence to someone or something.

For the jailer, just as it was for the rest of his family, to be rescued from their selfishness and rebellion so that they could experience the relationship with God that they were created for would require that they respond to all that God had done through Jesus life, death, and resurrection, by believing, trusting and following Jesus as Lord and Leader. We see how the jailer and his family responded in verse 33-34:

 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. ³⁴ And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.

Luke tells us that the jailer responded to the message of the gospel that Paul and Silas proclaimed to Him by placing His confident trust in Jesus. And as a result of placing his confident trust in Jesus, the jailer’s life was immediately changed. The jailer who was once indifferent to the treatment of those in his custody took great care to clean and bandage the wounds of those in his custody. The jailer, along with his family, who also had placed their confident trust in Jesus, immediately began to follow the message and teaching of Jesus by being baptized as a public statement that they were identifying themselves as being followers of Jesus.

Luke also tells us that the jailer and his family brought Paul and Silas into his home and set food before them and rejoiced greatly. In other words, the jailer and his family threw a party. The jailer and his family threw a party because there was something significant that needed to be celebrated. And what was so significant that need to be celebrated was that the jailer and his family had placed their confident trust in Jesus so that they could experience the forgiveness and the relationship with God that they were created for.

And it is here, in this event from history, that we discover a timeless truth about what would cause followers of Jesus to party and celebrate something that He viewed as being significant and worthy of celebration. And that timeless answer is this: A party happens when those who are distracted from God recognize and respond to their need for God.

Just as it was for the jailer, we can find ourselves in a place where life is comfortable. Just as it was for the jailer we can find ourselves coasting through life as we live with a comfortable rhythm and routine of life. And just as it was for the jailer, when we are comfortable and coasting through life, we can become distracted from God and what is really important in life. And just as it was for the jailer, sometimes we need an earthquake to wake us up spiritually.

But why do we wait for the earthquakes in our own lives to realize what's important? Why do we wait for the earthquakes in our own lives to wake us up spiritually? Why do we wait for the earthquakes in our lives before we stop coasting when it comes to our relationship with God?

You see, the jailer had to experience a literal earthquake before he recognized his need for Jesus. The jailer needed a literal earthquake to wake him up spiritually. And it is in this event from history that we see why we need to wake up. And it is in this event from history that we see that a party when those who are distracted from God recognize and respond to their need for God.

A party happens because those who were once distracted from God celebrate the reality that they have been awakened to see their need for God. A party happens because those who were once distracted from God celebrate the reality that they have responded to being awakened to their need for God to trust in Jesus so as to experience a relationship with God.

 So are you waiting for an earthquake in your life to wake up spiritually? Are you waiting for an earthquake in your life to realize what's important? Are you waiting for an earthquake in your life to stop you from coasting in the comfortable? Are you waiting for an earthquake in your life before you will realize your need for Jesus?

And how are you responding when those who are distracted from God discover and respond to their need for God? When a person who is distracted from God discovers and responds to their need for God, do you view that as being worthy of celebration? Do you have a party when someone who is distracted from God comes to know God and experience the forgiveness and relationship with God that they were created for? 

And are you doing what you can do to let those around you who are distracted from God know that they are significant to God? Are you doing what you can do to help those around you who are distracted from God come to the place where a party can happen because they have come to God?

Because, as we see from this event from history, a party happens when those who are distracted from God recognize and respond to their need for God.