Acts
Dear Friends in Christ,
Before we get to the actual text under consideration for today, allow me to spend a few minutes talking about where we are in the Church Year as well as how it relates to the Gospel lesson for today. Both our Gospel lesson and our Second lesson provide us with
AN EPIPHANY CASE STUDY
1. One of a public nature 2.
One of a private nature
3. Both of a personal nature as
they apply to us
Within the Festival of Epiphany (Greek word for “revealing” or “manifestation”) and the Epiphany season we find a dual emphasis. One is the fact that Jesus Christ is the Almighty Son of God, powerful in word and deed; the other is the fact that He has come to be the Savior of the world. There is no nation, tribe, language or tongue for whom Jesus Christ did not come to provide salvation through His doing, dying and rising.
Last week’s Gospel lesson beautifully combined this dual emphasis. By the miraculous leading of a star a group of non-Jewish, world-representative Wise Men come to see baby Jesus. But they have not come to trade the customary surface comments with Mary and Joseph about how cute their child is or how much hair he has. They know who this child is, and they know why they have traveled so far. They have come to adore Him. And there is something profoundly moving as we try to visualize the Gospel account of these three grown men bowing down and worshiping the Christ Child.
The Epiphany message is especially comforting for us because it means that regardless of our background, ethnicity, or social status, we are a part of the world Jesus came to save.
On the first Sunday after Epiphany the message revolves around another great event in the life of Christ: His baptism. We heard about it in our Gospel lesson and we sang about it in our hymn just moments ago. Why concentrate on this? A couple of reasons…
One is the chance to reflect on the importance of baptism in general and our own baptism in particular. “The three handfuls of water that were poured on my head in Holy baptism,” said Louis the Pious of France, “are worth more to me than the crown I am wearing.” He made such a strong statement because he understood that baptism applies the work of Christ to our lives, creates faith, washes away our sins, and makes us members of God’s family. It really doesn’t get any better than that, does it?
Especially when we remember that our baptism with all its
blessings and comfort is not just a past procedure. It is an ongoing reality. Martin Luther was fond of making this
remark: “Don’t say I was baptized; say I am
baptized.”
When it comes to the baptism of Jesus, however, sometimes the question of necessity is asked. After all, if baptism is for sinners, why did Jesus submit to it? In one of the Gospel accounts John the Baptist raised that very issue. You should be the One baptizing me, he said. So, again, why did Jesus need to be baptized?
The short answer is He, the Sinless One, didn’t need to be baptized in the sense that we, who are sinful, need to be baptized. Rather, by submitting to baptism Jesus showed us both its importance and how fully He identifies with us. As the substitute for all mankind Jesus came (in His own words) “to fulfill all righteousness”; in other words, to do what God asks us to do. And God asks His people to believe and be baptized…
However, another reason for reflecting on this event today is because it is very much in keeping with the theme of the Epiphany season. Let me try to illustrate with an event that took place recently…
This past week a new governor took office in
Jesus’ baptism was kind of like such a political
inauguration, but on a far greater scale.
It wasn’t state-wide or nation wide; what happened on the banks of the
The baptism of our Lord, then, was a public “epiphany” or revelation revealing Jesus Christ as the Son of God, ready to carry out His mission – to save the world from the consequences of its sin…
From the public epiphany of our Gospel lesson we now turn to
the private epiphany described in our second lesson. It takes place outside a prison in the
ancient Macedonian city of
The Apostle Paul and his associate Silas were on a
missionary journey and they were breaking new ground. Up until this time Paul had not preached the
Gospel outside the geographical area we commonly refer to as
While there Paul came across a young lady who was possessed
by an evil spirit. She was able to tell
the future and was being used as a money making tool. Earlier in the chapter from which our text is
taken we learn what all took place: 17
This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are
servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18 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.
Unfortunately – as one commentator put it – when Paul exorcised her demon he also exorcised her masters’ income. They were upset, created charges against Paul and Silas, had them flogged and ultimately thrown into prison. This takes us to our text, which we’ll now briefly work through (with some comments and observations along the way)…
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Perhaps you have heard the statement made that pain is inevitable, but misery is optional. Applied to our two missionaries we could correctly say that Paul and Silas were in pain (flogged, imprisoned, chained, etc.); but they were certainly not in misery. Consequently they are living examples of how joy in Jesus transcends all earthly circumstances.
We’ve also heard it said that we as Christians are to “bloom where we are planted.” Paul and Silas found themselves planted in prison. But even in this difficult and unsolicited situation we find the Gospel message in full bloom. They used imprisonment as a witness opportunity – and people were watching and listening. This reminds us that our personal mission field is wherever we may be at the moment.
26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose. 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!” We’ve all been cautioned about taking our work home with us or taking it too seriously. Those warnings would have been lost on the Jailer…
According
to Roman tradition, he was personally responsible for those prisoners. Any successful jail breaks were considered a
dereliction of duty worthy of execution. Knowing this, the jailer was about to carry
out the sentence himself. But Paul stops
him.
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?” The jailer was obviously scared. But his fear went beyond not carrying out his duty. So he asked the most important question in his life. He asked the only question on his mind. He asked the only question that really matters…
It
had nothing to do with being saved from physical harm but had everything to do
with being saved from spiritual harm. It
had to do with eternity. He knew he was
lacking in this area. He knew he had a
hole in his soul, but he didn’t know how to fill it. He knew he didn’t have an answer to the most
significant question he had ever asked. He needed an epiphany. And Paul and Silas provided it for him…31 They replied, “Believe in the
Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”
The
answer was 100% Pure Gospel. So simple as to be unbelievable. But here it is in 5 words.
Paul proclaimed it. The jailer believed it. And things changed. The light of Christ shined on this man just as the Epiphany star shined on the baby Jesus. This man undoubtedly had turning points in his life – as we all do. But without a doubt, none bigger than this…
And through his experience we are reminded that proclaiming
this life-changing, soul-illuminating, personal-epiphany-producing Gospel is
what we as individuals, as a church, and as a church body are all about. In the words of the great Reformation
hymn: “To spread its light from age to age shall be our chief endeavor,”
so those who sit in the blackness where the jailer once was can accompany him
into the brightness of the knowledge of Christ.
32 Then
they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.
33 At that
hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then
immediately he and all his family were baptized. Instruction followed proclamation. Then, as a sign and seal of his redemption
and entrance into the family of God, Jailer and his family were baptized –
reminding us, once again, of the blessings of our own baptism.
34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family. This is a telling statement, and an appropriate note on which to end our text. Where is joy found? In power, prestige, or position? In wealth or worldly possessions? In titles or trophies?
No. Only Jesus brings joy. In particular, the joy of knowing our sins are forgiven… that we are never alone… that we will never be abandoned… that we are always loved… always cared for… always watched over… always protected.
From time to time the clouds of trouble may blur that joy and on occasion the fog of uncertainty may seem to cover it up. But only for a time. Because the joy of knowing Christ, like our baptism, is an ongoing reality. And each day, as we make our daily trek to the cross and the empty tomb; each day as we contemplate who we are and what we are and where we’re going because of Jesus; each day as we rejoice in the personal epiphany God has granted us… the sunshine of grace cuts through the clouds and fog – just as certainly as it did for that Jailer of Philippi.
So on this first Sunday after Epiphany let’s remember where we’ve
gone. We’ve been to the banks of the
And then we’ve been to Philippian jail cell where we witnessed a private epiphany. Through the jailer we are reminded of the personal epiphany God has worked in us, and the pure joy of knowing Christ…
To which we can only respond with the words of the Psalmist: “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Amen.