Daily Devotion for Lent 2020 - Day 23

Scripture Reading: Acts 16:16-40 (NRSV)

As far as we know, this is Silas's first time behind bars.  He's also beaten with a rod - enough to require his wounds to need washing a half a day later.  I wonder if he was thinking, "Who is this that I've gotten mixed up with?"

Did your parents ever tell you to watch out for who your friends are?

Their trouble starts when Paul gets annoyed by a slave-girl who keeps saying good things about them.  He seems to exorcise her of her outside spirit as a casual aside.  Unfortunately, her owners get upset and have Paul and Silas beaten and thrown into prison.

We see another miracle jail break except that Paul and Silas don't take the clue.  They remain imprisoned and save the life of their captor.  It seems that Paul doesn't ever miss an opportunity to witness.

It is likely that his jailer and family were some of the first members of the church at Philippi.  And so when Paul writes to them they would understand that he knows what he's talking about:

More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.    (Philippians 3:8-9)

How many guards think about receiving
grace from their inmates?

We see some of Paul's brashness when he is released from prison and refuses to go!  He knows that Roman citizens were not permitted to be scourged.  I wonder at this point if Silas was thinking, "how many times does God have to free us before we are going to go?"  It must have given him great confidence in Paul's sense of wisdom when the magistrates actually come and apologize!

Then they ask them to leave the city.  Silas may be thinking, "We'll be happy to go!" but Paul makes a final stop back at Lydia's so that he can make sure the witness - the fellowship of the church - will continue after they are gone.  We have Paul's letter to the Philippians to know that he was successful in this enterprise.

When have you experienced blessing after hardship?  Sometimes we don't see them together but it may be that we need to look back at our lives to see what we can discover.  My guess is that you'll see your own comforters that pop up at odd times and places in your review.  How might we help to ease someone else's burdens?  In this we open ourselves to the workings of the Spirit that seeks to intercede for the good in all people's lives.

Prayer for the day:

Almighty God,
give us wisdom to perceive you,
intellect to understand you,
diligence to seek you,
patience to wait for you,
eyes to behold you,
a heart to meditate upon you
and life to proclaim you,
through the power of the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Prayer by Benedict of Nursia, Italy, 6th Century

Photo by Jobs for Felons Hub via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

All scripture quoted is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.