Jailer’s musings

“I never thought things would turn out this way.  I would have never in a million years imagined myself in this crummy job,” thought the jailer of the Philippian prison.  “Every day I work in filth with mean, nasty people, and there’s nothing I can do about it.  And, if I don’t do my job well, and one of the prisoners escapes,… well, let’s just say I don’t just get in trouble.  My bosses demand the death penalty for such a mistake.  Talk about stress!”

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(Oh, in case you didn’t notice, I’m pretending to be the Philippian jailer today!  Check out Acts chapter 16:13-40 for the Biblical account!)

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Yeah, well let me tell you about something that happened a while back that turned my life around!  I’m still working in the same filthy jail, mind you, and doing the same job, but my whole outlook has changed.

You see, I was just doing my job, cursing back at the swearing, surly prisoners, when the soldiers brought in these two guys that were different than the rest.  Paul and Silas were their names.

Instead of cursing at me, they blessed me.  Instead of acting hateful, they spoke kind words.

“God bless you, sir,” they said.  “Peace be unto you,” they said.  “May God be gracious to you,” they said.

Well, I wasn’t buying it.  They were probably just schmoozing me, so when the soldiers told me to make sure they didn’t escape, I threw them into the inner prison and fastened their ankles in the stocks.  They wouldn’t be going anywhere!  And that was a fact!

Or so I thought.

I heard them faintly from my post, praying and singing praises to their God.  I was a bit puzzled, so I went to check on them.  The other prisoners were listening intently as they sang about some guy named Jesus whom they claimed to be the Son of God and the Savior of the world.

Bah!

Rubbish!

I turned away and went back to my post.  Let them sing.  At least it keeps the other prisoners from being so obnoxious!

And as the darkness deepened, my eyes grew heavy, and I fell asleep.

At midnight, I awoke to a violent earthquake that was shaking the prison so badly, that doors flew open which had been firmly locked, and I heard the sound of chains hitting the stone floor!

I felt panic rise in my chest; I was terrified!  I was sure that all the prisoners had escaped into the dark night!  Tomorrow morning when my bosses found out, chances were good that they would literally crucify me!  Better that I just mercifully kill myself right then!

How Paul knew what I was getting ready to do remains a mystery to me.  It was dark, you know?  Midnight with no lights in the inner prison?  But I heard him yelling from the other room, “Do yourself no harm!  For we are all still here!  Not one of us has escaped!”

So, I called for a torch, and checked to see if he was telling the truth, and sure enough, all the prisoners were still there!

Well, if their God was that powerful to send an earthquake on that very night, and if He was kind enough and compassionate enough to give these men such hope in the midst of despair, I decided I’d better ask them about how I could get to know and worship such a God!

“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”  I asked.

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, and your household as well.”

My household?  Yes this is very good news!  We all need to believe in this Jesus, the Son of God who came to take the punishment for each of our sins!

So, I took a chance, and took Paul and Silas to my house so they could tell my family about this Jesus.

We all believed on Him, and He immediately changed our hearts, flooding them with peace and joy!

We took Paul and Silas, as quietly as we could manage, down the deserted streets to the river, where we washed their wounds.  Then, they baptized us.

Well, long story short, the magistrates came and personally released Paul and Silas from the prison the next day.

But that wasn’t the last we heard from them.

Paul wrote a letter to our church that he started while he was ministering in our city of Philippi.

You know it as the letter to the Philippians.

I know firsthand that when he wrote, “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice,” he really meant always:

• Even when you’ve been beaten to the point of bleeding.
• Even when you’ve been falsely accused and illegally thrown into prison.
• Even when everything is a mess and the situation seems impossible.

But you don’t have to take my word for it!  Why don’t you read Paul’s letter to our church at Philippi for yourself?

Oh, and let me know what you learn from it!