We are returning now, after a brief hiatus, to the Narrative Lectionary, which is following God’s story from Genesis all the way through the Christian scriptures. We turn our attention now to the book commonly called Acts. The full title is Acts of the Apostles, which kind of is like almost a journal of the earliest apostles and their travels in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. And this is one of the visits to a town called Philippi, which is in Greece, and it follows the journey of Paul and Silas and what they encounter there.

Acts 16: 16-40 

One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a female slave who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour. 

But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, “These men, these Jews, are disturbing our city and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us, being Romans, to adopt or observe.” The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. 

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God. 

When morning came, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” And the jailer reported the message to Paul, saying, “The magistrates sent word to let you go; therefore come out now and go in peace.” But Paul replied, “They have beaten us in public, uncondemned, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison, and now are they going to discharge us in secret? Certainly not! Let them come and take us out themselves.” The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, so they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. After leaving the prison they went to Lydia’s home, and when they had seen and encouraged the brothers and sisters there, they departed.

For the Word of God in scripture,
For the Word of God among us,
For the Word of God within us,
Thanks be to God.

***

Certainly there is no one who does more to promote the early spread of Christianity than the Apostle Paul. Paul would travel from town to town, region to region, to spread the good news of the gospel. He would often encounter both a warm welcome and resistance from the locals. Today, he’s with Silas in Philippi, a port city in Greece on the Mediterranean Sea. We know that Paul establishes a Christian community there because he would later write a letter which is included among the Christian scriptures.

Yet today’s passage also shows us why Paul is so maddeningly frustrating. On the one hand, we find the feisty and faithful Paul who, when arrested by the authorities, does not succumb to fear or anger, but instead, there in the darkest part of the prison, turns to prayer and song, which radiates out to the other prisoners, strengthening their souls to resist the oppression of the empire. When God intervenes to release the shackles, Paul does not flee for his life, but instead stays and ministers to his jailer, liberating him from a system of violence and intimidation that binds him.

But on the other hand, we encounter the impatient Paul, who is, in his annoyance, cast a spirit out of a young, enslaved girl, thoughtlessly depriving her of the spiritual gift that protects her from an even more unthinkable fate. “After this exorcism, the slave ceases to be of use to her masters or to the story,” writes the Rev. Dr. Barb Hedges-Goettl. There is no follow-through and no follow-up regarding this slave. We do not know if she thinks of herself as healed, if she becomes a follower of The Way, if her masters cast her out, if she is beaten, if she is sold, if she is starved, if she is forced into prostitution to make up for her lost income.

Paul and Silas certainly have their own problems to deal with. But we should stop and notice how easily they and the text move on from this woman without another thought. She’s forgotten.

And before we get all judgy about how women and girls were treated at that time, we should consider how often this same scenario is repeated in our world today. Women and girls are often overlooked, left out, told to pipe down, told that it is all in their head, and on and on. Heck, I admit I barely took notice of the slave girl in my reading until one of my female colleagues pointed it out to me. Then I was shocked that I could so easily overlook her, so easily dismiss her testimony.

For surely the gospel calls us to pay attention, not only to the main characters, but everyone along the way. No one is unimportant in God’s eyes. No one is overlooked. No one is unloved. We need to pay attention and make room in the narrative for these other stories, the ones we too often overlook.

“Making room for others can be hard work,” writes Hedges-Goettl. We forget that the story isn’t all about us. We act as if there are no other characters. We neglect the other plotlines. We refuse to permit any other narrators. But God’s story gives each of us a starring role. God follows all and each of the characters. God honors all of the plotlines. God lets each of us share in the narration.

In her book, Letter to My Daughter, Maya Angelou writes, “I’ve made many mistakes and no doubt will make many more before I die. When I have seen pain, when I have found that my ineptness has caused displeasure, I have learned to accept my responsibility and to forgive myself first, then to apologize to anyone injured by my misreckoning. Since I cannot unlive history and repentance is all I can offer God, I have hopes that my sincere apologies are accepted.”

“You may not control all the events that happen to you,” she writes, “but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” And then she says, “Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.”

Friends, we don’t always get it right. And too often, we do look past others, and we put ourselves at the center of the narrative. But thankfully, God does not look at the world through our eyes. In fact, we are called to look at the world and each other through God’s.

To see each other as God sees us, precious and loved.

Friends, hear these words from the prophet Isaiah: “But now thus says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you, because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you.”

Friends, the good news of the gospel is that there is not one single human being on this planet that God has not said these words to, including you, including me, and including everyone we meet.

And it’s not just that the world will be a better place if we treat each other as precious and loved children of God that we are. But we will hear parts of the story that we’ve too often overlooked, and our understanding of God’s love will only grow.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.

The post What Is Her Story? appeared first on Roland Park Presbyterian Church.

Discussion Questions: 

1. Paying Attention to the Overlooked
   o In Acts 16, the enslaved girl speaks the truth about Paul and Silas, yet her story quickly disappears from the narrative. What do you notice about her role in the passage?
   o Who are the people in our communities, churches, workplaces, or families whose stories are too easily overlooked?

2. Paul, Silas, and Imperfect Faithfulness
   o The sermon names both Paul’s faithfulness in prison and his failure to fully attend to the enslaved girl. How does this more complicated picture of Paul help you think about your own faith?
   o Why is it important to tell the truth about both the good and the harmful parts of our actions, even when our intentions are faithful?

3. Liberation and Responsibility
   o Paul and Silas are freed from prison, but they do not run away. Instead, they stay and care for the jailer. What does this teach us about liberation, compassion, and responsibility?
   o Where might God be calling you to stay present with someone who is afraid, ashamed, or trapped in a harmful system?

4. Seeing Others as God Sees Them
   o Pastor Mark reminds us that “no one is unimportant in God’s eyes. No one is overlooked. No one is unloved.” How does this challenge the way we see others?
   o Isaiah’s words, “You are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you,” are spoken over all people. What changes when we begin from that truth?

5. Applying the Sermon
   o This week, how can you make room for someone else’s story, especially someone whose voice is often dismissed or minimized?
   o As a church pursuing justice, practicing hospitality, and engaging curious faith, how can RPPC better notice, honor, and protect those who are too often pushed to the margins?

The post Sermon Discussion Guide: What Is Her Story? appeared first on Roland Park Presbyterian Church.