NL 436: Paul and Silas

image: "NYC - FiDi: Trinity Church - Astor Memorial North Doors - Acts XVI 25-28” , photo taken by Wally Gobetz (Flickr)

Acts 16:16-34

May 8, 2022

Acts 16:16-34

Initial Thoughts

  • Last Sunday of Eastertide - Pentecost is coming

  • Matt Skinner has a great Sermon on this at Festival of Homiletics 2019, “Don’t Give Me that Old Time Civil Religion”

Bible Study

  • Philippi

    • In Macedonia which is north of Greece

    • Where Augustus (Octavian) Caesar settled his soldiers after establishing the “Pax Romana” (defeating Cassius, Brutus, Mark Anthony and Cleopatra)

    • A Roman town - established a “mini-Rome” under the jurisdiction of the municipal laws of Rome

    • Governed by 2 military officers appointed by Rome

    • Drew a lot of wealth from gold mines in the area

    • New Testament period - by the time Paul arrives in Philippi, it is a thoroughly Roman town. The language was Latin, Augustus was seen as the Prince of Peace and Son of God. All of the power and wealth was directly connected to Rome and the Roman military - they “owed” their status to Rome and Augustus.

  • Slave-girl

    • “A slave girl, by contrast, refuses to be colonized by Paul, Silas, and their companions. Instead she discloses their identity and agenda as slaves of the Deity who intend to rescue others. Even her name Paul and his companions as salvess of the Deity exposes them, for it points tot he anti-imperializing justification for their travel. Paul’s response is to drive out the truth-telling spirit, leaving her enslaved and silenced. However, in so doing, he impoverishes her owners, who have been exploiting her truth-telling, and this in turn leads to resistance of The Way by the people of Phillipi.” (Brittany Wilson, The Women’s Bible Commentary)

    • Possessed by a “Pythian Spirit”, the spirit of divination

    • Apollo was the God of divination (and was beloved by Augustus who used to dress up like Apollo for parties - according to Matt Skinner)

    • She speaks the truth from the spirit of Apollo, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.”

    • To dispute her truth is to deny the power of Apollo and to negate her Pythian Spirit - yet her proclamation undermines Apollo’s authority by claiming Paul’s God as Most High

  • Paul casts out the spirit easily - showing the power of Yahweh over Apollo

    • Matt Skinner claims Paul’s apostolic power not just over Apollo, but over the Civil religion of Philippi

    • To cast out the Pythian spirit is to cast out the idolatrous worship of nationalism, militarism, and economic exploitation

  • Philippian response

    • Xenophobia and anti-semitic - the Jews are disrupting the city and not obeying our laws

      • A common anti-semitic trope, then and still today (today we see this especially used against Muslims and other minorities)

    • They take Paul and Silas to the magistrates using nationalistic, protectionist, xenophobic and commercial arguments against them

    • Irony- they are all themselves or descendants of foreigners (Romans)

    • The crowd joins in the nationalistic, anti-semitic fervor and strip and beat Paul and Silas.

  • In Prison

    • Paul and Silas do not waste away but worship God in the midst of their midnight hour - when all hope seems lost they turn to God

    • When the jailer comes and assumes they are gone he also loses hope and is about to take his life when Paul and Silas share the good news - they are there, hope is found

      • The Jailer rested his hope in the authorities of Philippi and Rome which measured his worth by how well he imprisoned others

      • The Jailer is now invited to rest his hope in God who claims the jailer as a beloved child, unconditionally

  • Jailer and Lydia

    • Both are converted and their belief leads to radical hospitality

    • Salvation leads to actions of welcome, care, relationship and love

  • The Magistrate

    • Whoops- they realize their grievous error, these foreign, Jewish disturbers of the peace are actually Roman citizens!

    • Not the Magistrate’s bacon is on the line because he can be tried and convicted for abusing a Roman citizen

    • He want to make it go away, but Paul wants to humiliate the Magistrate

      • Why?

      • Is it speaking truth to power or is Paul caught up in his own self-righteousness. 

      • If this were truly the work of God, then why doesn’t Paul use his position of power to truly liberate the slave-girl and bring her to Lydia’s house?

      • Matt Skinner, “A passion for justice can quickly and easily become a passion for dominance and humiliation of enemies.”

  • Return to Lydia’s house

    • A place of hospitality where the lowly (women in this case, widows in the case of Tabitha) are lifted into places of power and authority

    • Where hospitality and justice triumph over domination, fear, and nationalism; where Jesus NOT Caesar/Rome are proclaimed as Lord.

Thoughts and Questions

  • What about the slave girl? Many people focus on how the slave-girl’s owners don’t care for her at all, they only care about her Pythian Spirit and its ability to make them money. This may be (and probably is) true, but Paul isn’t any better.

    • He is more focused on confronting the magistrates and humiliating them than he is about the slave-girl

    • He is annoyed with the slave girl, which leads him to cast out the spirit, he does it to help himself, not to liberate her

    • There is no reflection what the girl will do now that she can’t tell the future, she remains a slave and if her owners can’t make money from her telling fortunes what will they use her for now?

  • Matt Skinner, “What would the Pythian Spirit say if it were to follow you around?”

  • We must answer the Jailer’s question, “What must I do to be saved?” and we must also be willing to stay with others in their struggle, by proclaiming, “Don’t harm yourself, we are here”, we are with you.

Year 4Eric FistlerActsComment