Grace under pressure…

June 1, 2025

Scriptures: Acts 16:16-34, Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21, John 17:20-26

There is a song, written by the famous lyricists Rodgers and Hammerstein for their 1945 hit musical Carousel titled ‘You’ll never walk alone’. The song has been performed by many artists over the years. In fact, Miss Kilcoyn, my music teacher at the old Patterson Grade School asked me to sing it as a solo for my sixth grade graduation many years ago. I have always remembered the song because the words contain a powerful message, a universal message calling us to ‘keep on keeping on’…even when the going is tough. The words to the song are: ‘When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high, and don’t be afraid of the dark. At the end of the storm is a golden sky and the sweet silver song of the lark. Walk on through the wind, walk on through the rain, though your dreams be tossed and blown. Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart and you’ll never walk alone, you’ll never walk alone.’

I hope to show you that the message captured within those lyrics is not all that different from the message we find in our reading this morning from Acts. And I am sure that Paul and Silas were learning the truth of those words as well. They had come to know the saving power of God…the one who would never leave or forsake them, no matter how bleak the circumstances might be. They were persistent in their faith even in the midst of extreme struggle and personal suffering.

        Today’s reading from Acts is an amazing story with multiple points of entry and many characters who could arguably be the main focus of the narrative. There is Lydia, who was briefly mentioned at the beginning, who as a successful professional woman and a gentile set the stage for Paul’s missionary success in the region…from her acceptance of the faith story which Paul preached to her persistence in sharing it with others, Lydia had a large part in setting the table for Paul’s continued work and ministry in the city of Philippi.

There is also the slave girl who was caught in the web of abusive owners who cared not for her, but rather saw her merely as property to be used and exploited for personal ends. The fact that she was finally freed from this cycle of oppression and exploitation is not really highlighted in our text, pointing out unfortunate biases that unfortunately survive even unto today. \

And then of course there is our jailer, a good, upstanding, obedient man who had a job to do and did it to the best of his ability. Were it not for the miraculous intervention of God late that night I am sure he would have delivered the men safely into whatever fate awaited them the next morning. But the jailer was also able to recognize the goodness and providence of God when it was right in front of him, prompting him to seek out the God of Paul and Silas. 

And finally, there were Paul and Silas…servants of our Lord, willing to go wherever, and to do whatever was required, in order to follow the Spirit’s leading. 

        Speaking of which, what was it they heard there in the dark mustiness of that prison cell…their feet fastened securely in wooden stocks holding them tightly bound in deep discomfort?  There in the dark and dampness, surrounded by other prisoners who were there, some no doubt deservedly so, what was it that Paul and Silas did in the face of what appeared to be total hopelessness? 

Our story tells us that they were praying and singing hymns to God…not focused on their dire circumstances, but taking every moment, every opportunity to lift up the message of God’s grace and mercy burning in their hearts…witnessing to all in the prison that real hope is never silenced, never weakened in the face of our Lord’s persistent and unfailing love.

        I wonder if any of us would be able to do the same under similar circumstances…would we spend our time singing and praying if we too were bound in shackles with no apparent promise of deliverance, and with no hope of escape. I would hope so, although I think that praying might come a bit easier than singing when we are in the most miserable of situations. And yet, expressing ourselves honestly and openly to the Lord ‘in all circumstances’ does have an amazing effect on our spiritual and mental outlook. 

I remember years ago when I was informed that a project on which I had been passionately involved for a number of years was no longer an option for me, and I was ordered to release it into the care of others. I was completely heartbroken, feeling as though I had not been given a fair shot at finishing what I had felt called to do, and to be a part of.  I remember going off alone and crying out to God, probably as much angry as I was hurt, not understanding how this could have happened and not knowing at all where to turn next. 

And in the midst of my misery I remember beginning to stubbornly sing the lyrics to a song I knew, a song based on a verse from Paul’s letter to the Philippians that reads, ‘He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it…’. On and on I sang through my frustration as tears and questions continued to flood my consciousness. ‘Why God’, I asked over and over. But still I tried to keep singing…not well, but the best I could. And ever so slowly my anger and frustration was replaced by that peace that comes with the awareness that God has drawn near…that God has heard your cry. I grew quiet and let it all go, resolved to do the best I could with what I had left.

And now, years later I can not tell you how God worked through that time and circumstance to bring out something so much more amazing…so much so that I now know it was all God from the start. And while I can’t deny that the hurt still remains somewhere, the memory of God drawing near as I prayed and sang through my tears also remains, and helps to sustain me in difficult times.

        So, we have options as to how we believe and act as Christians under trial. But the greater need is not to try to figure it all out, but rather to trust that God knows what God is doing…at all times and in all places.  We do have options…but we also have a call upon our heart to act and to respond in specific ways, as followers of our Lord, and to do so at all times, no matter what it is we may be faced with. For when we are able to act in ways reflective of our Lord in difficult times, we reveal a strength and a power that comes not from ourselves, but which can change lives if we are able to continue holding true in times of trial.

Today’s message could also have been titled, ‘Simply Believe’…the words which Paul spoke to the jailer…words that carried the whole message of the gospel. But those words would have been meaningless, would have had no power whatsoever if they had not been preceded by the witness of a life being lived out in faith beforehand.  Those words of Paul to the jailer had the strength to transform the poor man’s life only after circumstances brought the jailer to that point, and only after he had witnessed the actions of his Christian prisoners. Those who after being freed chose not to flee, but rather to remain in order to further testify to God’s love and mercy. To be sure they could have all walked free, they could have fled Philippi and never returned.  But if they had done so the jailer surely would have died, his family would have become destitute in their grief, the other prisoners there with Paul and Silas would have had a very different understanding of the Christian God…and there would have been one less fellowship in Philippi, one less foothold for the gospel, one less place for God to continue to pour out his love and grace into a region so in need of that touch.  Paul too had options…to follow this God to whom he had given over his life, or to run away in his humanness to some other place of relative safety and non-involvement.  But no, they stayed the course set before them by the Spirit and thereby set in motion a whole chain of events that firmly established a Christian presence in Macedonia.

        We too are confronted with these same options from time to time. We too can choose to run to the safety of non-involvement, we too can back away from tough times, difficult circumstances or decisions, or people or situations that challenge us deeply…we can walk away if we choose. For our God does not insist that we do it his way, our God does not force us to choose to ‘do good’, or to get involved when it might cost us dearly…he will never force us. But the Spirit will not cease whispering the path to holiness into our consciousness, persistently leading and drawing us in, nearer to God’s desires, and closer to his heart of hearts…causing us to cry out in prayer, and even occasionally…in song, when the going gets tough and we feel less than able to press on.

I have said it before and I will say it again, ‘I am convinced beyond a doubt that God has far more confidence in our individual ability than we do in ourselves’. So, we do not run when we are offered the chance to because deep within we know that following the Holy Spirit gives us a better chance at real life than does running away…we know it and so we continue to follow.

As a result of Paul and Silas’s persistent witness even in the face of deep trial the whole region became filled with the grace of God as more and more chose to follow their example as well as that of Lydia and the jailer. The fact that we have a whole letter of Paul’s addressed to the church at Philippi, attests to the staying power and transformative grace of the faith of these first two believers and their households.  Out of trial and entrenched opposition, God planted the church in ground that proved fertile and receptive.

For the Spirit is never thwarted by attempts of humanity to silence the saving grace of God. We see it in our scripture and as I have shared before, we can also see it reflected in an old story told by Watchman Nee, an early 20th Century Chinese Christian theologian and writer who reflected on the Communist Chinese government’s attempts to get rid of the Christian faith. It seems that a decision was made to seek out and isolate all of the Christians they could find, rounding them up so they could ship them all out into exile throughout the whole country, but not before giving them the most menial and least respected job in the process. The government forced these dedicated and committed Christians to become local mail carriers all throughout the outer provinces…walking daily throughout the towns and villages delivering mail…and speaking with the local people as they went…thereby in fact unwittingly ensuring that God’s saving word and grace would be spread throughout the whole of the country. Surely not the government’s intended result…but evidence of what our God can do under deep trial and direst of circumstances!

Ours is the task to reflect the grace of God all throughout our personal lives at all times, and to do so in all places and in all situations.  Ours is the call to show whose we are, by the example we set for others…ours is the task to inspire a question within the hearts of others by the visible witness of our public lives. For in truth, people need to see a witness of deep faith in order to be compelled to follow it.  There are so many who are searching, so many who are looking for something or someone to believe in, looking for evidence, and hoping that there is in fact a good and loving presence who is intimately involved and interested in their well-being and happiness.

Ours is the task to show the way…to never fail in responding to all circumstances with grace, and Christ-like example. It is ours to give startling examples of why we believe what we do…for indeed God has surely been that good to each one of us…we need to let others know it for it is our witness that will bring others into awareness of God.

Our faith grows, and our faith spreads through the work of God, not, as some may feel, through the witness of flashy faith or huge sound systems and high powered emotional appeals…true faith grows and spreads without the need of state of the art facilities or awe-inspiring buildings. These things are fine and can truly be beautiful, but they have been around for a long time already and the church still seems to be draining out the back door…no, it is not all this that will insure that God’s word and work will continue to transform the lives of those still seeking…it must be something else.

I truly believe, that the thing that will best reveal our God to others, that which will most surely make a life-changing difference in another’s life, is the witness of how we as Christians cope and ultimately live victoriously within and through the difficult passages of life…how we look, and how we act in the middle of the greatest of storms. Whether or not we feel capable of being beacons of strength and hope for others, whether or not we feel like solid rocks of faith to which they can hold on to…our God is capable of caring for all…and doing it through us…

…Our God is able to reach out in grace and mercy and to offer the light of hope and peace in the darkest storms to all…through us…

…our God is capable of giving a witness of a day not yet here, a day of peace and promise to all…through us…

So, whenever you ‘walk ‘through a storm’…hold your head up high for you are loved and you are cherished by our Lord!

amen