Fed Up, In Jesus' Name
16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling.17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.”18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her. (Acts 16:16-18)
An enslaved female, who made a large amount of money for those who claimed ownership of her by telling fortunes, became an annoyance to Paul and those traveling with him. Day after day she was shouting the truth about who they were and what they were doing - that they were servants of God, and that they were telling people how to be saved. While true, this could have been dangerous for those proclaiming Christ, making it impossible for them to move under the radar. When Paul's annoyance boiled over, he commanded the spirit that enabled her to predict the future to come out of her. This not only denied her keepers of profit, but would have taken away her value to them. We are not given any further information about this unnamed victim, but it's unlikely that her life got better after this.
The woman's enslavers brought Paul and Silas before the authorities with the claim that they were causing a disturbance, enticing people away from Roman traditions. Not realizing that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, their accusers cast them as Jews, and therefor troublemakers.
Ethnic shaming didn't begin or end with American slavery. Slavery itself didn't begin or end with the American variety. Humans have been putting one another in chains, both literal and figurative, as long as we have shared this planet. Hate and harm make headlines, fuel rhetoric, and fund governments. And so it is by design that we stay in our corners, throwing blame at no one and everyone - except ourselves.
Once again, we are faced with the tragedy of a mass shooting. Once again, our most vulnerable have fallen victim to a hurting soul who, too easily, got legal access to an automatic gun. Once again, families hearts are torn apart in grief. Once again, we have little expectation of change. Is this the time we will be fed up enough to call our lawmakers to account? Is this the event that will move them beyond party lines, beyond fear of being outcasts themselves? May we finally find ourselves so fed up that we must act in the faith that we claim and
proclaim, in Jesus' name.
22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. (Acts 16:22-26)
