The Prisoner of the Holy Spirit
Acts 16:25-34
Today is the 76th anniversary of liberation, but we do not have a special sermon on Liberation Day because we have been talking about keeping family and our country every Sunday. As it is the last day of the youth retreat, we prepared a sermon on the prisoner of the Holy Spirit under the theme of We are all here.
The prisoner of the Spirit is, first, a good listener. Paul and Silas, who were imprisoned after healing the demon-possessed slave girl, prayed and sang in the middle of the night and the prisoners of the Philippian prison heard it. I have been in the church since I was young, but I couldnt really hear the Word because I did not know I was a sinner. There are three encounters in this world: the meeting of sinners, the meeting of the sinner and the righteous, and the meeting of the righteous, and among them the meeting of sinners is the best. The meeting of the sinner and the righteous is hard, but there is hope of salvation. However, the meeting of the righteous is the worst because they pursue happiness all along and eventually can miss the opportunity for salvation. In fact, since we are all sinners, the marriage is the union of sinners and it begins in prison life. New marriage means to form a community of sinners. There has been no divorce within our young people group in our church because they understand Gods grace that saves a sinner like us. In the middle of darkness, when we sing hymns and cry out to God, the kingdom of God dawns upon us and we can experience the grace of seeing ourselves as a sinner. This is the time of salvation so we should always sing the hymn when in prison.
In fact, my marriage life started as a meeting of the righteous, with only the appearance of sinners. The weakness of my righteous husband was alcohol, and I trembled with fear and shame because of his horrifying drinking habit. In the prison of marriage, I was in a position to cry for my rights, but the Holy Spirit effectively helped me to realize the sins of myself, such as pride, greed, lies, scheming, ambition, discrimination, and condescension that were incomparable to my husbands. With this realization I could finally kneel down and pray for the salvation of my husband with all heart and thanksgiving. There is always an answer at the end to your prayers, and it comes so suddenly. The door will suddenly open and all the bindings will be taken off. Please notice that the verb is passive in this sentence, the bindings will be taken off, as Gods hands would work and move each process to pave the way. As I was well attached to the prison of marriage, when my husbands sudden death swept me like an earthquake, God made it a scene of his great presence for me.
Second, the prisoner of the Holy Spirit asks well. The earthquake not only untied Paul, but also waked up the jailor who was asleep. For the prisoner it was an event of salvation but for the jailer it was an event of destruction. When the prisoner who was in the lower position of the earthenware vessel heard the prayers and hymns, his chains were released. But the jailer did not hear the prayers and hymns. After experiencing the earthquake and the opening of door the jailor thought the only thing he could do is to kill himself.
Although Paul killed Stephen, he prayed and sang along with Silas in the global alternative, the community of sinners. On the other hand, the jailer did not have a community to ask, so he had no choice but to commit suicide as the burden was too heavy to carry by himself. Korea has the highest suicide rate among OECD countries in 2021. It is very unfortunate that the suicide of well-known people continues and has an impact on our society. The problem of life and death is only the difference between having and not having a community to share. Paul made himself a prisoner to meet one person who could not interpret the event of destruction and was about to commit suicide. Paul gave up his freedom for the salvation of the jailor, which was an action that the world would never understand. And its really amazing that others prisoners who wanted to get out didnt actually go out as they received Gods grace. This was the consequence of Pauls prayers and hymns and evidence for the Holy Spirit being present with him.
Third, the prisoner of the Holy Spirit forms 'our' community. When the jailer was about to kill himself, Pauls loud voice moved him. The jailer heard the voice saying, We are all here. We are all here!. The most important role was that of the prisoners who stayed in the prison. No matter how loud Paul shouted, if at least one of them escaped, the jailer was over. So we have to pay our attention to the prisoners of the Holy Spirit who chose to stay because of salvation. At this, the jailer fell on his face in front of the Pauline community as if he had laid down all the weight of life he had been carrying. The jailer called Paul and Silas, 'Teacher,' by their highest titles, and asked how he can be saved. The jailer, who was another prisoner of the Holy Spirit, the jailer, was given a chance to ask about the salvation of himself. God gave him 'our' community to share the Word.
Even if it seems that your life is blocked, if you are in a community where you can ask the biggest question of your life, How can I be saved?, your life is wide open to salvation. Listening and asking questions like this is the secret to experiencing the opening of the Holy Spirit. Also, the fact that Paul sometimes used and sometimes did not use Roman citizenship for the purpose of salvation is a characteristic of the prisoner of the Holy Spirit that the world cannot understand. Rather than asking why Paul had to be imprisoned and beaten, I hope we all become a prisoner of the Holy Spirit and find the answer to the greatest question in life.
The great joy found only once in the book of Acts was granted to the house of the Philippian jailer. By baptized with the Holy Spirit, we, as a community, become open to relationships and homes and become a church with the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Whenever we serve others, Jesus, the source of joy who came for the greatest service, becomes present among us. So the community of prisoners shouting we are all here becomes one body and be followed by the opening of the Holy Spirit where everything opens, falls, and moves. I hope we all become the community that shouts, We are all here.
