They Are Listening

At midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, 

and the other prisoners were listening to them 

(Acts 16:25 NIV)

The sixteenth chapter of the Book of Acts contains a true life drama that would make a wonderful stage production were it to be written as such.  The account is of an event in the lives of first century missionaries, Paul and Silas.  The script for it might look something like this:

LOCATION: the town of Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of the district of Macedonia (Acts 16:11).
SETTING:  the city jail.
SCENARIO: Paul and Silas, having been falsely accused, convicted, and beaten for inciting a riot, have been taken to the local jail and placed under the watchful eye of the jailer.  During the night a chain of miraculous events allows the missionaries to effect a monumental and eternal change in the lives of the jailer, members of his household, and perhaps some of their fellow inmates.

CHARACTERS:  Paul and Silas – Christian missionaries from Jerusalem.
The Jailer – whose job description included his own death for any escaped prisoners during his watch.
The Jailer's servant.
The Jailer's household – members of his family and their servants.
Extras – the other, unnamed, prisoners.

ACT 1, SCENE 1:  The footlights come up as the curtain rises to reveal the dank, dingy interior of a prison.  Torches are hung on the wall to stage right, illuminating an anteroom just beyond the cell block; the jailer's quarters while on duty.

Enter Paul and Silas, backs torn and bleeding from a recent beating in the marketplace.  They are handed over to the jailer with explicit orders to guard them carefully.  Acutely aware of the penalty for escaped prisoners, he installs them in a maximum security cell, secures their feet in stocks, exits the cell, and locks the door behind him.
The curtain descends to mark the end of the first scene.

ACT 1, SCENE 2:  The curtain rises on a semi-darkened stage, with only enough light to make out the shadowy forms of the prisoners, still securely locked in their leg irons.

The hour is late – somewhere around midnight on the same night.  Strange sounds are coming from the direction of maximum security.  The other prisoners, accustomed to hearing moans and cries for relief, wake to the curious sounds coming from deep inside the prison. Paul and Silas are having a praise service!  The common belief at the time was that misfortunes were a sign of God’s disapproval and certainly not a reason to be singing praises to Him.

Some listen out of curiosity while others listen in scornful disbelief at the missionaries’ foolishness.  Still others, in the darkness of their cell, listen because their great emptiness within is responding to what they are hearing.  The reasons are varied but all are listening.

Suddenly there is a tremor, another and another until the very foundations of the prison are shaken.  Cell doors swing open and chains fall from the prisoners’ feet.

No one makes a move.  Fear of reprisal for a failed jailbreak prevents some of them from leaving their cells.  Others, in utter shock, remain in place.

They all continue to listen as the jailer (stage right) springs from his bed. Seeing the cell doors standing open and assuming the prisoners have fled, he reaches for his sword to commit suicide.

(Center stage): Paul – “Do not harm yourself.  We are all here.”
(Stage right): Jailer calls to his servant: “Bring a light.”  With light in hand, he rushes into the cell of Paul and Silas, and falls trembling at their feet.

Jailer: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
Paul: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Paul and Silas explain the good news that God loves human beings so much that He Himself, in the Person of Christ Jesus the Son, was born in a human body, lived a perfect life, and died, taking onto Himself every sin committed, past, present, and future.  They go on to explain that forgiveness and eternal life with God are available by believing in what Jesus did, and accepting Him as Savior and Lord.

The jailer is moved by this information and turns to Christ in faith.  He calls for the servant to bring water and towels, and proceeds to bathe Paul and Silas’ wounds.

As the curtain descends, the other prisoners are listening to all that is taking place.

ACT 2, SCENE 1:
SETTING:  the jailer’s home where he has taken Paul and Silas to meet his family.  The missionaries repeat the good news of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus, and all the members of the household follow in belief.  Paul and Silas baptize the new believers that very night.  A meal is prepared and placed on the family table for Paul and Silas who eat their fill.

ACT 3, SCENE 1
SETTING:  the jail from which they were taken a short time before.

Paul and Silas return to the jail where they are willingly locked in their cell once more.  They are still prisoners, and the jailer is still under the threat of death should they fail to be there later that day.

As the final curtain rings down, the other prisoners are listening in stunned surprise as the cell door clangs shut on the two men who serve such an awesomely powerful God.

Here our script ends, although the remaining verses of this passage (vss.35-40) contain an ironic, almost comical twist by which Paul and Silas receive a measure of poetic justice from the magistrates who had convicted and sentenced them.

The other prisoners were listening that night.  We are not privy to their thoughts or their response to what they heard, but we can assume that their concept of Jehovah God was changed forever.

This account contains a reminder to us modern day believers.  We are all prisoners of circumstance.  Try as we might, we cannot totally avoid the negative things that are part of life on Earth.  But when we have an ongoing, personal relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ, our reaction to difficult circumstances should be different from those who do not know Him.  If we react in the same way as those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13), why would they want to know the God we claim to serve?

It is sobering to realize that, as professing followers of Christ, we are always on stage – front and center—whether or not we know it.  The other prisoners, who may never talk to us about God, are observing our actions and reactions.  And they are listening.  The compelling question is: What are they hearing?

I love it, Lord, when things go right; when I feel well and strong. 
But life is full of darker times when things can go so wrong.
When weaknesses envelop me or disappointments come,
and nothing seems to go my way, my thoughts turn gray and glum.
I gripe about the weather and the prices at the stores;
about the traffic on the streets, and all my daily chores.
I’m really good at singing, Lord; the “blues” my favorite song;
I sing them loud to everyone; I sing them all day long.
It comes so naturally to talk about the cares of life;
about the struggles of my days, of heartaches and of strife.
But how unfair that is to You Who’s led me all this way, 
to bring discredit to Your name by what I do and say.
Increase my faith to trust You, Lord, no matter what may come;
and to the human view of things to never more succumb.
I think that it will help me, Lord, to always honor You,
if You’ll remind me often that others’ only view
of Who You are and what You’re like may come from watching me.
My prayer is that they’ll want You, too, because of what they see.