Seventh Sunday of Easter

Readings: Acts 16: 16-34; Psalm 97; Revelation 22: 12-14, 16-17, 20-21; John 17: 20-26

This morning let us focus on our reading from the Acts of the Apostles. St. Luke, the author of the Acts of the Apostles, Silas, and St. Paul were in Philippi, Greece. On the way to prayers, they were repeatedly harassed by a slave girl:

These men are slaves of the Most High God who proclaims to you a way of salvation.

She proclaimed their allegiance to Zeus, the god at the pinnacle of the Roman faith. Annoyed at her harassment and at her misnaming their god, St. Paul addressed the spirit within her

I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.

The God of St. Luke, Silas and St. Paul was more powerful than the Roman Zeus.

This was a dangerous acclamation in Philippi, a Roman colony settled by retired Roman legionnaires, centurions, and government officials. In addition, the fortune-teller’s owners lost her gift and the income they received for her services. They took St. Luke, Silas, and St. Paul to court. They were found guilty, beaten, and jailed. Though God was victorious over the spirit of the slave girl, they were not.

Part two of the story found the three men in jail during an earthquake, not an unusual event in that part of Greece. Had the prisoners escaped, the usual punishment was for the jailer to pay with his own life. That is why the text noted that St. Paul called to him:

Do not harm yourself for we are all here.

The jailer fell down trembling saying:

Sir, what must I do to be saved?

Sir, what must I do to have the trust in God that you have? St. Luke, Silas, and St. Paul demonstrated that their God would guide them in midst of an earthquake, and the jailer wished to have that same trust. Their answer was simple:

Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved…

St. Luke, Silas, and St. Paul kept it simple for him. Likewise, St. Luke, Silas, and St. Paul keep it simple for us. In the midst of earthquakes, ground shaking events, when all seems to be coming apart, what are we to do?

Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved…

Saved from despair. Saved from hopelessness. Saved from fear. Saved from loneliness. Saved from direction lessness. They declared in their deep dungeon what St. John wrote in his Gospel. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, the Life. It is so simple. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Keep Jesus in the center of your heart.

This last week Lillian, Ruth and I were to see Bart at the Geisinger. Bart had been responsive, but mostly non verbal for quite a few days. When I visited, I read Psalms of thanksgiving found at the end of the Psalter. That day I turned to Psalm 121, a pilgrims’ psalm, recited as people traveled to Jerusalem for holy days.

I lift up my eyes to the hills from where is my help to come?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth….

I read out loud, and Bart’s voice joined in.

We then moved to the twenty-third psalm.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures,
he leadeth me beside the still waters…

I read out loud, and Bart’s voice joined in again for a few lines.

He then joined in the Lord’s Prayer with us.

It is through prayers, through psalms, through scripture, that our soul can walk with our God. As we walk with our God we are embraced by peace, by shalom, even in the midst of earthquakes like St. Luke, Silas, and St. Paul, even in the midst of turmoil and tribulation, even in the midst of perhaps our final days. It is then that we can know the truth of St. Paul’s invitation:

Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…

I will close with a prayer from the 14^thc. mystic Julien of Norwich:

Thank you Lord for the assurance this day that because you are God
and Jesus is Lord; all will be well.  This day, Lord, give me grace, free 
me from all unholy distractions, and help me walk with you, in
your Spirit.  I pray through Jesus, Lord, Savior, Healer, and
Forerunner.  Amen.

Even in the midst of terrible times, earthquakes and fire, that can shake us to our very core, still as we walk with God