Don Friesen
My parents lived through the Great Depression, an economic recession during the 1930s that hit the Canadian Prairies hard. Our family, then a family of four, lived in abject poverty. They owned nothing, they had nothing, and there was no prospect of employment. It was a very difficult time and it left a deep imprint on my parents. That may be one reason that later in life my father was susceptible to bargains. He stored his many purchases in a room in the basement called the Blue Room, although, with shelves and boxes stacked from floor to ceiling you could not see the colour of the walls. The door to the Blue Room was always locked – it was, after all, full of careful and precious acquisitions – but occasionally we were ushered into the Blue Room and our task there was to express awe at our father's business acumen. Secretly we worried about the formidable task it would be to empty that room after our parents passed on, but we realized that to gain entry to the Blue Room was a privilege, and when we were on our best behaviour we honoured that. The door to the Blue Room was about much more than bargains and garage sale acquisitions.
Ordinary Doors, Amazing Thresholds
Doors are ordinary and utilitarian things. We probably pass through hundreds of them every day: bedroom doors; bathroom doors; the front door; the back door; the patio door; the garage door; car doors; bus doors; office doors, and on occasion even church doors. Some doors slide open and shut; some open and shut automatically; and some revolve, but they all serve the same function.
Jesus likened himself to a door." (John 10:9, PHL) He was referring to a rather humble door, the wretched and dirty door of a sheepfold. One may wish he had been near a nobler door when he decided to use that simile, something grander and with some style – the door of a castle, perhaps, surrounded by towers and battlements, sentries and guard-rooms and butlers and ladies-in-waiting! Alas, Jesus chose a humble door. It was, however, the threshold to the hospitality and love of the Good Shepherd and no one who entered there regretted it.
Doors, ordinary though they may be, lead to other worlds. For Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) a rabbit hole became the doorway to a fantasy world populated by peculiar creatures and delightful nonsense. For C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) a wardrobe became the doorway to Narnia, a wonder-filled place where animals talk, magic is common, and good battles evil – and wins!
Some doors are grand. Rome, for example, boasts four papal basilicas, each of which has a "holy door" which can only be opened in a jubilee year. No one may celebrate mass at the high altars of these four basilicas except the pope or those specially delegated by the pope. Even grander are the doors or gates of the celestial Jerusalem described in the book of Revelation – twelve of them, each one made from a single pearl (Revelation 21:21), grand and fitting doors for a city that rests on a foundation of jasper, sapphire, onyx, amethyst, emerald, and other precious gemstones. (21:19-20)
Where Are all these Apostles Coming from?!?
Grand or ordinary, doors represent thresholds to other worlds, and once entered life may never the same. Frederick Buechner took his seminary training at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. His professors included luminaries like Reinhold Niebuhr, but the professor who left the most memorable mark on Buechner was a lesser-known professor, a demanding Old Testament instructor who assigned his students the task of writing what was known as the Penteteuch Paper. Buechner writes, "The paper came as the climax of (his) introductory course, but the shadow it cast was a long one, and from the earliest weeks it loomed less as a paper than as a rite of passage. ... It turned out to be the opening of a door," writes Buechner. (Listening to Your Life, pages 31-35)
There is an inauspicious but key verse in the book of Acts that reads, "When (Paul and Barnabas) arrived (in Antioch), they called the church together and related all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles." (Acts 14:27) The verse is at the end of chapter 14, and it draws little attention to itself, but once that door was opened Christianity was never the same! The opening of that door cast a long shadow indeed!
The Acts of the Apostles is, understandably, full of apostolic activity. Those watching the growth of the Church from a fearful distance must have wondered, "Where are all these apostles coming from?!?" They were everywhere! In Jerusalem, in Samaria (chapter 8), in Damascus (chapter 9), then back in Jerusalem (chapter 9); in Lydda (chapter 9), in Joppa (chapter 9), then back in Jerusalem (chapter 11); in Antioch (chapter 11), in Cyprus (chapter 13), in Pisidia (chapter 13), in Iconium (chapter 14), Lystra, and Derbe (chapter 14), then back in Antioch (chapter 14). Then back to Jerusalem again (chapter 15), and on to Philippi (chapter 16), where today's passage takes place. And along the way the apostles share the good news with others they meet, such that it began to spread into Ethiopia (chapter 8) and parts beyond!
At the forefront of all this apostolic activity was first Peter, and later Paul. First it was Peter, who shocked everyone with his transformation from a frightened disciple-in-hiding to an articulate and decisive leader with an astounding breadth of vision. The formerly fearful Peter becomes an architect of audacious Christian witness. Those who thought they had suppressed the gospel message by killing its author now had to worry about Peter!
Then Paul, one of their own, a very promising leader in the effort to suppress the Christian movement, opened the door and crossed the floor! Paul had even more chutzpah than Peter! He was persistent, and tenacious, and as the second half of Acts unfolds Paul works tirelessly for the sake of the gospel, in spite of beatings, shipwrecks, dangers, and all manner of hardships. (2 Corinthians 11:24-28)
The Church in Philippi, a dynamic place
Peter and Paul and the others exhibited an irrepressible apostolic spirit, and when some doors closed, they only took it as a sign that another had opened! (Acts 16:6-10) In Acts, chapter 16, Paul arrives in Philippi, a Gentile city in Greece with a long and noble history and which was now a Roman colony that boasted two large temples, a library, a theatre, colonnades, porticoes, fountains, monuments, and a famous school of medicine.
Philippi was also an important centre of commerce between the Aegean and Adriatic Seas, and there Paul met Lydia, a businesswoman dealing in purple fabric. Purple fabric being a great luxury, Lydia was wealthy, with a large home, but Paul met her along the riverbank where she and a few other women often gathered. Paul and Silas shared the gospel with them, Lydia was captivated by it, and she and her entire household were baptized.
Lydia invited the apostles to stay in her home – she had lots of room – and while there a slave girl took to following the apostles around, mimicking Paul's preaching and taunting him. Paul grew weary of her heckling, and one day he turned around and cured her of her madness. It brought welcome relief to the apostles, but it didn't last long because she happened to be in the control of unscrupulous men who used her madness for their own financial gain. They were furious with Paul and Silas. They dragged the apostles to the public square and demanded the authorities punish them.
There are many reasons to believe that due process was not followed in what followed, and the apostles were stripped, whipped, and thrown in jail, their feet secured between heavy blocks of wood. I won't belabour the story, except to note that one of the acts of the apostles was to sing! Sing while in prison! The singing was followed by an earthquake which shook the prison to its foundations, knocked all of its doors open and somehow removed the chains from their arms and legs! The earthquake was followed by panic on the part of the prison warden, who thought that the prisoners had escaped and that suicide was the only honourable thing for him to do! His suicide attempt was prevented by the apostles, who assured him that no one had left, which in turn was followed by the jailer's receptivity to the gospel, and then he and his entire household were baptized.
A Series of Surprises
The Acts of the Apostles should really be called The Surprising Acts of the Apostles, and nowhere is that more evident that in today's reading from Acts. Just when you think you have the narrative thread firmly in hand, it twists and turns.
Paul cured the slave girl. It's a miracle!
The book of Acts reads as one surprise after another as the early Christians spread the gospel in the face of incredible obstacles, but their keen expectancy could not be suppressed. They believed that God was at work, and what looked like obstacles sometimes turned out to be opportunities, and what looked like opportunities – like the chance to flee a prison – to go through a door when a door opens – had to be discerned more carefully.
The power unleashed by Jesus' resurrection can do amazing and surprising things. It did so the life of Adelaide Zwane, who lives in Swaziland. Her husband was a pastor who ministered to prisoners, but in 1995 he was killed in a car-jacking. Adelaide decided to go into prison and minister to the men who were also grieving the death of her husband. She felt compelled to help one young prisoner and his grandmother, since the young man had been his grandmother's caretaker prior to his incarceration and he was concerned about her welfare. After providing the young man with clothing, Adelaide and another volunteer bought groceries for his grandmother. Then Adelaide discovered that the young man she was helping was the one responsible for her husband's death. Although very angry and hurt, Adelaide felt called to visit the grandmother, and when she did the young man's grandmother and aunts expressed their remorse. Eventually it led Adelaide to offer the young man her forgiveness – and – to adopt him into her family. She also began a ministry of reconciliation among prisoners. ("Reconciling Victims and Offenders in Swaziland," Prison Fellowship International)
What a surprising turn of events! The acts of Christian believers continue to surprise, because God is at work. It encourages us to open doors of faith for those we meet. It may be an act that casts a long shadow in their lives, a shadow cast by the powerful light of Christ.
May the keen expectancy of the apostles take root in our hearts, and make us irrepressible ambassadors for Christ and for the good news of his reconciling love and peace. AMEN
No, it's an economic downturn! And the merchants are furious!
Paul healed the slave girl to show the glory of God!
No, he did it because he was annoyed!
It's a prison break!
No, everyone is accounted for!
The doors are flung wide!
It doesn't matter. No one's leaving! The prisoners are staying put.
It's a suicide!
No, it's an opportunity to share the gospel!
It's a conversion! An individual coming to Christ!
Well ... no, it's a conversion of an entire household! First Lydia and her household. Then the jailer and his household.
And so it continues into the following verses. Initially it looks like the apostles are victims of Roman jurisprudence and torture, but in the following verses our passage they're audaciously claiming their rights as Roman citizens! (Acts 16:35-40) They're victims! No, they're victors!
Quotations of Scripture are from the New Revised Standard Version, unless otherwise noted.