Paul and Silas are on a preaching tour. After a dream that Paul had, they’ve travelled to Philippi, in north-eastern Greece. It’s a Roman colony and, so far, most of the population are totally ignorant of the message of Jesus. This is true pioneer missionary work, simply involving the gathering together of a group of curious people and telling them about the gospel – no posters, no advertising campaign, no use of social media or whatever.
However, there is an unexpected source of publicity. Wherever they go, a slave girl follows them round telling everyone that Paul and Silas are “servants of the Most High God who are telling you the way to be saved.”
Here is not only a person who in herself attracts a lot of attention, but she’s telling everyone that Paul and Silas are worth listening to. The girl is actually possessed, possessed by a spirit – a fact that her owners capitalise on by getting her to tell fortunes.
Outrage
It’s possible that Paul and Silas were initially glad of the publicity. However, she kept it up for so long that, in the end Paul, got fed up with it. Hence, he exorcised the spirit from her in the name of Jesus Christ. The spirit leaves and she loses her psychic powers.
Not surprisingly, her owners are outraged. Their source of income has suddenly dried up. They’re understandably mad at Paul and Silas and start to whip up the crowd to such an extent, that they turn on Paul and Silas. Paul and Silas are sentenced, without trial, to whipping, imprisonment and the stocks.
Paul and Silas are put in a cell and locked into the stocks. Amazingly, despite the excruciating pain they must have been feeling, they try to keep their spirits up by praying and singing hymns. Then, around midnight, a violent earthquake shakes the prison such that all the doors burst open, and chains loosened.
Horror
Can you imagine the complete horror of the situation for the jailer? The earthquake would’ve been bad enough on its own. On top of that, the jailer knows the doors have opened and, if they’ve got any sense, the prisoners, no longer chained to the walls will be starting to make their escape.
The jailer has full accountability for what went on in the prison. Under Roman law, any jailer who lost a prisoner would thereby be punished. Hence, the jailer would likely be fearing for his job and his life. Rather than face the consequences, he gets ready to end it all there and then. Paul sensing what he’s about to do, reassures him that all the prisoners are still in place.
The jailer, shaking and trembling, comes to Paul and Silas and asks, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Now I know we can never be sure what was going through the jailer’s mind, but I suspect that this wasn’t a theological question.
Desperate
The man’s on an emotional roller coaster. He’s just experienced a violent earthquake. His jail is falling down. Moments earlier, he was ready to kill himself rather than be executed by his superiors. And then the relief of discovering that, in fact, all his prisoners were still there.
His top priority is working out how he is going to keep them there? As such, I don’t really think that he is asking Paul and Silas to explain the gospel of Jesus because he’s curious about what they were preaching earlier on.
This is a desperate man asking what to do now his world has quite literally fallen apart around him. He’s under pressure, panicking and has no idea what to do to save his own skin. However, he does recognise something in Paul and Silas that sets them apart – an inner strength and calmness that enables them to respond to such cruel and unjust punishment by singing hymns.
Only one answer
Paul knows that whatever the motivation for the man’s question, there’s only one answer – Jesus. The details can be sorted out later, but the first thing is to believe in Jesus. That’s what the first Christians always say.
Read through the rest of the book of Acts and you’ll see that’s the case. “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.” “Believe in Jesus!” – there’s no other answer. And that belief is encouraged without any real understanding on the jailer’s part. There was a call to commitment – and the rest can be worked out later.
This is the story of a man who was panicking, who was under immense pressure, who had reached the end of his own resources, who was so close to the end of his tether that he was prepared to commit suicide – and he was invited simply to believe in Jesus as a way of discovering a higher power, a deeper resource, a lasting source of comfort.
Believe that we might understand
How about us? Are you anxious about people round you – your family, close friends, colleagues? Are you under pressure because of your situation – financially, health-wise, relationships; panicking because you don’t know what the future holds; emotionally wrung out and don’t know where to turn. As Paul said to the jailer, “Believe in the Lord Jesus”. Just hang on to the promises he made. Stick with him, the higher power, because you can’t get through this on your own.
Perhaps some people would say that that’s all a bit simplistic. I came across a quote from St Augustine who said, “We do not seek to understand so that we might believe: we believe that we might understand.”
That jailer, unless he was some kind of theological and philosophical genius, could never have understood the entire gospel in a couple of hours. He believed, then grew into it. He immediately proved his conversion by his deeds. No sooner had he turned to Christ than he washed the wounds upon the prisoners’ backs and gave them food.
Unless our Christianity makes us kind, it’s not real. Unless our declared change of heart is guaranteed by our change of deeds, it’s superficial and false. Let us pray that our actions speak louder than our words. Amen
‘Actions speak louder than words’ was delivered by Sheila Beattie at St John with St Mark’s Bury on Sunday 1st June 2025. It was based on Acts 16.16-34.