5. Songs at midnight
Life in the risen Lord
16 May 2010
Acts 16:16-34 
Today we celebrate the work of Wesley Mission. Such witness and service has been sustained through good days and bad since the first Methodists gathered together 198 years ago. This history has been well recorded.
The development of early Methodism can be traced in three well-defined stages of activity:-
- John Wesley’s personal ministry and its amazing and rapid growth. It set the scene.
- Struggles, as the Movement became a church (reluctantly at first). A firm base was built.
- Then the period of missionary enterprise and expansion, which developed a strategic direction.
Early Methodism entered Africa in 1811, Asia in 1814, Australia in 1815 and Polynesia in 1822. The reason we will celebrate 200 years in 2012 rather than 2015 reinforces the fact that the small group of people who were already meeting are the real roots of our Mission.
One of the most popular television advertisements relates to superannuation funds and is based on the pleasant ditty, ‘From little things bit things grow.’
There was a call for help and assistance from a small group, which led to Samuel Leigh arriving in Australia. His first night spent here was in the home of Mr Edward Eagar in O’Connell Street. Eagar was an Irishman and a trained barrister. Describing his feelings that night, he said he was like ‘a stranger in a strange land’. He was depressed and lonely and spent the night in meditation and prayer.
Edward Eagar accompanied him to Governor Macquarie on the morning of 11 August 1815. The Governor expressed the view that he regretted that Mr Leigh had come as a Wesleyan missionary. This may well have been because of the bitter hostility that had erupted between Roman Catholics and Protestants. He was offered the opportunity of an office under government and Leigh was told, ‘He would be much more comfortable, and might become rich!’
Samuel Leigh turned a deaf ear to this and proceeded to explain the object of his mission and the means he intended to employ. The Governor replied, ‘If those be your objects, they are certainly of first importance; and you will endeavour to compass by the means you have now specified, I cannot but wish you all the success you can reasonably expect or desire.’ He concluded, ‘Call at the Surveyor General’s office, present my compliments, and say that I wish him to afford you every facility in his power in travelling from one township to another.’
Not surprisingly, the first place of meeting was in ‘The Rocks’ not far from Philip’s first settlement. Leigh found there was a class of six people and went on to form two further classes of six each. Soon afterwards, classes were established at Parramatta, Windsor and Castlereagh, with a total membership of forty-four.
This evening, I want to look at Acts 16 and verses 16-34. Paul released a young woman from an affliction and, in the process, caused a great disturbance among the people. Paul and Silas were arrested and jailed… yet, by the intervention of God, their imprisonment becomes an opportunity for them to witness to the gospel.
‘At midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the other prisoners were listening to them.’ (Acts 16:25)
Now you may or may not be a fan of the music of the late Elvis Presley. But, most people would have to admit that the title ‘The King of Rock and Roll’ was not an exaggeration of his influence. When Elvis shook his hips, the public were shocked. His gyrations dislodged a generation from its conservative moorings. Critics would argue that one of his most innovative songs was Jailhouse Rock… because, up to that point, Blues had been associated with imprisonment… now a different feel was brought into the jailhouse, reinforced by the movie with the same title.
You might ask what this has to do with us today – and on the occasion of our Mission Anniversary. Some of you might even be answering beneath your breath, ‘Nothing!’ However, Paul shocked his own public by his actions. He, too, dislodged a culture from its historic moorings. Paul and Silas find themselves behind stone walls and iron bars.
The jailhouse rocked at midnight; an earthquake shook the very foundations and opened the cell doors. But the prisoners did not escape. What followed was the response of the jailor who, when he appeared on the scene, was about to take his own life, assuming he had lost those for whom he had a legal responsibility. He would be accused of dereliction of duty.
The jailor comes to a place of trust in Jesus Christ and his whole family is brought into a living relationship with God. It is an early description of the need for a response – and Darrell L Brock says, ‘Paul desires that faith in the Lord Jesus will save the jailor and his whole household. This brief confession expresses the core of what saving response is…’
It struck me that this passage, a set epistle for the day, deserves our attention and adds relevance to such an occasion. It has many aspects, but I choose to focus the microscope of our attention on just three:-
We must face many 'midnights'
Much of the attention on this particular account in the Acts has been related to the impact of Paul and the response of the jailor to the events and his subsequent faith moment, which led to his whole household being baptised. The response of the jailor spills over in gratitude, leading him to wash the wounds that may be the result of beatings he may have carried out. The concentration on the jailor often leads us to ignore two important aspects:-
- The next day, the magistrates decided to let Paul and Silas go (v.v. 35-36)
- In Greek thought, the earthquake at midnight is often seen as a theophany… a divine manifestation.
God is seen as the primary agent in the events that happen at midnight. The earthquake at midnight brings two aspects together… the depths of the night and those things, in this case an earthquake, which make us feel we must sit up and pay serious attention.
- The Christian community has faced many ‘midnights’
In those early days, when the Methodists began their mission in Australia, they faced obstacles to their effectiveness.
Paul and Silas did not form a committee, appoint a task force or walk around the problem in circles. They sought a God-centred answer to their dilemma. Richard J Foster wrote, ‘Radical prayer refuses to let us stay on the fringes of life’s great issues. It dares to believe that things can be different. Its aim is the total transformation of persons, institutions and societies. Radical prayer you see is prophetic.’
- The persecution of the early Christians
- The missionary thrust cost huge numbers of lives
- The power of Marxism and Fascism in the 20th C
- The current alienation by secular forces
The Western World contains many who want to privatise Christianity. You can practice it, but must not be missionary in any sense! Legal action is being taken against Christian people by militant opponents in various contexts. Our values are under threat as never before. This is a midnight of a different kind.
- Wesley Mission has had its ‘midnights’
There have been times in our history when the work has been under pressure:-
- The near closing down of our ministry in the city… the proceeds of the sale were to be used to support the suburban work.
- The fire that destroyed our headquarters… symbolic of all those times when we have not been able to look very far into the future.
- Financial pressures when we are closely wedded to government funding.
At each and every ‘midnight’, Wesley Mission has had to stop and take a deep breath… and then exercise that faith which sets us free to serve.
In the Acts of the Apostles, Paul had faced triumph and disaster. He had been successful in his defence at the Council of Jerusalem as he argued that people did not have to change ethnic background in order to become Christians. He had faced disaster when his long-time companion Barnabas and he split over the faithfulness of Mark, who left an earlier missionary trip before it was completed. Paul and Barnabas went in different directions, but it led to the gospel expanding in both locations.
At Wesley Mission, the near closing of the work forced a new city centre model to develop; the fire meant we looked afresh at our work in the city; and the financial pressures cause us to examine our organisation very carefully. We will keep ‘singing at midnight’ as we wait for the dawn of new opportunities and a greater consciousness of God’s calling today.
- The wider context in which we operate presents its challenges for us
Paul had challenged the people of his day by bringing healing into the life of a ‘slave girl’. She had been operating as a fortune-teller and healing grace meant that she was not nearly so economically profitable. Hitting people’s wallets would make Paul very unpopular.
The equivalents of the owners of the slave girl are present in every generation. Those who prey on the weak and vulnerable for their own gain are always with us. The recent Underbelly television series from both Melbourne and Sydney reveal the fact that we still live in a confused context. A gold coffin spoke its own obscenity just over two weeks ago… it is hard to understand.
We live in a global context and the impacts of events, financial markets and political decisions reverberate around the world like never before… and affect all of us. The loudest voices around our religious roundtable never tire of telling us that faith is just personal. The biblical record here does not bear that out; faith was wide-reaching. Note that not only did the jailor declare Christ, but his whole household believed. This is not a paternalistic story, but an indication of the effects of the gospel as it runs across our lives and communities.
The wider context in which we operate is tougher than ever. The fat of past years has been understandably trimmed and the desire for leanness of operation presents us with huge challenges… and, at the same time, more and more turn to us for help!
The temptation at midnight is to retreat
At midnight Paul and Silas could have chosen to sleep, listen to the anecdotes of the other prisoners or simply prepare their case for any legal trial that might ensue. Instead, even in the face of an earthquake, they kept singing.
An earthquake must be terrifying and, during this past year, we have seen their impact around the world. I think of Chile, and the enormous devastation and loss of life in Haiti. A number of years ago, Hollywood made a movie called Earthquake to profit from people’s fears. An earthquake was often seen as a sign from God and the jailor responded in a like manner.
Sometimes we need to have our foundations shaken severely before we wake up to God’s call, but not necessarily a geological quake. A death, a divorce, or the loss of a job can transmit a soul-rattling tremor that makes us cry out, ‘What must we do…’ At that moment, we can be tempted to retreat by wanting…
- To curl up in a ball and go to sleep
In so many of our services, we deal with people who react to the pressures brought upon them in this way:-
- The person in debt who can’t even open the mail.
- The abused woman who fears the next assault.
- The youngster who faces court and is in denial.
The Echidna rolls up tight, in the hope that all danger will go away… and this is how so many of us behave as we reach our ‘midnights’.
Hans Kung wrote, ‘A church which pitches its tent without constantly looking for new horizons, which does not continually strike camp, is being untrue to its calling… We must play down our longing for certainty, accept what is risky, live by improvisation and experiment.’
- To head off in the other direction
The fact that these two leaders didn’t scarper off into the night is an indication that they felt they had a task that was far bigger...
- with the mission to which they had been called.
- with their fellow prisoners in the cells.
- with the jailor and his wider family.
I reckon that what we have here is a picture of a church which did not avoid its responsibilities. They had earlier felt the fury of the crowd and had been publicly beaten, presumably, to appease the crowd who were attacking them to persuade the magistrates (16:22). They were then put in stocks in the cells. With lacerated backs and aching limbs, they did not let out groans, but songs to bless God. It is no wonder that ‘the other prisoners were listening to them’. (v.25)
One writer has described this passage as containing ‘a nest of improbabilities’, but God works in the situation to bring about his purposes.
- To find other things to do
The challenges are very real here at Wesley Mission. There have been times when the easiest way would have been to deny our twin core purposes at the expense of productive and active work. However…
- We might possess a suburban mentality in the city centre… but lose our cutting edge.
- We might be a leading social and welfare provider, but sit very light to Christian values.
- We might be the busiest church in Sydney, but not engaged in the reality of communicating a vibrant, life-changing message.
Christian mission today has to engage not only with difficult contexts in which to operate, but also against the sheer scale and quantity of human suffering.
The real challenge is to sing the songs of faith
It is often said that there is a huge gap between the ‘goofy ideal’ of thoughtful theological academia and the ‘gritty reality’ of the grubby realism of doing theology in church. Invariably, when I took on new pastors, they would say, ‘College or seminary did not prepare me for what it is really like!’ There is more than a touch of truth in that, but it isn’t entirely fair and it certainly isn’t the biggest difficulty.
The challenge is not stretching yourself between the ideal and the real, or the clash between the theoretical and the practical… it is finding yourself in the middle of an intersection where two worlds collide. We must not bed down in a world of mediocrity… that lets us off the hook too easily. We shall continue to sing songs – and this is:-
- Why we must stand together
Following Jesus today means embracing our unique Lord in a broken and pluralistic world, where the notions of ‘truth’ and ‘justice’ are being cast aside every day for the sake of pleasing others.
In a broken world, truth is critical… and in the African context, plagued by conflicts, corruption and the awful reality of HIV/Aids, the familiar saying is making fresh sense… ‘People do not care how much you know (or who you are) until they know how much you care.’ This is true the world over.
We are called to stand together and what was true for Paul and Silas is true for us at our ‘midnights’… we need to sing the same song of joy and purpose.
- Why we must not be afraid
We must not be afraid to demonstrate confidence. There are some Christians who are so pious that they are fearful of a ‘holy ambition’.
Chris Bryant served as an Anglican priest before entering British politics. He said, ‘When I was going for my interview to see whether I was going to be ordained, one of the questions was “Are you ambitious?” to which the correct answer was meant to be “No”. I said, “Yes” and the Bishop looked askance at me. I said, “It’s alright, it’s just that I would quite like to play Dr Who one day.’
The early leaders, Paul and Silas, were not afraid behind their prison gates – and also not afraid to remain inside when the doors were flung wide open, allowing them to flee the scene!
- What will be the outcome?
Recently, whilst in the studio recording our Rise & Shine television programs, I interviewed a man who has been very involved in the area of restorative justice. After a successful career in the police force, he is now helping victims, families and criminals who are plagued by the pitfalls of crime and bad choices. He encourages them to come together to express the hurt and pain of their lives, lost or broken, and helps them to begin again.
He told me the story of two young men who raided a gentleman’s outfitters in one of our cities here in Australia. After they had been caught and duly convicted, the owner of the shop asked if he could meet the boys. He had only one proviso – that the boys had to wear two of the jackets they had stolen. He wanted them to understand that the jackets represented far more than clothing and money to him. The bottom line of this story is that one of those young men is now working in the same clothes shop… on the other side of the counter!
For close on two hundred years, Wesley Mission has believed in the power to change. We have often sung songs at ‘midnight’ – and we continue to do so – because when things are at their lowest, when the sky is at its darkest, this can be the moment of our redemption.
Tertullian once reflected upon this passage, ‘The legs feel nothing in the stocks when the heart is in heaven.’ Such confidence will continue with us, as we face the challenges ahead of us.
Wesley Mission’s future is in our hands… No, thank God, it’s in HIS… and for that reason we shall continue to ‘sings songs at midnight!’
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