In Acts 16 a healing happens because Paul “very much annoyed” by a slave girl outing him as a slave of the Most High God tells the divining spirit in her to shut up. Of course the slave girl freed is a set up for the freeing of the Philippian
jailer who doesn't know he’s the one behind bars. Once the stage is set Paul
and Silas singing in the aftershock of the earthquake is such a surprise that the
jailer brought back from the brink asks, “What must I do to be saved?” even
though what he really wants to know is “Why are you still here?” The answer
that saves the jailer and his household is to believe in whatever it was that kept Paul and
Silas singing in the cell when running away made more sense. That is the answer
that saves us as well, for instead of coming down from the cross and saving
himself Jesus stayed put so that like the jailer we might be brought back from
the brink. In this we know we are saved, not by confessing a creed or adherence
to a tradition or allegiance to a denomination or ritual, but when believing in
Jesus means staying put with and for the other when walking away would be much easier.
And so whether we can carry a tune or not we sing the mercy of God in the
aftershock of whatever life throws at us for we know as slaves of the Most High
God we are truly free.
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