Tuesday 24 May 2022

Today is Tuesday the 24th of May, in the sixth week of Easter.

The Porter’s Gate sings, ‘Illuminate the Shadows’. Today, we will hear of Paul and Silas in prison, praying and singing hymns to God. As we enter into prayer now, imagine yourself in that prison, singing with them…

Illuminate the shadows
Comfort those who are cast down
Illuminate the shadows
Be our refuge in a time of storm


O God, our help in a time of trouble


Illuminate the shadows
Cast the evil ruler from his throne
Illuminate the shadows
Break oppression with your mighty arm


O God, our help in a time of trouble


Illuminate the shadows
Til every idol has been trampled on
Illuminate the shadows
Til every statue comes tumbling down, down, down


O God, our help in the time of trouble


You bring hope to the hopeless


Today’s reading is from the Acts of the Apostles.
Acts 16.22-34
The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, ‘Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.’ The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They answered, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.

Paul and Silas discover that sharing the Good News of Jesus can be demanding and dangerous. But in the midst of distress, God acts to bring about liberation and new life, for Paul and Silas, and for the jailor and his family.
Which chains in my life need unfastening?
What wounds do I carry that need washing?

Where do I long for new life to grow?
I ask Jesus to act in my life and in the lives of those around me.

As I listen to the passage again, I imagine myself in the prison cell. What stays with me from this scene?
As this time of prayer comes to a close, I ask the Holy Spirit to show me signs of new life in my community.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.