LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 63

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Convention Sermon
❷ “Baptized for This Moment”
Acts 16:25–34 • Sunday Morning

By the Rev. Timothy J. Scharr, President, LCMS Southern Illinois District
65th Regular Convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod | July 21, 2013

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to
God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was
a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken.
And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were
unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open,
he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners
had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we
are all here.” And the jailer[a] called for lights and rushed in, and trembling
with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and
said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord
Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the
word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them
the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up
into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

W

hat do an annoyed apostle, exorcism, riot, beating,
imprisonment, and earthquake have in common? These
were the events through which the Lord increased the
first congregation in Europe, at Philippi. No mission board, church
planter, evangelist, District President, or synodical convention
could have imagined outreach in this way. But the Lord did. He is
the God of surprises. The Lord is able to do far more abundantly
than all that we ask, think, or imagine according to the power at
work within us. To Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations (Eph. 3:20–21).
Paul and Silas were “Baptized for This Moment.” They were buried
with Jesus into His death. The public humiliation, beating, and
wounds connected them anew to the Passion of Jesus Christ. Like
Peter and John, they rejoiced that they were worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Jesus (Acts 5:41). Their prayers and hymns
caught the attention of every prisoner, the jailer included. What
manner of man sings and rejoices when beaten, bloodied, and
shackled? The jailer listened. These men were specifically put into
his care. He locks them in the inner prison. Who are these guys?
Who is this Jesus they keep mentioning?
Around midnight, an earthquake opens the prison doors and
loosens the chains of all the incarcerated. Fearing the worst, the
jailer thinks the men have escaped. He concludes that it would
be better to fall on his own sword than face the brutality of the
authorities for failing in his duties. Sensing what was taking place,
Paul shouts in a loud voice, assuring the jailer that all are present
and no one has escaped. Who are these men? They stay when they
could have fled; they are more concerned about saving his life than
escaping with their own.

C o n v e n t io n se r m o n s

This was no accident. Lives are spared in the earthquake that
souls may be saved for eternity. The jailer cries out for this greater
salvation. Paul and Silas direct him to Jesus. The jailer and his
household are baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection. In a
scene reminiscent of the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her
tears, the grateful jailer washes the wounds of Silas and Paul. He
provides food for their wearied bodies. The Lord integrated these
events and knit these lives together. Jesus is serious about adding
to the Church daily those who were being saved.
Work in Philippi was cut short for Paul and Silas. The Lord grows
His Church when and where He wills among those who hear the
Gospel. The jailer and his family were baptized for this moment.
Along with Lydia and her household, they remained to tell everyone
what God has done.
The Spirit accomplished much in Philippi. An annoyed Paul casts
out a spirit of divination from a slave girl who was following them.
This angered her owners, who saw her fortune-telling income
drying up. A riot erupts. Paul and Silas are stripped by the mob
and beaten under the approving eyes of the magistrates. Wounded
and humiliated, Paul and Silas are put into the securest part of
the prison. Rather than curse, grumble, and complain, they pray,
praise, and give thanks. The Lord uses all of it; even in apparent
defeat, the Lord works.
This side of heaven, the Church labors under the cross of her Lord
Jesus Christ. It is a burden and yoke that Jesus makes easy and
light. Christians are facing increasingly difficult times. The culture no longer respects the Church as it did. Opposition is rising;
persecution coming. Fear not! Jesus traveled this road on the way
to Golgotha. You were there with Jesus. Through Baptism into His
death, you die to sin and rise daily as a new creation. The old has
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