Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. (Luke 6:27-28)
In our first reading today, we find Paul and Silas in a spot of trouble after Paul lost control of his temper. A young slave girl, whose fortune-telling abilities made a lot of money for her owners, had been following Paul, repeatedly telling everyone to listen to Paul and his cohort because they were God’s servants proclaiming a way of salvation. After several days of this, Paul got annoyed and ordered a demon out of her, which ended her days as a psychic. Her owners, angered that a source of income was gone, dragged the “troublemaking foreigners,” Paul and Silas, before the magistrates, which is where we join the story. The two men were attacked by the crowd, then the legal authorities ordered them beaten and incarcerated. The jailer took the orders seriously, as evidenced by the fact he placed his charges in the most secure cell and chained their legs to a stake. It is understandable that Paul and Silas – stressed by the events of the day, sore from the beatings, unable to move much or get comfortable because of the physical restraints – were still awake at midnight, “praying and singing hymns to God,” when the earthquake loosed the chains and opened the doors.
What happened next? Paul and Silas loved their enemy.
Instead of thinking of themselves, instead of taking the opportunity of opened doors and loosed chains to make a dash for freedom, Paul and Silas thought of the jailer. They thought of him not as the person who had tethered them in the innermost cell, not as an agent of the magistrates who unfairly sentenced them, not as a Philippian whose countrymen and women had moved against the two men of God, but as a soul in crisis. They knew the jailer’s life was forfeit if his prisoners escaped, so Paul, anticipating that the man would choose suicide to avoid the pain and ignominy of an execution that would certainly occur, called out to stop the desperate act with an assurance that no prisoners were missing. Paul showed mercy to one who had mistreated them, and as a result the man and his entire family entered into relationship with Christ.
Think how extraordinary this response by Paul and Silas was. How many of us, facing crisis and with a path to freedom before us, would even have thought of the jailer? One would assume, as the jailer did, that any prisoner would think, “Let’s get out of here. Head for safety!” If we did think of the jailer, would our first impulse be to save him or would we think, “Not my problem.” Or, “He had it coming. Payback!” Maybe we would lump him in with the larger group of Philippians who were responsible for the suffering and imprisonment: “This will teach them to mess with us and our God!” In other words, how many of us would adopt a “me first, them last” attitude?
Christ calls us to love our neighbors and our enemies, in times of crisis – such as Paul and Silas experienced – and in everyday life. As Christians, we often may not be aware of how easily we succumb to the temptation NOT to love those before us. Think of times when we are in a store, frustrated that staff won’t make an exception to a policy in our favor. When we think of those individuals first, we realize that they are not the ones who made the policy, that they would probably lose their job for making the exception, and that berating them makes us hateful and them miserable. The temptations to unlovingness pop up in the political arena, the workplace, at sporting events, in social media, even at church. The temptations may be greater when we are frightened or threatened. Yet it is in those moments that Paul and Silas prayed, praised God, and extended God’s love to others.
In those moments of temptation, may the Holy Spirit move in us to color all we do with love and mercy so that others are drawn to Christ, so that God is glorified.
David Crawford
I was Creighton’s University Archivist from January 2007 to April 2021, although as a faculty spouse I had been a part of the Creighton community since 1995. As University Archivist, I was responsible for archival, rare books and special collections, as well as for a Heritage Edition of The Saint John’s Bible on loan to Creighton. I left Creighton to assist others with historical, archival, cultural and various artistic projects.
I have been married to my wife, Sue, since 1990. We have two sons, one a graduate of Fordham and the other a graduate of University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I enjoy birdwatching, playing soccer, music and comedy.
The online Daily Reflections have been an important part of my faith journey for several years. I am excited and humbled by the opportunity to write these devotions.
