Not Easily Dismissed

Discussion Questions

1. Read Acts 16:13-40. Then read the devotional, “Not Easily Dismissed.”   

2. Many acknowledge the atrocity of American slavery but believe they bear no responsibility for what they themselves have never done. Is this thinking consistent with the spiritual responsibilities we bear for what happened in the Garden of Eden? Or with the moral responsibilities we maintain for what happened on July 4, 1776? 

3. What grievances in society today do you feel are unaddressed? 

4. Are there consequences to pent-up social grievances that are never addressed? What do you think they are?

Devotion

But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now they want to get rid of us quietly?” – Acts 16:37 (NIV) 

In the ancient Greek city of Philippi, traveling evangelists Paul and Silas found themselves in trouble for applying the gospel of Jesus to the life of a young woman possessed by a disturbed/demonic spirit. When the good news of Jesus confronted the dysfunction of the girl’s life, her demon was exorcised, and she was delivered into a life of well-being and well-balance. 

The young woman’s liberation via the gospel set her free from the exploitation of her traffickers—and from those in the city who profited. When her predators complained to city officials that her deliverance was bad for business, Paul and Silas were beaten and imprisoned. 

Faith in their furnace gave Paul and Silas the unction to sing praises at midnight and thereby illuminate their dark dungeon with the light of God’s liberating love. Such revolutionary enlightenment can cause the ground to quake beneath us… and hearts to open before us. Paul and Silas were freed from chains and free to share the gospel with their jailer. Fearing public humiliation, city officials sent emissaries to the jail to release Paul and Silas immediately and quietly. 

But Paul refused a discreet dismissal. He knew his rights as a child of God and he knew his rights as a Roman citizen, and he knew that city officials had violated them both. Paul insisted the officials themselves come to escort him out and thereby acknowledge their injustice. 

In the ‘reparations for the descendants of African American slaves’ debate, there are those who advise descendants of slaves to just move beyond past indignities and be thankful for present opportunities. But many of those descendants know what Paul knew: The consequence of non-repentance is vain repetition. 

Prayer
Lord, may our repentance move us forward. Amen.