Acts 16:16-40 – Paul and Silas in Prison.
- “How to ask; what will get me in trouble?”
- What got Paul into prison?
- The answer is the incident with the women who was demon-[possessed [probably with a ‘python’ spirit which was the type of spirit worshipped at the Delphi temple].
- There is something odd and open ended about this story.
- Odd because Paul does not choose to immediately cast out the spirit and seems ok with what the woman is saying for a while.
- Open because we don’t know why he apparently changed his mind. We only know that he became troubled.
- Why? We did he become troubled?
- What the spirit was saying was true even if it was meant to distract and cause a fuss. Why was it ok at first but not ok later?
- On Pais we practice an ancient Jewish method of ‘drashing’ a passage. It helps us learn more about motivation, either that of God’s or ours. I’m not going to exp[lain it here but I think I will explain my drash.
- Simply; you rewrite the story, filling in the gaps but never changing the facts. You essentially suggest why Paul may have become troubled.
- Some might right a story which tells of Paul only realizing after a period of time that the woman was demon possessed. Some may have over spiritual reasons.
- Mine would go something like this;
- Paul heard the woman and realized that she was demon possessed. He realized it was trying to distract but also knew that the woman earnt a lot of money for her owners. Thinking ahead he knew that casting out the demon would create a major incident that could be used against him and so he held back the power to exorcise the demon. Eventually he could not bear the thing anymore, righteous anger raised up within him and he turned and cast the demon out. Immediately he regretted his actions.
- My drash may surprise you.
- Can I encourage you to write down your drash before you carry on reading this.
- I don’t think there was a particular ‘spiritual’ reason for his actions. I think he just got annoyed at the Spirit and finally gave in to his anger.
- I could be wrong. That’s not the point. The point of drashing is twofold.
- Firstly as different people drash it helps us see various facets to the story,
- But also:
- Whatever is written down is possibly a reason why Paul did what he did but probably the reason why you might have done it.
- It is this simple method of drashing that helps us understand something about ourselves.
- In this case it makes me aware that what might get me in trouble sometimes is righteous anger; wrongly timed. Sometimes I just need to be smarter!
- What does your drash teach you about what might get you in trouble?
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