“The Most Powerful Force”

June 1, 2025: “Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen Indeed. Alleluia!

It’s the final Sunday of Easter today, so just because, let’s do that again – Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen Indeed. Alleluia!

That never gets old to me, and hopefully not for you too.

Next Sunday, during our “Mass on the Grass…with Brass!” we will celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, commonly called the birthday of the church. But today, we get a lot of what the Holy Spirit is up to in those early days of the Jesus Movement as we continue our Eastertide readings from the Acts of the Apostles.

Now last week you may remember that we heard about Paul and Silas encountering Lydia and some other women at a place of prayer. This week, we hear about Paul & Silas going to another place of prayer and finding another woman, this one unnamed, so let’s give her one…let’s call her Kassandra. In Greek mythology, Kassandra was a princess of Troy. The god Apollo gave her the gift of prophecy. This pairing of the story of Lydia and then of Kassandra, is a classic technique of this author, who also wrote the Gospel of Luke (it’s a two parter). There are often two stories, a doublet, told in succession for a reason. So, back to it.

While Lydia was a woman of means and independence, Kassandra was a slave in more than one way. She was possessed by a spirit of divination, which the text says is of a demonic source. She also was enslaved by men who used her fortune telling ability to line their pockets. But in a twist, when Paul & Silas encounter her, she says that they are slaves. The text we heard this morning says, “While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.” Before we go any further in the story, I just want to point out something about this that most, save scholars, usually miss. It is right in this part too.

Note that the author says “While she followed Paul and us, …” This is part of a collection known in biblical scholarship as the “we passages,” where the author of Acts, commonly thought to be the physcian Luke, changes from the third person to the first person, possibly indicating an eyewitness account, and that the author was a companion of Paul in his travels. See how just a word can bring so much meaning into a passage – especially for us biblical scholar geeks? [singing the PSA tune] The more you know. Or should I say, The more we know?

Okay, moving on here…The text continues saying that “She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.” You gotta love it – it’s like Paul had a pesky little sibling annoying him and he just couldn’t take it anymore.

And here’s where it takes a turn…Kassandra is freed from the possession by the spirit, but Paul & Silas are locked up. See, here’s what happened: The owners were really annoyed that they couldn’t make money off Kassandra anymore. What happened to her, we don’t know, which is a shame, I think. What we do know is that they drag Paul & Silas before the magistrates and incite the people against them. What happens next? The crowd joins in the attack against them, the magistrates have Paul & Silas stripped, beaten, and thrown into jail.

Paul and Silas are put into stocks deep in the innermost part of the prison. But instead of being angry, or afraid, they start singing hymns and praying, with all the prison listening in. And here’s the part the kids love in Sunday School because it is so awesome. At midnight a big earthquake came and BOOM! The prison gates were opened, the chains were broken. The jailer – let’s call him Marius (from the Roman God of war) – anyway, Marius drew his sword to kill himself out of dishonor because he thought everyone had escaped, and just then – he hears Paul shouting “STOP! In the name of love…” (kidding, of course).

Anyway, Paul tells him that the prisoners are all still there. Marius called for lights – which did NOT mean turning on the stage spots like in “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” but men with torches. Then he rushed down to find Paul and Silas sitting there like “Dude, chill. Hakuna Matata and all that.” Marius falls down in front of them trembling.

Cool story, right? But wait, there’s more.

Then Marius takes Paul & Silas out of the prison – not a bad idea one might say considering the circumstances. And outside, he wants to know how to be saved as he put it. Paul & Silas teach him about Jesus, and he becomes a convert to this new Jesus Movement. Then, just like the story last week, where Lydia implores Paul & Silas and his group to join her in her home where she offered them food and rest, this week Marius does the same – bringing them to his home, and caring for their wounds.

All of that is a great story, with lots of cool special effects too – the violent earthquake, chains breaking – and lots of people being freed in various ways – Kassandra, Paul & Silas, and even Marius. But let’s return to the part when Paul frees Kassandra from the demonic possession, even if it was just to stop her from annoying him.

Now, I don’t know about you, but if I saw someone drive a spirit out of someone else, freeing them from exploitation, I would be awestruck and thrilled…and thinking – dang, wish I had caught that on my iPhone camera. Nobody’s gonna believe this, and man that would have gone viral on TikTok. Instead, something else happened. Something we see a lot of today.

Instead of rejoicing and wondering about the power of God, these owners turn to the very well worn response when people are angry, fearful, or filled with greed. They appeal to cultural difference – the bigot’s playbook. “These Jews can’t be trusted,” they cry. They tell everyone to be afraid of “those people” because they are different. They warn that they dangerous, and the cause of whatever problem the community may be experiencing (or think they are experiencing), because they aren’t like us, or follow our customs as Romans. Which, if you think about it, is odd given that both Paul & Silas were Roman citizens themselves. But when has that ever mattered in history when a majority point to a minority as being different and dangerous?

Today we hear this same thing about immigrants, refugees, LGBTQ+ people, people of color, Muslims, and again – Jews. And, as in this story, it can often seem for a time that bigotry and greed has won the day. In our text from Acts, the crowd buys into the hate, and Paul & Silas are beaten severely and locked up in stocks deep within a prison. Today in our country, brown and black people are being picked up by masked federal agents and shipped to detention centers and prisons notorious for human rights violations – all of this without due process of law. Today, all around the world the rich are getting richer on the backs of the poorest workers. Those in power in our nation are not working to free us from this economic oppression, but rather are working to institutionalize it – trying to cut Medicaid and Medicare, eliminating organizations that help the poor and protect everyone like USAID, and trying to destroy institutions that educate, protect, serve, and heal the people.

Has bigotry and greed won? Not if we remember the lessons from the rest of this story.

Paul & Silas sang and prayed in prison, and this is far more subversive than it may seem. Our faith frees us to transcend our present circumstances – keeping us on an even keel, and guiding us forward in the name of justice and peace. It is the most powerful force we can bring to bear against the oppressor.

The thing is, those who wield power unjustly count on the oppressed being an example to others. “Look what will happen to you if you get out of line.” That doesn’t work when the folks are singing hymns of praise and praying, rather than cowering in fear or allowing hate to build up within them. What oppressors want is for people to be afraid. And when violence erupts it works to justify their oppression and open the door for tightening the grip even more.

Violence is not the path to peace and freedom. The leaders of civil rights movements, many of whom were people of faith, knew that well, and teach it to us by example throughout history. We need only look at people like Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and in this start of Pride Month – Bayard Rustin, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, Harvey Milk, Marsha P. Johnson, and more. Some were faith leaders, others were politicians, authors, and more. All risked their lives, some dying, for the cause of freedom. None tried to fight violence and oppression with violence and oppression. And like Paul & Silas, none of them would try to escape the trials they faced if it left others suffering.

Remember, even when Paul & Silas were able to flee the prison, they did not. It was, as one commentator noted, “…an escape story without an escape.”[1] Why? Why didn’t they leave? Because being a part of the Jesus Movement is not about escaping danger, but about welcoming opportunities to shine the light of God’s unconditional love and grace where it is most needed – and light is most needed in the darkest places. Had they left, Marius would have killed himself. Had they left, it would make the story of God’s great act of grace in the earthquake be about freeing two disciples rather than about redeeming Marius, and through him, spreading the good news of God’s love throughout another region.

As we continue to follow Jesus and stand against oppression in our country in our time, let us remember this story of Paul & Silas, Kassandra & Marius.

Let us sing amidst the darkness of hate.

Let us pray when facing the shackles of injustice.

Let us not flee at the first opportunity, but stay to do the work we are called to do – for none of us are truly free unless all are free.

And as we continue to partner with God, the bitter walls of injustice that bind both the oppressed and the oppressor will come toppling down – stone upon stone – until everyone is able to experience God’s dream for us all – that beloved kingdom of peace, wholeness, love, and grace.

It won’t be easy.

But it will be the most rewarding life we could ever live.

Amen.

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