Merredin Uniting Church

John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word & the Word was WITH God and the Word was God…

John introduces us here to an understanding of the intimacy of the Trinity …
In the beginning, when there was still nothing … even before the so-called “Big Bang”, or whatever you would like to call the official start of the universe … there was God.
We call Him “Father”.
And there was the Word, Logos – John’s rich description of God who came amongst us and who revealed Himself as “Son”.
We call Him “Jesus”.
And there was the Spirit of God hovering over the waters in the beginning at the time of primal chaos.
We call Him “Holy Spirit”.

They were together and they are one.
One God in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit; they were in perfect unity. They are not three gods for there is only one God, but in a way that is a mystery to us, God, the Creator of all things, the Founder of all that is, has revealed Himself to us in three persons.
These three persons exist in the intimate unity of the one Godhead.

They are always “with” each other.

Today I want to explore the idea of us also being “with” God and God being “with” us.
The Bible is full of descriptions of this..
Gen 5:22 – (Before the Flood) Enoch walked “with” God.
Gen 39:21 – Joseph (of Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat fame) was in prison but the Lord was “with” him.
Ex 3:12 – Moses is at the burning bush. He asks questions about God and God says to him, “I will be “with” you.”
Ex 33:14 – Moses is again questioning God, and ends by asking God to teach him His ways. God says to him, “My Presence will go “with” you, and I will give you peace.”
Joshua 1:5 – When God calls Joshua to lead the people into the new land, He says, “No-one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was “with” Moses, so I will be “with” you. Be strong and courageous.”

A constant theme runs through this idea of God being “with” us. The promise of God’s presence brings confidence when we are unsure, it brings peace when we are in turmoil … and it gives us courage to undertake endeavours which are far beyond our human capability. It means that we are “safe” where we are – wherever we are – when God is with us.
And, in fact, it might even be foolish to want to be anywhere else.

I want us to ponder a story this morning … it’s the account of Paul and Silas in prison in the town of Philippi.
Let me give you some background first …
While Paul & Silas were visiting the town during their first venture into Europe, they were followed by a slave girl who was possessed by an evil spirit. By this spirit she was able to tell fortunes and she was shouting out that these men were “servants of the Most High God who are telling the way to be saved.”
All this was true but – I guess, Paul and Silas were still under cover, their mission to Europe was still in the exploratory stages. And the evil spirit was messing things up. They then spoke to the spirit and exorcised it. This meant that the spirit was cast out and she was no longer able to predict the future and her masters had thus lost a means of income.
And so they had Paul & Silas arrested and thrown into prison.

READING – Acts 16:22-40
The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.

Paul and Silas are in the inner cell of a dungeon. Its dark and damp. There’s no electricity, no beds, no toilets and no air-conditioning. But there are rats and spiders.
Their legs are fastened in the stocks.
They have been there since the time of prayer, which was about 3pm. Its now midnight and they are singing hymns and praying. The other prisoners are listening to them.
Suddenly there is an earthquake –the doors fly open and everybody’s chains come loose.

Now a normal person would say that this was a miracle, an answer to prayer – they can all escape.
The jailer, who is a normal person, wakes up. He rushes from his bed and he finds the doors open. Oh no! They’ve escaped. He doesn’t even look. He grabs his sword and is about to commit suicide.

But, hang on a minute. The prisoners haven’t escaped. They are all still inside.
As the jailer points the sword towards his heart, he hears a voice from inside the dungeon, “Don’t harm yourself! We’re all here.”
And the jailer calls for lights, he rushes in and falls before Paul & Silas … “What must I do to be saved?” he asks.

I’ve read this passage many times. I always figured that the jailer was converted because of the earthquake – you know, the power of God displayed and all that stuff.
But do you see this?
His conversion happened not because the earthquake opened the doors but because despite the fact that the doors were open and the chains had fallen off – the prisoners chose to stay inside!
Why?
What was it about them?
What did they have that the jailer did not have?

I say, that it was because God was “with” them in the jail.
Remember the story of Daniel and his two mates in the fiery furnace. When Nebuchadnessar looked he saw four people in the fire completely unharmed. And the fourth looked like the Son of God. God with “with” them in the fire, just as He was “with” Paul and Silas in the dungeon.

When God is with you then your circumstances are circumstantial – they are not very important.
We can be strong, secure, confident! As the psalmist says, “We can scale a wall, advance against a troop…”
And God is always with us. Jesus said, “I will always be with you, I will never leave you or forsake you.” He is with us in the ordinary things of life. And He is not just with the Christians – He is with everybody, for He is the God who created each one of us.

Brother Lawrence, a monk who lived in the Middle Ages wrote a series of letters about his life “with” God. They have been put together in a book called “Practicing the Presence of God”. He was not a great or important man – he worked his whole life in the kitchen of the monastery but he wrote of how he found deep fulfillment in what he was doing because God was “with” him.
He never got to the chapel with the other monks, there were no solemn rituals or sacred communions for him – he was always elbow deep in dough or dirty dishes, but he had God “with” him.
Its not the circumstances that matter but whether God is in the circumstances.

The jailer thought that in the circumstances of an open jail, his prisoners would have taken the opportunity to escape and so thought that he had failed his earthly masters and so he thought that his best option was suicide.
When he realized that his prisoners had not escaped their circumstances he wanted to know what it was that kept them there – because whatever it was, it was more than he had. They found joy in the dungeon, he had been looking at death.
His prisoners had been praying and singing hymns to Go – they were “with” God – and so they saw no need to escape. God was “with” them and they didn’t want to leave Him.

How many have there been who have found God “with” them in the crisis of cancer, in a life turned suddenly around, in the circumstances of chaos.
They knew or have come to know a peace, through the Presence of God with them.

And how many, like the jailer, who, without knowing that Hod was with them, wanted to end their life or run away from their circumstances.

When we know that we have God “with” us, something different happens in our life. We find a peace and a joy that is not at all dependent on our circumstances. And it is attractive for those who are still struggling to see God. They see the potential of an answer to the meaning of their life.
And it is far more compelling than standing on their doorstep with a big black Bible in your hand. It is through our peace with God and our situation that people begin to see that God does actually make a difference in your life.

READING – Philippians 1:27-2:5
Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have. If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

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