Adult Object Lesson: Acts 16:16-34, John 17:20-26 and Psalm 97
Breaking the Shackles of Life
Today’s object is a cage. It should be obviously locked—perhaps with an extra lock to add some drama.
Today’s lessons revolve around the lesson from Acts 16:16-34. Paul and Silas are beaten severely. The Bible leaves their pain to our imaginations. We all know what it feels like to be beaten — if not literally, then figuratively.
The beating is a biblical act of bullying. Some important people are upset. They use their influence to incite the masses. The masses are all to eager too please the influencers in their lives.
The bullying doesn’t end with taunting and beating. Paul and Silas are thrown into jail—the ultimate punishment that causes ongoing shame even after release. Death might seem worse. But living with the history and memory of incarceration is a life-long challenge.
All the verbal and physical punishment means nothing compared to the wielding of power that the cage or jail cell represents. It is meant to control and wear down the encaptured. Cages are meant to change who you are. (And it is usually not meant to make you better!)
Cages keep us from reaching our true potential.
What do Paul and Silas do in their cage—aching with the pain of beating, shackled, robbed of their freedom and mobility, hidden in the most desolate part of the prison?
Paul and Silas sing hymns of joy.
They are able to do so because of the gospel of love, including today’s reading: John 17:20-26.
This passage is the “Other Lord’s Prayer.” Jesus prays expressly for his disciples.
He prays to His Father (and our Father), “that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
Bring this prayer to your listeners today. Reread that and substitute the word “we” and “us” for “they” and “them.”
The promise of the coming glory makes the cages of our lives bearable—and we all have cages. We may feel trapped in a job, trapped in a marriage, trapped in a toxic relationship, trapped by bureaucracy, trapped by tradition, trapped by our own weaknesses and shortcomings.
Which brings us to the joyful psalm of the day. Perhaps this was the song that Paul and Silas were singing. Psalm 97.
Here’s an excerpt.
Psalm 97: 10-12
The Lord loves those who hate evil; he guards the lives of his faithful; he rescues them from the hand of the wicked. Light dawns for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name!
If your prayers were answered and you somehow escaped your personal cage, what would you do? It might depend on what we do while we are in our cages!
As you and your congregation repeat the psalm together, open the door of the cage.