Freed from a public prison
by Carolyn Ehrlich
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They arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison (Acts 5:18).
Read Acts 5:12–26
Today I will focus on being put into a public prison and ask you to ponder whether Christians in our country are being put into public prisons today. I am not thinking about physical prisons with razor wire, prisons where you need to be fingerprinted, present yourself for searches, or be regulated by strict rules and regimes. I am talking about the prisons of public opinion, the prisons of self-focus, the prisons of being asked to accept things and ways that we know are evil. Are Christians in our country so imprisoned by popular thought that we no longer marvel at the wonder of God? Are we intellectually (rather than physically) imprisoned? So imprisoned that we do not question what is right or wrong? So imprisoned that we do not speak words of life to the people (verse 20)? So imprisoned that we do not enter the temple and begin to teach (verse 21)?
Do we even know whether we are imprisoned by the ways of this world? Do we know what God’s word says? Do we have a grasp on God’s perspective of the world? Do we, with great eagerness, submit ourselves to God’s authority and trust in his promises?
The truly amazing thing about this story for me is that God sent his angel to open the prison doors and let the apostles out. This leads me to ponder what would happen if we trusted God to send his angel to let us out of the prison of public opinion. Would we go and teach the words of life? Would we have the confidence of Peter to boldly proclaim ‘We must obey God rather than men’ (verse 29)? Would we, as the author of Hebrews instructs us in Hebrews 3:11–15, encourage one another so that people won’t fall away? We are free! Freed from the prison of this world! Free to teach and proclaim and encourage others so that none are hardened by the deceitfulness of sin! Free to gather and meet together as a community of God’s people to exercise faith, hope and love (see Hebrews 6:10–12; 10:19–25).
Father God, help me, and all your people, to listen to your voice, and not to harden our hearts in rebellion. Through your Holy Spirit, grow our powers of discernment as we constantly train to distinguish good from evil. Send your angel to open the prison doors that hold us back from proclaiming your good news to the world. Amen.
Carolyn Ehrlich lives in retirement with her husband Wayne in Ipswich, Queensland. Prior to retirement, Carolyn worked as a researcher in the fields of disability and rehabilitation. Today, Carolyn is kept busy with hobbies, supporting the Ipswich Lutheran Parish in various leadership roles and supporting her family.
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