The Neighborhood Podcast
This is a podcast of Guilford Park Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, North Carolina featuring guests from both inside the church and the surrounding community. Hosted by Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing, Head of Staff.
The Neighborhood Podcast
"When the Walls Come Tumbling Down" (June 1, 2025 Sermon)
Preaching: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing
Walls crumbling. Shackles breaking. Prisoners singing at midnight. This powerful exploration of Acts 16:16-34 reveals how the early Christian movement turned the world upside down – and challenges us to continue that revolutionary work today.
The sermon begins by celebrating our congregation's remarkable unity in establishing an emergency summer shelter for women experiencing homelessness. Through countless volunteer hours, donations, and preparations, we've transformed our commitment to neighborliness from mere words into tangible good news. This mission embodies the gospel in its purest form.
Against this backdrop of community service, we dive into Scripture's account of Paul and Silas imprisoned in Philippi. Despite their chains, they had the audacity to sing praises to God at midnight – so fervently that an earthquake shook open their prison doors. The jailer, terrified and expecting punishment, nearly took his own life before receiving salvation instead. In a stunning reversal, this former oppressor washed the wounds of his prisoners and was baptized with his entire household.
Yet amid this celebration of liberation, a troubling omission emerges: what happened to the unnamed slave girl whose exploitation sparked these events? After Paul freed her from the spirit that made her profitable to her owners, she disappears entirely from the narrative. Her absence challenges us to ask: Who remains invisible in our celebrations? Whose liberation remains incomplete?
True discipleship requires noticing who's missing from our table. We are fed so we can feed others, freed so we can participate in others' liberation. As we break bread together, let's commit to seeking those still in chains – for where they are, there too we will find Christ.
Follow us on Instagram @guilfordparkpresbyterianchurch
Follow us on Facebook @guilfordparkpc
Follow us on TikTok @guilfordparkpreschurch
Website: www.guilfordpark.org
friends, let's hear again what God is saying to God's church, using the words from the 16th chapter of Acts, verses 16 through 34. One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a female slave who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune, telling While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out these men are slaves of the most high God who proclaim to you the way of salvation. 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. But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said these men, these Jews, are disturbing our city and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us, being Romans, to adopt or observe. The crowd joined in attacking them and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
Speaker 1:About midnight, paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice Do not harm yourself, for we are all here. The jailer called for lights and rushing in. He fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.
Speaker 1:Paul here. The jailer called for lights and rushing in. He fell down trembling before Paul and Silas and he brought them outside and said Sirs, what must I do to be saved? They answered Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and all your household. They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house At the same hour of the night. He took them and washed their wounds. Then he and his entire family were baptized. Without delay he brought them up into the house and set food before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God. Friends, holy wisdom, holy word. Thanks be to God. Let us pray, o Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable and pleasing in your sight, o Lord, our rock and our redeemer, amen. Well, friends, let me start today, if you're probably getting tired of hearing me, by reiterating just how proud I am of this wonderful congregation. Me by reiterating just how proud I am of this wonderful congregation.
Speaker 1:Over the past few months, it has been a pleasure, as your pastor, to have a bird's eye view of the many ways this congregation has united to provide our emergency summer shelter in the space beneath our feet today that you see up on your screen. As Brian mentioned, in just a few hours we will welcome a group of women from Greensboro Urban Ministry and provide them with food and shelter for the next 90 days. You all have come together in an act of Christian unity to get the job done, to provide hospitality to our neighbors who are striving for steady employment and affordable, stable housing, and we are doing this in fulfillment of our commitment to be neighborly towards one another in a way that transcends mere words or liturgy, in a way that transcends mere words or liturgy, transforming into tangible good news that nourishes not only our neighbor's spirits but their bodies as well. This, friends, is the work of the gospel in its purest form. Both the mission and the property committees, especially, have been meeting at least weekly for the past few months to prepare everything Already. Approximately 40 different individuals and groups of this church have signed up to provide dinners and breakfasts and to provide clean bed sheets and towels for our guests. Y'all have donated towels, sheets, pillows, snacks and other hospitality items. In the next few weeks, we'll learn more about our guests and we'll reach out for opportunities, if you want, to maybe write a personal note of welcome or make a hospitality bag, and we will invite you all, as church members, to commit to praying for our guests throughout their stay. So much has happened to bring us to today and I couldn't be more proud. As I mentioned, after worship, you were invited to join us in the basement as we partner with GUM to dedicate this space as a place for refuge and rest during these summer months.
Speaker 1:It's an exciting time of transition for us for many reasons. In addition to welcoming our GUM guests, this week we are also celebrating the graduations of many church members and friends and family of our congregation. Today we will celebrate those among us who have graduated from high school and college and university. We'll honor their hard work, their perseverance, their dedication, which have brought them to this important milestone in their lives. Each graduate represents a unique journey filled with challenges and triumphs, and we take pride in their achievements. So let us together acknowledge their accomplishments, share in their joy and look forward to the bright future that awaits them.
Speaker 1:And on this seventh sunday of the season of easter, we come to a passage of the book of acts that in its own way represents a graduation of shorts. You see, the members of the early church were graduating from being witnesses of the early, being witnesses of Jesus's leadership, to becoming leaders of his movement in their own right. This past week marched the liturgical observance of the ascension, when Jesus ascended to the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, assuring his followers then and us as followers now, that Jesus does not leave us alone, but with the presence of the Holy Spirit to guide and to nurture us to not just go to church but to be the church. So the book of Acts is the story of how the leaders of the early church marked this transition from taking off the training wheels, so to speak. Today's story, perhaps to many of us, is a pretty familiar one.
Speaker 1:Paul and Silas find themselves in shackles in a deep, dank prison cell, thus being the result of their labor of upending the economic status quo in the city of Philippi. But rather than despair in their incarceration, they have the audacity to sing praises to God, at the late midnight hour, no less. They sing so fervently that the earth itself decides to join in the chorus. The very ground beneath their feet starts to move to the beat of their song. The shackles come undone, the iron gates swing wide open and the walls come tumbling down. The jailer, of course, would have preferred that that wall remain intact, for that was the only barrier separating him from them.
Speaker 1:But strange things happen when walls come down. Strangers become friends, oppressors become evangelists, inmates walk free, swords get turned into plowshares and other weird things. It's also known as the work of the gospel, and it can be terrifying, depending on which side of the wall you happen to find yourself on at the moment. The jailer was so afraid that he nearly took his own life before Paul and Silas intervened and offered him the waters of salvation. And then something remarkable happened. As if all that happened before wasn't enough, the jailer washed the wounds of the very inmates that he was responsible for oppressing. What can we say, friends? The gospel turns this world upside down.
Speaker 1:And in these moments of triumph, of connection, of transition, when caps get tossed in the air, when shackles get broken apart, when walls that divide us crumble, it's important to take a moment to look back on the faithful work that has been done. Having walked across the stage myself last week at my commencement ceremony, I recognize that it's important to give thanks for all that has been done and, just as importantly, to give thanks for all the people in our lives that have helped us get to where we are. So, as we look upon the faces and the names of our graduates, which are in the back of your bulletin, I hope that we'll pause in gratitude, not only for them, but for all the folks in our lives that have been our cheerleaders, our greatest cloud of witnesses, as Fred Rogers said, have loved us into being. And in these moments when caps are tossed in the air, when shackles break apart, when walls that divide us come tumbling down. It's important to remember that there is much work left to be done, which is why I want to draw our attention to a very particular part of this story, or rather a glaring omission. You see, there is so much to celebrate in this story. Paul and silas, once incarcerated, are now free. The jailer, once a vehicle of empire, is now baptized to serve in the very movement that threatens its dominion. And let's not forget that this text tells us that all the prisoners were freed, not just Paul and Silas.
Speaker 1:Yes, friends, there's much to rejoice in this passage, and yet there's a character missing in all of this pomp and circumstance. Anybody want to take a guess who in this story is not present? Anybody. The slave girl is nowhere to be mentioned. The slave girl is the person whose presence prompted this whole brouhaha. You see, the whole reason Paul and Silas were incarcerated in the first place was that they freed an unnamed slave girl from the spirit of divination that provided a healthy source of income for her owners. And let's not forget that Paul's actions were not purely altruistic, as the text tells us that he was grumpy and just wanted her to be quiet. He was grumpy and just wanted her to be quiet. So there's an uncomfortable reality in this text. The girl disappears. She's never mentioned again in the book of Acts. Yes, god saves Paul and Silas. Yes, the jailer washes the wounds of his former inmates. Yes, those who were incarcerated in the prison have been freed. But what about the girl? What was her name? What happens to her? Did the owners take out their anger on her Now that they could no longer depend on her fortune telling to provide them income? Did they force her into other ways of securing their safety and comfort and security? We don't know. But we can write the story a different ending together, neighbors.
Speaker 1:In a few minutes we'll gather at this table, and when we do so, it's important not only to see who is present, but also to ask ourselves who's missing. The answer to that question marks the beginning of discipleship. It's all a cycle, friends. We are fed and then we go feed. We are freed, and then God frees others through us. We hear the good news and then we go out into the world to be the good news. That's what this thing called church is all about.
Speaker 1:So the good news, too, is this that girl, whatever her name may be, is still out there. It's our job to find her. It's our job to welcome her to the table. It's our job to set aside our own comfort and privilege and convenience to find her, because where she is, there too, we will find Christ. And so, friends, let us rejoice that the walls have come tumbling down, let us give thanks for that and for those that have brought us this far, and let us continue praying and singing songs to God, just like Paul and Silas did, for there are still many shackles to be broken. Let's break them together. In the name of God, the creator, redeemer and sustainer, may all of us, god's beloved neighbors, say amen.