Spreading the Good News (by sitting down and not saying much)
Readings: Acts 16:16-34 Preacher: Phil Swain
This Sunday we continue our theme of Good News Spreading as we hear the story of Paul’s first visit to Philippi in Acts 16. The sermon is titled “Spreading the Good News by Sitting Down and Not Saying Much” and it is playing with the idea that sometimes the good news of Jesus is shared most powerfully not with words but through our actions – our presence, our choices and the way we live. In these stories from Paul in Philippi, people are changed not just by what Paul says, but by what they see. As we struggle to work out how we can evangelise in our current context, these stories invite us to reflect on how our lives might point others toward Jesus.
It will also be a helpful Sunday as we begin looking ahead to our upcoming series on Philippians. We are just about to spend 4 weeks in Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi, and this Sunday will help give some context on how the good news first took root there.
Reflection Questions
Exploring the Passage (Acts 16:16–34)
- The enslaved girl recognises something true about Paul and Silas before others do. What do you make of her role in the story, and why do you think this encounter feels so complex or uncomfortable?
- Paul and Silas respond to suffering by praying and singing in prison. What do you think this reveals about their faith? Why might this have been such a powerful witness to those around them?
- The jailer moves from fear and despair (ready to kill himself) to joy and hospitality. What do you think brought about such a dramatic change in him?
Sharing the Gospel Through Actions and Character
- Why do you think many Christians find it difficult to “share the gospel” through words alone? What fears, assumptions, or pressures can make this hard?
- This sermon suggested that people benefit from not only hearing the gospel, but also seeing what it looks like. What kinds of actions or qualities most clearly reflect the good news of Jesus in everyday life?
- Can you think of a time when someone’s character, kindness, peace, or presence had a spiritual impact on you? What made their witness so powerful?
Going Deeper
- The story of the enslaved girl is unsettling. Paul seems irritated rather than compassionate. Why do you think Luke leaves this complexity in the story? What might it teach us about human weakness—even in faithful people?
- How do we hold together the importance of words and actions in Christian witness? What happens when one is present without the other?
- Paul and Silas share the good news not by escaping suffering, but by remaining faithful within it. How does this challenge common ideas that faith should always lead to comfort, success, or easy outcomes?
Sermon Text
Did you like that poem? I first came across it about 30 years ago when I was preaching as a young twenty-something. It really spoke to me then, because it reminded me that it doesn’t matter how good the sermon is, one of the best ways to show God’s love—or to explain what it means to follow Jesus—is through our actions. In other words, I needed to learn to literally practice what I preach.
And that brings us nicely to today. Last week Kevin introduced our mini-theme in the lead-up to Pentecost: Spreading the Good News. In last week’s reading we reflected on the conversion of Paul and his dramatic turnaround from persecuting Christians to becoming one of the greatest missionaries and evangelists of the early church.
It is hard to overstate how significant Paul became. He travelled widely. He planted churches. He wrote letters. He helped shape the life and theology of the early church in extraordinary ways.
And yes, some of that impact came through his ability to speak, teach, persuade, and communicate. But this morning I want us to notice something else. Some of Paul’s best moments of sharing the good news happened when he sat down and didn’t say much at all.
So, to give you some context, because a lot has happened in between last week’s reading from Acts 9 and today’s reading from Acts 16.
After Paul’s conversion story in Acts 9, Luke shifts focus for a while to Peter and the growth of the early church. Paul doesn’t really re-emerge until Acts 13 where Paul is commissioned to take the good news to the Gentiles, and he begins his missionary journeys.
By Acts 16 he is up to his second missionary journey and has crossed into Macedonia and arrives in the Roman city of Philippi. I mention this because in a couple of weeks we begin a new series in the book of Philippians. So today’s reading gives us the backstory of how the church in Philippi began.
Philippi was a strongly Roman city—shaped by Roman power, Roman culture, Roman values. There was no major synagogue there, so Paul’s usual pattern of arriving and preaching in the synagogue was not really an option. So Paul goes where people are gathering.
Just before today’s reading, he meets Lydia in Philippi down by the river. She hears the message of Jesus, opens her heart to Christ, and opens her home to Paul. She becomes one of the first key people in the Philippian church.
That moment comes through Paul’s words. But the rest of Acts 16 shows us another way the good news spreads.
Often when Christians talk about evangelism or sharing the good news, we think in terms of going. Going out. Going somewhere. Going across the street. Going to another country. Going to people and telling them about Jesus. And certainly that is a big part of what it means to share the good news.
But in Acts 16, Paul is not chasing opportunities. The opportunities come to him. And that may be good news for some of us. Because sometimes sharing the good news does not begin with a grand initiative or carefully crafted words.
Sometimes sharing the good news begins with us being present, loving and ready to respond where we already are.
Our reading has two stories of this … where we get to see the best of Paul and the worst of Paul. The first story is a little uncomfortable. It is the story of the enslaved girl who has a gift of insight or discernment. Some commentators Some rush to label her evil, but Luke’s focus seems less on her and more on those exploiting her. She is the one in chains. And she is the one speaking truth.
She was following Paul and Silas around and crying out that they were servants of the Most High God and are proclaiming a way of salvation. She was recognising that there is something real about Paul and his message.
And unfortunately, Paul does not exactly cover himself in glory here. He gets annoyed. He gets frustrated. He reacts. And the whole thing leaves us feeling unsettled. Because for a passage about sharing the good news, this first moment does not feel all that good. Rather than speaking good news of freedom to the enslaved girl, Paul and Silas get arrested themselves.
And perhaps that is important for us to notice … that even Paul, the great missionary, gets it wrong sometimes. The story is honest enough to show us that.
Sharing the good news is more than having the right words, the right argument, or the right presentation. The way that we act and react around people matters too. Our character matters. Our compassion matters. Our patience matters. There are moments where we may know the gospel, believe the gospel, even speak about the gospel, and still fail to embody the good news in the way we treat someone in front of us.
So the first half of the reading is a bit of a warning. There was an opportunity there, and Paul seems to muck it up.
But then the story turns.
Paul and Silas are dragged before the authorities, beaten, imprisoned, locked up in jail. And if ever there was a moment to complain, to despair, to give up, surely this was it. But what do they do? At midnight, they pray and they sing hymns to God.
It is one of the most extraordinary scenes in Acts. Their bodies are bruised. Their freedom has been taken away. Their future is uncertain. And their response it to sing. To praise. To Pray.
In this moment, was Paul and Silas sharing the good news by showing what trust in God looks like in the middle of hardship?
They are showing that faith is real. They are showing that Christ is present. They are showing that suffering does not get the final word. They are showing that praise is possible even in the dark.
And then comes the earthquake. The doors fly open. The chains come loose. The jailer wakes up, and seeing the doors open, and assumes everyone has escaped and in that moment he is undone.
But Paul calls out, “Do not harm yourself. We are all here.”
That line has really been sitting with me this week.
We are all here. Paul is still there.
He has every reason to run. He has every reason to save himself. Why shouldn’t he think, “Well, God has opened the doors, so off we go.” But instead, he stays. He is still there. And somehow that becomes the moment through which the jailer encounters the good news.
Not first through a sermon. Not first through a theological explanation. But through presence. Through mercy. Through integrity. Through Paul staying put when he could have fled.
He saw a sermon, instead of hearing it.
And I wonder whether that is one of the great invitations for us in this passage. Sometimes sharing the good news looks like simply being there.
Being there in the difficult conversation.
Being there with someone who is grieving.
Being there when things are awkward.
Being there in the workplace or with your family, or in the community
Being there with peace when others are panicking.
Being there with kindness when it would be easier to withdraw.
Being there with steadiness, love and grace.
Sometimes the gospel is seen when we stay.
And the jailer responds. If this is what a follower of Jesus is like, then they want to be one too.
And I love it that the jailer not only responds with belief, he also responds with actions. He tends their wounds. He brings them into his home and offers hospitality. He has not only heard the good news… he saw it, he now begins to live it out.
And the blessing spreads to his household. It ripples outward. What began in a prison cell with prayer and song now reaches the jailer family home. That is often how the good news spreads, especially when it is seen as well as heard … it moves through relationships … it ripples across community.
And as I was reflecting on this, I was thinking of Julie’s story … a friend of my older sister when I was a teenager. Julie was 17 when she discovered Jesus in a real and significant way. Her faith came alive. She loved coming to youth group and church but she felt scared about sharing the good news with her family.
Her father and brother were both strong, dominating personalities who would have mocked her and teased her if she tried to talk about it too directly. Her mother lived very much in the shadow of her husband. Julie felt like she could not really say anything. So, she made a decision. If she could not speak much, then she would show the love of God through her actions. In everything she did, she would try to be like Jesus.
Her family noticed the difference, but for a while nobody said anything. Then after about three weeks, her mother sat Julie down and said, “I don’t know what you’ve got, but I want to know about it.” Her mother became a Christian that day. It took longer for others in the family, but the good news had already begun to spread.
I’m not sure if I could say that Julie shared the good news by sitting down and not saying much. Perhaps better would be that Julie shared the good news by being there, by loving, serving, and letting the love of Jesus be seen through us.
Now let me be clear. This sermon is not saying that words do not matter. Of course they do. Paul does speak. The gospel is proclaimed. People need to hear about Jesus. At some point Julie’s mother asked the question, and words were needed. At some point the jailer asks what he must do, and Paul responds.
Instead I want to affirm that while sermons are great (sermons are great, aren’t they?) … real impact happens when people also see the sermon.
People do not only need an explanation of the gospel, they need to see what the gospel looks like. And perhaps this is exactly the right perspective on which to prepare for our sermon series on Philippians. After all, Paul says in Philippians 2 that if we are united with Christ that we should be like Jesus, we should act like Jesus, that people should see Jesus in us.
One of my favourite Old Testament stories is in 2 Kings chapter 7. The city of Samaria is under siege by the Aramean army. The people are trapped inside and starving. Outside the city gate sit four men with leprosy. They cannot go into the city, and they have nowhere else to turn. So they say, “Why stay here until we die? We may as well go to the Aramean camp.”
When they arrive, they discover the camp is deserted. During the night, God had caused the Arameans to flee. Suddenly these four starving men find food, drink, clothing, and abundance everywhere. They begin eating and enjoying it all, but then one of them says, “What we’re doing is not right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. Let’s go at once and tell the others.”
I don’t think that there is a better analogy of what we have found in Jesus and why we should share the good news. In Jesus we have found love, grace, forgiveness, inclusion, guidance, support, peace, assurance … the list goes on … and if we just keep it to ourselves, it is not right. This good news is meant to be shared.
But the good news of today’s reading is that to do this we don’t have to become a superhero preacher like Paul … we just need to make sure that we live out our faith so that others can see. And that we are ready to share the good news of why we believe in Jesus if we are asked. The line I liked the most in the poem that Lucille read was…
I’d rather see a sermon than hear one any day,
I’d rather someone walk with me than simply tell the way.
And sure we might not always get it right – remember, Paul mucked it up too – but we can’t keep this good news to ourselves. It is meant to be shared.
It is my prayer that our faith might shine clearly through not only our words, but the way we live.
It is my prayer that someone might say to you, “I don’t know what you’ve got, but I want to know about it. I want it too.”
Amen.
“Sermons we See” by Edgar A Guest
I’d rather see a sermon than hear one any day,
I’d rather someone walk with me than simply tell the way.
The eye’s a better learner, and more willing than the ear,
Good counsel may confuse us, but example speaks so clear.
And the finest of all preachers are the ones who live their creed,
For to see the good in action is what everybody needs.
I can quickly learn to do it if you let me see it done,
I can watch your hands in action, but your tongue too fast may run.
And the lectures you deliver may be wise and may be true,
But I’d rather learn my lessons by observing what you do.
For I may misunderstand you and the advice you choose to give,
But there’s little misunderstanding how you act and how you live.
One faithful life can teach us more than words that we are told,
One deed of kindness noticed i worth forty stories told.
Who walks with those of goodness learns to prize that goodness dear,
For right living speaks a language everyone can hear.
Though gifted speakers move me with the finest words they say,
I’d rather see a sermon than hear one any day.