Our reading from Acts today told us a couple of stories about people being set free. Paul and Silas, two early Christian apostles, not only have their literal prison chains broken, but they break the invisible chains of the people that they meet while they are out spreading the word about Jesus.  The first person is a woman, enslaved both by a spirit she seems not to have control over, and by the people who take advantage of her condition to make money for themselves. It’s not clear why Paul takes so long to help her. Maybe it took him that long to realize that she needed help, or maybe he already had an idea of how much trouble he could get into for helping her. Either way, he puts it off until he can’t anymore, which tracks. Humans often put off things we know we need to do, even when we know they would be good to do.

Once he does send the spirit away, we see that it really ticks off the slave owners who exploit this woman. That spirit made them money, so Paul giving her back control over her mind and her voice, is a problem to them. They didn’t seem too worried about what Paul was teaching before it hurt their business, but when she is set free, that is suddenly a step too far. When it is shared faithfully, the gospel of Jesus puts people over profit. God desires human wholeness and health, and sometimes that’s troublesome for people who rely on suffering and unhealth to make money. Whatever your realm of expertise in this world is, I’m sure you can think of some examples.

As a pastor, I think about spiritual leaders who hold people captive with threats about God’s wrath. The kind of pastors who coerce people into living with all kinds of hell on earth by saying that it’s “God’s will.” They keep people captive through fear because it gives them more power, making it so that many people would associate Christianity with control rather than freedom. Another example I think of is how we know that affordable housing and a livable wage are literal forms of suicide prevention. We know that when people struggle to meet their basics needs, it has a huge impact on the mental health of their entire family. Yet, as a society we are hindered by people who have something to gain from letting other people struggle.

For a few weeks now we’ve been talking about neurodiversity, so I’m thinking of how hard it can be for people to get accommodations for their needs. That is an essential part of including neurodiverse people and decreasing stigma about them, but these things cost extra money, extra effort, and extra time. They cut into profits, and when we choose profits over people, I think all of us suffer for it, though we may not realize it. And when we put people first, with greater support for our mental health, it can improve life for all of us, even when we didn’t think we would be impacted.

Neurodiversity is a great example. The tools that neurodiverse people use, are tools that can help lots of us, whether we have a mental health diagnosis or not. The first time I encountered this idea I was in seminary. I had a professor who brought in coloring sheets and colored pencils for our adult class of master’s degree students. She said, “Here, color if it helps you to listen to the lecture better” and much to my surprise, it did help me listen to the lecture! I didn’t expect how much of a difference it would make to be freed from maintaining eye contact and keep my hands busy while listening. I didn’t know I needed that, but now I always color when I have the option.

I didn’t think of myself as a neurodiverse person until the pandemic, when like many other people, I was suddenly introduced to new concepts like sensory issues, executive functioning, masking, and burnout. I still don’t have any formal diagnosis, but because of all I’ve learned from the neurodiverse community, I do have a better relationship with my brain. It has freed me in a lot of ways. I can appreciate my mind’s strengths, and I can use the tools and tips I’ve learned from neurodiverse people to work through my mind’s challenges. Neurodiversity is not a spirit to cast out or a problem to fix. We are uniquely, and wonderfully made, with differences that are also our strengths. We can all benefit from learning about how we’re wired, and what might help us to function and feel better. The stigma keeps us captive, and perhaps that is something we can work on casting out as we pursue our WISE goals.

As I consider the story of how this woman is freed from what controls her and how she regains her power over herself, I wonder how we too can help to free people, by empowering them to be fully themselves, and to have more control over how they engage with the world. As Paul cast out spirits, perhaps we can cast out the shame that keeps people from loving themselves and each other, and perhaps that will be healing for all of us, even if it gets us into some trouble like it does Paul in the second jail break of this story, which is the more literal one. Paul and Silas are put in jail by the jaded slave owners who accuse them of “advocating for unlawful customs that no good Roman would practice.” Like, they’re suddenly the experts on what is morally right, and are deeply offended by the ideas of these troublemakers.

So, Paul and Silas are beaten and jailed with extra precautions, and from within their jail cells, they pray and sing hymns to lift their spirits, as so many Christians fighting for some form of justice have done. Suddenly, there is an earthquake that throws the prison doors open and loosens their chains. The thing is the earthquake doesn’t set them free. The jailer, who is sure he will be punished for this jail break, moves to hurt himself. He’d rather take his own life than see it end up in the hands of whoever had power over him. The one who guards the jail cell isn’t much happier than the prisoner. He lives under so much fear that death seems like his only escape. He too is the captive of a life-threatening system, dictated by the whims of people more powerful than him. He sure doesn’t seem free to me.

If Paul were a normal prisoner this would be his opportunity to escape, but of course he makes a different decision. He sees a fellow human, also captive and in danger, and says, “Don’t hurt yourself! We’re still here!” Though they should be enemies, Paul reaches out to connect with him. The jailer finds compassion where he did not expect any. These prisoners should be running from him, but instead they talk to him. What he learns, sets him free from his fear, and then he is the one to lead the jailbreak. The one who held the keys walks them out of the prison and into his very own home to clean their wounds and serve them a hot meal.

This is a story about how we find mutual healing. Together they free themselves from the idea that they should be against each other. Their differences don’t divide them any longer as they gather around the table. The freedom Paul knew through Christ; creates more freedom in the places he goes and the people he runs into. Setting people free, breaking open prisons, that’s what the gospel was meant to do. We have the amazing ability to set ourselves and each other free through community, and before you mistake that for a fluffy and feel-good calling, remember how much it got Paul into trouble, time and time again.

Real love and care may threaten the interests of powerful people, but that’s part of what God sets us free for us to do. We’re not just saved from prisons but for prison breaks! An Episcopal Priest I follow named Joseph Yoo put it this way in a video last week:

“A lot of us were taught that salvation is about what we are saved from, saved from sin, saved from hell, saved from judgement and yeah okay that’s part of it, but if that’s all salvation is then what do we do now just wait until we die? The truth is you weren’t just saved from something, you were saved for something – for justice, for healing, for mercy, for wholeness, for community, for love that looks like Jesus. Salvation isn’t a get out of hell free card, it’s a call to live like heaven here and now. Jesus didn’t save you just to keep you safe, he saved you to make you dangerous – dangerous to evil, dangerous to despair, dangerous to anything that keeps people from wholeness and hope. You are not just rescued, you are recommissioned.”

We have been saved so that we can save each other. God breaks our chains, so that we can go break the chains of others. Our freedom is meant to create more freedom wherever we go. This makes the church a powerful force for good because we have a history full of jail breaks.

Here in our church, we offer freedom and healing when we welcome people who expect not to be accepted. People who carry pain and baggage from religion, and who hunger for a place where people care about them. We heal through our open and affirming work to support LGBTQ+ people, we liberate through our WISE work to support the needs of people struggling with their mental health, and all of this is spreading the word about Jesus, who taught us to love our neighbor and bring them to our tables. Take some time today to think about what you have been set free from. Take some time today to think about what has set you free. There are so many ways to break chains, visible and invisible. Whatever your story is, I believe that God is and has been in that story, bringing you to freedom so that you can go and free others as well. I invite you to imagine how you too can make connections, release captives, cast out shame, and share healing with the people that God has placed in your path. Let God continue shaking prison walls through us, as we remove each other’s chains. Amen.