Listening to Prisoners
What do the four people above have in common?
Each of the persons in the collage have been arrested. They have previously or are currently incarcerated.
Can you listen to a prisoner?
Can you open your heart to them?
When we read Ephesians we are reading a prison epistle. It’s a letter written by a prisoner. Paul didn’t want his audience to forget it.
When he enters the ethical dimension of discipleship with Jesus, Paul reminds the readers (listeners), “As a prisoner of the Lord, then, I urge you
to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
Paul wants us to walk, to conduct ourselves, to live, in a manner worthy of our calling! This is a prisoner of the Lord talking!
Whenever we read “prisoner” we must not gloss over what is happening. Prisoner convey’s a social and political dimension to this person’s relationship with us and with a government. Paul insists that the word prisoner is also a reflection of his relationship with Jesus Christ.
In the Origin Church gathering Sunday I briefly introduced our congregation to four folks who have been prisoners in our consideration of Ephesians 4:1-6. Here are links for you to explore the lives of these four people further. And then some final reflections on Jesus the Prisoner and our unity with Him.
Pastor Wang Yi
Pastor of Early Rain Covenant Church, Chengdu China, has been incarcerated since Dec 9 2018. His letter, “My Declaration of Faithful Disobedience” had been written in Sept of that year and held that it should be published if he was detained for more than 48 hours. Read Pastor Wang’s Declaration. Pray for Pastor Wang as he is still incarcerated.
John M. Perkins
In Feb of 1970 John Perkins was headed to the jail of Brandon MS to post bail for civil-rights demonstrators. But before he could get into the building he has accosted by highway patrol officers who met him with their fists and dragged him to jail. During the night he was brutally tortured by officers, he survived but the trauma prompted a heart attack and then ulcers — a long recovery ensued. He still has physical consequences to this day. He writes in One Blood: “I’m just now seeing clearly that the black church can’t fix this and the white church can’t fix this. It must be the reconciled Church, black and white Christians together imaging Christ to the world.” Read More about John M. Perkins and his ministry journey with Jesus.
“We must relearn what it means to be a body and what it means to continue Christ’s ministry of preaching the gospel to the poor. I believe there is a strategy to do this. We have seen three principles work that seem to be at the heart of how a local body of Christians can affect their neighborhood. We call them the three Rs of the quiet revolution: relocation, reconciliation, and redistribution.” Read more about the three R’s.
Linda Barkman
The 2018 Valedictorian of the Fuller Theological Seminary’s School of Intercultural Studies had been imprisoned longer than most of her fellow students had been alive. At age 65 she had been in prison for 30 of those years. “Prison was my first pulpit.” Read more about Linda and her journey.
Reverend Chu Yiu-ming
leads to spiritual heights.”
Found guilty in 2019 of “public nuisance” for involvement in the 2014 pro-democracy protests — in Hong Kong. His sentence was commuted and he was sent home for reasons of his health. Read Reverend Chu’s full statement.
Jesus the Prisoner and our unity with Him.
As followers of Jesus we have in common Jesus as Lord, so Paul suggests that instead of fetters like chains we now share the bonds of peace. We are not captives yet we are captivated. We are not slaves, we are friends. We are not strangers, we are family. We share a common Lord; our peace was accomplished through the incarceration and execution of the Prince of Peace. The prophet Isaiah writes of Him: (Isaiah 53)
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
4Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8By oppression (or arrest) and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.
9He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes
his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life
and be satisfied;
by his knowledge
my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
Oh, in the gaze of this crucified prisoner and risen Lord shall I not do all within my power to guard the unity of the Spirit? In the light of His grace shall I not humble myself? In the light of His meekness shall I not be patient with His friends? In the light of His long-suffering, shall I not be patient with others? In the light of His love shall I not put up with others in love?
Following Jesus I will seek wisdom from heaven to know when to be close or to take leave, to speak up or to be quiet, to challenge or to wait.
Oh, by His grace, we will!
Note: Please follow the links to each article for the photo credits.