In Fear And In Love

The warden of a prison in Macedonia had seen it all . . or so he thought.

Paul and Silas had come to town and were upsetting the locals, so charges were brought against them and they were thrown in jail. . . But along about midnight there was this . . rumbling, this earthquake, this . . incident!

The events of this night led the warden to become part of this new religion of Jesus Christ, under the leadership of Paul.  But when Paul left . . things disintegrated.
Where is Paul when we need him?

Cast: 1 (monolog or sermon)

Bible Reference: Acts 16:16 - 40

Set: standard

Sound: wireless mics if available

Song: none

Lighting: standard

SFX: none

Props: none

Costumes: likely traditional

Special Instructions: none

Time: 12

Sample of script:

(Actor enters stage, speaking as though asking a question.)

You want to talk about scared?
I was simply beside myself, I was so scared! And that is saying something—I mean, me, the warden in charge of a major prison near Philippi, in Macedonia. Running a prison, I tell you, I run into more than my share of scary situations, scary people. I mean, there are folks in that prison who are mean dudes—not the kind of man a girl wants to take home to meet the family, know what I mean?

And these are the sort of guys I have to work with, trying to make them into good citizens. Or at a minimum, discouraging them from slitting the throats of their cellmates. So it’s for sure not pushing believability to say that on a daily basis I live with danger and get up close and personal with scary situations.

But I’m here to tell you, all the fear I had ever known seemed like a walk in the park compared to the night when...
Listen, why don’t I start at the beginning?

Like I say, I am from Philippi—a nice enough place. I like it, good place to raise my family. Kinda out of the way, not what you would call a destination location where we get a lot of visitors. So when two travelers from Jerusalem came to town, everyone was interested, wanted to know who they were, what they were up to and all.

And these two fellas, name of Paul and Silas, they seemed right anxious to talk to all who would listen. And what they wanted most to talk about was some kind of new religion, sounded like. Me? I have no time for yet another religion. Who needs it, I always say.

Anyhow, next day was the Sabbath, and Paul and Silas, they went out the city gates, out to the river. A bunch of our womenfolk were out at the river, washing clothing, and Paul and Silas got to talking with the ladies. After they told their story, one of the ladies—Lydia, a rich trader from Thyatira—decided she wanted to be baptized. Apparently, that is what they do when a person decides to grab hold of this particular religion.

Anyhow, this got everyone around town talking about these two foreigners and their strange new religion. Personally, way I feel is—so long as they don’t cause trouble, don’t go over the line, what harm is there? But fact is, as the days went by, more and more folks seemed to buy into this new religion. Still, me and most other folks in town, we just mostly ignored the guys from Jerusalem.

That is, until a few days later, when the two strangers were walking through town with a bunch of the townfolk who had taken up with this new religion that Paul and Silas were pushing. These people were minding their own business, talking among themselves when along comes this slave girl who had a bit of a local reputation as a fortune teller.

I gotta tell you, this young lady is not what you would call real sound of mind, know what I mean? But thing is, she was popular with guys who wanted their fortunes told. Far as I am concerned, the reason she was popular was she told the fellas what they wanted to hear. And they shelled out good money for this!
Amazing!
Way I look at it, there’s one born every minute!

But fact is, it’s not my call if her fortune-telling is on the up and up—never did try her myself. All I know is, this slave girl made a ton of money for the guys who owned her. On this particular day, she was making some kind of a nuisance of herself, running after Paul, yelling things at him like, “These guys are servants of the Most High God, telling people that they must be saved.”

Personally, I did feel sorry for Paul and Silas and their friends. You could see Paul tried to ignore her, hoping she would just go away, leave him alone. But the more he ignored her, the louder and more obnoxious she became. Finally, seemed like Paul just snapped, yelled out at her, “In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you, the evil spirit, to come out of her!” Well, just like that, she was a changed person—no more yelling and screaming, and that was a good thing.

Only problem is, when this evil spirit left her body, there was no more fortune-telling either. And the guys who owned this slave, they saw the writing on the wall: no more fortune-telling, no more money coming in! And they did see red!

They and their friends grabbed Paul and Silas, dragged them off to the authorities and the judges, making claims about all the bad things Paul and Silas were doing. Way those guys told the story, you would swear Paul and Silas were out to take over the town and run off with every man’s firstborn.

But, sure enough, there were enough people around who would listen to the claims made against Paul and Silas and their new religion. Soon the whole town was up in arms, wanting Paul and Silas to pay for whatever it was they had supposedly done. So the judges gave in to the mob, told the police to have them stripped and beaten. Then they brought the two to my jail and severely warned me that Paul and Silas were to be guarded very carefully—shackled and chained to floor and ceiling.

So all of a sudden, these two guys from Jerusalem became my problem. Truth is, I couldn’t quite figure out what all the fuss was about. Those two looked no more dangerous than my gardener. I mean, here they were in my prison... and they weren’t acting out. Fact is, they were smiling, laughing, singing hymns, and praying to this God of theirs.

No matter. One thing I have learned over the years—don’t try to second-guess the politicians, just do like they say, let it go at that. So I made a big show of putting the two of them in the inner cell, where, to break out, they would have to also break through all the other cells. And I shackled them and, just for good measure, fastened their feet in stocks!

Hey, that should hold these vicious criminals, I thought with a smile.

I want to tell you, that was some night! Here’s Paul and Silas, all night long, praying, singing hymns! Not one prisoner there wasn’t dead serious, listening to these two, soaking in their every word.

I want to tell you, some of the toughest old birds on death row were standing there, tears pouring down their faces, giving their lives to this new God.

And you haven’t heard the strangest part.
Along about midnight, Paul and Silas still praying away, all of a sudden there is this rumbling, shaking—I soon figured out it’s an earthquake! Dust everywhere, every last one of the prison doors smacked off their hinges and onto the ground.

Chains holding the prisoners fell to the ground. The shackles and stocks that held Paul and Silas slipped off them like morning dew off my wife’s roses.

When I see all that has happened, I figure for sure that all my prisoners have escaped. And I know what that means to me, as the one in charge. I am not about to have some tribunal decide my death penalty, so I pull out my sword, about to take my own life, when this guy Paul yells out—

“We are all here, no reason for you to harm yourself!”

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