God's presence

Preaching in Prison

Posted on by Betsy

For a part of my ministry, I was a regular visitor in the local jails in the towns where I have served. It began when a young church member shot a friend while playing “Russian Roulette” with a gun he had just obtained that week. Spurred on by a television show, the three friends thought it would be a fun game until my church member “playfully” shot his friend in the chest, killing him. My weekly visits with him expanded to seeing other prisoners, as Christian guards would announce “clergy visits for all” when I arrived. I heard many, many stories of regret, remorse, arrogance, evil, and bad decisions. I have a friend in the town where I lived who regularly visits young women in prison. This neglected population of the children of God need people who will come and share the love of Jesus with them.

And it is what Jesus did.

In our Scripture this morning, Peter discussed Christ’s suffering on account of all of our sins. If you look at the palms of your hands this morning and can’t make out the nail prints, be glad. Christ willingly took those scars upon his unblemished hands so that you didn’t have to. Charles Spurgeon said it beautifully: “The hem of grief’s garment is all you ever touch, but Christ wore it as his daily robe.”

Jesus went to preach to the spirits in prison so that they might understand God’s message of judgment and his triumph of good over evil through the death and resurrection of Christ:

1 Peter 3(Common English Bible)

18 Christ himself suffered on account of sins, once for all, the righteous one on behalf of the unrighteous. He did this in order to bring you into the presence of God. Christ was put to death as a human, but made alive by the Spirit. 19 And it was by the Spirit that he went to preach to the spirits in prison. 20 In the past, these spirits were disobedient—when God patiently waited during the time of Noah. Noah built an ark in which a few (that is, eight) lives were rescued through water. 21 Baptism is like that. It saves you now—not because it removes dirt from your body but because it is the mark of a good conscience toward God. Your salvation comes through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who is at God’s right side. Now that he has gone into heaven, he rules over all angels, authorities, and powers.

These particular prisoners were understood as the demons (the sons of God who were now the fallen angels) that are referenced in Genesis 6:1-2:

6 When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.

So many of us live in prisons today. We live in the prison of a past we can’t shake off. We live in prisons of addiction and substance abuse. We live in a toxic relationship prison. We live in the prison of regret. We live in the prison of sin and bad choices.

Christ died so that you could be free. You don’t have to live in a prison of your own making! Your baptism provides you with the Holy Spirit power to live in your good conscience toward God, ever seeking his perfect will for your life and following his guidance and direction.

Are you imprisoned by your choices? As Peter pointed out, Christ did all of this to bring you into the presence of God. Let Christ set you free.

Freedom by Michelle Robertson

Parts Unknown

Posted on by Betsy

Think of a time when you had to travel to a new destination. A place you’ve never been before, never had to figure out how to get there, and really don’t have any idea what to expect when you arrive.

As you read this, I am in such a place. My husband and I are on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Alaska, celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary. It is absolutely thrilling!

Life transitions such as the death of a spouse, a job transfer out of state, a military assignment, adopting a child, getting married, the first year of college, a pandemic, etc. are all times when we experience the mystery of “you’ve never traveled this way before.” Even addiction recovery can feel this way, when a person finally overcomes his or her past and ventures into sober life for the first time. It is like standing at a crossroad in an unknown town and looking in all directions saying, “What now?”

The third chapter of Joshua tells the “what now” story of the Israelites’ journey through a very foreign but still-promised land. They were of one mind and heart as they ventured forward, trusting their leadership to get them to the place where God was calling them to settle:

Joshua 3 (Common English Bible)

3 Joshua took down the camp early in the morning. He and all the Israelites marched out of Shittim and came to the Jordan, where they stayed overnight before crossing. 2 At the end of three days the officers went through the middle of the camp. 3 They commanded the people, “As soon as you see the Lord your God’s chest containing the covenant and the levitical priests carrying it, you are to march out from your places and follow it. 4 But let there be some distance between you and it, about three thousand feet. Don’t come near it!

(If an image of one of the final scenes in Raiders of the Lost Ark just flashed through your mind, you are my hero. “Don’t come near it” indeed!!)

You will know the way you should go, even though you’ve never traveled this way before.”

This sentence is EVERYTHING. God assures us that when he calls us into a new place outside of our comfort zone, he will go ahead of us. We will know the way to go, even though we’ve never gone that way before. Do you know how to get ready?

5 Joshua said to the people, “Make yourselves holy! Tomorrow the Lord will do wonderful things among you.” 

Make yourself holy. Stop, reflect, PRAY, meditate on scripture, and make yourself ready for your journey. God will do wonderful things among you.

6 Then Joshua said to the priests, “Lift up the covenant chest. Go along in front of the people.” So they lifted up the covenant chest and went in front of the people.

This is a final reminder for your journey: fix your eyes on God’s promise. Keep steady and walk forward. Don’t look to the right or the left … God’s future is ahead of you.

7 The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to make you great in the opinion of all Israel. Then they will know that I will be with you in the same way that I was with Moses.

Is God calling you to travel with him into some unknown? Are you scared? May you also know with the same assurance as the Israelites that God will be with you in your “what now” as well.

Here We Go!