I read the other day of a Pastor in a poor South African Village whose small church community had experienced devastation after devastation.  A house had been burned down, a tornado had cut through their village demolishing fifty homes and folks lost their lives.  Then a young man in their congregation had been stabbed and died.  Grief after grief.

All these tragedies are unbearable in themselves, but to happen collectively over a period of a couple of days, is absolutely heartbreaking.  What most captured my attention was the church’s response to these tragedies.  Professor Jeremy Begbie experienced the service that Sunday in this church.  The pastor began his opening prayer: 

Lord, you are the Creator and the Sovereign, but why did the wind come like a snake and tear our roofs off?  Why did a mob cut short the life of one of our own children, when he had everything to live for?  Over and over again, Lord, we are in the midst of death.

That’s the phrase that has been resonating in my mind – “Over and over again, Lord, we are in the midst of death.”  Even just pulling the curtain back a little will reveal to us exactly what that little Church saw – “we are in the midst of death.”

There is plenty of physical and emotional destruction in a day to cause one to die over and over, but what I first thought of when I read that was the spiritual state of our world, it is absolute destruction – “we are in the midst of death.”  You know, sometimes it seems completely overwhelming to think about those who are dead in spirit, those who don’t know Jesus, those who reject Him outright.  Reading the news or simply being out in public really does show us that “we are in the midst of death.”  As believers, we have been commissioned to bring life to the dead.  That sometimes feels like pushing a rope uphill, doesn’t it?  But check out what the believers in this little church did:

As he spoke, the congregation responded with a dreadful sighing and groaning.  And then once he finished his prayer, very slowly, the whole congregation began to sing, at first very quietly, then louder.  They sang and they sang, song after song of praise – praise to a God who in Jesus had plunged into the very worst to give us an ending beyond all imagination.  The singing gave that congregation a foretaste of the end.

Wow.  Surrounded by death, they chose to sing.  Sounds like some other folks we know, Paul and Silas.

Her masters’ hopes of wealth were now shattered, so they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace. “The whole city is in an uproar because of these Jews!” they shouted to the city officials. “They are teaching customs that are illegal for us Romans to practice.”

A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks. Acts 16:19-24

Paul and Silas, peaceful men, were arrested, beaten, jailed and stocked.  Prisons of that time were not unlike the prisons of our time.  Ours may not be third-world physically, but they are surely “in the midst of death.” 

Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Acts 16:25

And, just like this little church in South Africa, Paul and Silas sang Life into death.  They praised God in the storm.  They praised Him in the devastation.  They praised Him in questions.  They praised Him in confusion.  They praised Him in their brokenness.  They praised Him in death.

Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!   Acts 25:26

I don’t know for sure what happened to that little church in South Africa, but I am sure they had the same result that Paul and Silas did.  They still had their physical wounds, their hearts were still broken and grieving,  but the chains of that grief and pain were broken.  That grief and pain no longer had a hold on them, those prison doors were flung open wide. So, when “we are in the midst of death” we go to the One who can release us from death’s grip.  When we see nothing but the world’s pain and suffering what are we to do?  Pray and praise.  Two things happen when we do that – first, we are renewed, the Spirit refreshes us when we bring praise to Him and second, it’s a witness to a world that is dead.  When we praise Him in the storms of life (which takes a concerted effort) we need to keep in mind that “other prisoners are listening.”

Over and over again, Lord, we are in the midst of death. Thank you for the cross Lord, that has released us from death’s grip and given us Life. We sing our praises to you, Jesus!