Jail Ministry-Part 3: What Do you Talk About - by Paul Muller

So what do you talk about? - I almost always talk about the same two bible stories.   I can get away with this because the turnover in the jail, the volunteer schedule and the cell blocks we are assigned are such that I rarely see the the same inmate twice.  I have found that the most effective message for the inmates comes out of  Luke 22:1-60, then Acts 3 and 4. 

The story in Luke is the Last Supper, the betrayal of Jesus, his arrest and the denial three times by Peter.  I think a lot of inmates can relate to this story – when they are arrested often their friends have betrayed them, have scattered in fear or deny even knowing them.  I tell them that this was, arguably, the lowest point in the Christian story: Jesus arrested and certain to be executed, none of the disciples coming to his aid and all are hiding in fear.  I tell them that this is how we all are, scared when trouble comes and fearful, even if we talk big like Peter in Luke 22:33: “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”  I ask them why we even have a church today if this is how the disciples acted when Jesus needed them most.

At this point I read Acts chapters 3 and 4.  It tells the story of Peter and John in Jerusalem at the temple, just a few weeks after Jesus was crucified.  Peter heals a lame beggar in the temple courtyard, a big crowd gathers - astonished - and Peter preaches to them about how the power of Jesus Christ has restored the man's health.  This attracts the attention of the authorities – I love how it reads at the beginning of Acts 4: “While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came to them, much annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead. So they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.”

So now Peter and John – the same people who just a few weeks before had denied even knowing Jesus – are in the most public place in Jerusalem, at the busiest time of day, they are preaching about Jesus and then wait around to be arrested for it.  What's going on? 

Read a little further in Acts 4 - Peter and John are put on trial and are identified as associated of Jesus, the executed criminal. When asked by what power they healed the man, Peter says flatly  “.. by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. This Jesus is: 'the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.'  There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” 

So instead of keeping silent or making something up to the judge, Peter's words put the blame for the death of Jesus' back on the same religious authorities he was now facing.  What is to keep Peter and John from being crucified as well? 

Finally, the court decides that it would be better not to make new martyrs for the cause and to keep this quiet they will simply give Peter and John a warning not to preach in the name of Jesus.  So when you are in court and you are going to get off with a warning, what do you do?  Easy: - look down, mumble your thanks to the judge and then leave as quickly as possible.  But not Peter and John - instead they fire back: “Whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

Many of the inmates know the story of Peter's denial, so now the question is: how is it that Peter and John, who a few weeks earlier went into hiding and denied even knowing Jesus, are now boldly preaching in the name of Jesus in the temple, getting arrested and talking back to the same authorities who had Jesus put to death?

We talk about this and often the inmates point out that Peter and John saw the resurrected Jesus and this experience gave them the certainty of their actions.  I then confess that I have left out part of the story and we read a few verses in Acts 2 – the coming of the Holy Spirit.  This is the source of Peter's strength and courage.   I tell them that all Christians can call on the Holy Spirit for strength and courage and to pray and be open to it. 

If Christ died for our sins, all we have to do as Christians is to be open for the Holy Spirit to guide our actions.  In this we way we have the strength to do what Christ has called us to do: “Love our God with all our heart, all our mind and all our soul.  And love our neighbors as ourselves.”  And jail is a tough neighborhood, but this is what the Christians there are called to do.

Jail Ministry Part 2 - Souls for Jesus? and Fear? - Paul Muller

Are you saving souls for Jesus in there? - Well, no, that isn't exactly up to me or the other volunteers.  Almost all of the people I see are already Christians and an inmate has to sign up for the Sunday visit ahead of time.  This is an extra effort for both the inmates and the deputies – rules are that the inmates have to be strip-searched before and after our visit.  We typically don't have time or space to visit with all the inmates who have signed up because the interview rooms only hold about 8 people and it takes available deputies to process the inmates in and out.  In certain cell blocks you can only visit with one inmate at a time for security reasons.  I tell the baptized Christians I meet that our sins have been forgiven if they believe that Jesus died for them, and that God has done this for us this as a gift. 

Are you afraid in there? -  No.  Jail is probably the safest place I know, certainly for visitors.  In the event of any incident, a dozen deputies will be on the scene in under three minutes – and there never has been an incident in the entire history of the Ventura County jail ministry.  The inmates look forward to our Sunday visits because we are the only outside people they will see during the week and in some cases we are the only people who come to visit them at all.  I was afraid the year I taught 8^th grade Sunday School at Trinity – I look forward to visiting inmates in jail. 

I will say at this point that I believe the jail is reasonably well run and safe for the inmates as well.  If you or a loved one should find yourself a guest of the Sheriff's Department at some point, there is no need to panic.  The jail is not a happy place, but I think I could do time there.

Part 3 - What do you talk about

Ministry Moments: Jail Ministry Part 1

What the Jail Ministry Means To Me - by Paul Muller

Jail ministry is a program for volunteers from local churches to visit inmates at the Ventura County jail on Sunday mornings.  This program is run by the Chaplain's office and there are some 200 volunteers that visit on a rotating schedule.  Craig Johnson, Richard Masters, Inge Christiansen and I are volunteers that are members at Trinity  There is also a group that comes from Ascension Lutheran in Thousand Oaks.  We meet in the jail lobby at 8:00 AM on scheduled Sundays where we are assigned cell blocks to visit.  We are processed into the jail and then meet with inmates in the interview rooms that are off of each cell block.

What is it like to visit inmates inside our county jail?  Maybe the best way to describe it is to answer some common questions that I get from people who know I am in the jail ministry.

Are there steel bars inside the jail? - Nope.  I've never seen a steel bar in our jail.  There are no door handles either, for that matter.  All movement inside the jail is by electrically-activated doors operated by deputies in the glass-enclosed control centers that are located on each floor and cell block.  Even the elevator is controlled from outside – there are no buttons to push for the various floor stops.  On Sunday morning there is a screening by a deputy with a metal detector – we are then processed into the downstairs control center and into the elevator.  When I arrive on my assigned floor I wait outside two sets of steel doors that are opened by remote control.  I check in with the deputy on duty in the cell block control room and he opens the electric locks on the interview room door – I go inside and wait for the inmates to arrive.

So what do you get out of all this? - The opportunity to see the Gospel at work among Christian inmates who can make a difference.  I tell the inmates that a good part of the New Testament was written from jail – and that whenever Christians were put in prison they tried to help their neighbors there.  A Christian may be confined, but he is at the same time truly free because Christian inmates in jail have the opportunity to work among those who really need to hear the Gospel. In so doing they turn outward in service and away from their own worries and fears.  The jail is full of people about to go on trial or to be sentenced – full of people who have families outside and not much news from them. There is a lot of tension - and living in service to others is the best way to be free from your natural fears.  You can see how much this message means to those inmates who hear it.

Meeting with Christians in jail gives you a new perspective on what it means to be a follower of Christ.  It isn't about what sort of hymns are sung during worship or what the coffee tastes like after.  It is about sin and redemption, about serious life challenges and how there is real strength in the Gospel for those who seek it.  And that is a powerful experience.

Part 2 - Are you Saving Souls for Jesus? and Are you Afraid?

Part 3 - What do you talk about