“What Must I Do to Be Saved?”

    

Meditation on Acts 16:25-34

Feb. 22, 2015

      About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, ‘Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.’ The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They answered, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.

  ***

     A single guy decided life would be more fun if he had a pet. So he went to a pet store and told the owner that he wanted to buy an unusual pet. After some discussion, he finally bought a talking centipede, you know one of those bugs with 100 legs. The centipede came in a little white box to use for his house. The single guy took the box back home, found a good spot for it, and decided he would start off by taking his new pet to church with him. So he asked the centipede in the box, “Would you like to go to church with me today? We will have a good time.”

     But there was no answer from his new pet. This bothered him a bit. He waited a few minutes and then asked again, “How about going to church with me and receive blessings?” But again, there was no answer from his new friend and pet.

     So he waited a few minutes more, thinking about the situation. The guy decided to invite the centipede one last time. This time he put his face up against the centipede’s house and shouted, “Hey, in there! Would you like to go to church with me and learn about God?”

     This time, a little voice came out of the box, “I heard you the first time! I’m putting my shoes on!”

      My mom sent me this story in one of those group emails. And I loved it--but probably not for the same reasons that others thought it was funny. I loved it that it was a “single guy” who thought life would be more interesting with an unusual pet, and that the first thing he decides to do with his pet is invite it to church! Couldn’t he just have brought the centipede there in the little box, without telling him where he was going or asking him if he wanted to go?

     And then I thought….

     Wouldn’t it be great if all we needed to do to get people to come to church was to ask them if they want to come and learn about God, have a good time, and receive blessings? And wouldn’t it be nice if the only excuse people ever gave for not coming to church was that they had 100 shoes to put on?

       Christians often have these kinds of conversations--not about taking talking centipedes to church, but why some people, particularly young adults-- in their 20s and 30s--often choose not to attend church. Some say it’s because people are too busy with their jobs, school, families, sports, and other activities. But then there are lots of busy people who are also committed to serving the Lord and His people through their church. I think for some people church isn’t enjoyable or meaningful. Some may have been hurt by a church in the past. But maybe the saddest thing I hear sometimes is that people don’t go to church because they don’t think they need to. They are “saved” because they believe in Jesus. Some may point to passages such as this one in Acts, which deals with the question of what one must do to be “saved.”

      And what do Paul and Silas say? Believe. “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved--you and your household.” Well, what does that mean--that all we must do is “believe” and that our household will also be saved?

***

      The background for this passage in Acts is that Paul and Silas cast a demon out of a slave girl, who was making a lot of money for her owners by fortune telling. With the demon gone, the so-called “gift” of fortune telling is also gone, so goes the owners’ hope of getting rich off the slave girl. The owners get angry and cause a riot in the city that leads to Paul and Silas’s being attacked, arrested, and thrown in jail.

      That night in jail, Paul and Silas are singing hymns, praising God, and there is an earthquake. They are miraculously released from their chains. The jailer is poised to kill himself rather than be executed for the prisoners’ escape on his watch. But Paul stops him from taking his life. He calls out in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” The jailer falls down at their feet, trembling with gratitude, knowing that this is a supernatural event. He knows the God of Paul and Silas has intervened to save them, but instead of running away, they reach out to their jailer--their enemy--with kindness and mercy. This act of love touches the jailer’s heart and persuades him that their God is the only true God. He longs to have the assurance of salvation that Paul and Silas have through their faith. He asks them, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

      Paul and Silas tell him, “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.” But the story doesn’t end there. There’s more to being saved for Paul and Silas than just saying the words, “I believe.” To be a Christian, one makes a commitment of the mind and the heart. After they tell the jailer to believe on the Lord Jesus, they begin to teach him and his family the faith and what it means to be Christ’s follower. Paul and Silas “speak the word of the Lord” to the jailer and “all his household.” Then, the new believer shows his embrace of the faith by his willingness to make sacrifices and dramatic changes in his life. He is willing to take huge risks to follow the Lord. He begins to serve those who were his prisoners, who are now nurturing him in the faith. He will never be able to return to his old job or his former life without penalty of death. This is a prison guard with a family--not a wealthy man! The persecutor who chained Paul and Silas in their cells has become the healer who washes their wounds. He opens his home to them, brings them to stay with him and his family. He “sets food before them,” feeding them at his table. And he takes another important step to show his repentance from his old ways and his new commitment to the Lord. He and “his entire family” are baptized “without delay.”

      The passage ends with the jailer and “his entire household” rejoicing because he had become a believer in God. The dramatic changes in the jailer’s life have brought the family joy--and not fear! This is what Paul means with the promise of salvation for “you and your household.” It isn’t an automatic thing, that if you become a believer, all of your household will be saved. What it means is that the jailer, becoming a true believer, is then led to share his faith with his household. So he brings home Paul and Silas and they teach the faith to the entire extended family. And they become believers, too! Then, Paul and Silas baptize them all to new lives in Jesus Christ, empowered and guided by the Spirit.

***

   Today, it is our joy to baptize baby Drake Randal Freiborg and welcome him into the Church. His parents, Zach and Amanda, are baptized believers who have been raised in the faith. They love the Lord, and they want Drake to know and love the Lord, as well. They understand that baptism is the beginning of their child’s faith journey. It is a necessary first step, but it doesn’t guarantee that Drake will be “saved.” For as Paul and Silas tell us, we must “believe on the Lord Jesus.” But “believing” requires a deeper understanding of the faith and doesn’t mean one just says the words, “I believe,” as if it is a magic formula. Believing is a matter of both heart and mind; true belief leads to sometimes dramatic changes in one’s attitudes, behaviors, and life. A child’s growing faith will be evident by the fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, kindness, patience, gentleness, self control, and so on). For the Spirit dwells within every believer from the moment they are baptized.

     Zach and Amanda--and Drake--will need our help to raise Drake in the faith. To bring up a child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord takes an entire community of faith. It is challenging work. It is up to us to pray for them and reach out to them to see how we can be an emotional and spiritual support for them in the years to come. For the promises the family and the church make at a child’s baptism are promises that last a lifetime.

     And someday, when Drake is a teen or young man, he may decide that he doesn’t want to go to church anymore. That he doesn’t need to go. He might even quote from this passage in Acts, when the jailer asks Paul and Silas, “What must I do to be saved?”

     Friends, I pray you will have the confidence of faith and enough love for Drake and his family to reach out to him with kindness, patience, and gentleness.  I pray you will remind him that being a Christian is a matter of the mind and the heart! And that there is more to being a follower of Christ than just saying the words, “I believe.”

Will you pray with me?

Heavenly Father, thank you for baby Drake and his parents, who were raised in the faith! Thank you for blessing our church with young families! Help us, Lord, to be a blessing to them! Help us to demonstrate the good fruits of the Spirit in our lives and be role models for the next generation. May we always be loving, joyful, kind, patient, and gentle with others, even those who question and challenge our faith. Empower us to walk in Christ’s ways, to be more like your Son, and to be confident in the good plans you have for us as individuals and as your church. Give us courage and compassion to reach out to people who don’t know your gospel of grace, people who don’t have a church home and may feel they don’t need one. Forgive us for when our faith has been merely words and not demonstrated by acts of kindness and mercy, like those Paul and Silas showed for their jailer, their enemy. Lead us to pray for all who don’t understand that being a Christian means so much more than just saying, “I believe” or even just going to church. May your Spirit fill us to overflowing and stir us to love and serve you with all our hearts and minds. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.