Eastertide
May 28, 2019
Scripture Reading: Acts 16:16-34
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. –Acts 16:25-34
I was six years old when at the end of worship, I walked down the aisle of my church and told Dr. Keller, my minister, that I wanted to become a Christian. He very seriously took my hand and asked me if I believed that Jesus was the Christ and did, I accept him as my Savior, and I said yes, and he welcomed me into the church. Dr. Keller was an ordained minister who taught history at Phillip University located some 50 miles from my little hometown. His service at my church was his avocation. He was my friend. I did not know he was a history professor. At the age of six, I doubt that I even knew what a professor was. We shared a common interest in history. Later, I heard my parents talking that some in the church thought I was too young to make the “confession of faith” and be baptized and had raised the issue with Dr. Keller. He assured them he had no doubt about my sincerity and about my understanding of what I was doing. I was baptized the following Sunday. This is when I learned there are no other requirements to be a follower of Christ and because of this experience, I am a bit of a radical on that subject. It seems to me the only entity capable of knowing who believes on the Lord Jesus is the Lord Jesus.
‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They answered, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’
That was over sixty years ago, and my faith understanding has grown from claiming a personal relationship with Jesus to understanding I am part of a group of Christ followers who have signed on to work toward a world ruled by the love Jesus taught and modeled. It is my relationship with Christ that enables my work toward building the Kingdom of God. I rarely use the word “believe” as it has grown to be a bit wishy-washy in my thinking. I trust that the love of God is the way, the truth, and the life* and strive to understand what that means and discover the best way I can live it.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for welcoming me into your loving care and presence and for modeling a way of being to help me through my life’s journey. Help me be a conduit of your love. Amen.
*From John 14:6
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.