Monday, March 16th

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Monday, March 16

Acts 16: 25-34

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here." And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

Life is full of all kinds of very important questions.

Where should I go to college?

What kind of career should I pursue?

Who will I marry?

When will the Cubs win the World Series?

Over a century ago Russian literary giant Leo Tostoy wrote a short story entitled, “Three Questions,” in which a king seeks the answers to these three questions:

What is the right time for every action?

Who are the most necessary people?

What is the most important thing to do?

This story in Acts 16 revolves around a single question; a question that in one way or another every human being is destined to ask, whether or not they are fully aware of it.

The question is uttered by a nameless jailer who blurts out in the middle of the night, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

We’ll dig deeper into why this ancient man asks this question at this particular time and of these particular men (Paul and Silas) later this week, but for now let’s just look at the question itself.

“What must I do to be saved?”

It seems to me that to ask this question one has to be convinced that one is in some kind of peril; some kind of mortal danger. Why else would one need to be “saved?”

The question also assumes there is something or someone that can provide salvation or safety from that danger.

It’s a question I might ask in some form if I fell overboard into the open sea.

“What must I do to be saved?” The answer would be something like, “Swim toward the life preserver and hang on!”

It’s a question a pilot might ask an air traffic controller when his instruments suddenly stop functioning.

“What must I do to be saved?” The answer would be listen to my instructions and do exactly what I say and you will land that plane!

It’s a question born of desperation; it’s a question of life and death.

And that’s why we all eventually will find ourselves asking, “What must I do to be saved?”

We all live our days as if death will never come, yet we know somewhere in the recesses of our minds that it most certainly will come. Today, tomorrow, or 50 years from now for one reason or another we will face the reality of death. And in that moment, if we haven’t already, we will ask the question, “What must I do to be saved?”

At the center of the story we are studying this week is a man who believes his life is at it’s end. In that desperation he asks the question that lurks in each of our hearts and minds.

He also receives an answer.

Have you allowed yourself yet to ask that question?

Do you know the answer?

Pastor Brian Coffey