If We Believe We Will Act and We Will Be Saved

Homily for the Fifth Sunday after Pascha (Sunday of the Man Born Blind)

Acts of the Apostles 16:16-34…………….John 9:1-38

In today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles, the man in charge of the jail where the Apostles Paul and Silas are being held asks one of the most important questions any person can ever ask:  “What must I do to be saved?”

“What must I do to be saved?” he asks, even though in a way he has just been saved.  When the earthquake broke open the jail, he was about to kill himself, believing that his prisoners had escaped.  But Paul told him not to hurt himself; all the prisoners were still there.

We might expect the jailer to ask how the doors had been opened and the chains unfastened.  We might expect him to ask why the prisoners had not run away.  We might expect him to ask for help in keeping the prisoners secure in the destroyed jail.

But he didn’t ask those questions.  Instead, he recognized that some power or authority much greater than anything he knew about had opened the doors, unshackled the prisoners, and kept them from escaping.  So he asked, “What must I do to be saved?”

The same earthquake that opened the doors of the jail and unfastened the chains of the prisoners seems also to have opened the eyes of the jailer and unfettered his soul to receive the Good News of Jesus Christ as Savior of the world.  He understood that what happened in his jail was a sign from God.  He understood it as a sign that he needed a different kind of saving—not just saving his body or saving his job, but saving his immortal soul.

How many of us have asked, “What must I do to be saved?”  After all, we have been baptized to cleanse us from sin and make us part of the Body of Christ.  We have received the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit in Chrismation.  We receive the Body and Blood of Christ in the Holy Eucharist “for the remission of sins and for eternal life.”  So what more do we need to do to be saved?  Why do we even need to ask this question?

The answer for us is the same one that Paul and Silas gave the jailer—“Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.”  In other words, it’s not enough to go through the motions of being a Christian—coming to church, receiving Holy Communion, wearing a cross.  It’s not enough to announce that we believe in Jesus Christ.  It’s not enough to brandish the Bible like some kind of flag or weapon.  All of these things are meaningless unless we believe with our heart and mind and soul that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior of the world, who “by His death has trampled upon death” and by His glorious Resurrection “has given life to those who are in the tombs.”

And if we believe, we will act.  The jailer asked, “What must I do to be saved?” not “What should I say?”  Our belief is not real unless it shows in every aspect of our lives—how we conduct our personal affairs, how we treat our families, how we treat strangers, how we help the sick and needy and oppressed, how we treat the natural environment, how we work for peace in the world, even how we vote.  The jailer, we see, acted:  before Paul and Silas washed him in the waters of baptism, he washed their wounds, showing that he was not interested only in what he could get from them.  He understood that we must do unto others as we would have others do unto us, and that we must love and care for one another as our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ loves and cares for us.

This reading reminds us to ask that important question, “What must I do to be saved?”  It reminds us always to reaffirm our belief in Jesus Christ, His Almighty Father, and His All-Holy, Good, and Lifegiving Spirit, One God, now and ever and to ages of ages.  Amen.

Christ is risen!  He is truly risen!