Word to the Wise
Saturday, May 1, 2010 - Saturday in the Fourth Week of Easter
[Acts 16:22-34 and John 16:5-11]"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved." So they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house. He took them in at the hour of the niight and bathed their wounds; and then he and all his family were baptized at once.
Paul and Silas have been beaten and jailed in Philippi. An earthquake destroys the jail and the jailer is so distraught at the possible loss of the prisoners he wants to commit suicide. Paul and Silas reassure him that they are still in the jail and he immediately asks the question quoted above! Then we see the model process of evangelization. Paul and Silas speak the word of God to the whole household and everyone is baptized and lives happily ever after! No doubt the story is based on a true experience but what Luke, the author of Acts, is trying to show is the rapid spread of the Good News through all different kinds of experiences. Here the opportunity is presented by an earthquake! In Peter's case, it is the illness of the servant of Cornelius the centurion. The challenge is the same for all of us. The opportunity may not be as dramatic as an earthquake or serious illness, but it will come. Are we Christian enough for someone else to realize it and be open to hearing the word of God from us and realizing the gift of faith? What if Paul had considered his conversion to be a strictly personal and private thing as so many do now? I hope none of my readers will have to be jailed for their faith or be called often to a serious sickbed, but I also hope that all of us will not be shy about "giving a reason for the hope that is in us!" [1 Peter 3:15] AMEN
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