The Mess We’re In 

"Gentlemen, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30).

A number of years ago Jolly John Landrith and I were traveling through Macedonia and came upon the ruins of the ancient city of Philippi. It was a bitter cold, rainy day and having found the ruins of the old Roman prison there, we sought refuge from the wind behind a rock wall, turned up the collars on our parkas and begin to sing "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" at the top of our lungs. (It was pretty awful, I must say.) A docent popped up, rushed into our “cell“ shouting, ”Hey guys, what must I do to be saved?" 

We, of course, were reenacting a scene from Luke's Acts of the Apostles in which Paul and Silas, having been flogged and thrown into this prison, were praying, singing hymns and praising God. 

There was a great earthquake that night that shook the jail to the ground—you could say the concert brought the house down—and the doors of the prison were flung open. The Roman jailer, tasked with guarding the prisoners and knowing that his life would be forfeited if they escaped, rushed into cell shouting, "Gentlemen, what must I do to be saved?" 

The verb, translated "saved" in the Graeco-Roman world simply meant "to be rescued," and could be applied to any number of situations. We could paraphrase the jailor’s request this way: “Gentlemen, what can I do to get out of the mess I’m in?”

Paul, taking advantage of the ambiguity, answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be delivered.”

Considering the corruption, pollution, exploitation that surrounds us; our messy marriages, bitter estrangements and the desperation and fear that drive the current spate of alcohol and opioid addiction. "What can we do to get out of the mess we're in," is the cry of every hear. 

Well, for starters, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." That's the answer to that question, at every level whether we're engaged in matters of the state or our own well-being. That’s the starting point. Once we invite Jesus to be our salvation he’ll take it from there. 

N.T. Wright says, "Everything is contained within that (verse) — all the volumes of systematic and pastoral theology, all the worship and prayers and devotion and dogma, all the ethics and choices and personal dilemmas." 

In a big mess? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Put yourself in his hands. You will be rescued in due time. Perhaps not in this life, but certainly in the next. You can count on it.

David Roper

4.23.19