Acts 16:30 ,31 “And he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”
The Bible contains several great questions that demand answer by every thinking individual at some time in his life. No complete philosophy can ever be worked out without some satisfactory answer to them. They are inescapable.
“If a man die, shall he live again?” is one such question. Another is, “What is the truth?” and another, “What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” A fourth, quoted in the text, is “What must I do to be saved?”
Paul and Silas, to whom this latter question was addressed, must have realized the oddity of it. They knew, as we do, that salvation comes not by doing some work or series of works, but by faith in Jesus Christ. The cardinal doctrine of Paul's epistles, echoed by Martin Luther in the great theme of the Reformation, is salvation by faith alone.
The reply that Paul gave to the jailer at Philippi is therefore in perfect harmony with his teachings. “Believe and you shall be saved,” was the simple and beautiful answer given to this earnest seeker. No conditions were imposed, no ceremonies enjoined, no organizations proposed. Only faith is required. This beautiful answer follows and agrees with the statement of Jesus Himself, recorded in John's Gospel and beloved by Christians everywhere as the heart of the Scriptures, “God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” There is it again, you see: “Whosoever believeth.” Salvation is by faith alone.
Yet, in another sense, the jailer was right in asking what to do. Faith and living go hand in hand. Our belief controls our actions. The Christian way is a way of faith, but also a way of living. If you knew a man who said he was being saved, and was a believer in Jesus Christ, and who despite this profession lived in a mean, hateful and dishonest way, you would have good reason to doubt his faith. The way we live and the things we do are regulated to a great degree by what we believe. When a man puts his money in a bank, he does so because he believes it is a safe and good place. When you start to walk home from church or business, you travel in a certain direction, because you are certain that your home lies in that way. If someone stopped you and tried to persuade you to detour, you would refuse. Your belief controls your actions.
In a larger sense, the same is true in life. Because we believe in Jesus Christ, we live in a certain way. This Christian wasy of life is a way of good works, of honesty, of beauty, of helpfulness. It reflects the teachings of the Master, that our light should shine before men, and that like salt we are to make life appetizing and tasteful. By faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, we gain salvation, but as a direct product of that faith, we live the way He wants us to live.
Christian works are enjoined in the Bible in great terms, using words like love and truth. In daily living, we must break them down into the small change of everyday existence.
Did you ever try to change a $50 bill at a subway change booth? Or even a $20 bill? Those big bills are certainly very valuable, but we must have small change or we are inconvenienced. Two years ago, on Memorial day , the New York Times printed the sad but true story of two merchant seamen, who landed in the city on the holiday. They were paid their bonus money as they left their ship, in $500 bills. What cruel practical joke on the part of the Paymaster caused this, I do not know. But there it was—two strange sailors abroad in New York City on a holiday with $500 bills! You can imagine what happened. Hours later they turned up at a police station. Banks were closed, and no one would accept a $500 bill from a strange sailor. They couldn't buy anything or even get any food. The police took them in, and provided a good meal, and kept them overnight until the banks opened the next morning and the bills could be converted into useful small change.
It seems to me that great Christian truths are often like those $500 bills. They are very, very valuable, there is no doubt about that. But in order to get into action in everyday life, they have to be broken down into “small change.” Love, for instance, is a great and beautiful word. But it must be broken down into the small change of kindness and courtesy before it figures in ordinary affairs. Truth is another great word. Honesty and plain speaking are its small change.
The everyday life of a Christian is made up of many small elements, just as a treasured piece of jewelry may gleam with dozens of tiny gems. Among the gems that shine forth from a Christian life are honesty, beauty, and helpfulness.
The Christian life is an honest life
The Christian life is an honest life. Paul once said, “Examine yourselves and test yourselves to find that Jesus Christ is in you, and that you should always do that which is honest.” Such an admonition seems simple and highly acceptable. Be honest. Don't cheat. Tell the truth. It is a very basic part of God's command. Yet these simple rules are constantly violated in business and social life. Even devout Christians are bound to be tempted by worldly things, and frequently. The problem really is serious and basic in the lives of each of us. When we get cheated, shall we cheat back? Is retaliation ever right? Can we be brutally honest with our friends and still maintain some kind of happy social life? You'll remember a comedy of some years ago, entitled “Nothing but the Truth,” in which the hero got himself into all kinds of trouble simply because he attempted to tell the truth for twenty-four hours. In a world that seethes with both major and minor dishonesties, can we afford to be honest?
I heard the story of an Episcopal Bishop some time ago. The Bishop was compelled to drive often at night, and it was his courteous custom to dim the headlights on his car when another driver approached from the opposite direction. Often the other driver was inconsiderate, and kept the full blinding glare of his headlights shining. In such a case, just before the cars passed one another, the Bishop would turn his bright headlights on, too, to give the other fellow a taste of his own medicine. The Bishop described this as a “mild form of Episcopal swearing.” But one night he began to question this tactic. Was it right? Wasn't he lowering his own standards without cause? After all, who was being hurt? If others were inconsiderate, was that any reason for being unkind? So after some thought, the Bishop decided that he would never again lower his own standards for anyone.
I present that story to you as a good lesson. Who has the right to determine the standards by which we live? The other fellow, whose lower standards annoy us, or Jesus Christ? It boils down to just such a choice!
If others curse at us, it annoys and hurts us a little. But when we curse at others, it hurts us far more. Jesus taught that we should live as we would like others to live, do what we want others to do, that we should hold up our own standards regardless of what others may think, say or do. The Christian way of life is not a way of compromise.
A Christian missionary doctor discovered that many people came to him without definite illness. In such cases, doctors often prescribe harmless sugar pills, which satisfies the patient until some other discomfort arises. The missionary doctor began to ask himself if that medical custom was honest, or Christian. Jesus taught that our speech should be “Yea, yea, or nay, nay.” He felt that if he could not discover any illness it was his duty to plainly inform the patient, and not to preserve an illusion of illness by offering some medication. If the patient chose, he could go to some other physician, but the missionary doctor could rest with a peaceful conscience because his diagnosis was honest.
There are many other examples; so many, that there is no need to go into them. How many of our words, even the customary applause that is given to the preacher at the church door after the service, “That was a fine sermon, Pastor” are merely social platitudes without further meaning. When I was a boy I was taken once to a concert given by a great violinist, Jascha Heifetz . How well I remember the man who sat in front of me. I remember him far better than I do the music. As soon as the violinist began to play, this many, probably overtired after a long day's work, fell sound asleep. His wife often gave him a generous nudge with her elbow, and for a minute he would arouse himself obediently, but it never lasted for long. When the music ended, and the applause was heard, however, he immediately awoke and started clapping his hands as hard as he could. Now I cannot help but think that it was dishonest applause!
There are exceptions, of course. One seriously ill might be mortally hurt by bad news. We may sometimes possess information that could injure the life or character of someone we know, as with a former prison inmate now trying to be a decent member of society. In such cases, conscience must be our guide, but the general admonition holds good that when nothing good can be said, we should say nothing. In a world of lies—lies heard in advertising, on the radio, in social life—the Christian must remain honest at any cost.
The Christian life is also a beautiful life.
The Christian life is also a beautiful life. That may sound odd. It may seem sentimental and unreal. The so-called stark naked realism of the present tries to deny that there is much beauty in this life. But may I point out that good, pure, lovely things abound everywhere. Almost everything that God made is beautiful: the flowers, the trees, the hills, the stars, the earth itself—yes, even human beings, at least when they are very young! Such things as slums and ash-dumps are man-made. There are, of course, some ugly things in life, but need they be emphasized? When we read in current literature so much of the smutty and indecent, we are often inclined to wonder if it is a true picture. Dirt, filth and disease does indeed exist, but the vast majority of people and things are clean, normal and decent.
If you were to visit a lovely home for dinner, you would expect to find the table set with white linen, shining silver, clean dishes, and flowers in the center of the table. But suppose one day you were invited to such a home, and found the white linen, the shining silver, the clean dishes, and the garbage pail standing in the center of the table instead of the flowers. How shocked you would be. Of course, the garbage pail is realism. You knew all along that there must be a garbage pail somewhere. It was Gene Stratton-Porter who once pointed out that too often modern literature exposes the garbage pail!
It is essential that we be realists in this life. People who live in dream-worlds accomplish very little. The important question deals with the actual nature of realism. I believe that we can be modern, and be realistic, and bluntly face issues, and still obey Paul's injunction in Phillipians , “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of a good report, if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things.” There is always room for beauty in Christian living.
The Christian life is a helpful life
The Christian life is a helpful life. Helpfulness is a basic need of vital Christianity. It is the translation of loving into living. It comes up in our daily existence in the simplest forms of “small change:” be kind, be courteous, be sympathetic.
This kind of Christian helpfulness is constructive. It builds up instead of tearing down. We have just finished ten or more years of international housewrecking . There has been great destruction. The time has come to build. In a smaller sense, every year of our busy lives causes some destruction in the souls of our friends. The wrack and worry, the pain and problem of each day is a process of destruction. Christian helpfulness is badly needed, at home as well as abroad. In our own community, our own circle of friends, we need to be helpful.
In a country congregation one of the farmers had the extreme misfortune to break his leg a few days before the harvest was ready. He was taken to a city hospital, and lay in extreme agitation worrying about his crops. No one in his household was able to get them in and he knew of no one else he dared to ask, since all the other farmers would be busy with their own fields. When he was finally well enough to be moved to his home, he was amazed to see that the fields were cleaned and the crops all safely in storage. His friends and fellow-Christians had come and helped him.
Such an incident ought to be typical of the Christian life, which serves without asking or expecting any reward.
Considerateness is another mark of Christian helpfulness. It is not always some favor or some act of kindness that is needed. Often the need we must fill is for understanding, compassion, and true sympathy. Others have their problems, too, and their irritations, upsets, and abstractions may stem from some deep inner trouble. We must try to understand people, and to treat them with utmost consideration in any circumstance. Seldom will this do any harm, while bitterness, anger, annoyance, and jealousy may cut them to the quick with the sharpest of pain.
A third mark of Christian helpfulness lies in the fact that the Christian is conscientious. Under any conditions, a Christian can be trusted, giving the same full measure he expects from others. This Christian trait is recognized to some extent by employers, who generally ask references from the minister of the church an applicant attends, and who are outspoken in their preference of Christian employees. There is a reason for this. The Christian does his duty in order to please God, and not for the sake of any other human being. He knows that God is the final judge, and the record that counts is not written on the time clock, or in the ledger, but in heaven.
It would be very wrong to say that these few pieces of small change summarize the Christian life. At best, a few great truths have been broken down into the realm of everyday affairs. These and all other things that we do must be done in the spirit of Him Who said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”