Jesus Saves (Rev. Dr. Charley Reeb)
I remember talking to a friend of mine who is critical of faith and the church. I asked him, “So, what bothers you about Christianity?” His response was very enlightening:
Charley, all the Christians I have known do not care about me and they don’t care about the things I care about. The Christians I have known just want to sell me fire insurance. They seem so unlike Christ. Christ cared about the needy, the poor and those who hurt. I don’t see that kind of compassion from many Christians.
And then he said something that really opened my eyes:
I think the biggest reason I am not a Christian is that no Christian has ever told me why faith is important. They assume I know why. Why should I waste my time on the church when I have so many other options?
If someone were to approach you today and ask you why they should care about Jesus and invest their time in the church, what would you say? Would you have a compelling answer?
Well, this morning I want to share WHY. Why following Christ is so important. Why our faith is so important. Maybe you need to hear this personally. Maybe you need to be reminded. Maybe you need to be equipped to tell others why. What I am going to say today is not exhaustive, but it is a good foundation for those who are looking for answers about Jesus.
And I have the perfect text for it. Paul and Silas’ jailbreak in Acts 16. This text reminds us of what makes our faith so powerful, exciting, and fascinating. And if we can get back to the truth of this text, more people will be drawn to Jesus Christ.
Just to give you the quick background of this text, Paul and Silas are in jail because they casted out a demon from a slave girl, which angered her owners because they relied on her fortune telling for profit. The owners seized Paul and Silas, dragged them before the authorities who threw them into jail. But we will soon see that is not the end of their story:
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. -Acts 16:25-26
When Paul and Silas started to praise God, everyone’s chains came loose!
Jesus Saves Us from What Enslaves Us. He sets us free to be who God created us to be.
I know some of you have negative associations with the phrase “Jesus Saves.” I get it. You think of the guy who holds up a sign at the football game on television. Yes, “Jesus Saves” has been hijacked by those macabre Christians who like the idea that God is a monster. They say the phrase as if God wants to torture us but “Jesus will save you from it.” That is not the camp I am in.
Jesus saves us from missing out on the love, peace and wholeness God wants to bring to our lives.
Another thing some of us think about with the phrase “Jesus Saves” is the cynical person who says, “Save me from what? I don’t need saving.”
I often respond to this by asking, “Do you fear death? Jesus will save you from that. Do you struggle living life on your own strength? Jesus will save you from that. Do you often feel like you have no purpose, and your life has no meaning? Jesus will save you from that. Do you struggle with yourself? Jesus will save you from that.”
I don’t know about you, but I have more trouble with Charley Reeb than anyone else. Jesus has saved me from myself, my sins and my struggles, and it’s why I stand and proclaim to you today.
I came across this great poem the other day:
When I say I am a Christian I am not shouting, “I am clean living.”
I am whispering, “I was lost, but now I am found and forgiven.”
When I say I am a Christian I am not puffed up with pride.
I am confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.
When I say I am a Christian I am not trying to be strong.
I am professing that I am weak and need his strength to carry on.
When I say I am a Christian I’m not bragging of success.
I am admitting that I have failed and need God to clean my mess.
When I say I’m a Christian I’m not claiming to be perfect.
My flaws are too visible, but God believes I am worth it.
And you are worth it too! We are all worth it because God made each one of us.
And that leads me to something else Jesus saves us from.
The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” -Acts 16:27-31
Jesus Saves Us from Bad and Abusive Theology
Notice that when the Jailer asked Paul and Silas, “What must I do to be saved?” They didn’t say, “You must be part of the elect. You must be predestined by God to be saved.” No! Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ….
Romans 10:13 says, “Whoever calls upon the Lord will be saved.”
This is important because there is some bad theology making the rounds today. Oh, it’s been around for a very long time, but it has grown in popularity over the last several years. It is found in certain strands of reformed theology. It’s called “double predestination.”
This doctrine asserts that God has chosen the eternal fate of every person. He has chosen some for salvation and others for eternal torment.
And it all stems from a misinterpretation of a text in Romans:
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. -Romans 8:29
God foreknew all of us. God predestined all of us. There is nothing in this text to suggest otherwise. This verse is not an expression of dogma or theology but an expression of the Christian experience. We know we had nothing to do with our salvation. It was all God.
God marked all of us for salvation. God predestined all of us to experience God’s love. But it is still our choice.
If not, what is the point of the cross and the life and ministry of Jesus?
In order to believe in double predestination, you have to believe that God created the majority of humanity for the purpose of torturing them for eternity. They never had a choice. Can we worship a God like that?
If I get to heaven and find that my loving wife and child were predestined by God to be tortured forever, I could not worship that God. Could you?
What if the person you love most in the world was picked by God to be tortured for eternity, could you really worship that God?
The revelation of God in Jesus Christ does not support double predestination.
Much of reformed theology tells us God is consumed by wrath. Jesus shows us God is consumed by love. Double predestination doesn’t reflect the life and teachings of Jesus. Jesus’ very ministry was about including those the religious establishment believed were not on God’s list. Jesus was executed because he believed that God makes room for those many believe are not chosen.
The true message of the gospel is that you have been picked, you are loved, and that you are free to choose whether to fully experience that love.
Paul and Silas told that desperate jailer that all he had to do to be saved was believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, to call up on Jesus. And he did and look what happened:
Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household. -Acts 16:32-34
The jailer had gone from wanting to take his own life to being filled with joy. Jesus saved him from an empty life.
Jesus Saves Us from an Empty Life
I was reminded of this several years ago when I went mattress shopping in St. Pete. Brandy and I desperately needed a new mattress and so I went out to find one. I walked into the store and got a feel of a bunch of different mattresses. I spotted a young sales clerk across the room. She approached me and asked, “May I help you sir?” I told her I was looking for a mattress and would appreciate her help. She was very helpful. She helped me pick out the perfect one. Along the way I made jokes and was my regular weird self.
As I was paying for the mattress, she asked me what I did for a living. When I told her I was a pastor, she replied, “What? Seriously?” I love when people do that. Then she said, “I have never known a pastor like you before.” I said, “I am sure that is true!”
Before I left the store, I asked her if she went to church. She said she did when she was a kid but she had not been to church in a very long time. She confided in me and told me she felt empty and was looking for something more in life.
I invited her to worship. She showed up to worship the very next Sunday and came every week. One Sunday she came forward and gave her life to Christ. A couple of months later she approached me after worship and told me she was leaving the country to work for an organization that helps victims of human trafficking. She said, “Jesus has called me to do it.” She said, “I want to thank you for walking into that mattress that day.” She went from selling mattresses to helping victims of human trafficking. She went from an empty life to a life filled with purpose and meaning.
And that jailer in our story went from feeling empty and discouraged to feeling joyful and fulfilled. And it all began with the powerful witness of Paul and Silas.
I came across an interesting idea the other day. As followers of Christ, we are called to “live a questionable life.” What does that mean? Living a questionable life means making people turn their heads and wonder. For example, when we forgive when everyone else doesn’t that turns heads. When we go out of their way to do good for others that makes people wonder. When we are always there to help and never expect anything in return that makes people scratch their heads. Living a life motivated and empowered by the love of Jesus will turn heads and make people wonder why we act that way we do. And we will be able to tell them!
That is how most people come to faith in Jesus – because some ordinary Christian’s faith went viral. They lived their faith in such a way that made others curious, just like that jailer.
Folks, you come across people all the time who are desperate and hungry for the love of God in Jesus Christ. They are starving for the truth that will set them free because there is a “God shaped void in all of us that only God can fill.” But they need an honest, loving, caring person who listens, loves and wants to know their story.
I like the story Wayne Cordeiro tells about a bakery he loved. It was located in a bad part of town. The bakery was small, rundown, and nondescript. Yet at 5am every morning the aroma of delicious bread emanated from that bakery. People would line up around the block to get their hands on that bread.
That is a parable for us as followers of Christ. People are so hungry that if our lives the “Bread of Life” they will do anything to feed on it themselves. Are you living a questionable life for Christ?
Is there someone you know right now who needs a listening ear? An encouraging word? Is there someone you know who would benefit from being invited to church. Maybe it is time to share your testimony with someone who is hurting. Perhaps, if you feel led, it is time to say to a friend, “I don’t know what you believe and I am not trying to push my beliefs on you, but I am a Christian and God has helped me through some very difficult times. I believe God could help you too. Know I am here if you want to talk more about it.”
Will you live a questionable life for Jesus? Will you make people wonder like that jailer with Paul and Silas? Jesus saves, and this I know for the Bible tells me so.