"What must I do to be saved?" The Philippian jailer, on his knees in sheer terror, asked Paul and Silas this question when a great earthquake shook the jail that held them. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ," they said, "and you will be saved." What about church membership? How about tithing? Shouldn't he prove himself first before these two men of God offered him salvation? Aren't there certain rules and rites of faith that he should be expected to conform to before salvation is offered? Believe...and be saved; that was the answer to his question.
Lent draws us to the simple message of the gospel. By simple, I don't mean easy or cheap. To live the Christ-life is not to follow an easy path. To believe on Jesus Christ is to be confronted by God's great love, and then, to believe. Those who follow this path are "new creations," according to Paul, who embrace, as the author of the book of Hebrews writes, "...a new and living way." Commenting on this new way, Nouwen writes, "What is new is that we are set free from the compulsions of our world and have set our hearts on the only necessary thing."
A journey toward the cross compels us to keep our eyes on "the only necessary thing." Apart from Jesus, we are no different than before.
JKA
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