What are some scriptural and modern-day examples of the kergyma having “power for salvation”? What a good question! One of my favorite spots is Acts chapter 10, the conversion of Cornelius, when the gospel went to the Gentiles. And it’s a beautiful example of Peter, again, presenting the kerygma. And how did he do it? First, he is just bearing witness. I’ll just read this to you.
He said, “We are witnesses to all that [Jesus] did, both in the country of Judea of the Jews and in Jerusalem and…” Here’s the kerygma: “…They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him up on the third day and made him manifest not to all people but to us who are chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with Him after he rose from the dead.” (Acts 10:39-41)
And then he dials in even a little further, he said: “And he commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that he is the one ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that every one who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:42-43)
You see some of these constant themes that are present in the kerygma, right? They witness to the fact that Jesus was crucified, that they saw it, that He was raised from the dead, that they are witnesses to a fact of history. It’s not just an idea, it’s not just a kind of spiritual inspiration — it’s real. So they declare that fact, right? That Jesus is Lord, that God has made Him the judge of the living and the dead.
This is a big deal. This is one of the things that can stir the human heart to the right sort of fear of God, that allows us to align ourselves in a way that we can hear Him, and hear the message that’s about to come. And then Peter underlines again that they were sent to offer people the gift of freedom from their sins — the forgiveness of their sins is right at the heart. If you don’t get to talking about the need to have your sins forgiven, you haven’t hit the heart of the kerygma. It’s so important for everybody to come to terms with that fact, because we know, because Jesus is Lord, that every human being is going to stand before Him someday. And He is the only one Who can free us of our sin and prepare us for that day.
But you see what happens then: “While Peter was still saying this, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who came with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, ‘Can anyone forbid water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?’” (Acts 10:44-47) It’s an amazing moment! The apostles saw with their own eyes [that] the very thing that they received came upon the Gentiles. And how did it come? Through the preaching of the kerygma. And the kerygma was backed because the power of the Holy Spirit went forward to bring conviction to Cornelius and his whole household.
It’s amazing — I was thinking earlier, just another example from my own life. I was just a young guy and I was kind of coming into my faith, and awakening to the reality of the power of the kerygma, and I was sharing an apartment, at age 20, at the university I attended, with an old highschool friend of mine. He was an academic all-american football player, great guy, and I tried to evangelize him at the beginning of the summer. He was a big guy, and he told me he didn’t want to talk about it. He told me not to bring it up anymore. And he was big, so I didn’t bring it up anymore for a while.
Toward the end of the summer, one night, we were both going to bed, and our beds were kind of in a hallway between two rooms. And he said to me — I was laying in bed, quietly praying the rosary — and he said, “Hey, Pete, turn on the light.” And I said, “What? Why? Why?” And he said, “Turn on the light!” So I turned on the light, and he sat up in bed and he looked at me, and he goes, “Is the devil real?” I said, “Yeah, the devil’s real.” “No,” he said, “seriously, is he real?” And I said, “Yeah, he’s real.” I said, “Why?” and he goes, “Nevermind.” And he just laid down and [said] “Turn the light off.” So I turned the light off and thought, “That was kind of weird,” you know?
A couple of minutes later he said again, “Hey, Pete, turn the light on.” So I turned it on and I said, “What’s the matter?” And he said, “Pete, seriously, something’s wrong. I think I’m being hassled. I’ve been thinking a lot over the last few months about taking my life.” I said, “Really?” I didn’t know that, he was like a 4.0 student. And he wasn’t going to church, and he was in a bad relationship with somebody and stuff. I said, “Look, I don’t know if this is the devil, sounds like him, but I know this: Jesus Christ is Lord, and you were baptized. And if you turn your heart to Him, and if we pray right now, I believe that if it is him, we can chase him away.”
I’d never had that experience. It was the first time I ever did this. So I get out of bed, my friend is sitting at the end of the bed, we both have our pajamas on, and he said, “What do I do?” I said, “Just, like, close your eyes and think about Jesus in some way.” And then I put my hand on his head and just asked the Holy Spirit to come. And I said, “In the name of Jesus, if there is any spirit, dark spirit, trying to hassle my friend Tom here, I command you to go in my baptism.” I was standing [there] and kept thinking about my baptism, you know? That we have authority. And honestly, [as] I was doing this, [I was] just learning it as I was going along. So I prayed in that, and I asked him to accept Jesus, and he did.
And he was quiet, and he had his face in his hands, and after a few minutes, I leaned over and I said, “Hey Tom, are you experiencing anything?” And he goes, “What? You don’t see it?” And I said, “No, what? What are you talking about?” And he said, “You don’t see the light?” And I said, “No.” And he says, “Dude, seriously?” And I said, “I don’t see anything!” And he goes, “As soon as you started praying, this light started filling me, and it’s still filling me. You want some?” And I said, “What do you mean?” And he went out and he got a Bible from the other room, and he came in and he started reading it. And we ended up praying — this was about a quarter of eleven at night — friends, we prayed together, he and I, all night long. In fact, we ended up on the football field at this university at midnight, and we prayed from midnight til 6:30 in the morning, then we went to Mass, and then we went home and went to bed.
And I saw that night the power of the gospel, and the power of the kerygma to bring life in the midst of darkness. I didn’t even know what I was doing, but faith had come alive in me, and I knew the Holy Spirit was in me, and you can have that confidence too.