Third Sunday of
Easter – Year C
April 14, 2013
Acts
9:1-6, (7-20)
Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" He asked, "Who are you, Lord?" The reply came, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do."
[The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." He answered, "Here I am, Lord." The Lord said to him, "Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight." But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name." But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength. For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God."]
Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" He asked, "Who are you, Lord?" The reply came, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do."
[The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." He answered, "Here I am, Lord." The Lord said to him, "Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight." But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name." But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength. For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God."]
When it comes to conversion stories, when it
comes to accounts of how God has entered in and changed a person this morning’s
text from Acts is without question right at the top of just about any list you
could come up with. You don’t get much
of a better story than that of Saul who we came to know as Paul.
We
first encounter Saul at Stephen’s stoning.
He was there, holding the coats of those who were throwing the stones. We know from his own writing that he was a
Pharisee, one of those persons in Jewish culture at the time that was
concerned, perhaps even obsessed, with what it was the scripture said. Not so much what it said word for word, but
what it meant. Pharisees because of
their deep concern for understanding the Hebrew Bible had immense knowledge of
it. It would have been common to
encounter a Pharisee who had all of what we call the Old Testament memorized.
Saul
knew scripture, he knew what the Torah said, and his knowledge of those books
convinced him that this new movement within Judaism, that those who were part
of called ‘the Way’ were dangerous and needed to be stopped. So, Saul embarked on the first century
equivalent of the inquisition. He was
authorized to search out and find any and all individuals that he determined
were a part of the Way. Once found, they
would be shipped back to Jerusalem where they would receive their punishment. It sounds like a job he was pretty good at,
because Ananias in his conversation with God brings it up – how much evil Saul
had done in Jerusalem. And yet, it was
Saul that God chose to be the bearer of the gospel to many people. The man whose letters and correspondence did
more to shape Christianity than other person other than Jesus himself.
As
someone who grew up within the church, much like many of you, I was always a
bit envious of Saul and his powerful conversion story. While I was in New Guinea in high school, I
would hear testimonies on a regular basis at our worship gatherings. Stories of how God had powerfully entered
into lives, how drug and alcohol dependencies had disappeared overnight. How people had been freed from abuse, or
lives of crime. And there I sat, that
kid from Iowa whose parents were Lutheran missionaries, who could barely
remember a day in his life when the church and God had not played a central
role. It’s sad, but there were times I
longed to be bad, so that I too could be changed and used by God for good.
There
is no question that there are people who have had their lives transformed in
miraculous ways; I’ve met many of them.
But, they are actually the exception rather than the norm. Most people in the church are like you and
me. We may not have been born believing,
but it wasn’t long before we were asking our parents about God and Jesus. Faith for most of us wasn’t so much a
blinding light as it was a flower slowly unfolding its presence in our lives. We are drawn to the stories of dramatic conversion;
it’s easier to see things when the change is really evident.
From breathing threats and murder against the
disciples to being a forgiven apostle.
The power of God to change our lives and our hearts is evident.
So
often when we read or hear this story, we do so focusing on Saul. Yet, there were two conversions that
happened. Saul, the oppressor of the
faith who became its disciple; and Ananias, the reluctant disciple who came to
call Saul, ‘Brother’. We don’t know much
about Ananias, yet it is his conversion that would most likely seem familiar to
most of us. He’s heard about Saul. He knows the stories, he knows that this man
God wants him to go to and heal was not a ‘good man.’ In fact, Ananias may have gotten word that
Saul was headed in his direction and was keeping himself well and truly hidden
so as to avoid being shipped off to Jerusalem.
And God comes to him and tells him to go. Ananias doesn’t think it’s a good idea.
Do you
blame him? I would have probably argued
as well. Why should I go to the person
who is trying to do me harm? Why would I
want to be nice to someone who has been doing not nice things to people I call
friends? Ananias protests against going
to Saul because of Saul’s history: essentially saying, ‘it’s hard to teach an
old dog new tricks”. It’s a view that
all of us have found ourselves in at one time or another, reluctant to reach
out a hand in aid because of who the aid is going to, reluctant to be loving
and kind because we’ve seen the person in question being hateful, evil and just
not nice to those we love. It’s a
position that all of us can relate to, even if we hang our heads when we admit
it.
Of
course, as amazing as Ananias’ change of heart was, Saul’s was even
greater. Have you ever known, without
question that you were right? That
everything you’ve ever known, everything you believe, everything you have been
taught has led you to a specific understanding?
Have you then argued for that position?
Have you criticized those who held a position contrary to yours? That was the position Saul found himself in. He was convinced of his position. He was convinced by scripture of his
position, he knew he was right. Right up
to the point that he encountered the light of Christ, and discovered he was
wrong.
In the light of Christ, Saul saw something
that he never expected, in the light of Christ, Paul woke up to something, he
was touched by God. God can be experienced
in all sorts of ways, but one of the foremost is love. God came to Saul and overcame his hate and judgment
of the early Christian church, and we all know that love overcomes hate. “That overwhelming sense of love, embodied in
Christ, and now flowing in the body of Christ, namely those identified with him
and his story, broke through barriers and reached out to all.
Paul saw himself as a prime example of this
amazing love, this amazing grace - as did Luke, who wrote Acts. Such amazing
grace also changed Paul's perspective on scripture from a fearing defensive
fundamentalism to a centered, critical, interpretation, inspired by Jesus' own
stance. He was prepared to follow it in the face of pressure from other leaders
of the early church. He was going to
welcome Gentiles in regular table fellowship.
He fought against the idea that circumcision was required to be a
follower of the Way. Paul asserted again
and again in his letters that in the love of God in Christ we are no longer
under the biblical law, even though we more than fulfill the legitimate demands
it contains.”[1]
Paul was changed by God in a powerful
way. Ananias was also transformed by the
presence of God.
“The story of Saul and Ananias invite us to ponder how we will look at
our own world when God takes our "no way," and our "we've never
done that before" and transforms them into "yes." Like Saul's
and Ananias' new vision, God rearranges our ways of seeing, being, and acting.
God changes our world.”[2]
God like to change people too. Sometimes it happens slowly (almost
invisibly), like how drops of water can over time cut a hole through solid
rock, other times it can happen instantly and in powerful ways, like Saul’s
encounter on the road to Damascus and his transformation that follows. What are the ways we have been moved and
changed by God? Has God asked us to look
deep into our souls and think about who we are, what we believe? Do you believe the same things you did a few
years ago, a few decades ago, last week?
Do you feel that God is still challenging you, asking you to accept that
you have scales over your own eyes that need to be removed? Is that a scary thought? Are you open to God changing you, even if you
know you are right? How is the light of
Christ bringing new life in your life?
Amen.
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