Unusual Suspects

Acts 9:1-20New International Version (NIV)

Saul’s Conversion

9 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way,whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”

“Yes, Lord,” he answered.

11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”

13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem

Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.

As a child, I enjoyed spending a week at summer camp at the Christian Conference Center in Newton each summer.  As I got older, my commitment to the camps waned as I become more involved in other activities but there is one person in particular that I will never forget.  Her name was Sue and she wasn’t a pastor or a counselor.  She was the camp’s volunteer nurse.  Out of the 2-3 times I went to camp, she is the only name and face I really remember which goes to show the impact she had on me.  You’re probably thinking that in order for me to meet the nurse, I probably wasn’t feeling very good.  That assumption would be correct.  It was one of the worst earaches I remember having.  The pain was brutal, I couldn’t sleep and I didn’t want to be at camp.  I just wanted to come home.  I was miserable and in so much pain.  I have had ear issues before so I tried to get through the pain as much as I could on my own but this one was different, it hurt so much more than the others, plus I was away from home and I was (am) kind of a momma’s boy and a scosh of a whiner... Nonetheless, it hurt really bad and so I finally went to the nurse’s office and there sat a energetic, polite, woman who had necklace made with twine that had serving spoons tied to it.  She seemed so strange and her energy caught me off guard.  I spent the most of day with her in her little office getting to know her and my ear throbbing in pain.  Later that day my parents came with medicine and pain relievers.  As much as I wanted to go home, Sue convinced me to stay so I spent a lot of time with her the next couple of days and she must have talked to some of the pastors and other leaders because they found a way to include me in some of the games in the swimming pool even though I couldn’t get in the water.  They included me in others aspects as well all thanks to Sue.  Her compassion, understanding and love has stuck with me ever since.  She spent a week of her vacation from her other job so she could volunteer at the camp.  She unselfishly gave of her talents.  She is one of the many key people that helped me get me where I am today.  Of course, there have been many others but it is those people who seem like an unlikely source that help us clear some of the hurdles we face.

Our scripture for this morning offers us a couple more unlikely sources.  Acts 9:10 calls Ananias a disciple so as a believer of the newly founded Christianity he undoubtedly knew and understood what Saul stood for and what he was systematically doing to Christians.  Needless to say, Ananias was apprehensive when Jesus called him to speak to the man who had been persecuting others just like him.  Not only was Ananias an unlikely source of Saul’s conversion but Saul himself was just as unlikely.  The point here is a good faith lesson: those called to help us may seem like an unlikely source and we ourselves may think we aren’t qualified to carry the message of grace, love and forgiveness.  But if God thought Saul, a killer and persecutor of Christians is qualified, I think we are ok.  Saul’s conversion to Paul is one of the greatest stories of the Bible.  One commentator put it wonderfully when they said Paul’s conversion was more of a surrender than a conversion (applies to us as well). I don’t just mean the 20 verses of his actual conversion but I mean when we look at what Saul was and what Paul turned out to be.  It is simply amazing.  It truly goes to show what we are really capable of when it comes to helping spread God’s glory.  Let’s look at a couple questions to help us dig into this a little deeper.   

What initially brought you into relationship with God?  Fear...? Guilt...? Emotion...? Elation...? We can usually remember our initial acceptance of God’s love and grace.  Perhaps it occurred over a given time but there was mostly likely a particular moment that it became particularly clear.  Now that we spent a few seconds looking back on those moments, here is another question what keeps us in relationship with God?  It has to be the same thing that kept Paul writing and facing the same persecution he once made others fear.  Paul’s conversion is one amazing story but the fact that he faced persecution and death and kept believing, writing and thriving is another amazing story.  Imagine if we only had the conversion story.  If we only know Paul from these 20 verses then he would be a pretty insignificant and minor player in whole New Testament.  Since his story extended beyond his conversion, he gave us just short of one quarter of the New Testament.  Our initial acceptance of God’s love and grace is beautiful and glorious and inspiring but it’s kind of like falling in love with your significant other.  The initial butterflies are easy and falling in love is such a great feeling.  Maintaining that love is an even better feeling yet but it takes work.  Our continued relationship with God also takes work.  That means looking inward to see where we best fit outward.  It means reading, praying, thinking, talking and repeat.  Until every hungry child and adult is fed, clothed, sheltered and loved our work is not done.  Until every vet has the medical attention they need, every mother the help she needs, every child the opportunity to love, until every person is given the opportunity to see God’s love and grace we must not stop and our story needs to continue to be written.  

It sounds cliche, I know, but so much of our story is yet to be written.  I mean that.  God told Ananias that Saul was “...my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.” There are couple things here I want you to take notice.  First, we must do our best to follow God’s will and allow his love and grace to take us where it may because if we don’t, we may miss the opportunity to bring others who could be another one of God’s chosen instruments.  And two, Paul was commissioned not only to speak and preach to the Gentiles but also to the Jews.  This is important as it helps give our ministries direction.  What is your story? Who helped you write it?  Whose story are you going to help write theirs?  Boil down our basic human nature and this is what life is about.  Our story, who helps us write it, and the impact we can have on others’ lives is really the bane of our existence.  And we are blessed enough to worship a God who allows us to make such decisions.  He loved us so much that he undoubtedly wants to be a part of our story.  He sent his Son and his Spirit to help us write it.  And he desires that we help others to discover his love and grace.   Continue to write your story, help others write their and give God glory all the while by spreading a message of love and grace.  Amen.