Sermon Acts 9:1-22 April 10, 2016

Transcription

1 Sermon Acts 9:1-22 April 10, 2016 Sermon Title: I have heard about this man Acts 9:1-22 Narrator: Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 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. 3 Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Jesus: Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? 5 Saul: Who are you, Lord? Jesus: I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do. Narrator: 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. 8 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. 9 For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. 10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, Jesus: Ananias. ANANIAS: Here I am, Lord. Jesus: 11 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, 12 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. 13 ANANIAS: Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name. Jesus: 15 Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; 16 I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. Narrator: 17 So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, ANANIAS: 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. Narrator: 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength. For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, 20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, Saul: He is the Son of God. Narrator: 21 All who heard him were amazed and said, All: Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem among those who invoked this name? And has he not come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?

2 ! Narrator: 22 Saul became increasingly more powerful and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Messiah. I. Paul. In paintings and artwork of Paul, he is almost always depicted with a sword and a book (or writing of some kind). The book because he wrote about one-fourth of the New Testament (though almost one-half has been attributed to him). The sword because of his own death, he was beheaded with a sword, killed for his faith. And so in this way that sword represents this moment as well, his conversion on the Damascus road, where Paul went from arresting and killing Christians, to be arrested and eventually killed because of his own Christianity. I have to admit that for most of my adult life, I have not been a huge fan of the apostle Paul. If I was to count all of the sermons I have given that come from Paul s letters, I would only need one hand, and there would still be a few fingers left over. This is for many reasons it is much harder, in my view, to preach from a letter than a story. But also because Paul and I are opposites in so many ways. Paul always seems to have such a sense of self-assuredness in his

3 beliefs, his ideas, and his solutions to other people s problems. This week I did a little conflictstyle exercise and was reminded again that my conflict style is accommodator and conflict avoider. Paul and I are opposites in these ways he seems more than willing to confront problems and let you know that his way is correct. I don t think we would be friends, I think he would be a little too aggressive for me and I would always be uncomfortable with him. He is so zealous. So sure of himself. So different from me. I also probably unfairly blame Paul for some of Christianities missteps and some of our views of God that I struggle with for the ways that we, in western Christianity have read the gospels in light of Paul, instead of the other way around. But that is not Paul s fault, if we are misreading him. But spending time with this story of Paul s conversion, it helped me put Paul in context it helped me see his writings in a new light to read Paul in light of this experience of conversion and grace. I have never before considered Paul s writings through the lens of his own life, meeting Christ on the Damascus Road. Saul, was a Pharisee, trained in one of the most famous rabbinical schools of his day (I will use Saul and Paul interchangeably in this sermon: Saul being his name before his conversion, and Paul his new name, after his conversion). He says of himself, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees (Acts 23:6) and I have belonged to the strictest sect of our religion and lived as a Pharisee (Acts 26:5). We first meet Saul in Acts chapter seven at the martyrdom of Stephen, the first Christian killed for his faith. The author tells us that the witnesses of the stoning laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul, and that Saul approved of their killing him. In the paintings of Stephen s death you always see Paul, somewhere off to the side

4 ! with a few coats. In this one you see Paul with this group of wealthy Pharisees in the top center of the painting, all standing back, watching in approval this upper class of men having the common people carry out the dirty work of the actual stoning. Soon, Paul moves to a more active role, no longer afraid to get his hands dirty. In Galatians he writes of himself, I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it I was for more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors (Gal 1:13-14). Today, we would call Saul a religious fundamentalist. Taking a hard and literal view of scripture and law; so certain of these positions that he is willing to put to death all who break the laws of scripture willing to take drastic action to preserve the traditions and practices of his faith. And so, hearing that a number of the Christian community had gone to Damascus, Saul went to the high priest and secured letters of authority, letters which gave him the right to arrest any followers of the way and bring them back to Jerusalem for trial [the first followers of Jesus were not called Christian but Followers of the Way]. This was why he was on the road to

5 Damascus in the first place, he was looking for to put down with violence this new movement of faith that was rising in his area. II. On the road a great light flashed around him and he fell to the sky. We should note here that is not Paul who is searching for God. God finds him. He does not think he needs to find God because he is already confident in what he knows and believes; he does not believe he must search for God because he is certain that he has already found the answers. And in his fundamental pursuit of this, God stops him in his tracks. There are times, of course, when we find God when we are searching. And there are also times when we are going along quite happy with our place in life, and God interrupts us. God meets us on the road. God confronts us. Jesus often meets us and interrupts us when we are not looking it is whether or not we recognize that disruption as God, or as something else.!!

6 There are piles of artistic renderings of this encounter between Paul and Jesus on the road to Damascus an event which seems to have grabbed the Christian imagination over the centuries. And in the western imagination a horse has been added to most of the depictions because in the western world upended pride was best symbolized by a fallen hero looking up at his horse s backside. And so these artists depict one who has been humbled by the interruption of God one whose pride and self-assured righteousness has been confronted. III. Another thing to note in this story is that even after his conversion, Paul is very much the same person. He is living for different reasons he has a different core of values. He has a converted view of enemies: from a fundamental belief that the enemies of God must be wiped out, to a new belief that enemies must be loved; that we work to convert people through love and relationship not through violence or coercion. He goes from putting people in prison, to being imprisoned himself. Many, many things in his life change. His life mission has changed. His life purpose has changed. His core has been changed from vengeance to love.! He is, like the Grinch after that Christmas in Who-ville where his heart has grown three sizes. But his personality, it seems largely the same. His gifts are the same. He is just using them in different ways. He is still a leader still bold and confident. He is still equally self-

7 !! assured in his beliefs, though now they are different beliefs. He is still bold enough to travel the world to venture into new communities he is still wanting to tell you how it is. He still not someone I would want to spend too much time with. I was at Dunia Marketplace this week and they have these new socks called, Conscious step. These socks are a little expensive at fourteen dollars a pair, but with each pair of socks purchased money goes to fund am important life-giving project. Some socks plant trees; these socks provide medicine for those in African with HIV/AIDS; these socks drill a well. And some of the key people who founded this company are a couple of guys who did banking and financing on Wall Street. Now, they are taking those skills and abilities that they learned for a new purpose. Their convictions have changed, their purpose in life has changed, but they are

8 pretty much the same they are taking their personalities and skills and giving them a new vision new core beliefs and practices. IV. Our next learning comes not from Paul, but from Ananias this story is not just a conversion story, it is a story of reconciliation. Ananias was a follower of the way, and it seems that his relationship with God was conversational. Unlike Saul, he had been growing in the knowledge of God over time, when the Lord called his name he didn't need to ask, "Who are you?" The voice was a familiar one, and in the great prophetic tradition he responded: "Here I am." Also in the prophetic tradition, he talked back to God, he argued a bit with God. When God told him that he was to go to this man Saul and lay hands of healing on him, he was not sure that God had it right. He had heard of Saul, of the havoc and death he had brought to the followers of Jesus. He wanted to make sure that God knew that Saul was arresting and persecuting followers of Jesus; that God knew that Saul was in town for the sake of persecution and death. Ananias had likely been warned about what was happening, that the Pharisee Saul was coming to town and he should lay low for a few days. And now God is asking him to go to Saul, to lay hands on him, to pray with him, to heal him. This man who has likely arrested and killed some of his own friends who has put in prison his sisters and brothers he is now suppose to go to him in love. He is supposed to go to him in forgiveness, as a representative of Christ. This is where this entire story hangs, in the hands of Ananias.

9 My friend and mentor David Moser lived in Northern Ireland for nine years during the end of the troubles and the first years of reconciliation. Dave tells the story of his friend who lost a wife to a para-military bomb. She was not the target, she was just out shopping and happened to be one of the victims. After the peace process many of those who were put in prison for things they did during the troubles were released, they were treated as Prisoners of War and released at the conclusion of the war. And so one day Dave s friend goes out to the grocery store in his neighborhood and as he walks around the end of the aisle he comes face-to-face with the man who made the bomb that killed his wife. What does one do in such a situation, when you meet the person who has killed your loved one? And so Ananias is told he should go to Saul. That he should lay hands on him. That he should heal him. That he should heal this man who has imprisoned and killed his friends. He is rightly hesitant. Remember back to last week s scripture, when Jesus entered the locked room of the disciples and breathed on them, if you recall, his words were this, Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. If Jesus meant this, then I believe that Saul never would have regained his sight if it was not for Ananias. Without Ananias Saul would have gone through life blind. Without Ananias forgiveness Saul would not have been able to spread the faith, he would not have been able to make those missionary journeys he would not have been able to write Galatians or Ephesians we never would have heard that love is patient and love is kind. Without Ananias willingness to go to Saul, it is unlikely any of us in this room would have heard of Jesus the Christ.

10 It was God who told Ananias to welcome Saul and to forgive him, but he could have refused. And so, perhaps Jesus meant what he said in that room, perhaps when the followers of Christ refuse to forgive, there are consequences involved for everyone. For the one who is refused forgiveness. For history. For the future. Or, as Jesus said, forgive the sins of any and they are forgiven. Retain the sins of any and they are retained. And, I for one, cannot think of one good thing that has happened in this world when sins were retained. I cannot think of one example when refusing forgiveness brought healing and life and beauty to the world. Perhaps you can, but I cannot. V. Though forgiveness is offered, it is not cheap. Reconciliation happens between Saul and God, between Saul and the Followers of the Way. But it only happens after the harm he has done has been named after the havoc he brought has been acknowledged after his crimes against humanity and against God spoken and known. Paul s past sins are not simply swept under the proverbial rug, they are not ignored. God confronts him with his wrong-doing: Saul, why do you persecute me? Miroslav Volf says that in Paul s encounter we see again the truth that, at the heart of reconciliation lies the twin belief that evil must be named as evil. Jesus does this. Ananias does this. The disciples do this. Paul does this. They acknowledge the horrible evil that Saul has done. On the Damascus road, continues Volf, we see again that, though grace is unthinkable without justice, justice is always secondary to grace. Paul is not reconciled through justice. Paul does not pay penance for his crimes. He is not punished for his crimes. Instead, after his

11 wrongs have been named, he is given God s grace. Grace from God through a bright light. Grace from God through the hands of Ananias. Grace through the hands that baptize him. Grace through the disciples who spend time with him.! VI. Perhaps Paul is so zealous in his writings because of his gratitude for God s grace: because God did not punish him or seek justice, but instead offered grace. It seems likely that Paul writes so much about grace because he has received it in such a significant way because he has experienced grace upon grace. Perhaps this is why he is such a proponent of grace over works, because he knows he will never be able to bring back those that he has either killed or sent to their deaths. He must rely on grace because he has committed the act for which it is the most difficult to seek reconciliation and forgiveness he has killed. We can better understand Paul s writings on grace and reconciliation when we remember his own story of grace and reconciliation: when we remember the God who sought him out; when we remember the community of Christians who offered him forgiveness, even for the most horrific of crimes; when we remember Ananias, who went to and laid his hands on Saul who was a vessel of God s love and grace who came to the one who only a few days earlier would have put him in handcuffs and hauled him prison and calls him, Brother Saul.

12 ! Forgive the sins of any and they are forgiven. Retain the sins of any and they are retained. For the forgiving hands of Ananias, let us give thanks to the God who calls us to forgiveness who invites us to join in the Cosmic work of reconciliation. Amen.