Scripture Text (NRSV)
Acts 9:1-6, (7-20)
9:1 Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the
disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest
9:2 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.
9:3 Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a
light from heaven flashed around him.
9:4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul,
Saul, why do you persecute me?"
9:5 He asked, "Who are you, Lord?" The reply came, "I am Jesus,
whom you are persecuting.
9:6 But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you
are to do."
9:7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because
they heard the voice but saw no one.
9:8 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.
9:9 For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
9:10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord
said to him in a vision, "Ananias." He answered, "Here I am, Lord."
9:11 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,
9:12 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."
9:13 But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this
man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem;
9:14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all
who invoke your name."
9:15 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;
9:16 I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of
my name."
9:17 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."
9:18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and
his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized,
9:19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength. For
several days he was with the disciples in Damascus,
9:20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the
synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God."
Comments:
This is the commissioning story of another great leader of the early
church, Paul (known as Saul prior to the conversion experience in this
story). As with Peter, Paul experiences an encounter with Jesus that
transforms him. He moves from denying Jesus--Saul was a known
persecutor of those who followed Jesus--to loving Jesus by tending his
sheep, the many communities of believers he developed and supported
through visits and correspondences.
Saul (later called Paul) appears for the first time in Acts at the
stoning of Stephen. He becomes an ardent persecutor of the Christian
church. This reading recounts his blinding and conversion experiences
on the way to Damascus.
How is this familiar story addressing where I am at, and where the
flock is at this week? Here we have the record of of the last
appearance (last=ultimate?) according to Paul life. Perhaps the
ultimate experience of the resurrection is when we experience the
resurrection for our own-self, in our own conversion experience. (But
there are less spectacular conversions too, so don't forget to affirm
that...)
Perhaps the other angle to take was from the community of believers at
Damascus, represented by Ananias. Even though they were virtually
unknown, they are one of the most important people, who accepted and
discipled Saul into Paul. From them, he picked up "the way" of Jesus
and ran with it.
Is our community a disciple-making community? What should we do to
transform the community in that direction? From the text, we see...
1) They are people who belong to "the Way". Their faith somehow must
be so visible in practice. There were no Christian church sign back
then, and this was not simply just ethical living practices (for most
other religious practices are also ethical). From the Didache
(catechism training manual written even before 100AD), we found the
opening line "There are two ways, one of life and one of death, and
the difference is great between the two ways..." and it went on to
describe the practices of a Christian, perhaps a reference to "the
Way" here. In modern terminology, perhaps I would use the word
"organizational culture" to describe "the Way". Whatever it is, their
Way must be visible enough and consitent enough for Saul to find them
and persecute them. In our modern churches, what would be our visible
and consitent identification if we striped away the church buildings?
It seems that we have transfered our identity from the life of the
people to the physical stuff and ritual around us. What we need to do
is to shape our "organizational culture" in accordance to Jesus's
standard. That should be our visible identification.
2) There is a familiarity in this community with the mystical
experiences such as visions and dialogues with God. Even though Saul
was their persecutor, Saul himself is also a mystic, ("praying and
seeing vision" in v.12) - this was at least the common infrastructure
for discipleship to take place. How should we deal with the balance of
rationalism vs. mysticism in our church? What are the common
infrastructural experiences where discipleship can take place?
3) The community is very aware of the threat they are facing. Annanias
heard about Saul, know what he did, his danger, even his resources. It
is wrong for us to ignore the threat of the culture around us. For
until Jesus return, we still have to wrestle with the issue of "in the
world but not of the world". What do we know about the threats of
culture to God's people? (So, I entered seminary and learn so much
more...)
4) The community is able to see God's perspective. God is at work in
Saul before Annanias even get involved. And God is already hard at
work in the postmodern culture shift we are working with. The call is
for us to see things God's way, to partner with God in the shaping of
the culture around us. How do we get the people of God to see this,
and have faith in what's God doing to nuture the future Paul for the
next generation? It will have to start with the Ananias among us, the
leaders. There were some Ananias who would crucified Jesus, the church
leaders in the fourth Gospel' and there were some Ananias who would
advance Jesus's kingdom, the church leaders seen here.
5) The community took actions and obeyed God. Anaias trusted God and
not his risk-calculation; he obeyed and went. The community opened
Saul's eyes, physically and spiritually ("be filled with the Holy
Spirit"). Saul was baptized and taken into the fellowship through
Ananias (eating with him?) And he was learning from these simple guys
at Damascus. The funny thing is this last stage of actions were a
bunch of minute and mundane details, easily to be overlooked. There
were no famous preacher/apostle at Damacus. It seems like Ananias
could be just any ordinary small group leader today. In a way, it
seems like the major and significances of the impact was in the
previous 4 stages before this outworking of the obedience actions in
the ordinaries. It is like the great preparation of the whole cosmos
before the simple creation of Adam as another addition in the garden.
Weird! But that's how God & Son works.
Lord Jesus, I pray for the Paul-in-training among our communities.
Help us to see your perspectives so that we can partner with you in
the development of your future kingdom well. Grant us your vision, and
help us to obey you and not our own rational, risk-managed style of
just managing your flock.
Coho, Midway City.
Many are now reading Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven Life". His first
line is; "It's not about you." Acts 9 and John 21 tell of Peter and
Paul being told that they are to go and do what the Lord wants, (even
when it is contrary to what they want to do, and will involve
suffering) Ananias has to do what he does not want to do. Rev. 5 tells
that the glory and honor belong only to God and the Lamb.
Easter is a wonderful message for us, but it is alway a call to forget
about self and live for God and for others.
All of the strife and difficulty in congregations comes when one or
another wants to do what they want done or else. We forget that it is
the Lord's church. We forget that we are called to serve the Lord, not
be served and pampered, and have our every whim catered to.
When we rebel or question or doubt, we need to remember who it is that
is telling us to go and do: it is the risen Lord Jesus. How can we say
no?
JTR in OH
If we want to follow the "Purpose Driven Life" tagent a bit on this
text, we may want to ask: "Did Ananias let Saul know about God's
revelation to him in regard to Saul's ultimate purpose in his life"?
Ananias knew, but did share that to Saul too? That may have explained
Saul's fervency right after his conversion as well.
Coho, Midway City.
Peter's conversion was not instantaneous--like all conversions it took
time to sink in but when it did WOW
Working on the concept of giving it all to God. Many look at the
Damascus Road experience as purely a salvation narrative. I feel it
has application to believers as well, especially those who are
grappling with giving it all or holding back. Working title (I'm from
Bama) is "When God Whomps You up the Side of the Head"
Any thoughts on believers' turnaround illustrations?
Peace & blessings
Rich in Bama
The Gospel passage says, "When you are old, someone will come and
place a belt around your waist and take you where you do not wish to
go." I doubt Paul wanted to be knocked flat, or as Rich in Bama says,
"When God womps you upside the head!" (love it!)I doubt Ananias wished
to go visit a man who had persecuted the church. I doubt that Peter
and the disciples really wanted to leave the fishing they knew best,
in order to go out doing ministry and following the ways of Jesus. But
there is something about the encounter with the risen Christ, that
changes us, and points us in new directions, and fills us with a whole
new way of thinking and being.
Susan in Wa.
William Willimon (Acts) points out that the story of Paul's conversion
follows the story of the conversion of the Samaritans (8:4) and the
Ethipoian (8:26). But there are also some conversions that follow
Paul's. There is the conversion of Ananias (9:10), the conversion of
Cornelious and Peter (10), and the coversion of the church (11:18).
each of these conversions move the church further and further from the
orginal group of in Jerusalem, each of these conversions expands the
church understanding of what is means to follow Jesus, and who the
gospel is for.
Beverly Ganta FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT, points out that there are three
aspects to transformation--1. Alteration--when change appears to grow
naturally out of a persons past behavior. 2.Pendulum-when change
involves a rejection of past convictions and affiliations and
affirmation of a new one (which is what is happening to Saul) 3.
transformation--in which the past is not rejected but interpeted in a
new way
Speaking of Paul’s transformation, I sometimes wonder whether those of
us who have experienced the traditional “conversion” way (asked the
Lord Jesus to come into our hearts, and profess Christ before (and in)
Christian Churches. Do we fool ourselves into thinking we have changed
and use other potential Christians by badgering them into professing
our way as proof of our when we approach others. I am concerned that
we have traded our relationship with Christ for a way similar to
Saul’s way before he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. In our quest
for the church we persecute those who profess a different belief. Our
dogmas have become more dogmatic than the Pharisees of Saul’s time..
Ananias’ honest prayer strikes me as authentic concern that Saul is
not to be trusted. His prayer was confessional. He opened himself up
to change rather than praying for Saul to be changed. Thus God as
Spirit used them both. Is our self-righteousness attitude adding to
this present world’s woes?
Shalom
Bammamma
I sometimes struggle with Paul's conversion and call because here he
was a persecutor of the people of the "Way" and BAM he's thrown to the
ground and blinded! As he goes forth in his ministry much of God's
love comes through him yet I wonder if a certain amount of fear
doesn't drive him as well? I certainly wouldn't want to "tempt" God
after an experience such as Paul's. Paul's efforts to grow the Church
run into political and theological struggles with Peter and others. I
guess my thought is that even though the Light comes on for Paul he
still needed the community of believers, as much as they needed him,
to remain on the Straight Road. Kenn in PA
I'm going to talk about the role of Ananias, someone brave enough to
speak the truth in love, to help someone who was knocked down, to
guide someone into "the way". We need more Ananiases in our churches.
We think of Paul as a finished product. But even someone like Paul
needed a guide and helper. Ananias had the courage to pay attention to
his vision and go to Paul and speak. There may be more Pauls out
there, waiting for guidance, young people who need help to hear the
call to ministry, people who need a word of direction.
I'm not preaching this this year, but it's also interesting to note
that Paul's personality never really changed after his conversion. He
was just as zealous and dogmatic as a defender of Christianity as he
was a persecutor of Christians. We don't get a new personality when we
are born again. We still have the same strengths and weaknesses. It's
just that we channel them to a different use. God uses our strengths
AND our weaknesses for God's glory.
Take Paul for example. We might consider Paul's zealousness a fault,
because he used it to harm others, even putting people in prison for
the sake of the purity of the faith he understood. But later this same
zealousness allowed him to be persuasive and able to persist in the
face of rejection. Who else but a zealous person would have managed to
keep going in the face of constant persecution, even imprisonment and
attempts on his life? Even our faults can be transformed into gifts
when used in the service of God.
Anyway, as usual, thank you all for being out there, and for taking
the time to post your ideas. You are always helpful.
DGinNYC
