Acts
9:1-20
1 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, "Saul, Saul,
why do you persecute me?" 5 He asked, "Who are you, Lord?" The
reply came, "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." 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,
"Ananias." He answered, "Here I am, Lord." 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, 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 But Ananias answered, "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." 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; 16 I myself will show him how much he must suffer
for the sake of my name." 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." 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, "He is the Son of God."
I wonder if any of these musicians’ names might ring a
bell for you: Mike Palmer, Bruce Bouton, Mark Greenwood, Dave Gant, or how
about Jimmy Mattingly? Do any of these names sound familiar to you? It’s a real
shame if you’ve never heard of these folks; after all, they have toured the
world several times together in the last two decades, playing songs in front of
sold-out crowds in theatres and arenas, selling millions of records. Some of
you, I know, have seen them live, and most of us have probably seen them on
television. and I’d wager that all of us, at one time or another, whether we
meant to or not, have heard at least one of their songs. Still nothing? Really?
You haven’t heard of Mike Palmer, Bruce Bouton, Mark Greenwood, Dave Gant, or
Jimmy Mattingly? Well, I suppose it might help if I included at least one more
member of the band (hopefully you have heard of him): Garth Brooks.
You see, Garth has managed to hold the same band together
over most of his career, recording with them, touring with them. It’s a feat
that’s rare in the world of musical superstars; most of the time egos and
financial negotiations get in the way, and bands break up or musicians attempt
to cash in on their collaborative success by attempting to launch solo careers.
But the band behind Garth Brooks has stayed together, and one could argue
they’re a very big part of why he’s had such a successful, long-lasting career.
Mike Palmer playing the drums, Bruce Bouton on steel guitar, Mark Greenwood on
bass, Jimmy Mattingly and Dave Gant both playing fiddle—these folks have been
the music behind the superstar entertainer that is Garth Brooks, a name
recognized around the world, yet a name that might as well be as unrecognizable
as any other if it had not been for the long-lasting loyalty of his bandmates,
whose names you’ve never heard and will likely forget before the end of this
sermon.
I suppose that could be frustrating to some of us, to
always be in the background, to play a supporting role, to be the one whose
name isn’t on the ticket, on the marquee in lights. I suppose for some of us,
it would be a disappointment to go unrecognized, no one calling our name, no
one giving us a plaque, no one asking for our autographs. I reckon it could be
downright infuriating for some folks to know that they’d always have to play
“second fiddle” to someone else, to always have their name mentioned after someone else’s, to never
get to give the speech or hold the prize. The truth, however, is that most of
us aren’t those people; we
aren’t the ones at the head of the pack, the ones who grow tired of signing
autographs or selling records, books, or tickets. Most of us won’t break out into the world to
create a global phenomenon; we likely won’t have our names and likenesses
printed on billboards or in millions of books the world over. Most of us will
simply live our lives here, doing the best we can with what God has given us,
and so long as we’re faithful to answer God’s call, we just might change the
world more than we realize.
Just look at the story before us this morning. At first
reading it’s the familiar story of Saul’s conversion, that apostolic superstar
who went on to be called by his Latin name, Paul, that prolific penman who put
ink to paper to write three-quarters of our New Testament, that man who was
arguably the most influential person to walk the earth (second only to Jesus). Yes, at first reading this is Luke’s telling
of Saul’s conversion, of his calling on the Damascus Road. However, just like
those band members who’ve stood behind Garth for so long (have you already
forgotten their names?), behind Paul stands one whose appearance is brief, yet
his faithful obedience to Christ is why so many of us can call ourselves
Christians today. It is because of him there’s even an Apostle Paul in the
first place. His name? Well, you might not remember it if we hadn’t read it
this morning already (and it wasn’t printed right there for you in the
bulletin): it’s Ananias, whose name means “God is merciful.”[1]
We’re not told a whole lot about
Ananias. In fact, all we’re really given is what Luke has written about him in verse 10: “Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias.” That’s it; there’s not even
so much as a “and Ananias was the son of so-and-so, who was the son of
so-and-so who lived three doors down from that other guy.” All we’re told about
him is that Ananias was a disciple of Jesus (presumably a post-resurrection
convert) who lived in Damascus (which may have been a town of refuge for new
Christians fleeing from Jerusalem and the intensifying persecution from the
Jews there[2]). We can deduce that
Ananias was a particularly faithful disciple, for in the second half of verse 10, we read, “The
Lord said to [Ananias] in a vision, ‘Ananias.’ He answered, ‘Here I am, Lord.’"
There’s no hesitation, no questioning concerning the identity of the one who
had called him. Ananias simply said (in the fashion of Samuel and Abraham’s
obedient response to God[3]) “Here I am.” He’s a
faithful follower of Christ, willing to do anything the Lord may call him to do
without hesitation…well, almost anything.
In verses 11 and
12, “The Lord said to [Ananias], ‘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." Those
are pretty detailed instructions from the Lord. Usually, it seems, when God
calls someone to do something it’s more obscure, in need of some deciphering,
but in this case with Ananias it’s pretty straightforward: “Get up and go [the
same command given to Saul], go to Judas’s house on Straight Street, and there
you’ll find Saul. Lay your hands on him so he might regain his sight.” Notice,
there’s no direct mention here of what plans God has for Saul, no reassurance
that once Saul has regained his sight that he won’t arrest Ananias, torture him
until he gives up the whereabouts of other believers, or worse yet—stone him.
No, the Lord gives Ananias specific instruction to get up and go heal Saul, give
him his sight back.
Can’t you hear the hesitation in Ananias’s voice in verses 13 and 14? "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." As if Jesus needed any
reminding of who Saul was! Ananias is a bit hesitant; Christ has called him to
something uncomfortable, something dangerous, so Ananias responds by saying
(essentially), “Uh, are you sure, Lord? Don’t you know who this guy is? He’s
not exactly your biggest fan, and you want me
to give him his sight back?” If it had been me, I might have presented some
argument about how much better it would be to have the chief enemy of the Way
blinded, how his impairment would only allow the movement to grow, but as it so
often turns out, our ways of understanding tend to fall short of God’s.
The Lord goes on to tell Ananias of God’s plans for Saul
in verses 15 and 16: "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." God has other plans for Saul;
he’s going to be the Lord’s instrument in bringing the gospel to the far
corners of the map. But don’t you think that’d have to ruffle Ananias’s
feather, at least a little bit? I mean, why go out of the way to use Saul? Why
not call someone already in line with the movement? Why not one of the eleven
apostles who were still alive, who had actually walked with Jesus? Seems like
they’d be the first in line for such a calling. Or what about a Gentile
convert, someone who already knows what it’s like to be Gentile, someone who
can speak the language, knows the customs? Why that guy? Why him, the one who (just a few verses ago) was “still
breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord?” I
think Ananias would be in the right to ask such questions of the Lord, to give
some voice to the concerns of the community, but that’s not what Ananias does.
Verse 17 tells
us, “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.’" Ananias
obeyed the Lord. He went to Saul, despite his initial hesitations, despite what
seemed in every way to be a dangerous mission, Ananias got up, went to Straight
Street, found Saul, laid his hands on him, and then… “Brother Saul…” Think about that for just a minute: Ananias
had heard about this man, about how he was on his way to Damascus to put an end
to the Jesus movement. He no doubt heard about Saul’s involvement with the
death of Stephen, yet here he is—not only obeying the Lord’s commands, but
calling this venomous enemy of the Way “brother.”
What’s more, after Saul’s sight is restored, Ananias
baptizes him, gives him some food, and then—in what may be the bravest act of
all—Ananias brings Saul to church! We’re told in verse 19, “For several days [Saul]
was with the disciples in Damascus.” Who do you think had to introduce
him?! Can’t you imagine how that went the first time Ananias brought Saul with
him to church? Ananias and Saul walk through the door; the folks perk up a bit
because they’re excited to see a visitor, so they stroll up to Ananias and his
guest, hand stuck out: “Hi. I’m Bartholomew and this is my wife Dorcas. We run
the bakery down the road, and those are our two kids over there, Sophia and
Cleopas. What’s your name?” I can imagine the folks pulling Ananias aside,
perhaps trembling a bit: “You idiot! Don’t you know who that is? And you
brought him here?!” Ananias, though, must have won them all over, because Saul
stayed for several days and even began proclaiming “Jesus in the synagogues, saying,
‘He is the Son of God.’"
Saul would go on from Damascus, preaching all over the
Roman Empire. He preached to Jews, Gentiles, before powerful, political people.
He would go on to write letters to the churches he had started or visited,
letters that would become a majority of the Christian New Testament and the
foundation for a great deal of Christian theology. He would become known as the
Apostle Paul, who had plans to take the gospel as far west as Spain before his
final arrest and imprisonment. His image would be sculpted in marble, cast in
bronze, illuminated in stained glass, and chiseled in stone in some of the
grandest cathedrals in the world. But none of that might have happened had it
not been for the faithful obedience of Ananias.
Without Ananias, Saul may have dismissed his vision and
subsequent blindness as a result of a seizure (there’s historical speculation
that he might have been epileptic), a bad batch of hummus, a freak lightning
strike, or even a trick of the devil. Without Ananias, Saul may not have gone
on to become Paul. There may not have been a Gentile mission. The gospel may
have stayed cloistered in a small part of the Ancient Near East, and there’d be
no stained glass images of the Apostle, because there’d be no cathedral in
which to place them. Without the faithfulness of Ananias, we might not have the
New Testament, and the Way of Jesus may have struggled on for several
generations, but Ananias was faithful. Ananias was obedient to the call of
Christ, and even though it seemed dangerous, even though in the end it would be
Saul’s name we’d remember, he was faithful.
You may not be called to be the next Saul of Tarsus, the
next Apostle Paul. You may not hear the voice of God call you across the ocean
to strange lands and people. You may not be called to write, ponder, or preach
on the great mysteries of God and faith in Christ, but like Ananias, we all play a part in the
work of God’s kingdom. We are all called by God to the work, and sometimes,
that calling may seem uncomfortable, it may seem dangerous, or it may seem
small, insignificant, or trivial, but Christ calls us anyway. Who knows?
Perhaps the Lord has called you to do something today, something that you may
find to be of such small significance or great discomfort that you’ve put it
off, ignored it, or flat out said “no.” May the lesson of Ananias be ever
before you. May you remember that, while we are all not called to be
headliners, to have our names in lights or on the front page, we all play an
important role in God’s kingdom, and who knows? Perhaps Christ is calling you
to be the Ananias to some Saul today? Amen.
[1]
Robert W. Wall, “Acts,” The New
Interpreter’s Bible: A Commentary in Twelve Volumes, Volume X. Abingdon
Press: Nashville (2002). p.151, note 372.
[2]
Richard R. Losch, “Ananias,” All the
People in the Bible: An A-Z Guide to the Saints, Scoundrels, and Other
Characters in Scripture. Williams B. Eerdmans Publishing Company: Grand
Rapids (2008). pp. 33-4.
[3]
Wall, p.151.
