Acts 8:1-3, 9:1-19
“And Saul approved of their killing him.
That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria. Devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women, he committed them to prison.
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 travelling 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.”
This is the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Will you pray with me?…
Over the past six months, there have been a number of terrorist attacks on Coptic Christian places of worship throughout Egypt. You might remember hearing of this during a time of prayer on Palm Sunday. It’s not that the bombings have only taken place in recent months-persecution of Coptic Christians stretches back into history over a much longer period of time. Christian-Muslim divisions in Egypt are a major contributing factor to the violence that is perpetrated by the Egyptian government and ISIS against Coptic Christians. Even promises by the government to protect the religious minority fail to materialize. A blind eye is turned on their suffering.
Coptic Christians are the largest religious minority in Egypt making up about 10% of the entire country’s population. Their religious practices resemble that of the Greek Orthodox Church more than Roman Catholic and Protestant brothers and sisters. Indeed, Coptic Christianity is one of the oldest forms of Christianity which church buildings dating back to the mid 1st century. The Coptic Church of Alexandria in Northern Egypt, the mother church, marks one of the earliest locations of Christian worship outside of Israel-Palestine. The roots of Coptic Christianity stretch almost all the way back to Jesus.
The plight of the Coptic Christians, especially at the hands of ISIS is some of the most visible persecution of the church anywhere in the world. The suffering of our global brothers and sisters in faith can open this text up to us so we get a glimpse of the ground in which Christianity took root as a minority expression of faith in God.
But any claim that Christians are suffering in a material fashion in the United States at the hands of the government or public enemies is an illusion. Our practice of faith in Jesus Christ in this time and place is a rather safe and protected exercise.
This morning’s New Testament lesson is comprised of two sections that I think need to be read together. To understand who Paul is, how his life is changed and then commissioned to service to God, we need to see him at work. The first time Saul of Tarsus is mentioned in the New Testament, he is in the crowd when Stephen is martyred for preaching the good news of Jesus Christ.
Some men who opposed Stephen began to drop seeds of false witness suggesting they had heard him speak against Moses and God. When the High Priest asks Stephen if he was indeed teaching against the law of Moses, he provides an extensive review of all that God had done through the covenant with Abraham, Moses, King David, and King Solomon. He then reminded the High Priest where the blame was for the persecution of the prophets and the crucifixion of Jesus. It was an unwelcome reminder for the High Priest.
Those gathered became indignant and dragged Stephen out of the city to stone him to death. During Stephen’s stoning, folks were putting their cloaks at Saul’s feet, perhaps to keep them clean during their murderous rage. Saul approved of Stephen’s stoning and then he launches his own crusade to persecute the church.
He goes to the High Priest and gets the equivalent of an arrest warrant for any one he finds who is trying to follow the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. He was ready to extradite men and women back to Jerusalem to punish them for following the way of Christ. He is an ancient bully who can’t bear the possibility that God has moved in a way outside of his frame of reference. He set out for Damascus from Jerusalem, surely accompanied by an entourage to assist with his mission of persecution.
Dead smack in the middle of the road, he falls on the ground. A light from heaven flashed around him. A voice asks, why do you persecute me? Saul replies, who are you? Jesus answers, I am the one you are persecuting. Jesus gives him instructions on how to proceed to Damascus in this state of blindness.
Also in Damascus was Ananias, a man faithful in following the way of Jesus Christ. When the Lord calls out to him in a vision, he responds quickly and clearly. Presumably, he knew what it was like to hear the voice of the Lord because he offers his presence to God’s service. Here I am. Ananias is told to get up, go into town to the address that God gives. There Ananias will found a man who is in need of healing. Ananias is to lay hands on him and cure his blindness by the power of God. Because Saul’s reputation has gone ahead of him and it’s not a good reputation, Ananias has no interest at first to do God’s bidding. Being in the presence of Saul is a grave risk for anyone who claimed the name and way of Christ. Perhaps Saul didn’t seem so dangerous suffering in a state of blindness but Ananias protests still. Why O God would I go and provide assistance to someone who has persecuted my brothers and sisters in faith?
Go provide the needed assistance even to the theological bully because I’m going to use them. That’s what God tells Ananias. He goes and does as God instructed. He’s faithful because he understands that the same Lord Jesus that met Saul on the road is the one who instructs him to go to the enemy of the faith to fill him with the Holy Spirit. Saul is healed and thus begins his commissioned ministry of declaring the good news of God in Jesus Christ to the Gentile world. Like the Ethiopian eunuch, Saul of Tarsus becomes an unlikely bearer of the good news of God because of his past life persecuting the church.
Because bodily suffering for the sake of Christ’s ministry is a foreign experience to most, if not all of us, let me offer another way to get at Saul’s encounter with the Risen Christ. Acts of the Apostles reports that Saul studied with Gamaliel, a revered Pharisee. He knows the Mosaic law front to back, top to bottom, forward and backwards. He understands how God acts in the world according to the Mosaic covenant and will defend that worldview to the point of violence.
In other words, Saul is a theological bully. He speaks on behalf of God, making it clear to those around him how and when Almighty God will act. He draws lines in the sand to mark the bounds of appropriate religious practice. He will make it known when his neighbor’s religious customs don’t follow the letter of the law as presented in the community’s sacred scripture. You know the type-the kid down the street who is so adamant that his church has the exclusive entry code to heaven and makes sure your kid knows it. He or she might even tell your kid that they go to the ‘devil’s church’ and your child comes home in tears. Equally, a zealous teenager or college student makes sure her classmates understand their eternal damnation because they have no faith community to call home.
You don’t have to search far or long to see theological bullies at work. They’re uncompromising. They’re aggressive in making sure their vision of God is propagated. They’re defensive in making sure you know your way isn’t right. There’s a seething anger, frustration, or indignation just below the surface-they can’t imagine God acting in a way that they didn’t think up themselves or was outlined in detail in scripture. They usually don’t listen to your story well because they would rather you hear theirs. Who wants to spend time in the presence of a theological bully? Ananias certainly doesn’t-Saul’s reputation went ahead of him and Ananias anticipates he’s not going to find a warm reception. I don’t. I’d rather converse with a neighbor about their faith story than work to make sure they understand God my way.
If you think your understanding of God and religious practice is the one, exclusive, and correct way, I invite you to do some soul searching and reconsider. God shows up to do new things, in new places, among people who are least likely in our minds to be recipients of God’s grace. Let’s not be so sure of ourselves that we no longer listen and ask questions of our neighbors about their yearning and experiences of God.
All in all, the good news this morning is that even persecutors and bullies have a place and purpose in God’s reign. Sometimes a very useful purpose. We see that hearts do change. Anger and vengeance might last for awhile but they ultimately don’t rule the day. Bullies can be confronted, challenged, disarmed, and transformed. God will continue to do new things to extend God’s love into the world with whomever God chooses to call and commission.
It’s a fantastic story of transformation and healing, called into a new life through baptism and Jesus Christ. We will go on to see tremendous ministry done through Paul’s teaching and travel. There’s only one part of the story missing and who knows if it happened. Do you think Paul ever went back and tried to reconcile those relationships with those he had oppressed and persecuted? Good for Paul that God changed his life. But did he make amends? Good for any oppressor who is caught by the grace of God and has a converting experience. But what about reconciliation between the oppressed and the oppressor, the bully and the victim? Anything less than reconciliation sells short the power of God and the fullness of God’s vision for life among neighbors.
I wonder if the converted and commissioned Paul sought to heal the suffering he caused before embarking on his new missionary calling? Who knows.
Bless you in the name of the Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And don’t be a theological bully. Ever. Amen.