As we read through this familiar passage for many of us, listen or follow along in your Bibles or pew Bibles, I want you to begin thinking about this question I will ask again at the end: is there anyone you know that you have thought, ‘this person is too far gone,’ or have written them off. Perhaps you have even subconsciously thought, even God can’t save this person or turn them around. Maybe there’s even a person or two here this morning who have thought I am too far, I’ve done too much. I hope this story is a reminder to you of God’s amazing grace.
Read Acts 9:1-19
This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible because it reminds me of how amazing God’s grace is. God took the person we would least likely expect, someone who spoke “murderous threats” against the Christians, tried to throw them in prison, and in one glorious moment Jesus appeared before Saul and changed his life forever. Being face to face with the risen Jesus, Saul went from persecutor of the church, to proclaimer of Jesus Christ.
No One is Beyond God’s Grace and Ability to Save
What Saul’s story reminds us of is that no person is beyond God’s grace and ability to save, to make whole, to heal, to restore, to make new. No one. There is no sin too big and no number of sins which are too many that God’s grace cannot forgive. Listen to Saul’s own words, written as Paul, in a letter to his spiritual son, fellow missionary, Timothy (1 Tim. 1:13-16):
1 Tim. 1:13 Even though I was once a blasphemer (someone who speaks against or scoffs at, or insults God or Christ) and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-- of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.
What Paul (aka Saul) is saying here is if Christ Jesus could save him, a persecutor of Christians, filled with violent, hateful, murderous thoughts, a guy we might say today has ‘serious issues’. If Christ had “unlimited patience” with Paul and his grace was enough to forgive him and give him the gift of eternal life, to transform him from hatred and violence to one filled with faith and love instead, then God’s grace and forgiveness can be poured out abundantly on anyone who is willing to, as Paul says, who is willing to “believe on him [Christ Jesus] and receive eternal life.” Paul saw himself as a primary example of God’s amazing grace in action. No one is beyond God’s grace and ability to save and make new.
Grace became one of Paul’s favorite words he used in the letters he wrote to churches. Somewhere in the first few sentences of every letter of Paul’s we have in the NT, he wrote “grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” And he would frequently close his letters by writing, “may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you,” or some similar variation. Paul loved the word grace, because it defines the Christian life, we are who we are because of God’s grace, nothing more, nothing less. We came into the world by God’s grace. God loves and pursues us, not because we deserve it, but because he loves us. Grace again. He provides a way to salvation, forgiveness of sin and into a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, a gift of grace again. We didn’t earn it by our good behavior. God continues to works in our life after we are saved to make us more like himself, loving, joy filled, patient, etc. Again by grace, nothing we did to earn it, we simply receive the gift.
If anyone has thought they are too far beyond God’s grace, there is some sin in your life even God can’t forgive, let Saul’s life remind you that there is nothing you have done which is beyond God’s forgiveness. That is the whole reason Jesus went to the cross, to cover all our sins. I still remember the guy I ministered to in our mission trip to Mississippi, who had served in Desert Storm and had accidentally shot an Iraqi mother and child. As I talked to him about God’s forgiveness, he could not believe or receive the grace of God. He thought what he had done was too great to be forgiven by God. He thought it was his burden to carry around. People carry unnecessary burdens that the Lord wants them to unload. That is the Good News.
Prejudices, Doubts, and Fears
While God’s grace is amazing, and we know this is true because we’ve experienced it in our lives or we’ve seen it in others, or read about it in the Bible, unfortunately we are not always quick to remember God’s amazing grace and power to change the lives of other people. We aren’t always people of grace to others, particularly those far away from God.
When the Lord appeared to Ananias in a vision he told him to go to Saul of Tarsus to heal him. Ananias’ response to God was, “13 "Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name." Ananias’ initial knee jerk reaction to the Lord’s command was hesitation (as it probably would have been for any of us). I don’t know why Ananias responded with such caution, perhaps it was fear. Ananias was afraid of what Saul would do to him: prison, beatings, perhaps even death. After all Saul’s reputation had preceded him. His track record was well known. He stood by giving approval keeping watch over the coats of those who stoned the Christian leaders, Stephen, to death (Acts 8:1). Saul had singlehandedly caused the Christians to vacate Jerusalem or face persecution. He made it his mission in life to arrest every Christian he could find and throw them in prison.
Maybe, even if only for a fraction of second, Ananias doubted that God had brought a true change in Saul, or that he would bring a true change in Saul. Or maybe Ananias didn’t actually want to believe Saul was saved. Sometimes when someone hurts us, or does evil to those we know, we secretly or not so secretly want them to get their just reward for the evil things they’ve done. If Saul were saved by God’s grace, it would mean they would have to treat him as an equal, and welcome him into fellowship as a brother in Christ. Even after all he had done to them. Imagine welcoming a murderer into your fellowship.
When I read this it got me to thinking, do we have a tendency to write certain people off? Not with our words of course. With our words we say good Christian things like, “God can do anything. He can change hearts and minds. Nothing is impossible for him.” But inside we have already made up our minds about this person because of the sinful things they have done, and our actions have reflected our decision that this person or these people will never change, they are too far gone, they are even beyond God’s help?
Do we treat some people who are not yet Christian as though they do not deserve God’s grace, or our grace? Look at the track record of how Christians have treated people of other religions, like Jews or Muslims, or even other Christian offshoots like JW’s or Mormons? Or what about the person who is gay, or the man who contracted HIV/AIDS, or the woman who had an abortion while she was in college, or the single mother who had a child out of wedlock, or those who have done time in prison, the guy who can’t seem to beat his addiction to alcohol or the one won’t who won’t even admit he has an addiction and doesn’t want to change? Do we exemplify God’s grace to them so they might experience God’s amazing grace and love? Or do we become their judge and jury condemning them or looking down on them, and thereby shutting down any opportunity we may have of sharing Christ with them and be a blessing in their life. Paul himself wrote that it is not our place to judge those outside the faith; 1 Corinthians 5:12 “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?” We tend to be good at judging others, even if they don’t have faith. It’s no wonder that in a recent study which became a book called UnChristian, that young adults (16-29) outside the Christian faith perceive Christians as judgmental, homophobic, . What I hear from the voice of Christianity is frequently all the things we are against rather than what we are for.
As I’ve thought about it, I realized I’m as guilty of it as anyone. I was confronted with my own judgementalism in a conversation with my dad about Mike the barber. Mike was the town barber in the little town I lived in, his shop was the hang out, the place high school students went after school. He was nice enough, when he wasn’t drunk, illegally selling beer to his customers, swearing profusely, or gossiping. His place was okay, except for the pornography on the walls, and the magazines available for young boys like me to read. I remember avoiding his place like the plague as a teen, which probably wasn’t such a bad idea for my age. But a couple of years ago, I was in a conversation with my dad, and for some reason we were talking about the schools and he mentioned that Mike the barber was heading up the FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and my first response was, no, not Mike the Barber. Surely you have the wrong person. No, my dad said, apparently he has become a Christian and cleaned up his act. As I think about it, I had written off Mike the barber. He was too far gone in my mind. Now I am ashamed of my attitude. God loved Mike the barber and hadn’t given up on him, and apparently someone else had not either. Someone had witnessed to him. As a result of Mike coming to Christ he is an influence on all the old buddies, and I imagine some of them have come to Christ now.
When we mentally write these people off, we have a tendency to act likewise toward them. We avoid them at all costs, our language in conversations with them is not grace filled, often it is condescending because we look at their sin, or perhaps we speak badly about them behind their back to others, and we probably never even pray for them and their salvation. Didn’t Jesus say, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you?
What would happen if we decided to show grace to them instead. We decided to be like Ananias who chose the path of obedience, grace, and blessing. He went to Saul, the persecutor of the church, and became a vehicle for God’s grace. First, Ananias prayed for Saul and he received the grace of healing. The scales fell off his eyes. God worked through Ananias and his prayer. And the second means of grace was when Ananias introduced Saul into the Christian community in Damascus. You can imagine how well that went over. Notice Ananias didn’t condemn Saul for the sins of his past, he didn’t look down on Saul, he treated him as an equal, he even called Saul, ‘Brother Saul’ because he embraced Saul as a fellow brother in Jesus Christ. As a result of being included into Christian community he was later used by God as a missionary of the church.
When we walk away from and quite praying for people like Mike the barber’s, those who are outside the Kingdom, we are really making a statement of our belief about God. We are saying, “God even you can’t change this person, so why should I bother trying.” Yet the Saul’s and Mike’s are reminders of God’s ability and willingness to change hearts and minds toward himself.
Conclusion:
Let me come back to the question I posed at the beginning. Is there a person(s) we have written off because they seem too far gone to us. Perhaps we have secretly thought, even God can’t turn this person around. I want you to get that person in your mind. Perhaps their lifestyle is totally inconsistent with God’s. Perhaps they are so deep in alcohol, drugs, whatever. Perhaps they have wronged us, and we privately hope they don’t become a Christian because that would make them a brother or sister in Christ, and we would have to include them in our fellowship. Maybe we have looked down on them.
God is inviting you today to be an avenue of grace to that person. Perhaps it is forgiving them for what they have done to you. Perhaps it is being kind and generous to them. Perhaps it will even be sharing the good news of Christ with them, who knows. But how does God want you to be an avenue of grace to them this week?
