Title: Drama and Diligence
Text: Acts 9:1-22
Thesis: Both the exceptional and the everyday experiences with the living Christ are valid and necessary in accomplishing God’s work in and through our lives.
The Season of Easter Series: When Jesus Shows Up
During the Season of Easter we celebrate the resurrection of Christ as he shows up in unusual and unexpected ways.
Introduction
On August 12, 2008 Chuck Colson reflected on his conversion to Christ. He wrote: “A lot of people have asked me what I think when I remember back to that hot, humid August night in 1973 when Tom Phillips, then president of Raytheon Company, witnessed to me in his home. I left his house that night shaken by the words he had read from C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity about pride. It was as if Lewis were writing about me, former Marine captain, Special Counsel to the President of the United States, now in the midst of the Watergate scandal. I had an overwhelming sense that I was unclean.
After talking to Tom, I found that when I got to the automobile to drive away, I couldn’t. I was crying too hard – I was not one to ever cry. I spent an hour calling out to God. I did not even know the right words. I simply knew that I wanted Him. And I knew for certain that the God who created the universe heard my cry. (Dell’s Descants, Thirty-Five Years in the Light: Reflections on My Conversion, Chuck Colson, August 12, 2008, descantwordpress.com)
Everyone who professes to be a follower of Christ has a story. Some stories are dramatic while others are not so much. So when Jesus shows up we may or may not be surprised. In our text today we see that Jesus appeared to two different men in quite different ways:
One encounter was dramatic and life transforming.
The other encounter was not so much, but resulted in the diligent doing of God’s will and work.
One encounter may be understood to be rare and exceptional.
The other encounter may be understood to be the norm and everyday.
Both the exceptional and the everyday experiences with the living Christ are good, valid and necessary in accomplishing God’s work in and through our lives.
In our story today a man named Saul had an exceptional encounter with the risen Christ and it was an arresting shocker.
I. When Jesus confronts us, we may discover that we are sincerely misguided and wrong.
As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you Lord? Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Acts 9:1-6
When Jesus interrupts us, it is a good and gracious thing, however in Saul’s case it had to be both shocking and frightening.
1. When we are (so forcefully and/or dramatically) confronted with our error it is shocking and embarrassing. Paul might have wondered, “How could I be such a dope? What was I thinking?”
Of course at the time he thought he was a good and godly guy and doing a good and godly work. But he wasn’t.
2. When we are (so forcefully and/or dramatically) confronted with our error it is frightening. Paul might have wondered what the consequences of his error meant in the lives of the people he had hurt and he might have wondered what God was going to do about it? When you mess up as badly as Saul had messed up there are generally consequences. Was blindness his punishment?
In my devotional reading for the fifth week of Easter I picked up this quote: “…let this story prompt reflection on the ways God has intersected your life, turning you around and sending you in new directions. His resurrection power can transform the lives of even those dead set against him. (Bobby Gross, Living the Christian Year, P.213)
Confrontational moments are also transformational moments. God is at work choosing and changing us.
When confronted, what is the best way to respond?
II. When Jesus confronts us with the error of our ways, the wisest thing to do is, do what he says.
Jesus said, “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” Acts 9:6-9
Saul’s encounter with Jesus had a profound effect on him.
1. He was blind and had to be led by the hand.
2. He was so upset that he lost his appetite… he did not eat or drink anything for three days.
When our lives are dramatically disrupted it is not uncommon for us to react. Saul did not eat or drink. Sometimes we cannot sleep. Some of us may become irritable and edgy. Some of us cry. Some of us become reclusive. We, like Saul, can feel helpless and at a loss as to what to do…
We generally consider a confrontation as disciplinary in that it results from our past but we may also consider a confrontation as a good and corrective thing in that it gives us guidance for the future.
III. When Jesus confronts us it is not only to check the error or our past but primarily to set us up for success in the future.
But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.” Acts 9:10-16
Note how God does not speak of Saul’s past.
However the past is helpful in learning lessons.
A. The past is good for learning lessons.
A young banker, overwhelmed by the responsibility of managing the money of the banks investors, asked his predecessor, “Sir, what has been the secret of your success?”
The older man answered, “The secret is two words: right decisions!”
“But how do you make right decisions?” asked the young banker.
The older man answered, “One word: experience.”
“But how do you get experience?” persisted the young banker.
The old man smiled and said, “Two words: wrong decisions.”
If we are wise we learn from our experiences. The bible says that, “everything that was written in the past was written to teach us…” Romans 15:4 It is through discipline and correction that a child learns from his mistakes, “The rod of correction imparts wisdom….” Proverbs 29:15
John Claypool tells the story of his grandfather who lived on a farm in southern Kentucky where his family had lived for six generations. During a late summer wind storm a pear tree that had been in the family orchard for as long as anyone could remember was blown over.
It was a tree that his grandfather had climbed when he was a boy and a tree whose fruit had been enjoyed by generations of Claypools.
A neighbor happened by and seeing the tree asked his grandfather, “I see your pear tree has blown down.” His grandfather reminisced about the old tree a bit and then the neighbor asked, “What are you going to do?” He said, “My grandfather paused for a moment and then said, ‘I’m going to pick the fruit and then burn what’s left.” (John Claypool, The Future and Forgetting, Christianity Today International, PreachingToday.com)
We definitely want to learn from our past mistakes but we also need to forgive and forget them.
B. The past is best forgiven and forgotten.
Saul/Paul would speak to his past failures in Philippians when he wrote, Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All who are mature should take such a view of things. Philippians 3:13-15
Having baggage in your life is not generally thought to be helpful in your future. One of our national news magazines ran a political story titled: The Real Running Mates in which they attempted to give the reader a deeper insight into who the lives of the spouses of those who would be President of the United States. The story included a brief note on Marcus Bachmann, husband of Minnesota’s Michele Bachmann and an entire page on Todd Palin, whom they dubbed, The Model Political Spouse. What interested me most was the brief bio of those listed in the First Mates Club – Behind Every Good Candidate is a Great Spouse. Under a photo the spouse’s candidate’s husband or wife were named, their age, the number of children, a resume, some trivia and ended with a line or two on pet projects. But before you found out about their pet projects readers were treated to something they called Backstory. Backstory is a code word for baggage. (Michelle Cottle, The Real Running Mates, thedailybeast.com., Newsweek, May 23 & 30, 2011, P. 59)
It is usually the backstory that gets us.
It is unfortunate that while we may do our best to forget our baggage, sometimes there are other people who do not wish to forget it. There is not a lot to be gained by dragging the baggage of our lives along with us over the years.
In fact remembered baggage can hurt us. In the text today, after God asked Ananias to go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and pray for a guy names Saul from Tarsus, Ananias’ immediate response was to remember Saul’s baggage. “Lord,” Ananias said, “I have heard reports about this man and all the harm he has done…” Acts 9:13
I recently watched a very moving film, Get Low. The setting is the rural south during the 1930’s. It stars Robert Duvall as Felix Bush, who is now an old man and because of a deep dark secret he has lived as a hermit for some forty years. So nearing the end of his life he decided to throw a funeral party for himself in which everyone who had a story to tell about the eccentric old man could come and tell their story. But his real intent was to tell his own story of why he had lived as a hermit for all those years.
He asked an aging pastor, to whom he had divulged his secret forty years earlier, to come to the party and tell the story for him but he would not because Felix had never asked God or those he had harmed for forgiveness. Old Felix figured he had not done God or anyone else harm and those who had been harmed were dead. So he was forced to tell his own story… the story of what he had done that caused him to punish himself by a self-inflicted exile to pay for his sin. And so, he lived imprisoned in a cabin in the woods for forty years with his mules and his dogs for companions. (Kirk Honeycuff, The Hollywood Reporter, Get Low Film Review, September 13, 2009)
There is nothing gained by living in the past. It cannot be changed. Apart from learning from it, it is lost to us. That’s why Paul said he had forgotten the past and was straining for what was before him.
That dramatic encounter with the living Christ while on his way to Damascus was meant to put a stop to the past and to do it so dramatically that Saul’s life was transformed. God had plans for Saul. God said, “This man is my chosen instrument and he is going to do wonderful things in the future that people will read and talk about forever.”
So as we near the end of our story, what is the first take away here?
Application:
Embrace who you may become. The take away here is that God wants you to forget the past and all its baggage and look forward to the future. God wants you to let the living Christ transform your life and to give you a future bright with hope.
Jeremiah wrote, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
Our story is largely about how God may reach out to us in dramatic and life changing ways. But there is another story woven into the fabric of Saul’s dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus. It is the story of another man, a man we hardly notice. His name was Ananias. And while Saul was dramatically converted and became the famous Apostle Paul who was so instrumental in those early days of Christianity and whose inspired writings ring true in God’s Word for all time, there is also the story of Ananias.
In his sermon, Finding Significance in Obscurity Gordon Johnson told the story of three stonemasons. A man came upon the construction site and asked the first stonemason, “What are you doing?” The first stonemason said, “As you can see, I’m chipping a stone.”
The man walked to the second stonemason and asked, “What are you doing?” And the second stonemason replied, “I’m building a wall.”
He then walked to the third stonemason and asked him, “What are you doing?” And that stone mason answered, “I am building a cathedral.” All three stonemasons were doing exactly the same thing but each saw his role from a different perspective.
There may be a Saul or two or three or four among us today who has had or needs to have a dramatic confrontation with Christ and who needs to make some life-transforming changes.
But I would guess there are more than a few among us today who need to embrace your quiet and often unseen and unsung place in the body of Christ as faithful Ananias’ who diligently go about serving Christ… who diligently chip away at the stones of ministry day in and day out, week in and week out, year after year, building that cathedral that is the Kingdom of God.
So here is the second take away today.
Application:
Embrace who you are in Christ. The take away here is not going to be a lightning bolt that knocks you off your horse. You will not likely hear a voice from heaven that arrests your attention. But it will be no less the voice of God whispering to your spirit in His famous Old Testament “still, small voice” inviting you to embrace who you are and what God has called you to do.
Do not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time you will reap a harvest if you do not give up. Therefore, as you have opportunity, do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” Galatians 6:9-10
Conclusion
A lady loved flowers and plants. Her garden was beautifully cultivated and border by a stone wall. She planted a rare vine known for its exquisite blossoms along the back wall. The vine flourished and spread but despite the beautiful foliage there were not blossoms.
One day her neighbor called to her over the stone wall and said, “Thank you for planting that vine. Just look at all these beautiful blossoms… the vine had crept through the wall and bloomed on the other side.
That’s the way serving God is sometimes. Our efforts leap creep through stone walls and God blesses in ways that we may never know. But know God is at work and blessing your diligence.
