Sermon: A Candidate For An Extreme Makeover
Scripture Lesson: Acts 9:1-19 “Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest. 2 He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains. 3 As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”5 “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! 6 Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” 7 The men with Saul stood speechless, for they heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one! 8 Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus. 9 He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink. 10 Now there was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord!” he replied. 11 The Lord said, “Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now. 12 I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again.” 13 “But Lord,” exclaimed Ananias, “I’ve heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem! 14 And he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest everyone who calls upon your name.” 15 But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. 16 And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.” 17 So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized. 19 Afterward he ate some food and regained his strength." NLT
Introduction: Saul experienced an extreme makeover. A story told of a product with which most of us have grown up is Ivory soap. Besides being 99.44% pure, it has two uncommon qualities among soap. (1) It floats, and (2) it is the oldest of the best-sellers. But, it hasn’t always been that way!
Years ago, Ivory soap was just another brand among many. But then, one day, a factory foreman blundered by leaving a batch of new soap unwatched in the cooking vat during noon hour. His lunch was delayed and the soap over-cooked. However, rather than report the mistake and risk losing his job, the foreman decided to make the best of it. He shipped out the batch anyway. It seemed to clean as well - although it WAS much lighter.
The results surprised everyone. Because, rather than complaints, the company was deluged with orders for the new ’floating’ soap. So, rather than being fired, the foreman was promoted when he cooperated with the company chemists to revise and modify the old formula to make the soap that floats. The brest is history!
Many who have made mistakes of have learned that there can be "Blessing from blunders" - "a silver lining behind every dark cloud" - that "good can come from grief - and profit may come from peril" - We have been told, and often tell others to "pick up the pieces and be positive" - "move on" - for, "it is always possible to make something better out of something bad." Beloved, that is exactly the way God works with us. There are many times that we may do wrong; a mistake of yielding to the flesh mars our life. Our attitudes and action cause us to fall short of God’s intended design, but He does not toss us aside as something that is worthless, or useless. Rather, He remakes us (over and again, if necessary) until He has completed in us that which He purposed before we ever were.
Many times, what keeps us from changing is our own stubbornness, laziness, arrogance and sometimes ignorance about what needs to be done. At other times, we are confronted with things so painful or difficult that we cannot possibly change them alone. As a child of God, I have discovered that there are some things that I don’t have the ability to change without assistance. I know many of us have been told that we can do anything we put our minds to. It sounds nice, but without the help of God we can do nothing lasting, beneficial, or extreme.
Acts 9 gives us glimpse into Saul of Tarsus transition. Saul was a man in need of an extreme makeover. Our God sees the value in each of us and He is an expert in personal transformation. Most of us maybe familiar with the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. After the death of Stephen, Saul began making havoc in the church. He literally waged war against the Church and against anyone who decided to follow that way. The term Havoc, was use by Greek to describe “a wild hog uprooting a vineyard.”
How did Saul become such an evil force against the church? How does anyone become radicalize to destroy, attack and kill? How anyone move under the banner of God and Country do so much evil? It always begins with misinformation. Saul's misinformation led to misguided zeal. Saul was probably named after King Saul, the first king of Israel. He was from the proud tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, a free born Jews, Circumcised the eighth day according to the Law, educated in the local synagogue and trained at the feet of Gamaliel. He was preparing to serve a pharisee and protector of the Law. To the best of his ability, he kept the Law and upheld the Jewish Traditions. Saul perceived that Jesus, and this new way was a threat against the Jewish way of Life. He was zealous to stop its influence at any cost. Saul needed an extreme makeover because of his pride and zeal was based on incomplete knowledge. As wonderful as social media is, there are snakes in the garden. Snakes that pervert the truth, and favor misinformation over truth. Zeal plus ignorance equals chaos. Saul could only experience an extreme makeover through an extreme encounter with Jesus the Christ.
1. An Extreme Makeover is Needed People Are led By Misinformation. Acts 9:1“Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest. 2 He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains.”
Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”
The violent, destructive conduct of Saul was due to incomplete, misinformation. Most people are down on what they are not up on. Saul’s ignorance caused him to attack anything and anyone he saw a threat to Jewish tradition. He convinced the Jewish authority to give him a letter of authority to stamp out that movement anywhere he found believers. It is dangerous to give authority to misguided, misinformed people. He first takes his fight to Damascus, a crossroad and trade center of the known world. Saul believed he could crush the movement there and stop its spread. In his misguided thinking, Saul thought that he was fighting for God. We need an extreme makeover when our actions are fighting against God and we think we are fighting for God. Saul should have remembered the words of his Mentor, Gamaliel, Ac 5:38, 39 “And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: 39 But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.”
2. Deep-seated Misinformation May Only Be Dislodged By Divine intervention. Acts 9:3 As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”5 “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!
This country, the good ole USA, has been dealing with hatred, prejudice, and injustice for centuries. You may wonder, will it ever end? What causes it to persist? Are there some changes that only come through divine intervention? Is that the only answer for tacism? Many people would rather believe a lie than to believe the truth. Others need to be pull over and stopped. There is nothing as sobering while driving, than looking in the rearview mirror and seeing flashing blue lights as an officer is trying to get your full attention. It is shocking, but sometimes necessary. Saul had been confronted by Christians who loved and laid down their lives for the faith to no avail. Now God chose to use a traffic stop with Saul. It was shocking and necessary.
Saul was well versed in the Old Testament Scriptures. He was familiar with Moses’ Burning brush, Israel's pillar of fire, Ezekiel’s Wheel in the middle of a wheel, now he will experience God for himself. Instantly, Saul seems to know its God. His deep-seated misinformation could only be dislodged by divine intervention. Now, all of his pride is gone as he lies in the dirt and hears his error. His truth was a lie, his knowledge was faulty, and his zeal was misguided. In a moment of time, he recognized Jesus was Lord, confessed his error and surrender to the will of God. Saul thought he had been persecuting an erroneous way, he found that he was persecuting “the way, the truth and the Life.” Without Divine intervention misinformation, misguided zeal, and chaos will persist.
3. The Results of an Extreme Makeover is Transformation. Acts 9:8 Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus. 9 He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink. 10 Now there was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord!” he replied. 11 The Lord said, “Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now.”
Sual's transformation led to a change in his direction, a change in his purpose and a change in his vision. Saul was changed from persecution to prayer. No longer is Saul proud, puffed up, now is trembling, blind and astonished. He threw his letters of authority aside to embrace a new mission. Transformation begins with a question, "Lord what would you have me do?" His physical eyes were closed but His spiritual eyes were opened. His platform has been transformed from public conquest to private reflection. The result of his extreme makeover as total transformation. Notice the time it took, three days without food or water in silence, shut up with God.s presence. Alone, he prays. The result was total transformation.
4. Real Transformation Open The door to Unlimited Possibilities. Acts 9:15 “But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. 16 And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.” 17 So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized. 19 Afterward he ate some food and regained his strength.
Ivory soap was totally transformed accidentally and became a number one best selling soap doing a prolonged lunch break. Saul’s extreme makeover was planned by God, happened within a week, transforming him from a terrorist to being terrorized by God's presence; from the chief of sinners to a super saint; from Saul of Tarsus to Paul the Apostle. His was an extreme case, so he experienced an extreme makeover. His conversion was radical. It shows us what God can do with extremist, terrorist and even misinformed masses. Do you believe terrorist can change? Have you been changed? Was your transformation radical? Those who are fanatical and extreme in their belief, that do so much violence and evil in the world, is transformation possible for them? Some extremist will stop at nothing short of death. What about the drug addicts, murders, rapists, can they be changed? For sure, we know these kinds of people exist in the today’s world. They need an extreme makeover.
Many suffer from the lack of knowledge, misinformation, and radicalization. Like Saul, they have become arrogant, proud, and self-willed. They see violence as the answer for everything. They believe that victory comes to the well-armed, most violent, and most forceful, all in the name of God and patriotism. That’s exactly what Saul thought. He testified against many, persecuted many, and saw many good people put to death, but Saul was wrong. He was not a patroit or godly, he was just wrong. Real transformation open the door to unlimited possibilities for God and good. God planned to use Saul, or Paul (his Greek name) to take the gospel to Gentile nations, to kings and leaders of the world. The Jews thought God was only concerned about their race, but God was concerned about the whole world. (John 3:16) We should thank God that he met Saul, threw him down, shackled him with blindness, fasting and silence, transforming him into a Credible, Christian witness for good.
This lesson provides hope for those who are tried, angry, and feel hopeless as they witness a country filled with countless numbers of misguided, misinformed people, zealous, hateful people, who are willing to attack the Capitol, terrorize Churches, invade malls and destroy innocent lives in the name of God and country. The lesson remind us of the trauma the early church must have been experiencing. The early church witnessed Saul making "havoc" in the church. I thank God, He can still change people and things.
This message is a message of hope for the proudest infidel, and the most wayward sinner, there is hope for you. God is looking for you, searching for you. Every message, every sermon, every song is God’s attempt to reach you. God may find you on the Jericho Road beaten up by life and left half dead, or He may find you on the Road to Emmaus troubled and confused, not understanding the meaning of Life, or He may find you on the Road to Gaza with a good job, riding in a limo, but you are searching for something more, or He may find you on the Road to Damascus, full of pride, arrogance, lost in ignorance, down a worm hole of misinformation and conspiracy, yet God is looking for you. God is calling you like He called Adams. "Adam, Where are you?” Or God may call you like He called Moses, “Moses, take off your shoes and stand on Holy Ground;” Or as He called Abraham, “Abraham, Stay your hand” don’t go any further. It is enough! Or even as He called Saul, Saul, Saul, “Why persecuted thou me? They all needed an extreme makeover, total transformation. It was possible then and it is possible now! More than that, it is available through a relationship with God through our Lord Jesus the Christ. He is the answer for a world in need of an extreme makeover. Amen
