I heard not long ago about a very special automobile. It was built in the 1920’s by the Italian firm Bugatti, and it was designed for the outrageously wealthy. This car had 450 horses under the hood, it was 22 feet long and weighed 6000 pounds. It was hand-crafted of the finest materials, it handled like a dream, and cost about $400,000, and that was in 1920’s money. A tremendous piece of work; only a few were made. According to the story I read, six copies of the Bugatti are still known to exist. One of them is owned by a retired General, who keeps it in a secure garage, locked away, polished and shiny, with neither spot nor blemish. You see, although the car is about 80 years old, it is never driven. It has only some 3200 miles on it, and is now a piece of art in a private museum, where few even see it and none use it. It has all this power, but the power is not being used. It contains all this potential, but it is never turned on. It has plenty of “get up and go” but no one ever gets it up and never does it go.
A bit like some of us, unless I miss my guess. A bit like contemporary Christians, who like to look good, but who seldom put that goodness to use. And more than a bit like today’s churches, who may look monumental, but who have not yet put to use the go-power they really have.
The story is told that one day a tour guide was taking people around Westminster Abbey, probably the most famous church in England. The guide pointed out the ancient church’s beauties, its glorious windows, the graves of kings and queens, the throne where England’s monarchs are crowned. She went on and on about the musician’s corner, the poet’s corner, and all the great souls remembered in that place. But when she paused for questions, one tourist asked a penetrating one. Said the tourist, “This is a lovely and historic church. But has anyone been saved here lately?”
We gather for worship today in a monumental church building, whose history is outstanding, and which acts as a witness to the missionary spirit of our Baptist tradition. But don’t we have to ask, “Has anyone been saved here lately?” Isn’t that an important question? It connects with my theme, “from goodness to going”. Are we interested in looking good, but unused and secluded? Or are we interested in going into all the world to preach the gospel to every creature?
Two men’s lives intersected one day. And for both of them it meant moving from goodness to going. For both of them it meant a moment when, in obedience to Christ, they had to move beyond just being good and had to become goers.
I
A
One of those two men was Saul of Tarsus. By the standards of his time, Saul looked good. Saul was good. In fact Saul was so good you couldn’t stand him! Saul was one of those people who are so absolutely convinced that they are right, they set out to bash everybody who disagrees with them. So persuaded was Saul that he had his religion right that he worked night and day to root out these Christian folks. And it was not enough to get the ones in Jerusalem; Saul decided to hop down the road and ferret out the believers in Damascus too.
Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked 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.
Oh, yes indeed, Saul was a good man, an excessively good man. He was following his code strictly and rigidly. Saul is alive today in people who set off bombs in subway trains, so sure that their God calls them to destroy others. Saul is alive today among Baptist Christian folks who try to tell other Baptist Christian folks to do it my way or either I’m out of here or, sometimes, you get out of here! Saul is alive and well today, in those who just have to be good in all the wrong kinds of ways, in those who have to look good at the expense of charity.
And Saul is alive and well today, too, in Washington. Not only the official Washington of partisan politics, and not only the professional Washington of workaholics trying to get ahead, but Saul and his dedication to goodness at any price is even alive in the churches. As a pastor I sat through church business meetings and listened to some of my parishioners rip into others mercilessly, wanting to look good at others’ expense. I was reminded of the description written of one of his characters by Nathaniel Hawthorne, “She’s the sort of women who lives for others ... and you can always tell the others by that hunted look!”.
B
But let me clue you in on a little secret about folks who are so good you cannot abide being around them. Let me suggest something about the kind of person who likes being right better than being compassionate. Generally, that is an insecure person. That is a person who, despite all the bravado and the outward display of arrogance – that is a person who is seriously insecure, profoundly unsettled, deeply dissatisfied, and troubled in heart. If you are healthy emotionally and spiritually you do not have to prove everybody else wrong; you can live and let live. But when you are committed to squashing others for their incorrectness, likely you are really just trying to find your own soul.
I think that’s the way it was with Saul. He was hurting. He was troubled. He knew that his soul was unsettled. And so when, for Saul, a blinding moment of truth came, it was just what he needed. You remember the story – out there on that road to Damascus, a blinding light, a voice that named him and called him. When Saul met Jesus Christ, he no longer had to hide behind his rabid goodness. He no longer had to play the game of holier-than-thou. When Saul met Jesus Christ, he received grace, he experienced forgiveness, he got a full dose of unconditional love. Saul was saved. That’s what we mean when we say that somebody was saved – a person who is saved is one who is yanked up out of walking in his own goodness, which he knows is never good enough, and becomes somebody who knows that life is all about grace.
And when Saul got saved, he changed so much that he took on a different name, the one you know him by – Paul. And he took on a different lifestyle. He changed from goodness into going. Going from place to place, starting churches. Going across the Empire, preaching Christ. Once Saul found out what it meant to live in grace, there was no stopping him. He moved from goodness to going.
II
But I mentioned that there were two men whose lives intersected. Not only was there Saul, moving from goodness to going because of the Damascus Road, but there was someone else too. And you and I might find that we are a lot more like this fellow than we are Saul. This man, this second man, also was moved by the Lord from goodness to going.
Ananias was a disciple in Damascus. Ananias was a good member of the church there. Ananias had already taken his step toward Christ, Ananias had already received the good news. So was there anything more for Ananias to do? To Ananias there came a command: “Get up and go.”
“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.”
Now what do you think Ananias felt about all of that? How would you react if you got a message that said, “Wes, get up and go to the street called Pennsylvania, and at the house of White look for a man of Texas named George W.”! Or, if you don’t care for that one, what about one that said, “Rick, get up and go to the street called Fourth, and at the building of District look for a man with a bow tie, called Tony”! What would you say? Well, probably something like what Ananias said about going to see Saul:
“Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem”.
Lord, why should I have to go so such an uncomfortable place? Why should I have to go out of my settled pattern to confront this powerful and dangerous man? Do you recognize that feeling? Do you know where that is coming from? Oh, we Christians are the victims of our own goodness too. Just as the world wants to look good, we too want to look good. So we are afraid of what the world will do to us if we go out with a witness. We forget that we are the inheritors of grace! Just like Saul, insecure, so also Ananias is insecure, because he is afraid to be around those who will challenge him. And, most of all, he does not want to be around somebody who will be offensive to all he holds dear. Lord, do I really have to go to the street called Straight and minister to this Saul person?
Can I show you just a few things, very quickly, that are so important?
A
Can I show you, first, that the Lord told Ananias to go to a specific person, an individual? “At the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul”. We are called to minister to individuals, persons God has put in our path. If you think that just looking good is evangelism, I’m sorry, you have missed it. Some folks think that if they hang some signs outside the church building, the world will march right in. Not so. God calls us to witness to persons, individuals; and that means that out there somewhere there are people you and I need to connecting with personally. They may not be pretty, they may not be pleasant, but there they are. They need the good news. To move from goodness to going, minister to individuals, personally.
B
And then, second, let me show you that there are folks out there who are waiting on tiptoes for us. There is plenty of spiritual hunger out there. Saul was ready for what Ananias had to offer. When I stand out here on this corner and consider that across one street folks have gathered under a self-made Messiah, and across another street other folks have gathered under the banner of “any faith goes”, then I see that in this community there is deep spiritual hunger. There just has to be a place on this corner for a genuine, evangelical, Christ-centered witness, to speak to the hearts of those who hunger and thirst after something authentic. Let’s not worry about those who will not listen; let’s find those who, like Saul, are eager for spiritual truth
C
And one more thing – about Saul, the Lord says:
“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.”
Saul was eagerly waiting not just for anybody, but for Ananias. Saul could be reached by this one person and maybe by no one else. Do you know that there are certain people who are looking to you for help? They may not have told you, but they are looking to you and to you alone. You are the only Bible they will read, you are the only sermon they can hear, you have the right testimony for them. As Saul was waiting for Ananias, they are waiting for you and you alone. Listen to your heart today and you will know who is waiting for you to make the move and share the good news. They will never ask overtly – subtly maybe, but not overtly – but if you offer it, they will receive it gladly.
Conclusion
The Lord’s command to Ananias, “Get up and go.” Get up and go to the street called Straight and there you will find your ministry. You’ve been a good man, Ananias, but now it is time to get up and go.
Get up and go to the street called Sixteenth, where it seems to be all about power. But there are people there for whom Christ died, and who need to know what you know about the power of His risen life.
Get up and go to the street called Fourteenth, where it seems evil dwells, and danger. But there are people there, hurting people, for whom Christ rose, and who need His redemption.
Get up and go to the street called Columbia Road, where all languages and all cultures have gathered. It may be uncomfortable. But as Ananias overcame his discomfort and got beyond his goodness to help Saul the destroyer become Paul the missionary, who knows but what you may find the next great Christian in your own back yard?
Then when the tour guides come and point to this great tower, and someone asks, “It looks good, but has anyone been saved here lately?”, the answer will be a swift and certain, “Yes. Yes. Here blind eyes are opened, here broken hearts are mended, here wounded spirits are healed. And here good people have become going people.”
