The Third Sunday of Easter: The 'compulsory' reading from Acts 9:

Acts 9:1-20 (NRSV)

The Conversion of Saul

¹Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest ²and 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. ³Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’⁵He asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The reply came, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ⁶But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.’ ⁷The men who were travelling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. ⁸Saul 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. ⁹For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰ Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, ‘Ananias.’ He answered, ‘Here I am, Lord.’ ¹¹The 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, ¹²and 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.’ ¹³But Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; ¹⁴and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.’ ¹⁵But 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; ¹⁶I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.’ ¹⁷So 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.’ ¹⁸And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, ¹⁹and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Saul Preaches in Damascus

For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, ²⁰and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’

(I am indebted to Professor William Barclay for guiding me through this passage for this reflection).

My text is written in Acts 9:10:

¹⁰ Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, ‘Ananias.’ He answered, ‘Here I am, Lord.’

I think Paul’s experience of the execution of Stephen must have had a huge impact on him. The vehemence with which he set out to silence the Christians in Damascus would suggest that, as often is the case, one’s opposition to something can be the result of one’s realising that there must be some truth in what one is opposing. The more this truth seems convincing, the more strenuous become the opposition. Albert Winn writes:

“Unable to forget Stephen, Saul transferred his guilt into hostility against all the disciples of the Lord and tried to silence his conscience by feverish activity.”

Saul was also steeped in the Scriptures and so he would have known – deep down – that Jesus did in fact fit the Biblical prophecies of the Messiah. Paul’s experience took place about three years after the Resurrection and so he certainly would have had time to ponder all that had happened since then.

And then he is granted permission to go on his mission of getting rid of the Christians. The journey would have taken a few days and this would have given Saul time to think. And suddenly he has this amazing experience – the culmination of everything – and a great turning point in his life. Not all conversions need to be as dramatic as this.

Secondly, this part of the retelling of the Conversion of Paul introduces us to an interesting and gracious character: Ananias, an ordinary Christian used by God for great purpose. Barclay comments:

“If it is true that the Church owes Paul to the Prayer of Stephen, it is also true that the Church owes Paul to the brotherliness of Ananias.”

I love the intimacy he had with our Lord. I am amazed at his response: “Here I am Lord” – which echoes the experience of Samuel in the Temple. But there is also the challenge, the discussion, the questioning of what our Lord asked him to do. Again, Barclay paraphrases the incident well:

“Go and help the man who came here to throw you into prison and who would have liked to murder you.” He might so well have approached Paul with suspicion, as one who was doing an unpleasant task; he might so well have begun with recriminations and blame; but no; his first words are “Brother Saul.”

This is one of the finest examples of Christian love and forgiveness that characterises the Christian life; it is the sort of forgiveness that can only result from the outpouring and infilling of the Holy Spirit – for it is not something that either comes naturally nor can be summoned up through a deliberate act of the human will. We see this throughout the history of the Church.

“…be filled with the Holy Spirit …” Ananias says to Saul. What joy! In one important sense, are not our ‘infillings’ just another way of referring to kairoi moments? But, how often do we ask: “Lord, fill me again with your Holy Spirit?” in my case, not nearly enough!

There seems to be little doubting Paul’s enthusiasm as “… immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’”

This is the essence of all Christian teaching. We take note of Jesus because he was no mere mortal, no mere ethical teacher, no mere great and profound philosopher: ‘He is the Son of God.’ Paul’s message caused amazement because his reputation had gone before him; he was well known as an opponent of The Way and the people would have known that he had travelled to Damascus in order to silence this new Jewish sect and return them to the ‘truth’ of their faith. Even more, they also knew that Paul felt so strongly about this that he was willing to go to extreme measures to stop this ‘heresy’ – he had been part to the execution of Stephen after all. Now he was espousing their teachings!

I can just imagine his conviction, and the forcefulness of his argument. He was convinced and he would have made this very clear. His argument would have been – to him at least – watertight, and probably, like my early Christian days, not far from the bombastic verging on the arrogant. And so, instead of winning many over for the Lord, they were alienated and plotted to kill him and he had to escape by night by being lowered down in a basket through an opening in the wall.

This is one of the many examples of the fact that, because we read something in Scripture, and because a saint performed such things, it does not necessarily mean that we should always follow their example. I believe that in Paul’s early ministry here, he got things wrong (and from reading Galatians 1:15-24 where Paul gives his own account, I believe he would agree that he had).

On leaving Damascus he went to Arabia where he collected his thoughts and reflected on what had happened and was able to find both perspective and direction for the way forward. Barclay writes:

Into Paul’s life there had come this shattering change and just for a little time he had to be alone with God. Before him there stretched a new and different life. Therefore first of all Paul sought God.

And over the years, he got what he needed in bucket loads. Don’t you simply love the clarity of his thought as revealed in his letters to the Churches? He originally spoke of Jesus as ‘… the Son of God …’ but this became

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in^* him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in^* him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:15-20)

It is almost as if God chose Paul, the great theologian of the Scriptures, to provide us with the first systematic theology; to be the one who would make sense out of the life, ministry, death and Resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. For indeed, if we understand Paul, we understand what Jesus is all about. Some have gone so far as to suggest that his letter to the Romans is the key that unlocks all of Scripture.

Entering into debates is not the best way of getting people to come to know our Lord, no matter how good we think our arguments are. We need clarity of thought and we need to be taught and to teach others so that we can grow in our faith; but we need to earn the right to speak. Eventually Paul came to this understanding and the power of the effective Christian witness preached – not through words – but through holiness of life before words spoken or written. Writing his second letter to the Church in Corinth he states:

Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Surely we do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all; and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (2 Corinthians 3:1-2)

I am so grateful that Our Lord plucked me from the fire; I am so grateful that I have been given the privilege of a direct and intimate relationship with God, that the creator and sustainer of the universe knows and loves little, imperfect and insignificant me. And what is more He is there for all who would receive Him.

We need to live lives that are so holy and filled with God’s love that people want to know what it is about us that makes us different. While being filled with a deep sense of joy as I write these words, I am also convicted by the fact that my life so often falls short. But I also know that God is able to do more than we can ever ask or think and so I go forward in hope and renewed and forgiven to live and work to His praise and Glory.