Radical Grace – July 23, 2023
Acts 9:1-19
July 23, 2023
Last week, we were looking at the story of Stephen. And in that story we read this. “And the word of God increased. And the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem. And a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.” (Acts 6:7)
Think about that. “A great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.” Remember that the religious council was divided over Jesus. Even at the time of his trial, there were some who believed in him, and of course, some who didn’t.
One of those who did was the priest named Nicodemus. He was the one who met with Jesus at night and asked him if he was for real. He was the one who then heard Jesus speak those iconic words, “For God so loved the world…” And he was the one who went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, so he could be given a proper burial – something that was not often afforded to victims of crucifixion!
So, even in the beginning of Acts, “a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.” But of course, some were not! And one even declared war on the faith! As I said several weeks ago, the controversy between the apostles and the religious authorities would reach its peak when one of them declared war.
We met him last week. His name was Saul. We read that, when they stoned Stephen, “the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.” (Acts 7:58) That’s the guy!
Then, as chapter 8 begins, we have what actually seems to be the last line of Chapter 7. Acts 8:1 says, “And Saul was consenting to his death.” That’s the death of Stephen. It’s like they put the verse number in the wrong place! Chapter 8 actually seems to begin with verse 2. “And on that day a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem.” (By the way, that’s one of the first times the word “church” was used to refer to the body of believers!)
All of that serves as the introduction to the story of Saul. Although, as I’ve said before, I’m sure he was part of things all along. He didn’t just move to Jerusalem from somewhere else, and hear about Jesus, and witness the Acts of the Apostles recently.
Throughout Jesus’ ministry, the religious leaders were always watching him. At one point, early on, he was invited to dined with them at one of their homes. And there was a whole bunch of them there for that occasion! Maybe Saul was there, too. They debated with Jesus throughout his ministry. Maybe Saul was one of those unnamed Pharisees that questioned Jesus, and even tried to trap him in his words!
I picture him in the council during the trial of Jesus. And then maybe here, a matter of weeks later, at the trial of Peter and John, and now Stephen. And even though it doesn’t say he participated in the stoning of Stephen, Luke is careful to point out, as I said, that he was “consenting to his death!”
Well then, before we leave the beginning of chapter 8, Luke completes the picture of Saul and his campaign against the church, saying, “But Saul was ravaging the church! And entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.” (Acts 8:3)
Yes, it is not an overstatement to say that Saul had declared war against the faith! His intention was to stamp out Christianity before it got any farther. And that’s really saying something! Because remember, the church was growing by the thousands! And I don’t imagine that he thought he could arrest all of them, but maybe he could discourage them by persecuting enough of them!
So, Saul had declared war on the church. And I believe it could be said that he declared war on Jesus. And that turned out to be not such a good idea! In one instant, that war was over! In one instant he was struck down, and stricken blind! And we can only imagine how terrifying that was for him! Imagine if that happened to you! This is not just a nice artist’s rendering. This was a terrifying moment for Saul!
He was blinded! And I can also imagine there was a frightening element in the voice he heard! We think the voice of Jesus as being kind and gracious. But I’m thinking for Saul it was otherwise. No matter what the timbre or the volume or the “tone,” it had to be terrifying!
Think about it. He went on to Damascus, and there he neither ate nor drank for three days. And I don’t think he just decided to “fast” for “spiritual reasons.” I think he was traumatized! And he remained traumatized until he heard different voice. A friendlier voice. The voice of a man who had undergone his own transformation!
Think about it. Ananias was told to go to Saul, and his first reaction was one of extreme resistance! “No, Lord! You can’t be serious! I’ve heard about all the evil this man has done to your people!” But then we see his transformation when he goes to Saul, lays his hands upon him, and says, “Brother Saul!” That’s just amazing to me!
This sermon is about Radical Grace. Certainly the story of Saul is just that! God gave Saul Radical Grace. But we can’t forget about Ananias! He was living the Radical Grace that the Lord called him to.
I believe we are about both of those things, too. We need to realize just how Radical/Amazing God’s Grace truly is. And we have to recognize that he has given that Grace to us. Because sometimes we forget that. Or we forget how amazing it is! And if ever we think we deserve God’s grace, we’ve lost the whole understanding of the word. The classic definition of Grace is “Unmerited, or undeserved favor!” Saul certainly didn’t deserve God’s favor, and neither do we! But he has given it to us, anyway! We need to remember that, and be thankful for it!
And then, like Ananias, we need to be people of Grace. You’ve heard me say that before. But we need to be reminded of it, again and again. That means that we follow God’s example of Grace. We give “favor” to others, we give love and understanding to others, even when it is “unmerited,” or “undeserved.”
And that is not easy! Grace is “Radical” because it is outside the realm of how we humans naturally react to one another. We humans are more prone to being “reactive” to things. We read the story of Gamaliel a few weeks ago, when we were talking about equanimity, or “level-headedness.” And I said then how people are quick to anger and slow to forgive, rather than the opposite, which we are called to be. We are called to be slow to anger and quick to forgive. Yet we see the opposite all the time. We hear it in people’s political debates with each other. We watch it happen when they perceive some hurt or injustice done to them.
And we are prone to it, too. We feel the anger rising within us when someone does something or says something cruel or unkind to us, whether it’s intentional or unintentional. Like I said last week, we “feel” like writing off someone if they don’t believe what we believe.
We are called to do and to be otherwise! And besides, we rarely know another person’s whole story. We think we do! We think we know why they do what they do, we think we know their motivations. But we probably don’t. And we don’t know God’s plans of Grace for them, either!
I love this one conversation between Frodo Baggins and Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings. Frodo is feeling fear and anxiety having to deal constantly with the evil creature Gollum. And he at one point he says, “Gollum deserves death!” And Gandalf says this. “Deserves death? I daresay he does! And some who die deserve life! Can you give that to them? Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. For even the very wise cannot see all ends!” (Gandalf to Frodo in “The Fellowship of the Ring.”) Oh it’s a good day when I get to quote Tolkien!!!
Who, in those days of persecution, could foresee the transformation of Saul? It was terrible, what he was doing to the church! And when God told Ananias to go to him, Ananias objected. He couldn’t imagine why God told him to go! And then, when Saul was brought to the believers in Damascus, they were just as skeptical.
And they were wise to be skeptical. This man Saul was an evil man! To fake a “conversion” in order to find the believers and have them arrested, was entirely in the realm of possibility! It was just the sort of thing this man might do!
But in this story, Saul was a man who was given Radical Grace! And we too have been given the same Radical Grace! May we be people who know that, who are grateful for it, and who rejoice in it. And may we live that Grace each day and seek to give it to others.
Prayer
Eternal God, our Heavenly Father, indeed we are grateful for your amazing Grace. Help us to remember that Grace every day. And help us to be people of Grace. May they see your grace in us, by the way we give grace to them. And we pray for strength to do so, in Jesus’ name, Amen.