Blinded by the Light – June 29, 2025
Exodus 3:1-12, Acts 9:1-19
June 29, 2025
I begin today with my usual disclaimer. I always try to give credit to where I may have “borrowed” my sermon title. You probably know that this one came from a popular song. “Blinded by the Light.” In fact it was a number one song in the year(?) 1976. And it was sung by(?) (No Googling now!) Manfred Mann’s Earth Band. Yeah, I had to look it up, too! However! When I did, I learned that it was originally written and recorded in 1973 by (anybody know?) Bruce Springsteen!
So that’s where my sermon title came from – the Boss! And of course, I’m also trying each week to have a sermon title with “curb appeal.” In other words, I think about how it’s going to look on our sign. I thought this title would be good. Hey, at the very least, we might appeal to some ‘70’s music fans.
So, “Blinded by the Light.” I like that as a title, because this is the story of Paul. He was blinded by the light! And his is one of the greatest stories of redemption in all of the Bible! Paul wasn’t just what we might call a “lost sinner,” like the prodigal son. No. He was an enemy, a persecutor of the church. At the start of our reading, he was “still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.”
As I think about that, I wonder if he was the main persecutor of the Church. According to Luke, Paul – or should I say “Saul” – seemed to be organizing a lot of the opposition to the Church. But I wonder if he was the main guy. I wonder if he had taken charge, and was leading all the attempts to eliminate this new faith. It wouldn’t surprise me! And of course it would make his redemption story that much more amazing.
I also suggested to you several years ago, that Saul probably didn’t just “pop” onto the scene at this point. We first met him at the stoning of Stephen. Luke tells us he was there, and that he was “consenting to his death.” But it makes more sense to me that he was probably around throughout Jesus’ entire earthly ministry. I think he was one of the ones who were “keeping an eye on” him! He may even have been one of the unnamed pharisees who questioned Jesus and tried to “trap him in his words” and make him look bad before the people. And I think he was probably there the day Jesus made all of his “woe to the Pharisees” statements. You can read them in Matthew 23. “Woe to you pharisees! Hypocrites! Blind guides!”
With all of that, I can understand the vehemence and the zeal with which he persecuted the early church. It makes sense to me that his anger and vitriol was not an overnight thing. It was something that built up over time. So we might say that Saul was “hell bent” on stamping out the church! And not just because Jesus was critical of him and his colleagues, but he believed that Jesus was wrong, that he was blasphemer, and that he was corrupting the people’s faith. And don’t forget, the pharisees were the keepers of the faith.
So, here in our reading, he went to the religious council, and asked for “letters” to the synagogues in Damascus – “arrest warrants” for the Christians in that city. And I’m sure this was just one of the cities he targeted. And notice that the “warrant,” the authorization he requested, wasn’t for anyone in particular. It was for “any belonging to the Way.” That’s what the church called itself in the beginning.
Saul did things by the book. He wasn’t just going after people indiscriminately. He went about it systematically. He went to the religious authorities. He asked for the official papers. He went by the rules. Later in Acts, we would find out that he was actually a Roman citizen. He invoked his citizenship when he was unlawfully beaten in public. He had a respect for the law. He was a rational person. So, he was going about this persecution in a legal and organized way!
But, it was not to be! There on the road to Damascus, he encountered Jesus! And notice! It wasn’t just God in that light, but Jesus specifically! And Saul was “blinded by the light!” I like to think of that light the way we sometimes use light as a metaphor for truth. We say when we learn something we are “en-light-ened.” Well, Saul was so enlightened that day, that he was knocked off of his donkey! And blinded.
I’m guessing not many of us have seen a physical manifestation of God. We feel him. We have a sense of the Holy Spirit, we’re guided in our reading as things “jump off of the page” at us, we get a sense of peace and a feeling that we’re in God’s hands. But to have an actual visual experience of God? That’s rare! And to have something like this? Wow! What would we do? What would we say?
Saul heard the voice of Jesus, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” And he said, “Who are you? Lord?” That’s always been an awkward phrase to read. Hasn’t it? We might expect him to say, “Is that you, Lord?” But no. It was “Who are you?” And then “Lord?” is sort of a question, too. It was sort of like, “Who are you? Are you the Lord?” And the answer was the blinding light of truth, that didn’t need an explanation! “I am Jesus! I’m the one you’re persecuting.”
That’s all it took. Because remember, the main problem Saul had with Jesus was that he thought his claims were not true. He was a fraud! He was a blasphemer! Well, in that one statement, the blinding light of the truth was revealed to him. And he could see for the first time. Jesus was who he said he was! Actually, Saul couldn’t see! So for three days, he had nothing to think about but that light! And that voice!
This story makes me wonder how many Sauls there are in our world. How many people are there who “refuse to see the truth about Jesus. And as the old expression goes, “there are none so blind as those who refuse to see.” So what do people like that do? They make truth “relative.” “That stuff about Jesus may be truth for you, but it’s not truth for me.”
At the end of the 20th century, and now into the 21st, our world has been experiencing a crises of truth. People no longer want truth to be “absolute truth.” That’s how they’ve dealt with the painful truths, the harsh realities of life. That’s how they’ve dealt with, and continue to deal with, the “truth” that our actions have eternal, spiritual consequences. “That’s your truth,” they’ll say. “It’s not mine.” Well, I guess that’s better than stoning the prophets!
We could say about them what Jack Nickelson is famous for saying. “You can’t handle the truth!” Remember that? (Wouldn’t that have made a great sermon title on the sign this week?) Some people can’t handle the truth of God! They don’t want to be told who God is, and how he acts. They’d rather stick with their own personal ideas about God – their own “personal theology,” if you will. But they can’t get around the fact that Jesus often spoke in his parables about those who would be “cast into the outer darkness,” where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” But sooner or later, the truth becomes evident to them. And often they’re blinded by the light of it – like Saul. Until Jesus opens their eyes!
I believe there are absolute truths. And they are truths that can’t be dismissed because we don’t like them. We can’t make them “not truth to us.” And after knowing that, it becomes a matter of how we react to the truth. Annanias didn’t like the truth he was hearing from God! And so he argued with God. “Are you kidding, Lord? After all we’ve heard about this guy?” But in the end, he did what he was asked. And I’ve always loved his first words here. “Brother Saul!” As I’ve often said, there’s nothing wrong with arguing with God. Especially when something doesn’t make sense to us. But then we need to be willing to hear, and we need to take the hard step and trust God.
Moses knew the truth. God told him he was going to rescue his people. They all longed for deliverance. The truth of that made complete sense to Moses! And he liked that truth! But he was uncomfortable with what it called him to do. And the bottom line in that story is also that we need to be willing to trust God. We need to be willing to do what he calls us to do and to be.
Saul did that! He trusted and did what God called him to do. And he changed the world! And his life wasn’t easy from there on in! Was it! He became the one persecuted! He was even criticized by some in the church who said he wasn’t a “real apostle,” because he hadn’t been with Jesus. He argued that he was, because he had been with him on that Damascus road. And I think he had been with Jesus, and even learned from him, when he was watching him before, and listening to what he said, and criticizing him. But I think those lessons stuck with him, maybe even haunted him. And eventually he remembered them, and they became part of who he was!
So today we look to Paul, a man who was changed in one blinding moment. In what was the greatest story of redemption, he went from being an enemy of the church to being the greatest proponents of the Christian faith ever! And he’s an example to us of trusting God, and being willing to be his people wherever he calls us.
Prayer
Eternal God, save us from having our own preconceived notions of who you are, and how you work in our lives. Help us truly to know you. And give us the strength and the courage we need to follow Jesus, and to be your people, however that looks in our lives. Help us to see more clearly the light of your truth. For we pray in our Savior’s name, Amen.