Seeing Again – For the First Time – July 14, 2024

Psalm 27, Acts 9:1-22
July 14, 2022

So, for a couple of weeks now, we’ve been talking about Paul.  And I’ve been reminding you that he was a Pharisee.  In fact, he called himself “a Pharisee of Pharisees.”  And as such, he saw himself as a child of Abraham, a son of Moses, a keeper of the faith, and a staunch follower of the Law.

Well Saul, or Paul as we know him, is one of my favorite people in the Bible.  (And no, it’s not like hymns, where pretty much all of them were my favorite at one time or another!)  Paul is my favorite!  I named my son after him!  He was one of the most important writers of the books of the New Testament.  He became the “keeper of the faith” …again!  This time it was the faith in Jesus Christ. He founded many churches.  He went on “Missionary Journeys.”  I used to see maps in the back of the Bible on Sunday mornings.  (When I wasn’t listening to the sermon.)  I didn’t know what a “missionary journey” was, but I saw lines on maps.

Paul was that important!  He defined and refined the faith for millions of believers over thousands of years!  And remember, the early days of the church needed that!  It was a time when many people weren’t sure what to believe!  So yes, Paul was all those things.  But, I want us to remember one other important thing about him today.  He was a persecutor of the Church!

Think about it.  Jesus was resurrected, and he “commissioned” his disciples to continue his ministry – and they did so!  And that put the Jewish leadership in a very difficult position!  They had watched this Jesus for several years, trying to figure him out – trying to straighten him out!  Later, when it was getting out of control, they plotted to silence him.  And it wasn’t just out of malice.  In John’s Gospel, the High Priest, Caiaphas, said to the council.  “Do you not see that it is expedient that one man should die for the people, that the whole nation should not perish?” (John 11:49-50)  There was true concern for the nation in that statement.  They were worried about the Romans.  (Oh yeah, they were always part of this!)

As tricky as it, to get rid of this incredibly popular man, Jesus, at least it was finished.  It was over.  Or so they thought!  But no.  Now the disciples were continuing that ministry.  They were preaching the same love and Grace.  They were doing the same miracles!  And they were proclaiming that Jesus had come back from the dead, and that he was God!  If you remember in Matthew, those leaders worried that the disciples would steal the body of Jesus and say he was raised.  They said that “second deception” would be worse than the first!  And it was!  Although we know it wasn’t a deception!

So they found themselves in a very difficult position, realizing that this “Jesus thing” was not over!  Now they now had to deal with his disciples.  And they did.  They had them thrown in prison – several times.  They had brought them before the council – several times.  They “officially charged” them – several times – not to speak about Jesus.  (They could do that, because they were the Law, after all!)  But nothing seemed to be working.

So then we meet Saul.  We actually meet him at the end of Acts chapter 7, where Stephen was being stoned by the council.  (You can read that story on your own sometime.)  At the end, when they took off their robes so they could throw the stones, “they laid them at the feet of a young pharisee named Saul.”  “And Saul was consenting to his death.”  And then, as chapter 8 opens, we’re told that, “On that day a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem.”  “And Saul ravaged the church, entering house after house, dragging off men and women and committing them to prison.” (Acts 8:1-3)

It occurred to me several years ago, and I’ve said this to you, that Saul didn’t just pop up on the scene in Acts 7.  I think he had to have been there all along.  I believe he was in the council that condemned Jesus.  He certainly was in the council that condemned Stephen.  We know that.  But I think he was part of the religious leadership that watched Jesus throughout his ministry.  When Jesus was invited to dine with a group of pharisees, I believe Saul was there.  (It might even have been his home!  We don’t know.)  I even think he could have been one of the unnamed Pharisees who questioned Jesus about his religious practices, and tried to trap him in his words, to make him look bad before the people.

I think that fills in the “big picture” of this guy, Saul, as he became one who “ravaged the church” in Acts 8.  And I think it fills in the background for the story we read today.  For here we have the story of Saul’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus.

At the beginning of chapter 9, Luke (the author of Acts) says, “But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the High Priest, and asked him for letters to the Synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to ‘the Way’ (which is what the church called itself in those days) he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.”

Sometimes I wonder if Saul was the main guy responsible for the persecution of the church.  Were there others?  I’m sure there were.  But Saul seems to be one of the top guys, maybe even the top guy.  He was certainly one of the Church’s biggest enemies!  But now, that was all about to change.

Saul had declared war on the Church.  And he was on the way to a major battle, when he found himself in a battle he didn’t expect.  We can only imagine what was going through his mind as he lay there on the road, blinded, and hearing the voice of the very one he was at war against!  How would we feel if suddenly we were suddenly blinded – even without hearing the voice of Jesus?  It would be devastating!  I heard once that 80% of all the inputs to our brain come from our eyes.  Sight is our most powerful sense.  And now for Saul, that was gone.  And Saul’s life changed.  The very person he was fighting against has now won the war.

Saul’s story is powerful.  But I think it’s also universal in a way.  We all have our battles with God, don’t we?  We all want things to go our way.  And sometimes we’re very reluctant to consider other possibilities.  A milder form of this story is Peter.  He heard Jesus speaking of his death and resurrection, and he said, “Surely, this will never happen to you!”  That was his Damascus road experience.

So, what’s ours?  What’s yours?  Can you think of a time when you were fighting against God?  Maybe you didn’t want to believe in Jesus, maybe because of what you thought it would do to your life.  Many people are like that.  They want what they want and they don’t want a God telling them otherwise.  That’s why some people are atheists.  It’s not that they don’t believe in God, it’s that they don’t want to believe in God.  Because they don’t want a God directing their life, telling them what to do.  To their credit, at least they know that if there were a God, he would have expectations of his people.  (Sometimes some of God’s own people don’t know that!)

Some people are agnostics.  They don’t believe we can even know if there’s a God.  But if there is a God, agnostics simply want nothing to do with him.  They’re not fighting against God or a belief in God, they’re just ignoring him.  As I’ve always said, I believe God would rather have a fight with us, than to have no contact with us at all.  He would rather us argue with him, than ignore him.

Well, it was beyond that with Saul.  He was “ravaging the Church!”  He was dragging people off to prison.  But when it came down to it, this story was the real battle.  And it was no contest.

Saul was blinded.  But then this guy named Ananias comes into the picture.  He was told by God to go to Saul and restore his sight.  And that was a great part of this story, too!  God could have restored his sight at any moment.  But no, he sent a believer to him.  And that believer had objections.  Ananias had his own battle with God!  He said, “We know about this guy!  We know what he was coming to Damascus to do!”  And since they knew, I wonder what the believers in Damascus were doing to prepare for that.

But it didn’t matter.  Because God took care of it.  Saul received his sight again.  And as I’ve suggested in this sermon title, he was “seeing again – for the first time.”  Saul’s eyes were opened – in more ways than one.  When we say we’ve “had our eyes open” to something, we know what that means.  It means we understand it, we believe it, we know it for sure.  Saul’s eyes were open to Jesus.  In one of the most amazing stories, God took his greatest enemy, and made him he greatest ally!

How about us?  As we hear this story, can we see ourselves in it?  Do we know of times when we too were fighting against God?  Are we still fighting against God in some way?  Sometimes those fights go on for a long time!  So, if we are, we’re not alone.  Sometimes I think we live in a whole world that’s fighting against God.  And it’s easy to look out and point fingers at others.  But I think it happens to all of us.

So I ask you to look at your life.  Do you remember times when you were fighting against God.  Are you still fighting?  And do you remember times when your eyes were opened to God?  And then the last question.  Are you still open to God opening your eyes?  Are there things he could show you, things that you’d be seeing again – for the first time?

Prayer

Eternal God, too often we do insist on our own will, afraid to trust yours.  Too often we do see only our view of things, unwilling to see yours.  Help us to be open to your Spirit guiding us and helping us to see with your eyes and with your understanding, and giving us strength we need to follow where you lead.  For we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.