“How Do We Recognize God?”
Sermon Presented April 18, 2010
Acts 9:1-20
On May 30, 2009, Scott Roeder gunned down Dr. George Tiller while he was handing out bulletins at his church in Wichita, KS. Roeder contended that because Dr. Tiller performed abortions, he was a murderer. Therefore, Roeder’s act was justified because he stopped the “murder” of untold numbers of unborn children. The jury didn’t buy his argument and he received the maximum sentence.
Throughout the world, many acts of violence occur under the umbrella of “God’s will”! And the sad thing is that most of those perpetrating violence in God’s name fervently believe their acts are sanctioned by God! Suicide bombers fit this category perfectly! Non-violent protests as championed by Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. are too slow for these zealots. They must help God along. How do we recognize God’s voice in the midst of the myriad of voices we hear?
Our text this morning is about a man named Saul who acts violently toward followers of Jesus because he believes that’s what God desires. Saul, later called Paul, is a man on a mission. But something occurs that causes him to make a 180 degree turn. Let’s look at the story found in Acts 9:1-20.
Saul is the kind of religious fanatic with which the world has been abundantly cursed. He isn’t willing to let things ride, so he approaches the High Priest in Jerusalem asking for authority to go to Damascus and arrest followers of the Way (the first name for the Christian movement.)
Damascus, an important Syrian city 135 miles north of Jerusalem, is a leading center of commerce for the Roman Empire and home to a large Jewish population. Saul’s holy mission is to ferret out any religious renegade he finds there and return them to Jerusalem for a religious inquisition. (Robert W. Wall, Feasting on the Word Year C Vol. 2, p. 405) It’s no small feat to begin such a venture without a paddy wagon or train to transport prisoners back to Jerusalem. With what he believes is a mandate from God, as well as authorization from the High Priest, Saul goes to Damascus to arrest any Jews in the synagogues who are followers of Jesus.
In order for God to break through Saul’s anger, self-righteousness, and determination to rid the world of Christians, God needs to do something extraordinary. And God does just that! Outside the city of Damascus, Saul encounters Jesus in a way that leaves him blind and shaken.
For the next three days, Saul stays in a Damascus home, neither eating nor drinking. During this time, God appears in a vision to a Christian named Ananias and sends him to Saul. It takes courage for Ananias to approach Saul because Saul’s reputation has preceded him. He knows why Saul came to Damascus. But after arguing with God, Ananias does as directed, and Saul sees again, is filled with the Spirit, and is baptized. Saul remains a Jew, but now is as passionate in proclaiming Jesus as he was in persecuting Christians.
We can understand how Ananias felt. Experience teaches us to be cautious about a person’s ability to change. When Gary was a senior in high school, we took in a girl who was kicked out of her home by her mother and step father. It was a horrible period of 8 months until she left for college, during which time she stole, lied, and generally disrupted family life. When she tried to contact me a year ago, I just let it die. My experience taught me that this sociopath was dangerous to my emotional health and I didn’t want further involvement. Conversion for some people is hard for us to wrap our minds around. We forget that true conversion is primarily about God and not us!
What does it take for a person to make an abrupt 180 degree turn in his or her life? For Saul, it took sudden blindness, a vision, and a messenger to bring him a new understanding and direction. God chose someone no Christian would have chosen, and if we’re honest we know Christians we wouldn’t have chosen either. The text says that God’s purpose for choosing Saul was to bring the name of Jesus to Gentiles, kings and the people of Israel. And what better person to do this than someone who is zealous and knows how to get things done. Saul moves from zealous persecutor to zealous advocate
This story pushes the envelope for believability – with its visions, flashing light, voices from heaven, blindness, and total reversal of purpose. If this happened to Saul, why didn’t it happen to anyone we know? Why don’t we hear of similar occurrences today? Saul was necessary to God’s plan, and nothing short of blindness could awaken him to a new mission. He needed a dramatic experience with God because obviously he wasn’t open to prayer and Scripture for guidance.
Last week I read an article in the new issue of Weavings (Volume XXV, Number 3, p. 7 ff.) by Robert Corin Morris titled “Listening for the Voice”. Morris is an Episcopal priest and a regular contributor to Weavings. He offers readers tests to weed out false or egoistic promptings. Then, he asks how do we know for certain that God is behind the word, hunch, dream, or call that arises in our mind that we can’t weed out by following those tests? We haven’t been blinded or knocked to the ground. Morris says that “The proof is in the pudding.” Following a call requires active faith and the willingness to step into the unknown without demanding a money-back guarantee before we start. (ibid p. 10) If we discover we have made a mistake, we can turn around.
Morris says – and this was a eureka moment for me – that the “desire for absolute certainty may be the eighth deadly sin, the subtle enemy not only of active faith but also of love, and a hindrance to realistic wisdom. Active faith, a living trust in God’s ability to lead and guide most always involves… an edge of uncertainty… - what one friend calls ‘proximate certainty,’ that is, enough certainty to set out, may be all we get. And why should we expect something manifestly supernatural? God works through our reason as we hear and apply Scripture to our world.” (ibid)
When I sold my tax preparation business in 1988 and started seminary, I didn’t know if I would ever use my theological education for anything other than acquiring greater understanding of what interested me. It was 1½ years later that I knew there was nothing I would rather do than become a pastor. I followed the direction I had – not knowing the outcome. I acted without certainty of any kind – just a desire – a longing.
Our faith stories lack the drama of Saul’s. However, if Saul’s story had been ordinary, it wouldn’t have been noteworthy and included in the book of Acts. There were plenty of ordinary stories of conversion that we don’t read about. We read about the extraordinary! “Ordinary” probably wouldn’t have worked for Saul.
On some levels, like Saul, we’ve all been on the wrong path – often arriving there with good intentions. We’ve been close-minded and stubborn about changing course. What happens when we see the light and open our hearts and minds to discover our error and a new path? Do we follow the direction we have and change course?
My task in preaching on this text is to take what appears to be unbelievable and help you realize this is the stuff of everyday life. So ponder this question. On a personal level, what caused you to make a major change in your life? Was there a blind spot that needed to be illuminated? Did you have an understanding of where your addictive behavior or lifestyle would lead? What got through to you when nothing else seemed to do the job? Was it a risk-taking friend, spouse, child, or just a vacancy in your soul? Was it because of something you read or an insight during prayer or from a dream?
Next we can ask ourselves “Was God in this?” Well if God is in the business of changing lives; there is a real possibility that we need to pay attention – and possibly talk it over with someone we trust. If you are like me, the realization of God’s input often comes in hind-sight, rather than at the time.
Keep in mind that our conversion is on-going. When Saul saw the light, he wasn’t a completed Christian. He continued to learn and to grow in his relationship with Christ. It takes a lifetime to understand our role and grow into it. It also takes a long time to learn humility. We can see through Paul’s writings that he struggled with humility!
God comes to us in the ordinary “stuff” of life, so don’t hold your breath waiting for the dramatic! Are you willing to open your mind and heart to be able to comprehend God’s will for the next step in your life? My guess is that it will be as ordinary as an insight during prayer, a word from a trusted friend, or something you read. The important thing is to be open to God, and then be courageous enough to follow God’s direction!
04/18/2010
