• Knock, Knock.
• Who’s there?
• Percy.
• Percy who?
• Persecution is at the door when Herod comes knocking.

This message on Acts 12:1-23 was first preached at Plymouth Congregational Church of Racine, WI (May 31, 2015)

What do all these things have in common?

They’re not all firsts. They’re not all bad. They’re not all good. Did you guess it?

The one thing they all are…would be game changers. People, places, and things that once they happened, the world was not the same anymore. The world was changed!

Arguably, the greatest game changer of all human history following our creation, would be the birth and death of Jesus Christ.

It’s why BC and AD used to be the denotations of time “Before Christ, Anno Domini”…before the secularists got a bee in their bonnet and wanted to call it Before Common Era and After Common Era. Which, what do they have in common? Hello? A rose by any other name…is still the same point as the birth of Christ. No one is being fooled here.

Game changers. Jesus Christ, undoubtedly the greatest of them.

But today’s passage shows another game changing moment also brought about by Jesus.

Remember last week, I told you that in the Acts of the Holy Spirit and the Apostles, the apostle Peter saw that sheet descending from the sky with all kinds of animals in it and was told not to call anything unclean that God had made clean? Peter understood it to mean that God was applying that concept to people.

To bring us up to speed, let’s back up a bit before our present passage. Peter is preaching to the whole household of Cornelius (a Gentile):

Acts 10:44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, 47 “Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” 48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

The Holy Spirit being poured out even on the Gentiles. It’s sometimes called the Gentile Pentecost. The circumcised believers (that is the Jewish Christians with Peter) and Peter himself were all astonished that Gentiles received the Holy Spirit. Remember all the way back when the Church first began with the coming of the Holy Spirit back in Acts 2? That same deal has just happened to those unworthy Gentiles.

But here’s the deal: With the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ and with the proof of His sacrifice being accepted by the Father in the coming of the Holy Spirit, suddenly we have a game changer. The whole world is now the mission field. Anyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.

Yup. Even the Gentiles.

That news didn’t go over so well with people who liked things the way they’d always been, the little club and exclusive community of faith they’d been all their lives. They were born into it! They didn’t want God doing a new thing, bringing in new people, changing things up, mixing them among people they considered beneath them or undesirable, or worse, changing things to suit those newcomers. No! Things have always been this way for a reason! The Jewish people are the covenant people and Jesus is OUR Messiah, not theirs.

People who like things the way they like them and don’t really give a hoot about others…are putting themselves first…and placing themselves on the judgment seat. They find themselves being critical of others, especially those doing things differently. It was no different 2000 years ago than it is today:

Acts 11:1 The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3 and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

They waited until Peter showed up and then they jumped all over him. What on earth are you thinking, Peter? Don’t give what is OURS… to THEM! Have you forgotten that we’ve been doing things THIS way for thousands of years…since Abraham was first given the covenant of circumcision! You’re going to throw away thousands of years of history and tradition to bring in…GENTILES??? They pounced. Our Scriptures say they criticized him.

They didn’t realize the game had changed while they were so busy congratulating themselves on their superior Judaism.

The game had changed because Jesus didn’t die just for the Jews.

For God so loved….the world.

They had a fundamental misunderstanding of what salvation was supposed to be.

Isaiah 42:6 “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness

 
Isaiah 49:6 [God] says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

Peter got it. He understood. He followed through. And he was criticized by fellow believers. All who are change agents in the plan of God will face criticism. Their ideas will be rejected. Their plans are blocked. They aren’t popular. They have to develop thick skin and the ability not to care what other people are saying behind their backs. Change agents in the plan of God have the one game-changing advantage that other change agents don’t have.

God is the One bringing about the change. They’re just the messengers.

God is the One being opposed in our passage today. What the circumcised believers in Jerusalem didn’t realize is that what they thought was an insult “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them” was actually affirmation that Peter was right on track.

So Peter fills them in:

4 Peter began and explained everything to them precisely as it had happened: 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. 6 I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air. 7 Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’ 8 “I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 “The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ 10 This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again. 11 “Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. 12 The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. 14 He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’ 15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning.

This is the third time Luke, the writer of Acts, tells this story.

It’s that important.

Luke tells it when it happens. He tells it when Peter tells it to Cornelius. And then he tells it again when Peter tells it to those who like things the way they’ve always been. Those “circumcised believers.”  Those who were treating the faith as being just longstanding Judaism with a little Jesus tacked on.

Luke and Peter go to great lengths to point out that that chapter of salvation is closed. It’s not for Jews only anymore. It’s for the whole world. It’s in His hands.

That’s just how much of a game changer that Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension were!

Peter points to Christ’s own words:

16 Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?”

Did you catch it? If God is bringing about the change, opposing the change is opposing God.

Jesus is and was the game changer! His Holy Spirit coming was proof of it! Opposing God is always a really bad idea. So,

18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”

Even the Gentiles…not exactly a ringing endorsement. But you know what? It doesn’t always go so well. In a few weeks we’ll hear about how the members of the circumcision group don’t like that things have changed and will fight to hold onto everything that once was dear to them. They’ll oppose and intimidate Peter, Paul, and Titus because they don’t like that things have changed because the times have changed and they refuse to accept that God changed them.

In the movie Moneyball, which I quote often because there’s a lot going on there that ties into the Bible and Jesus’ teachings, the Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane forms a team of players that the longstanding scouts chronically overlooked because they were seen as undesirable. Even the team manager, Art Howe, didn’t like the team Beane assembled. So he was playing people in the way he felt like they should be played. When Beane gets frustrated that Pena is being started by Howe at first base instead of Hatteburg, he makes the decision to trade Pena. To shake things up. He also trades Jeremy Giambi whose influence in the locker-room is unhelpful and is reinforcing the pattern of being okay with being a chronically losing team. It was a tough decision for Beane because Pena was an All-Star type of player…but decisions for the benefit of the team required it.

The radio announcer, as the Oakland A’s are in their record-breaking winning streak, says,

The Oakland A’s are completely out of hand at the moment. They are an AL best seventeen in for this month, they also took back to back series at Boston and at New York. Remember when they traded Jeremy Giambi to Philly back in June, everyone thought they’d just given up. Actually not so much.

Billy Beane, reflecting on the winning streak, tells Peter Brand—his right hand guy—that he’s been in baseball for a long time and has seen it all:

Any other team wins the World Series, good for them. They’re drinking champagne, they’ll get a ring. But if we win, on our budget with this team, we’ll change the game. And that’s what I want, I want it to mean something.

Of course, they lose the AL Championship in the end and their efforts were dismissed. One of the scouts pronounced their 20-game winning streak and their whole season a failure. The disgruntled scout proclaims,

Nobody reinvents this game.”

But the owner of the Boston Red Socks, John Henry felt differently. He tells Beane:

For forty one million, you built a playoff team. You lost Damon, Giambi, Isringhausen, Pena and you won more games without them than you did with them. You won the exact same number of games that the Yankees won, but the Yankees spent one point four million per win and you paid two hundred and sixty thousand. I know you’ve taken it in the teeth out there, but the first guy through the wall. It always gets bloody, always. It’s the threat and not just the way of doing business, but in their minds it’s threatening the game. But really what it’s threatening is their livelihoods, it’s threatening their jobs, it’s threatening the way that they do things. And every time that happens, whether it’s the government or a way of doing business or whatever it is, the people are holding the reins, have their hands on the switch. They will bet you’re crazy.

He goes on to tell Beane that the old way has gone. They’re dinosaurs, he says. The game has been changed. Some people just refuse to accept it.

In our Scriptures today, Luke wants people to pay attention to what is happening. Just like in Stephen’s speech, he pointed out that the land and the law and the temple of the Jews aren’t what it’s about anymore. The customs, the way things have always been done, and the longstanding traditions of Jews only. Gone! Those days and those ways are gone!

Three times in this story of Peter, Luke states that the game has been changed. The Holy Spirit has come upon Gentiles. Jesus’ sacrifice was for them too.

How will these circumcised believers respond to change?

They can believe it, deny it, rebel against it, and decry it, but God wants all of us to know—no matter what day or age in which we live—that Jesus Christ isn’t just an add-on… He’s a real game changer.

God wants all of us to know—no matter what day or age in which we live—that Jesus Christ isn’t just an add-on… He’s a real game changer.  Click this link or the one below to listen on YouTube.  Game Changer was first preached at Plymouth Congregational Church of Racine, WI by Barbara Shafer (May 17, 2015).

Well, today it is Mother’s Day and I would like to begin by acknowledging a few things. First, this is not a Christian holiday. It’s not in our Bibles. It’s a secular holiday, but it’s one that pastors and preachers are wise to mention if they want to stay on the good side of Moms everywhere.

It’s also important to acknowledge that while Mother’s Day brings great joy for some people, it also brings significant pain to others.

For those whose mothers are no longer with us, it can be a very painful day. For women who always wanted to be mothers but weren’t or for those women like me who have children who have preceded them in death, it can be a painful reminder and very lonely. For moms who have had wayward children, Mother’s Day can be extremely hurtful especially on a social scale of competitive motherhood and Hallmark Greeting Card moments. For some children, it’s party-like and praise galore! For some, a day of reconciliation. And for others, it’s like a day of atonement when they bring sacrifices of cards and flowers or gifts or willingness to do chores that lasts for a day and then a whole year’s bad behavior is wiped clean.

I’m always conflicted about how to present Mother’s Day. And I was talking about this with my neighbor and she asked what I was going to do with this morning’s sermon and I told her that I was going to preach on Acts, but I’d be sure to wish everyone a Happy Mother’s Day, for those who have been moms and for those of us who were birthed by a mom somewhere along the line…since that covers all of us. “Not me,” she said. “I was brought here by aliens,” she laughed, “and you were too but your secret is safe with me.” Good thing because everyone already thinks I’m a bit weird. The last thing I need is the Mother Ship coming to beam me up…

So on to Acts. We’re continuing our adventures of the earliest disciples and Peter (who had come to check out what was going on with Philip’s Come and See Ministry) now heads about doing ministry of his own.

In 2 short scenes and one long one, we see Peter’s acts of service testifying to the love of God for us. These scenes are a progression upward. It starts with healing, continues with an earthly resurrection from the dead, and concludes with the best kind of healing, the best kind of resurrection: Salvation to Eternal life in Christ. It’s an upward progression.

First the healing:

Acts 9:32 As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the saints in Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years. 34 “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and take care of your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. 35 All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

Do you see how Peter encounters a man and simply says, “Jesus Christ heals you”? When reading narratives, little stories like this in the Bible, it’s always good to take a pause and think deeper.

• Think about it: Peter was there when Jesus Christ healed people who were paralyzed and told them to pick up their mat and walk. Peter is just following what Jesus taught him.
• Think about it: This man Aeneas has been bedridden for 8 years. But someone took care of him. This person or these people are never mentioned. They are the silent care-givers. They brought him through 8 years of suffering illness until God brought healing through a traveling minister named Peter.
• Think about it: They did acts of service, not for public recognition, but because these good deeds testified to love. They carried him until he could hear the words that Jesus Christ heals you.
• Think about it: Their silent caring…over 8 years of dormancy…finally bore fruit for this man Aenaeus and for all those who lived in Lydda and Sharon who would see his miraculous healing and turn to the Lord who truly saves.

Our second scene is a resurrection from the dead kind of like when Jesus healed Lazarus and yes, Peter was there too. And now Peter is following Christ again:

36 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when translated, is Dorcas), who was always doing good and helping the poor. 37 About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. 38 Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!” 39 Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them. 40 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. 41 He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called the believers and the widows and presented her to them alive. 42 This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. 43 Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.

Go deeper than the words and think about it!

• Think about how the good deeds Tabitha did, her service to the poor communicated her love. They testified to love.
• Think about it: Tabitha was dead, only hours away from burial in the Jewish culture and yet, these people believed that God could perform a miracle. That disciples like Peter would know how to bring her back to life.
• Think about it: Peter had been there when Lazarus walked out of the tomb and when Jairus’ daughter was healed. Jesus sent people out and then said Talitha koum.  Peter’s words, if spoken in Aramaic, his likely language here would be Tabitha koum differed from Christ’s healing words by only one letter. Peter did an act of service that was patterned after that of Christ Himself…but Peter didn’t have the power on his own heal with a word the way Jesus did, so what did Peter do? He prayed.
• Think about it: Tabitha’s earthly resurrection would be known, but it wouldn’t last. Someday she would die. Lazarus died. Jairus died. His daughter died. There is a greater healing than just physical walking like Aenaeus, or than coming back to earthly life like Tabitha. There is a greater healing.

Which brings us to the third scene—the greatest healing yet. I sure wish I had a few weeks to spend on this amazing passage in Acts 10. We could learn so many truths by studying this longest story in Acts for weeks and weeks! We could learn:

• That fearing God is wisdom.
• That generosity to others, caring for the poor are the horizontal (to man) part of what Jesus said was the most important commandment, Love God and love others.
• Prayers and gifts to the poor rise to God and are noticed by Him with great joy and favor. God blesses us when we bless others.
• Prayer is how God makes His will known to us.
• That no one is too common or too undesirable that we cannot reach out to them. Today’s low-life is tomorrow’s brother or sister in Christ.
• That repentance of our prejudices is important. Baltimore could learn that.
• That we must wrestle with those things that make us uncomfortable, and ask ourselves why. It’s in the wrestling that we discover our hardness of heart and our prejudices, and our unwillingness to change or to live like redeemed people.

Acts 10 is rich with all kinds of important theological truths if only we read for understanding of the hidden gems of truth.

But the one I want to focus on today is that acts of service testify to love and God sees these and can bless us for them.

Cornelius was such a man. God fearing. Devout. Generous to the poor.

But these things alone couldn’t save him.

These things alone couldn’t save him. Cornelius needed more.

He needed the Gospel.

And that’s why the angel in today’s story prepared Peter to overcome his natural prejudice against Gentiles and prepared Cornelius to receive eternal life by sending someone who could tell him about Jesus and what Jesus had done. Good deeds were not enough. He needed Jesus! We cannot study the whole passage today, but since it’s definitely worth a read, that’s what I’m going to do (inserting a few comments along the way)

Acts 10:1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. [generosity and prayer are good things!] 3 One day at about three in the afternoon [regular time of prayer] he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!” 4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. [Just as Jesus feels everything we do to the Church, God knows all the good things that are done in service to others.] 5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.” [Simon the tanner would be on the outskirts of the city because of the smell of tanning. It was considered an unclean profession so it was surprising that Peter would be staying there.] 7 When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. 8 He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa. [Cornelius is already preparing his servants and fellow soldiers for what is to come next, hearing the Gospel] 9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. [noon was not a regular time, but the roof was away from the bustle of the household] 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. 13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” 14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” 15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” 16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven. [Why Peter didn’t believe the first time, we don’t know. The words No and Lord don’t go together very well. Perhaps he thought it was a test, but then again it might be a reflection of how ingrained the prejudices were in him. Good Jews aren’t like those low-life Gentiles who will eat anything. Sometimes it takes a lot for us to give up our prejudices.] 17 While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. 18 They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there. 19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you. 20 So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.” [Peter was already prepared for this by the vision.] 21 Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?” 22 The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to have you come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.” 23 Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests. The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went along. 24 The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. 26 But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.” [Peter knew he was not to be worshiped. He was only a messenger with a message of good news.] 27 Talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. 28 He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean. 29 So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?” 30 Cornelius answered: “Four days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. 32 Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’ 33 So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.” 34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached– 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. 39 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen– by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” [This is the fullest accounting of the Gospel in any of Peter’s speeches.] 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, 47 “Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” 48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

Far better than just a physical healing, or an earthly resurrection, Cornelius and his whole household got the best testimony of love that anyone could ever ask for. The best healing, an eternal one!

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

This is the best act of service that testifies to love. It is an act of love that stands alone.

In the upward progression of healing, resurrection to earthly life, and salvation to eternal life, there is one that we can routinely bring about. We can do acts of kindness and service, we can pray, and we can listen for God’s voice and direction. We can ask God for favor as we do the one thing that we can do in that upward progression. We can share the Gospel. We can share the Good News. Eternal life is not ours to give, but when we share Jesus with others, like Peter did, God will do the rest without favoritism or prejudice.

And just like motherhood with wayward children, or the silent caregivers of Aenaeus, we may never hear words of thanks, no words of recognition, there may be no appreciation, or awareness that what we’ve done has done any good, but we have something better than a once-a-year obligatory Hallmark holiday, we have a faithful God who sees all the good deeds done and hears all the prayers we’ve prayed as silent caregivers, and we’ll know on the other side of heaven what God knows now…because He is faithful to do the rest.

This Mother’s Day message “Acts of Service Testify to Love” on Peter’s ministry from Acts 9 and 10 was first preached at Plymouth Congregational Church of Racine, WI on May 10, 2015

Click link to listen on YouTube:

Ray Kinsela is the Iowa farmer in the movie Field of Dreams who plows under his corn crop to build a baseball field when he hears the voice saying “If you build it, he will come.” So he does it and goes out to meet the author Terence Mann who he’s supposed to take to a baseball game at Fenway Park. When Mann asks him, “Why go through with it?”, Kinsela says “It’s a long story. But it’s a good one.”

Today’s story is like that but even better because it’s not only a good story, it’s the best of stories.

It’s not only a good story, it’s a true story that has been told for almost 2000 years and is every bit as good and true today as it was when it first happened to the Apostle Paul whose Jewish name was Saul.

The Bible is filled with great stories: Creation, the Fall of Man, the Exodus, the birth of Jesus Christ, the empty tomb at Easter, and the Lamb of God at the end of time. And while all those are interesting and good stories, the story of the conversion of Saul is one we can put our fingers on. We can reach out and touch it. We find hope in this story that if the God who created the universe, who banished Adam and Eve, who rescued the Israelites out of Egypt, who came to us as God made flesh, who died and was resurrected and will come in Judgment someday didn’t just do these things for someone else. He did them in a very real way to you…and to me. If He could save someone as evil as Saul the “worst of sinners”, He can save me too.

Because it’s such a good story, I’m going to read it aloud. Not like the clergyman Mr. Collins in the book Pride and Prejudice who says, “I thought I might read to you for an hour or two. I have with me Fordyce’s sermons that speak eloquently on all matters moral.  Are you familiar with Fordyce’s sermons?” It won’t take an hour or two. But reading this story is helpful because no one tells it better than Luke, the author of Acts, unless the one retelling it is Paul himself…which he’ll do two more times in the book of Acts. This story is that powerful that it gets better and better each time you hear it.

After I finish reading it, I’ll go back and point out a couple of things. Stephen has just been stoned to death, Saul approved. The church was scattered. Philip was scattered to Samaria and now Acts 9.

Acts 9:1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” 7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. 10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered. 11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” 13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” 15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” 17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord– Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here– has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ. 23 After many days had gone by, the Jews conspired to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. 25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall. 26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He talked and debated with the Grecian Jews, but they tried to kill him. 30 When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. 31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.

This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God!

It’s the best of stories. The evil villain Saul is out to kill Christians…breathing murderous threats when suddenly he sees the Risen Lord. This is the last of the Resurrection appearances of Christ. No one else has seen Jesus face to face since.

This is not just a vision. It’s not just a dream. This is not an imagination, a magic trick, or a drug-induced trip.

This is a confrontation of Saul by the post-Resurrection Jesus of Nazareth. Less than 30 words and it changed Saul’s life.

Saul sees Jesus and then Saul goes blind for 3 days to give him an indelible memory—to fix it in his brain forever—and something to think about theologically for 3 solid days in fasting and prayer.

So the first thing to notice is that Saul (who we’ve said was like ISIS before ISIS was ISIS) is out to kill Christians. Every single one he can find whether men or women. He was terrorizing homes and whole towns. He was a household name and it wasn’t good.

Reflection point #1: If Saul, the worst of sinners, can experience a turnaround, then so can I.

Saul has companions who see the flash of light and hear a sound like thunder but don’t see Jesus. Nevertheless, they see Saul fall to his knees and they give up their task of killing Christians. Instead, they take him by the hand and lead him to Damascus.

Do you think Paul was just silent this whole time? The Scriptures say he was blind, not speechless.

If you were on Wheel of Fortune and had the million dollar wedge and then, Pat gives it a final spin, the Wheel landed on the $3500 wedge and you get $4500 for every consonant, Vanna was busy because you got them all…and then won the game and went to the winner’s puzzle and you solved it and the million dollars was your prize revealed at the end…do you think you’d tell anyone? Sure you would. No one could shut you up!

I wonder what Saul told his companions as they were taking him by the hand to lead him to Damascus. I wonder what he might have said as he explained what he was doing on his knees and why he couldn’t see. Less than 30 words from the Risen Christ and it changed Saul’s life forever!

Reflection point #2: This event changed the course of Saul’s life and likely impacted his traveling companions too. When you or I meet Christ—not face to face, but in His Word and believe in His Name—we become changed people too.

Jesus says, “Why do you persecute ME?” When people do things against the Church, this whole theology of the Church as the Body of Christ, Jesus feels the pain. Why are you persecuting ME? Saul only asks “Who are you?” I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

Wow.

When Stephen was stoned, it was Jesus who felt every blow. When 21 the Coptic Christians were beheaded by ISIS, Jesus felt it all 21 times. When pastors or priests lie, commit adultery, embezzle, cheat, betray, molest Catholic altar boys, fall from grace and bring disrepute upon the Church and because of that, people leave or fall away from the faith, you know what? Jesus feels the pain, the sin, the abandonment, the betrayal, the grief, and the shame we experience as if it was His own.

Reflection point #3: Every single thing we do to the Church is felt by Jesus.

Ananias was no fool. He’d heard all about Saul. He didn’t want to be taken and put in prison, stoned to death for blasphemy, etc. When in a vision, the Lord speaks to the disciple Ananias, it’s no wonder that Ananias was unwilling at first. He was scared all the way down to his socks. But he obeyed anyway.

Reflection point #4: Fear God and obey Him.

Ananias’ obedience was only outdone by his generous and kind spirit. Brother Saul.

Can you imagine what healing words those two words must have been to Saul?

Brother Saul.

His past was behind him. He was part of the family now. Brother Saul.

Reflection point #5: In the Church we are all brothers and sisters. No one has a past so bad that Christ can’t forgive it. No one’s past is so bad that it prevents them from being part of the family in the present and for the future.

Saul’s eye sight is restored. He was a blind man healed to remind him of his spiritual blindness and how seeing the light of the Risen Lord healed him. Less than 30 words later, he was a changed man!

So as a changed man, he begins sharing Christ with others.

Reflection point #6: while the Church can forgive a past because Christ did, the world won’t be as forgiving.

The arch-persecutor becomes the arch-persecuted. It’s so bad that he’ll be a fugitive the rest of his life because everyone he used to hang with wants to kill him now. Hiding in a basket being dropped outside the city at night. Being sent away. He’s going to suffer a lot for the Name of Christ. Jesus even said so. And it’s precisely because Saul had been as bad as he was that the change witnessed as much as it did to the powerful forgiveness of Christ.

Reflection point #7: Everyone needs an Ananias and a Barnabas in their lives.

Brother Saul, so encouraging. And Barnabas takes Saul not just to the Church but to the apostles themselves. Barnabas put his neck on the line for Saul. Brave. Encouraging. A friend when Saul really needed one.

And they welcomed him.

They welcomed him.

And Jesus felt that too.

It must have reminded the apostles of what Jesus said to them Luke 9:48 Then [Jesus] said to [His disciples], “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all– he is the greatest.”

Saul, the worst of sinners, the most undeserving, the cruelest, meanest, most violent, most unworthy piece of human debris to walk the planet, who had persecuted Christ himself over and over and over again…is God’s chosen instrument to bring God’s Name to the Gentiles and to write so many letters to churches and to lay out the most articulate theology of the plan of salvation our Bibles contain.

The worst of sinners saved.

They welcomed him.

And what’s the result of all this?

Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.”

The cycle continues: Pure Church, Powerful Church, Growing Church, Persecuted Church.

That’s what happens when we welcome the worst of sinners who has come to his senses and been saved. We are strengthened; we are encouraged; we grow; and we will experience times of peaceful purity between times of persecution.

It’s a great story. It’s one I can’t get enough of. It’s a perfect picture of redemption. Saul, Saul, Why do you persecute ME? Who are you Lord? I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

What might Plymouth Church know today as changed people? What will we know regarding salvation of sinners? Or turnarounds? How about our ability to impact others? Will Jesus feel welcomed here? Will we fear God and obey Him? Will we welcome those whose pasts are bad? Will we stand firm though the world is arrayed against us? Will we be an encourager to someone? What does Jesus feel as His presence in our midst?

Let’s pray.

The Conversion of Saul is not only a good story, it’s one of the best.  In less than 30 words from the Risen Lord, Saul is a changed man.  Enjoy the audio version on YouTube of this message preached by Barbara Shafer on April 26, 2015.