Resurrection Expectations: Acts 9:1-20 - Third Sunday of Easter

¹Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest ²and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. ³Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” ⁵He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ⁶But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” ⁷The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. ⁸Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. ⁹For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
  ¹⁰Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” ¹¹The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, ¹²and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” ¹³But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; ¹⁴and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.” ¹⁵But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; ¹⁶I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” ¹⁷So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, ¹⁹and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
  For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, ²⁰and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” (NRSV) 

The Conversion of St Paul by Lawrence OP on Flickr. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 

If you want to succeed in business, a good name is one of your most valuable assets. Some business owners fail miserably in this regard:

• Sam and Ella’s Chicken Palace
• Amigone Funeral Home
• Passmore Gas & Propane
• Choose Spain imports
• A Salt & Battery Fish & Chips

And if you were a disciple of Jesus in the earliest days of the Church, one name would’ve brought fear and loathing like no other: Saul of Tarsus.

Saul was the apostle of death. Endowed with the authority of the high priest in Jerusalem, he went from house to house, dragging off Christians and putting them in prison. He stirred up an angry mob to stone Stephen to death, on account of his testimony about Jesus. A short time later, he was on his way to Damascus in order hunt down Christians and extradite them to Jerusalem… And then it happened: a lightning bolt from heaven knocks him to the ground, and a voice from heaven asks him, “Saul, why do you persecute me? I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting!”

Stricken with blindness, Saul’s traveling companions lead him to Damascus, where a disciple named Ananias was waiting—sent by God to lay hands upon him and restore his sight.

But Ananias knew all about Saul—and at first, he was hesitant to do what God was calling him to do…

Think about it: had Jesus not appeared to Saul, Saul would’ve likely arrested Ananias and had him killed. But now, Jesus is raising up Saul as his “chosen instrument” to herald his name to the nations…

Surely, there were plenty of other qualified men and women out there whom God could’ve raised up to carry out the task. So why Saul?

This is troubling to me, now that we’re living in a time where people of all faiths are being massacred in their houses of worship— by people who foolishly believe their violence is divinely sanctioned.

That being said, God’s always had a way of raising up the most unlikely, unqualified people for the most gargantuan of tasks: Sarai, the barren old woman; Moses, who stuttered; David, the little Shepherd boy; or Esther, the accidental queen of Persia. Except none of these persons was a killer…

And yet, in a way, Jesus killed Saul, the apostle of death. Saul spent three days in the dark—helpless and blind, unable to eat or drink, having seen God but not sure what was going to happen next…

When the scales fell off of his eyes, he was a new man, with a new name, and a new purpose. No longer would he go about ravaging the church. Now he was building it up. And just as God said, Paul will suffer much for Jesus. His preaching, his letters, his leadership, and his chains will proclaim the name of Jesus.

All told, God raises up Saul/Paul as the most extreme demonstration of Christ’s power to take a person and make them a new creation. What better person could there have been to testify to the mercies of God than a man who truly needed it more than anyone else—and ultimately received it?

Just consider Mike… He always said he couldn’t understand how anyone could live without Jesus. Last Sunday, the joy of the Lord was absolutely radiating from the man. And he wasn’t in blissful denial about his health. He knew the cancer would be cutting his life short. But he said all along, “God is my strength.” Mike’s plan was to speak before all of you today, to tell you of his diagnoses and give testimony to God’s grace. Mike’s life will be that testimony. In him, we see what Jesus does: he gives life to the dying.

When it comes to Jesus, and his power to bring about resurrection and rebirth, we think too small. Our expectations are too low. Our anxieties are too high.

Do you feel like your misfortunes and past mistakes are in control of your destiny? Are you in bondage to worry, to depression, to exhaustion, to doubt?

Do you believe, that because we are First Lutheran Church, a 205-year-old congregation in a 116-year-old building, that God’s work is winding down here? That there’s little hope of Leechburg being healed of the poverty, drugs, and blight that’s afflicting us?

Do you believe that Jesus wants you to know him and experience him more deeply, more completely? That he personally cares about the death and darkness that’s befallen you? Do you believe that there is new life for you, for the church, for the neighbor, for the world?

A big part of what we do as a church is that we remove the scales from each other’s eyes so that we can see Jesus’ presence more clearly, and do his work more boldly! A new creation is waiting to be born in you.

I don’t know what the future holds. None of us does. Mike didn’t know, this time last week… But Jesus is risen! Death and the devil are not going to win. Expect, then, that your prayers are being heard! God will be your strength! Your love and good works are making a difference. Your faith is not in vain. God’s love is in the world.

Believe it or not, your neighbors want to experience the love of Jesus. They are hungry for the new life we feast upon. Don’t underestimate the name of Jesus—and what he can accomplish in the person bearing your name; and the name First Lutheran Church. Nothing less than the resurrection of Saul into Paul—and the resurrection of Mike—is what Jesus wants to accomplish in you, the neighbor, and the world.