Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon May 4, 2008
David Letterman had “Top 10 signs that you have no friends”. Here are some of the lists from the top 10.
#8. James Taylor sings the first bars of “You’ve Got a Friend,” notices you in the audience and stops.
#7. Having a Super Bowl party means dressing up your dogs and tying them to the furniture.
#6. At your funeral, the entire eulogy is, “Yep, he’s dead.”
#4. You are one of the five best solitaire players in the world.
#2. You go to a video store and say out loud to yourself, “Well, what do you want to rent tonight?”
#1. No calls from salespeople pushing MCI’s “Friends and Family” plan. --- Well, something more relevant for today would be, “No need to switch to T-Mobile for their Myfaves to make unlimited calling to your non-existent 5 favorite people.”
When we think of Saul before he became a Christ follower, a Christian, there were plenty of signs that this man was no friend of Christians. Do you remember when Stephen was being stoned to death for his faith and hope in Jesus Christ who was also there? Acts 8:1 reads, “And Saul was there, giving approval to his death.” Saul was actively involved in all out effort to root out Christianity from the face of Jerusalem. He was no friend of Christians. Following Stephen’s martyrdom under the approval of Saul led to a widespread persecution. And, many Christians ended up leaving Jerusalem and scattering throughout Judea and Samaria.
And, in today’s passage, Acts 9:1-2 reads “Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 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.”
Saul was single-mindedly passionate about rooting out the people who followed Jesus Christ, those who belonged to the Way. When many who belonged to the Way, to Jesus Christ, scattered through Judea and Samaria, he went after them. He was tenacious, tireless, absolutely determined to mow down any who belonged to the Way.
There would be far greater than 10 lists for why Saul was no friend of Christians. Well, to say that Saul was no friend of Christians is really an understatement; he was a greatly feared enemy of Christians. His name alone was enough to chill any courage one might had. Any one who belonged to the Way, to Jesus Christ, the common sense would be to avoid him like a plague.
But, in this story, what we see is the message of the gospel clearly spelled out for us by Jesus’ radical pursuit of friendship with Saul.
- Jesus is in the business of turning his enemies into his friends.
This was one of the great defining moments in the history of Christianity. If anyone was going to remain as the ardent fanatic, the hater, the enemy of everything that was represented by Jesus Christ would have been Saul.
When Saul stood there guarding the clothes of the Jews who stoned Stephen to death, there was nothing but the profound satisfaction in doing what he thought was absolutely right. He was the champion, the guardian, the enforcer of the Judaism against the gospel message of Jesus Christ that challenged the way of life.
You can almost imagine him, picture him with his head high marching on to Damascus with deeply seeded hatred, bitterness, animosity against anyone who belonged the Way. If there is such thing as perfect hatred, Saul had it against Christians, against Christ. From Jerusalem to Damascus, we are talking about close to 200 miles, well over many days of journey on foot. Not only was he going to get to Damascus, he was going to round up all who belonged to the Way and ruthless bring them to Jerusalem as prisoners.
Have you met anyone who possesses this kind of passion to go after you, to destroy you? Goodness, that would be truly scary to have someone like Saul come after us, don’t you think?
How was Jesus to deal with Saul who was bent on mowing down any who belonged to Jesus? How were the followers of Jesus Christ to pray for this guy, the enemy of the gospel, their principal persecutor? Wouldn’t be tempting to ask God to take this guy out? There are plenty of passages we can quote from Psalms to bring destruction on Saul for opposing the true Messiah. It would be nothing for God to extend his arms of judgment to take him out of the picture.
But, what we see is Jesus is in the business of turning his enemies into his friends. This really is the essence, the power of the gospel. If the gospel of Jesus Christ changed Saul, who was complete hater of all that Jesus stood for, if Jesus can change the hardened Pharisee of the Pharisees, the sinner of the sinners, the persecutor of persecutors, it shows us that none of us are out of the reach of God’s transforming power through his Son.
1 Timothy 1:15-17, Saul, the apostle Paul wrote, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
Jesus is in the business of turning enemies into his friends.
- Jesus initiates and deals with sins to turn his enemies into his friends.
Literally, Saul was breathing out murderous threats against Christians when he met Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. There was no sign other than this man was full of hatred against Jesus, against Jesus’ people. Saul showed no sign that his heart was getting softer to receive the gospel. His heart remained icy cold, bitter, hate filled, full of self-righteousness, convinced that he could do no wrong. Saul was making no movement towards Jesus Christ except to destroy anyone who belong to him, believing that Jesus was no Messiah.
While Saul made no attempt to draw closer to Jesus for the purpose of submitting to him, to get to know him, to be known by him, we see Jesus making the initiative.
We see in verse 4-9, Jesus dealing with Saul for his sins of unbelief and persecution against Christians. Jesus’ question to Saul reveals what he thought of Saul’s action. Verse 4, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” And, verse 5, if that wasn’t clear enough Jesus said again, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”
We see how Saul got the theology of the body of Christ. Anytime anyone persecutes Christians, they are not just massing with Christians, but they are massing with Jesus Christ who is the head of the body of Christ, the make up of Christians.
Jesus wasn’t sitting around doing nothing. While Saul was making his moves to round up Christians, Jesus made his move to convict Saul of his sins. Jesus showed up in complete High Definition in full audio-visual sounds and light. Jesus really wanted to get Saul’s attention and he got it. Not only did Jesus get Saul’s attention by showing up, but more than that. Jesus struck Saul with blindness for three days (v. 8-9).
This is when Saul’s murderous threat was stalled by Jesus. Saul, who marched pompously looking for Christians to arrest, got arrested by Jesus and rendered helpless and out of control.
Saul was suffering from sins of pride, self-righteousness, self-dependency, rejecting the truth of the gospel, rejecting ultimately the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Saul’s pride manifested feelings of being in control and in power even over Jesus Christ and his people. To deal with these sins, Jesus took away the very means of control, the eye sight. Jesus shone his glorious radiance and blinded Saul’s eyes for little bit. Jesus did this so that before Saul can see the true light of salvation, he would take time to confront the inner darkness of his heart, his sins, his wickedness. What was he doing for these three days? Well, he couldn’t get around much. It says in verse 9, for three days he… did not eat or drink anything, and verse 11 that Saul was praying.
à Apply…
Before we can see the light, we must too confront the inner darkness of our hearts. But, if we don’t take time to evaluate our own actions, behaviors, hearts’ motives through the standard of God’s word through the Holy Spirit, Jesus will force the issue with us as he did with Paul.
It is paramount that we take daily moments to shot our eyes and search our inner hearts for any dark spot with the help of the Holy Spirit. Honest reflection is vital to the healthy spirituality. There is a great value in fasting as well as. Saul took the most extreme form of fasting, abstaining from food and water all together. It really takes these down times when we tune out the outside and search the inners hearts with the help of the Spirit to discern the darkness that lingers in us.
- Jesus is looking for ordinary people like Ananias to be his hands, his feet and his mouthpiece.
If you ever come across anyone who believes that there is such thing as solitary Christianity, meaning solo Christian life in isolation, you must reject such belief because it is a simply a lie far from the truth.
Ananias wasn’t apostle. He wasn’t big name Christian guy. But, what we see in our text is God using this ordinary person in extraordinary way. He is known in verse 10 simply as a disciple. And, we understand what a disciple is when we consider his action when a vision is given to him by God.
In the vision, the Lord spoke to Ananias to go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. And, the Lord further instructed Ananias how Saul saw also a vision of Ananias coming to restore Saul’s sight.
Ananias’ immediate response isn’t to say, “Yes, Lord.” Before he could say, “Yes, Lord,” Ananias had this barrier to obedience. He had fear, concerns. Saul was notorious for having caused great deal of harm to Christians in Jerusalem. And, the fact that Saul came to arrest all who call on Jesus’ name was plainly known.
The Lord didn’t rebuke Ananias for having a doubt, a fear, a concern. Instead, the Lord addressed Ananias’ fear by letting him on his plan, how he had chosen Saul as his instrument to carry his name to others, how he would suffer for his name.
Here, we see what Jesus meant when he called his disciples friends. John 15:14-16, Jesus said, “You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not chose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-fruit that will last.”
Now we must get this straight. We don’t call Jesus our friends as though he is our buddies. The truth is Jesus calls us friends. And, we are his friends when we do what he commands. But, when Jesus commands us to do his will, it is in the context of being let in on God’s kingdom plan. God lets us in on his kingdom plan. He shares with us what he is trying to do and calls us to participate in his kingdom plan. That is exactly what he does with Ananias. Jesus let Ananias in on what the Father was doing with Saul.
à Apply… We got to get this picture. Although Saul, also known as Paul is the dominant and prominent figure in the New Testament, he owed his existence to this ordinary man Ananias, simply known as a disciple. You and I are all called to be Ananias to come along side of others to minister God’s grace, to be Jesus’ hands, his feet, his mouthpiece.
And, the practical thing we can apply is to ask Jesus to show us what he is doing in people’s lives. He will show us what he is doing in other people when he calls us to minister to others. I know that some of you have experienced how Jesus let you in on what he is doing in other peoples’ lives to whom you are called to minister. It is thrilling experience to know that Jesus wants to share the Father’s kingdom business with us. This is what it means to be Jesus’ friends, to participate in the kingdom business through joyful obedience.
- Jesus calls us to expect suffering for he is suffering servant.
Lastly, I want us to pay attention to what Jesus said about Saul, how he would show him how much he must suffer for my name.
One thing that is consistent through the Bible is that we are called to walk the narrow path. People choose to walk broad paths that are easy to walk, have little demands or expectation. But, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is very clear on this. Jesus calls to walk the narrow path just as he walked the narrowest path. I talked about how we must not walk the path of least resistance. But, instead walk the path of resistance.
When we tell others about the gospel, we must make it clear that Jesus’ call is to the narrow path that would involve suffering for Jesus’ name. Jesus calls us to follow his path. And, the path that he walked was the road of suffering that lead to his ultimate glory.
As we learn more about Saul’s life and others, we are going to see how they suffered for the name of Jesus, why they suffered, how they felt about it.
à Apply
Ministering to others as I said to some of you requires varying degrees of suffering. If Jesus was rejected, suffered, was killed, why are we surprised when people reject us when we share the gospel, when we extent the love of Jesus Christ, when we reach out?
We need to cultivate this understanding… the call to follow Jesus Christ is to be like Christ. It means living out Christ’s life here on earth as he did. And, faithfully walking, imitating him, doing his will certainly require facing sufferings of varying degrees.
If we don’t get this right from the beginning, we reduce the gospel to the prosperity gospel, the gospel that exists for our own comfort, riches and good, instead of the gospel that builds us on the life of Jesus, the gospel that expands the kingdom of God, the gospel that makes much about God and be very happy doing it.
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