Scripture/Sermon of the Day May 1, 2022

Acts 9:1-20

The Conversion of Saul

Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and 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. 3 Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. 8 Saul 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. 9 For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 The 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, 12 and 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.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.” 15 But 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; 16 I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 17 So 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.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Saul Preaches in Damascus

For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, 20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

Reflection/Sermon:

I. This is one of the most famous scripture passages in the New Testament, after the gospels. God chose Paul to be a missionary for Jesus Christ, to Jewish and non-Jewish people.
My mother’s family came from one of the places in Turkey where Paul visited and established a church, Pergamon. I wish I was famous so Henry Louis Gates, Jr., would do an episode of Finding Your Roots with me. Maybe my family tree goes back to St. Paul. People who thought they were enemies discover that actually they’re related!!! Slave owners had children with their slaves. Gayle King was shocked to discover that she was a third white. White people discover that they’re part African.

II. Here’s something I just realized about the man in our reading today. Saul was from Tarsus. That’s in South-central Turkey, twelve miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea. If you go North from Paul’s city of Tarsus, you come to the Black Sea. If you take a ship north and cross the Black Sea — you would be in Ukraine.
If you go east from Tarsus, you are in Greece and Italy. If you go west you are in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Saul was in the heart of the ancient Mediterranean world. He was the perfect cosmopolitan missionary. But before he spread the gospel, he tried to kill it.
An insight of this story is that we have a great capacity to change and grow in different directions. Saul was the enemy of Christianity before he became its ambassador. Hopefully each of us will keep growing.

III. I talked with Paul Furgalack a couple nights ago. We’ve prayed for him since he was diagnosed with cancer. Because of the his surgery, Paul isn’t able to play the harmonica. But he’s learning piano now. See — there’s another Paul who is changing.

IV. I just changed this morning! I read about Saul since my teens. If someone asked me, “When did Saul’s name change to Paul?” — I would have said, “After he was converted, on the road to Damascus.” I just discovered that’s wrong! This (Saturday) morning — I saw that Saul — or Paul — never was given a new name after his conversion. He was always Saul and people sometimes called him Paul (see Acts chapter 13).
Janet asked me Friday night about Paul and why was his name changed and I couldn’t think of where in the Bible that happened. Saturday morning I looked — and discovered — it never happened. Acts chapter 13 says he was always Saul — sometimes called Paul.

V. Our reading this morning shows how important it is, with God’s help, to remain humble and open because we never stop growing and changing, no matter what our age is. Paul converted to Christianity, the religion he tried to destroy. Once he arrested Christians and threw them in jail, now he’s the Christian arrested and thrown in jail!

VI. When Saul’s blindness was healed he went to the synagogues and proclaimed that Jesus is the Son of God.
That’s what we see when our spiritual blindness is healed. We SEE that Jesus and God are LOVE.
We SEE that God loves everyone.
So think about this: Jesus did not punish people — he taught the opposite — if someone hurts us, be kind to them. The God revealed by Jesus would not cast anyone into hell. JESUS TOOK HELL OUT OF PEOPLE! REMEMBER — HE WAS AN EXORCIST.
And if we find through our own error that we are in hell, Jesus will find us and bring us back to the place of love and peace — the kingdom of heaven. That is love’s mission — to find us when we are lost and bring us back to God’s loving embrace.