When We Know Better than God – Ananias
Saul of Tarsus is such an important character in the New Testament and in church history that we wish we knew more about him. Still there’s a significant amount of information we can learn from a close reading of Acts and the letters that are attributed to him. We see in Acts 22:3 and 26:4 that as a young man he received some of his education in Jerusalem under well-known Rabbi Gamaliel and that Saul was “educated strictly according to our ancestral law, being zealous for God.” Gamaliel’s calm voice of tolerance in Acts 5:34-39 advocated not executing or imprisoning the followers of Jesus but letting them go and letting them be because if what they were doing was of human origin it would certainly fail. If it was of God, then, he said, “you will not be able to overthrow them – in that case you may even be found fighting against God!” Unfortunately, Saul was a strong-willed individual and rather than keeping away from Peter and other followers of Jesus and letting them alone as Gamaliel advised (Acts 5:38), Saul aggressively went after them.
June 22, 2014
Acts 9:10-19, When We Know Better than God – Ananias
Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church
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We meet Saul for the first time in Acts 7:58, where the murderous crowd that drags Stephen outside of Jerusalem and begins to stone him to death, “laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. And Saul approved of their killing him…Saul was ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women, he committed them to prison (Acts 8:1-3).” Saul was such an enemy of the church he was willing to travel 135 miles to Damascus in order to expand what began as a local persecution against believers in Jerusalem. Before he meets Jesus, Saul is a zealous, focused, obsessed, persecutor of the church willing to do whatever was necessary including imprisoning men and women or even approving of murder by a mob to stop the advance of Jesus’ followers. Then in Acts 9, Saul has a life-changing encounter with the risen Christ. Many of us who follow Jesus have not had an experience like that of Saul who saw a light flash and heard a voice. However, Saul was not only far from God’s will, he was actively seeking to persecute the church which is the body of Christ. So it isn’t surprising that he had a rather dramatic experience of being confronted by and coming to faith in Jesus.
Given his previous activities against followers of The Way, what do you think Saul was reflecting about during his three days of blindness and fasting after his dramatic experience on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:9)? Can you picture the depths of reflection and self-examination Saul was going through thinking that in being zealous for God he had actually been doing the exact opposite of what God wanted him to do? That brings us to Acts 9:10-19,
“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; 16I 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.”
How would you feel if you were in the place of Ananias? Can you imagine how you’d feel if there was a well-known person on Cape Cod who was going from town to town looking for believers and getting them thrown in prison who the Lord told you to go meet at a certain location in order to pray for him and lay hands on him? We can appreciate Ananias’s hesitation and reluctance to reach out to Saul, much less to pray for him. Ananias is asked to go to someone who he thinks is beyond God’s reach – someone he rightly perceives as an enemy who means him harm. Are there individuals or types of people you assume are beyond God’s reach so that, if God spoke to you about speaking to or praying with them, you’d question the instruction? Ananias thinks he knows better than God about other people and about what is possible so his first response is to tell God that the Almighty must be lacking in information regarding who Saul is and what he’s doing because if he knew who Saul was Ananias wouldn’t be asked to go to him and pray for him.
Acts 9:1-19 is usually described as the conversion of Saul, who became the Apostle Paul, the greatest missionary, evangelist, and church planter in the history of Christianity and the author of much of the New Testament. In reality, it’s the story of two men who are converted: Saul and Ananias. Consider the differences between these two men. Saul was threatening imprisonment and death to anyone who belonged to the Way. Ananias was a follower of the Way, and evidently one of the leaders of the believers at Damascus. The movement of people following Jesus was first called the Way because being a Christ follower means following a person in a Way of living. To do so requires knowing Jesus who said (John 14:6), “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.” Ananias is doing that and Saul is out to imprison or kill those who do, yet God continues to extend grace to both of them. No matter how close to or far from God we are, Jesus is still reaching out to us seeking to draw us closer. Saul was a Pharisee, zealously fighting against those who would stain or misrepresent his faith. He was educated, politically connected, and driven.
All we know of Ananias was that he evidently was one of the leaders of the Christian community in Damascus. Clearly he was a man of courage and faith because God wouldn’t have given a weak or wavering disciple this assignment. On the surface, Saul would appear to be the one with the power and authority. But he learns there’s a power and an authority he has not known or recognized. When Saul sees a light from heaven and hears a voice call his name, he doesn’t know who is talking to him and he has to ask the speaker’s identity. When Ananias has a vision and hears a voice call his name he knows exactly who is talking to him. Ananias responds like a soldier reporting to his commander, “Here I am, Lord.” He responds like the prophet Isaiah did in Isaiah chapter 6 when the Lord appeared to him and had a job for him to do. The Lord said to Isaiah (6:9-10), “Go and say to this people: keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.’ Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds…” These words describe Saul’s spiritual condition. He was listening and not comprehending, his eyes were shut and he couldn’t see. His blindness is symbolic of his spiritual condition, he knows a great deal about religion, but he doesn’t have a personal faith. He is driven, but if we’re lost, driving faster simply gets us further away from where we need to be at a faster rate. Saul didn’t know Jesus personally; he certainly didn’t expect to meet the risen Lord Jesus on the road and to be blinded.
The Lord tells Saul and Ananias the same thing, Get up and go. Saul, who doesn’t know the Lord is treated like an outsider, information is given to him on a need to know basis. “Get up, enter the city, and you’ll be told what to do.” Ananias, who knows the Lord, is given a specific, detailed assignment. This is consistent with what we know about relationships. To this point, Saul has been an enemy of the Lord so while what is happening is a result of God’s grace, Saul is not treated in the same way as someone who is a friend of the Lord’s like Ananias. When he hears the Lord’s instructions, Ananias protests. Saul is an evil man who’s coming to Damascus to arrest believers. The idea of going to him and praying and laying hands on him so he can get his sight back must sound strange or at least surprising to Ananias. I wonder if he was thinking, “You must be kidding? Pray for my enemy? I know Jesus said to do that in the Sermon on the Mount, but I didn’t think he really meant it.” It feels more natural to many of us to rant, demean, insult, and dehumanize enemies rather than to pray for them much less in person!
But Ananias is obedient and when God confirms the instructions, he goes and enters the house and he says the most grace-filled words in the entire passage, perhaps some of the most grace-filled words in the Bible, “Brother Saul.” In his book, A Work of Heart: Understanding How God Shapes Spiritual Leaders, Reggie McNeal describes their meeting: “God could have restored sight to Paul without outside intervention. He had, after all, struck the Pharisee blind with no outside help. Yet God chose to mediate Paul’s healing and anointing through a human instrument in the person of Ananias. The most courageous believer in Damascus played out a parable of grace. Saul hoped to imprison Ananias, yet it is Ananias who came to set Paul free.
“The acceptance and touch of the obedient disciple of Jesus introduced a new spiritual reality to Paul. The Pharisee had persecuted Jesus, yet was rescued by him. Even though Saul’s original intentions in Damascus were to harm Ananias, the follower of Jesus immediately accepted Paul as a new brother. Saul experienced through Ananias something new – grace. Saul would come to see his previous efforts to attain righteousness as being revolting to God. The gift of grace restored his sight. Saul woke up to a brand new world of relationship to God and others based on the grace he had received.”
2 Peter 3:18 commands us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” While we’ll never perfectly reflect Jesus, our family likeness to God should increase. Walter Trobisch wrote, “Christ accepts us where we are, but when he accepts us, we cannot remain as we are.” Growing in grace and knowledge is more than a growth in external behaviors like attending worship or reading your Bible. Until this experience, Saul focused on fulfilling and getting others to fulfill external religious behaviors. Leo Tolstoy who wrote, The Kingdom of God is Within You, drew a contrast between Jesus’ approach and that of all other religions:
“The test of observance of external religious teachings is whether or not our conduct conforms with their decrees [Observe the Sabbath]. Such conformity is indeed possible. The test of observance of Christ’s teachings is our consciousness of our failure to attain an ideal perfection. The degree to which we draw near this perfection cannot be seen; all we can see is the extent of our deviation.
A man who professes an external law is like someone standing in the light of a lantern fixed to a post. It is light all around him, but there is nowhere further for him to walk. A man who professes the teaching of Christ is like a man carrying a lantern before him on a long, or not so long, pole: the light is in front of him, always lighting up fresh ground and always encouraging him to walk further.
In other words, the proof of spiritual maturity is not how “pure” you are but awareness of your impurity. That very awareness opens the door to grace.”
Saul had been standing by a lamp post, there was nowhere further for him to go. Ananias was carrying the light of the world before him on a pole, always encouraging him to walk further in grace. In the late 19th and early part of the 20th century, Elbert Hubbard traveled the United States lecturing on life when he wasn’t at home handcrafting fine furniture or publishing books. Among Hubbard’s memorable quotes is: “As we grow better, we meet better people.”
Isn’t it true that our judgment of others often reflects our own selves? Our attitudes alter our impressions of others. Our shortcomings spur our recognition of the shortcomings of others. But our companionship with Christ can help us grow. Jesus’ high expectations are accompanied by equally strong understanding, love, and forgiveness. Saul and Ananias had their perspectives and attitudes of others changed by God’s grace. They went from being enemies to brothers in faith.
Saul and Ananias are very different people at the end of this experience.
Saul has been converted. His spiritual blindness falls from his eyes like scales so that he now sees the Lord Jesus and followers of the Way in a totally different light. He’s baptized as a public expression of his desire to accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior, to have his sins washed away, and walk in the Way of Jesus for the rest of his life. This is a decision the Lord hopes all of us will make. If you haven’t yet been baptized and would like to know more about it or to be baptized, please speak with any of the pastors
Like Saul, Ananias has also grown in grace in understanding that there is no one beyond God’s reach; scales have fallen from his eyes as well. He learned that even one thought to be an enemy and a threat may become a brother in Christ. We need to be open to going to anyone the Lord directs us to as an instrument of grace. Both Saul and Ananias were pushed to see in a new way and they were led by the Lord to a fresh perspective that transformed their lives.
As we grow in grace and knowledge we can be instruments of God’s grace in helping others see their lives and challenges in new ways, and perhaps grow and change our selves in the process.
Author Flannery O’Connor once said of Paul, “I reckon the Lord knew that the only way to make a Christian out of that one was to knock him off his horse.”
Perhaps the story of Saul is helpful for those of us who need to be knocked off our horse – those of us who are so sure of our selves we don’t think we need any help or guidance from anyone else and we’re confident we’re going in the right direction. Perhaps Saul’s story is helpful for those who feel like the way they’ve lived their life to this point has put them beyond the reach of God’s love. The story of Paul is that of a man who saw the light and was blinded in order that he might truly see. It just might be that whatever your issue, problem, past or the way you messed up your life or were hurt, may become the way God uses you.
Saul who is also known by the Latin name Paul is a Hebrew who grew up in a Greek city, educated in the faith of his ancestors yet also a Roman citizen able to speak Greek, is uniquely positioned to lead the expansion of the church beyond the Jews to the Gentiles and ultimately to all people yet he needed the intervention of Ananias.
Each of us through our own particular gifts, experiences, backgrounds, and abilities also has a mission to fulfill in our time. I pray the Lord will help us to see what is we are to do just as the Lord helped Saul and Ananias.
Let’s pray,
O Lord, who orders all things for our eternal good, mercifully enlighten our minds, & give us a firm & abiding trust in your love & care in the midst of the challenges & opportunities of our life. Silence our murmurings, quiet our fears, & dispel our doubts, that, rising above our afflictions & our anxieties, we may rest on you, the one of everlasting strength. Amen.
Blessing:
“But grow in the grace & knowledge of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ.
To him be the glory both now & to the day of eternity. Amen.”