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yrieithyddI often pondered doing a narrative sermon in the voice of one of the characters, but had never found one I could find that voice for, not even the bleeding woman. But for the Conversion of St Paul last week, pondering it from Ananias view came to me.
May I speak in the name of the living God who is Source of All Being, Eternal Word and Holy Spirit.
The community of the Way in Damascus was quite small back then. Like the disciples back in Jerusalem we met together regularly for fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers and sharing the stories of Jesus. Some of us had been in Jerusalem that Pentecost and had heard Peter preach his great sermon and been baptised and when we came back to Damascus we told others and they were converted and were baptised. Others had joined us more recently from Jerusalem, fleeing the increasing persecution there. Some of them had been with Jesus for much of his ministry.
And now we’d heard that Saul was coming here with letters from the Jewish authorities to arrest followers of the Way here in Damascus. We’d heard about this Saul. How he’d been there when Stephen was stoned after he had preached the sermon about the story of Israel and how it pointed to Jesus as the Messiah and how this generation was once again persecuting the prophets.
And Saul had been there and seen that and then got fiercer and fiercer in his opposition to those of us proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah. And now he was on his way here.
We talked about it. What to do. How to keep each other safe. We remembered Stephen; how even as he was being stoned he’d prayed: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” and then “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” We prayed for strength to do likewise if our time came.
Stephen was following Jesus who had prayed on the cross: “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing”. Jesus had died so Peter said in that great sermon, because his people handed him over to be crucified by those outside the law, despite the deeds of power, wonders and signs that God had done through him. But God raised him up from death because it was impossible for death to hold him in its power.
That’s who we’d put our trust in and it was opposition to that that was why he was coming here.
And soone day, while I was praying, for strength, I had a vision. The Lord called my name, “Ananias” and remembering the story of Samuel I said, “Here I am, Lord” and was told “Get up and go to the street called Straight, to the house of Judas and look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, 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.”
I was astounded. How could I go to this man? He’d come to arrest us. I protested: ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to the saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.’
This man is the enemy. He’s dangerous. We’d been preparing ourselves for what he could do to us. I couldn’t just go to him.
But the Lord said to me, ‘Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.’
I still couldn’t believe it. Could someone go from threatening us to speaking for us? Why would the Lord choose him? Surely there was somebody better for this task? Though did this task involve going to the Gentiles – was that part of the deal? I mean there were Jews who spoke Greek and Jews who spoke Hebrew among us, and we’d spread out from Jerusalem to Damascus, but it was still Jews and proselytes who were members of the Way. Not Gentiles...
And so, I wrestled with this for some time. But, in the end, I had to risk it. And after all if he was still planning on arresting us, what difference did it make if he arrested me there or came to me in my own home?
So I went to the street called Straight and Judas’ house and found the travellers from Jerusalem and the man from Tarsus. I addressed him “brother Saul” (hoping he really was a brother) and the words came “the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” and I laid my hands on him.
Something like scales fell from his eyes and he looked straight at me. He knew about baptism being the way to belong to the Way, to Jesus and so he asked for it. And we went somewhere where he could be baptised and as we went he poured out to me what had happened to him -
And he poured that out as we went for him to be baptised. And he was baptise and we ate together and I introduced him to the other disciples. And then he went to the Synagogues and started proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God.
Everyone was surprised. They knew who he was; why he had come. The havoc he had caused in Jerusalem. But here he was, proclaiming Jesus as Messiah not arresting his followers.
He was a powerful speaker and many of the Jews accepted his proof that Jesus was the Messiah. But not all of them. Some couldn’t understand his change of heart and wanted to kill him. We had to let him down from the town wall in a laundry basket for him to escape.
And that was just the start of his story. He went back to Jerusalem and then journeyed all over. Always teaching Jesus. Preaching, travelling, writing letters. He went to Rome in the end. Used his Roman citizenship to be sent there when the Jews had him arrested. He wanted to go on to Spain, but that never happened. His journey ended in Rome. Known by his Roman name as Paul.
And now I near my end, and think back to that day. That vision. The chance I took...
May I speak in the name of the living God who is Source of All Being, Eternal Word and Holy Spirit.
The community of the Way in Damascus was quite small back then. Like the disciples back in Jerusalem we met together regularly for fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers and sharing the stories of Jesus. Some of us had been in Jerusalem that Pentecost and had heard Peter preach his great sermon and been baptised and when we came back to Damascus we told others and they were converted and were baptised. Others had joined us more recently from Jerusalem, fleeing the increasing persecution there. Some of them had been with Jesus for much of his ministry.
And now we’d heard that Saul was coming here with letters from the Jewish authorities to arrest followers of the Way here in Damascus. We’d heard about this Saul. How he’d been there when Stephen was stoned after he had preached the sermon about the story of Israel and how it pointed to Jesus as the Messiah and how this generation was once again persecuting the prophets.
And Saul had been there and seen that and then got fiercer and fiercer in his opposition to those of us proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah. And now he was on his way here.
We talked about it. What to do. How to keep each other safe. We remembered Stephen; how even as he was being stoned he’d prayed: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” and then “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” We prayed for strength to do likewise if our time came.
Stephen was following Jesus who had prayed on the cross: “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing”. Jesus had died so Peter said in that great sermon, because his people handed him over to be crucified by those outside the law, despite the deeds of power, wonders and signs that God had done through him. But God raised him up from death because it was impossible for death to hold him in its power.
That’s who we’d put our trust in and it was opposition to that that was why he was coming here.
And soone day, while I was praying, for strength, I had a vision. The Lord called my name, “Ananias” and remembering the story of Samuel I said, “Here I am, Lord” and was told “Get up and go to the street called Straight, to the house of Judas and look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, 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.”
I was astounded. How could I go to this man? He’d come to arrest us. I protested: ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to the saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.’
This man is the enemy. He’s dangerous. We’d been preparing ourselves for what he could do to us. I couldn’t just go to him.
But the Lord said to me, ‘Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.’
I still couldn’t believe it. Could someone go from threatening us to speaking for us? Why would the Lord choose him? Surely there was somebody better for this task? Though did this task involve going to the Gentiles – was that part of the deal? I mean there were Jews who spoke Greek and Jews who spoke Hebrew among us, and we’d spread out from Jerusalem to Damascus, but it was still Jews and proselytes who were members of the Way. Not Gentiles...
And so, I wrestled with this for some time. But, in the end, I had to risk it. And after all if he was still planning on arresting us, what difference did it make if he arrested me there or came to me in my own home?
So I went to the street called Straight and Judas’ house and found the travellers from Jerusalem and the man from Tarsus. I addressed him “brother Saul” (hoping he really was a brother) and the words came “the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” and I laid my hands on him.
Something like scales fell from his eyes and he looked straight at me. He knew about baptism being the way to belong to the Way, to Jesus and so he asked for it. And we went somewhere where he could be baptised and as we went he poured out to me what had happened to him -
- The light;
- the voice.
- Being led to Damascus unable to see.
- Questioning all he thought he knew.
- How he thought he’d being doing what God wanted.
- What was right as a good Jew, one well educated in the traditions.
- Zealous for God.
- But then the voice that made him reassess everything.
- Think about all he’d seen and heard.
- How Stephen had died.
- That prayer that their sin may not be held against them as they stoned him.
- The faith of others he had arrested.
- How Stephen had preached about Abraham and Moses and how that all pointed to Jesus.
- How Jesus’ story fitted onto what he knew already.
- That it was the same God at work.
- That Jesus was alive.
- That Jesus had called him.
And he poured that out as we went for him to be baptised. And he was baptise and we ate together and I introduced him to the other disciples. And then he went to the Synagogues and started proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God.
Everyone was surprised. They knew who he was; why he had come. The havoc he had caused in Jerusalem. But here he was, proclaiming Jesus as Messiah not arresting his followers.
He was a powerful speaker and many of the Jews accepted his proof that Jesus was the Messiah. But not all of them. Some couldn’t understand his change of heart and wanted to kill him. We had to let him down from the town wall in a laundry basket for him to escape.
And that was just the start of his story. He went back to Jerusalem and then journeyed all over. Always teaching Jesus. Preaching, travelling, writing letters. He went to Rome in the end. Used his Roman citizenship to be sent there when the Jews had him arrested. He wanted to go on to Spain, but that never happened. His journey ended in Rome. Known by his Roman name as Paul.
And now I near my end, and think back to that day. That vision. The chance I took...
