Acts 9:1-20
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.
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.”
Sermon
No Longer A Blind Faith
Maynard Pittendreigh
This
morning’s New Testament lesson is about a conversion. It’s a famous, well-known conversion
experience, at least for Christians. It
is the conversion of Paul, or as he is still known at the time of our New
Testament Lesson, Saul.
Now one
thing you have to say about Paul is that he was a man of great faith.
Before
this New Testament Lesson, he is a man of a deep Jewish faith.
After this
New Testament Lesson, he is a man of a deep Christian faith.
But that
is not the only conversion that Saul or Paul experiences here.
It is also
one of converting from arrogant faith, to mature faith. From a blind faith to a seeing faith.
Blind Faith listens selectively to the truth
Faith that
is blind and arrogant listens only selectively to the truth – it does not
listen to the whole truth.
And that
was Saul.
Saul was a
very religious individual.
He was
described as blameless according to the Law of Moses.
In other
words, Saul was passionate for God, so he listened to voice of the law and
tradition, which was good.
Saul was
also a Pharisee among Pharisees, very passionate for the faith of his fathers
and absolutely convinced that he was doing the Will of God.
In other
words, Saul was passionate for God, so he listened to voice of his community of
faith, which was good.
Saul was
well educated – Trained at the feet of Gamaliel, one of Israel ’s
greatest teachers of the day.
In other
words, Saul was passionate for God, so he listened to voice of his teachers,
which was good.
Unfortunately,
of all the voices he was listening to, there was one voice that was
missing. The voice of God.
Blind,
arrogant faith refuses to listen to the whole word of God.
I bet you
have met people like that. I have a
college buddy who has no tattoos because the Old Testament book of Leviticus
prohibits it. He does not eat lobster
because the Old Testament book of Leviticus prohibits it. He does not work on the Sabbath because the
Bible speaks against it. But he is not
generous. He gives nothing to the
poor. He is racist and judgmental.
It is so
difficult for him to see that he has not heard the whole word of God – or even
the most important words. His faith is
blind.
Arrogant Faith has passion without compassion
Another
thing about blind faith is that it has a lot of passion, but has very little
compassion.
If you
have not met people like that, they you have certainly seen them on
television. For example, the Islamic
Extremists who kidnap people – mostly innocent civilians, and who hold them
hostage and in many cases behead them.
It is so difficult to read about these people in the newspapers, but
when we do we often shake our heads in confusion and wonder, ‘how can people
who claim to have so much faith be filled with so much hate?”
It is
because theirs is a blind and arrogant faith.
It has
passion, but no compassion. It is
missing so much that true, mature faith ought to have.
Saul was
like that.
He was on
fire for God. He was filled with
passion. But his faith early on lacked
so much.
Compassion. Love.
Understanding – these are things you find in Saul after his conversion,
but not before.
He was at
the stoning of St. Stephen, the first martyr of the church. And as our New Testament lesson begins, Saul
is out there trying to round up those who do not believe as he believes. He makes them prisoners.
Now, we
are not going around killing people – but we have to admit that sometimes our
faith is arrogant and lacks compassion, understanding and love.
And this
is where we see Saul as our New Testament lesson opens. He was arrogant. More than that, he was a man who was full of
bitterness and hatred – hated anything and anyone who could be a threat to the
things that he believed, and those who would cause trouble for his people and
those who opposed the teachings of the high priest and the Law of Moses. He
hated those who preached and taught heresy against the Law that had led Israel for so
many years.
Saul was on his way to do the Will of God as he traveled toDamascus – at least what he thought was God’s
will.
Saul was on his way to do the Will of God as he traveled to
Arrogant Faith is a disappointment to God
While Saul
is on this road to Damascus ,
he encounters Christ, and one of the things he learns is that blind faith is a
disappointment to God.
Our New
Testament lesson put it this way, “As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light
from heaven flashed around him. He fell
to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you
persecute me?"
"Who
are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are
persecuting," he replied.
When I
hear the voice of God, I want to hear something like, “Well done, good and
faithful servant.”
What I
don’t want to hear is the disappointment in the Lord’s voice, “Maynard,
Maynard, why do you persecute me?”
But that
is what Saul heard. The news that the Lord
was disappointed in him.
It is a
dramatic moment. Saul, or Paul, thinks
Jesus is dead. And here he is talking to
Jesus.
Paul is
trying to gather up all of the people who believe in Jesus to punish them. And here he is, beginning to believe in Jesus
himself.
Paul is a
man who has had a blind faith, but now he is literally struck blind by the
light of God.
Everything
changes here for Paul. As much as
anything, what changes is that his faith turns from an arrogant faith, to
become a mature and true faith.
And Saul
makes the discovery of what true faith is all about.
Seeing Faith has open ears to hear the voice of
Jesus
True faith
has open ears to hear the voice of Jesus.
It is
interesting that Paul has been willing to listen to so many sources, except
Jesus.
He has
listened to the Law of the Lord – which Paul dearly and sincerely loved. It is good to listen to Law of God, but
that’s not enough.
Paul
listened to the teachers, which is wonderful – but even that is not enough.
Paul
listened to the traditions of his faith, and again, that was not enough.
It is
never enough to hear all of the voices around you but not to listen to the
voice of Jesus.
But God
eventually does not give Paul any choice.
God knocks Paul off his high horse, literally and figuratively, and Paul
is forced to hear the voice of Jesus.
What do we
hear when we listen to the voice of Jesus?
Do we hear
arrogance? No, of course not.
Do we hear
hatred? No.
When we
listen to the voice of Jesus, we hear him say, “Love the Lord your God, and
your neighbor as yourself.”
When we
listen to the voice of Jesus, we hear him say, "Do not be afraid.”
When we
listen to the voice of Jesus, we hear him say,
"Your sins are forgiven."
When we
listen to the voice of Jesus, we hear him say,
"Peace be with you!”
Arrogant
faith listens to only a few of those words.
True faith
listens to all of those words.
There is a
story of Paul that illustrates how his faith so greatly matured.
Years
after his conversion experience, Paul is on a mission trip and he is in Athens , Greece . He looks around and he sees all these temples
to false gods.
Now the
old Paul with his blind and arrogant faith would have stormed in and called the
Greeks idol worshippers and he would have put them down for their false
religious faith.
But having
his eyes opened by true faith, he looks around and doesn’t see the false gods
as much as he sees that the Greeks are spiritually hungry. They are in search of God and of truth.
In Acts,
chapter 17, Paul speaks to the Greeks and says, "Men of Athens! I see that
in every way you are very religious. For
as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even
found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now let me tell you
about that unknown God, because I know who he is!”
It is an
amazing transformation – or conversion for Paul. He is able to see the bigger picture and
approach these people without arrogance.
He communicates the truth of God on their level. He sees that they may be worshipping false
gods, but more than that, they are searching for the true God.
That is
the thing about faith. It grows, it
changes, and it never stops growing and changing.
As people
of faith we can never say “I have arrived.”
We are always on the journey. And
along the way, we will have these moments of growth – some will be gentle and
slow while others will be dramatic Damascus
Road moments.
And if we
are doing this journey correctly, we will see more and more, and be less and
less blindly arrogant along the way.
Along the
way.
Did you
notice that the Christians at this point in the New Testament lesson were called
“belonging to the WAY.”
The
way. Not the destination – but the
way. And we are all on a journey along
the way. Our faith is meant to grow and
change and mature and to be more and more a seeing faith, and less and less a
blind faith.
And now unto
God the Father,
God the Son,
And God the
Holy Spirit be ascribed all might, power, dominion and glory, today and
forever, Amen.
Copyright 2016.
Dr. W. Maynard Pittendreigh
All rights reserved
Ministers may feel free to
use some or all of this sermon in their own ministries as long as they do not
publish in print or on the Internet without ascribing credit to the author.