The Problem with Paul

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
October 11th 2009

Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“The Problem with Paul”
Isaiah 61:1-5a; Acts 9:1-19

As a child I was always fascinated with people who had dramatic conversion stories. Those folks who were not Christian and had come back from the brink of death or situations my young mind could not even imagine seemed like superheroes of the faith. And in the back of my mind I secretly hoped that I would have a dramatic story to tell one day. But no matter what would happen in my life, I could never deny that I had grown up in the church. No matter where I might travel or where I might go, I knew and was shaped by the body of Christ.
But this was not Paul’s story. Paul was not shaped by the body of Christ. Paul had a dramatic "before and after" testimony of how Jesus Christ has made a difference in his life. In fact, Paul hated Jesus and his followers. Paul did everything in his power to persecute the followers of Jesus. But after Jesus appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus, everything changed.
But in truth, Paul was not changed until Ananias put his hands on Paul’s eyes. It was the laying on of hands, by this slightly reluctant follower of Jesus that opened a whole new world opened for Paul. For the first time, Paul could see a whole world of people who needed the gospel. Paul’s new faith in Jesus sent his life in a brand new direction. Instead of being an enemy of Jesus, he was an envoy for Jesus. He traveled the world telling crowds of people about the gospel. He wrote most of our New Testament. Paul was someone who had no problem explaining what a difference it made in his life to be a Christian.
For those of us who grew up in the church that may not be as clear. After all, asking us what difference being a Christian makes in our lives is like asking us what it means to breath air. It is just not something we give much thought. Christian faith is that natural to us. Trying to talk about it can be difficult especially without a definitive before and after. Most of us cannot remember the first time we knew that God loved us. We cannot recall the first time we heard about Jesus. We have always known about baby Jesus in the manger. It is hard to articulate what we've always been, what we've always known.
Not all of us, but many, who have grown up in church can feel somewhat inferior to people like Paul who have a dramatic testimony to tell. For some we might actually feel a bit superior; because after all that conversion stuff sounds a bit weird. But either way we still have a hard time sharing what our faith means to us. The problem with Paul is that those who have come after his dramatic conversion believe people like him are the only ones who have a “real” testimony. We think that testimony, or telling people about our faith must have something to do with: “I was lost, but now I’m found.” Since we don’t have a powerful before and after story, we act as if we do not have a faith story at all.
As a result, we say nothing about our faith. Pastors are not exempt. In Unbinding your Heart, Martha Grace Reese writes about a group of pastors she took on a retreat. She asked these pastors what difference being a Christian made to them. She says it was extremely, painfully quiet for a l-o-n-g time. Just silence for a very l-o-n-g time. Finally, one pastor said, hesitantly, "Because it makes me a better person ???" -Surely there’s more we can say than that! But putting words to our faith is hard for many of us.
I would like you use your imagination with me. Imagine that you do not go to church on Sundays, not even at Christmas and Easter. Imagine that you do not know any hymns or Christian songs. Imagine that you do not know any Scripture. You don’t know even the simplest Bible stories. Imagine that you are not sure if God hears you when you pray, or what words you should use to pray. Imagine that you do not know whom to call to pray for you. Imagine that you don't know how God feels towards you. What if you didn’t have a church family? What if you didn’t even know that God exists?
Imagine.
Now let me ask you, what does being a Christian mean to you? Lawrence Lewis agreed to tell you his answer to that question.
What a powerful story of how our lives are shaped, and saved through the faithful community of believers. We all need to step back and ask ourselves the question what difference Jesus makes in our lives. And we can give a witness that God is saving people, everyday, for a whole lot more than just life after death.
There are a lot of people living in various kinds of hell right here on earth. When Paul, who was known as Saul lost his eyesight he sat in total darkness for three days. He is so upset that he could not eat or drink. He had to be wondering what sort of punishment God had in store for him because he had rejected Jesus and his followers. At the very same time, Jesus was working on a guy a reluctant evangelist named Ananias. Ananias was right to be worried. Being sent to Saul was no easy task. After all, Saul had been a part of the killing of the first Christian martyr. Christians were running scared because "Saul was breathing threats against them." Saul was an unlikely candidate for evangelism.
So were the prostitutes that loitered on the corner of First Church in Florida. Most people in the congregation were upper-middle class, African-Americans who had been in church all their lives. They were not happy that the neighborhood was changing. They were really not happy about the prostitution that was creeping into their parking lot. They grumbled over the cigarette butts by the sanctuary steps. They worried about the "bad P.R." the church was getting. The last thing anyone was thinking about was that the women hanging out on the corners were candidates for evangelism. Candidates for jail, yes, but not candidates for evangelism! Not in their beloved church!
But one day, a faithful church member, a retired school teacher, left choir practice on a Wednesday. She saw one of the prostitutes, leaning against a lamppost singing. And of all things it was right by the member’s parked car. She felt pushed by the Spirit (she couldn’t find other words for it) to go talk to this woman in the pink leather hot pants. “Hi. My name is Mary. I was just singing with my choir in there. You have a beautiful voice.”
“Yeah, I love singin’,” the young woman mumbled. “I’m Sheena.” “Sheena, you ought to be singing for the Lord, you want to come to sing with me in my choir?” That sweet church member almost fainted as she heard the words come out of her mouth! But Sheena finally said yes.
She showed up on the corner the next Wednesday before choir practice. Mary took her in. Sheena did have a beautiful voice. With the encouragement of the church, with tutoring from Mary, her dear new, retired school teacher friend, Sheena got her GED. She went to college! She finished medical school. Now, that former prostitute runs a medical clinic. Out of her church.
What motivated Mary to talk to Sheena? What possessed her to go into that prostitute's personal hell and walk her out? Maybe it was what motivated Ananias to go talk to Saul. We know nothing about Ananias’ conversion to Christianity. It was likely that he had a pretty ordinary existence up to this point. Maybe, like us, he didn’t have a dramatic story to tell about his faith. At least, not until now! The Lord Jesus appears to Ananias in a vision and tells him to go visit Saul. This is a powerful moment of truth for Ananias. Will he go talk to Paul? You can almost hear him say: “Can’t you choose someone else?” Look at the ninth chapter of Acts, the 15th verse. Why does Ananias go talk to Paul about Jesus? First, Jesus told him to go. Obedience to Christ is a major motivation. Yet, I hate to admit it, I sometimes need more than that. Just because I know I should do something doesn’t mean I will. Look at the 15th verse again. Jesus gives Ananias another motivation. Something besides “because I said so.” Jesus says, "Saul is an instrument I have chosen." Jesus had plans for Saul. Jesus needed Saul for the ministry of God. And Jesus needed Ananias to reach Saul. Ananias gets to be a part of what God is doing in the world. He is a key player in God’s plan to get the gospel out.

He gets to be the domino that tips another person into God’s love. He gets to be the hands of God that heal someone’s pain. He gets to be the light that shines on Saul’s dim path. He gets to do something for God that only he can do. He gets to be a part of God’s redemption of the world. Now, that’s some motivation! Not guilt . . . Not, “because I should” . . . Not, “because it makes me a better person ???” Not some begrudging obedience . . . Just a sheer, passionate desire to be a part of what God wants to do in the world.
Ananias had the opportunity to make a difference in the world by going where God sent him. Verse 17 tells us, "So Ananias went." The Paul Problem has an Ananias Answer. No extraordinary story needed. All you need is an ordinary willingness to see what God can do through you. Who knows what lives you may touch and change? Who knows, your simple willingness to be a follower of Jesus may bring some small portion of hell on earth for another person to an end. The Saul’s in our lives await our response. Amen.