I got a phone call this week from a guy called Laurent. I know Laurent from my last church in Paris, but he’s been living in Essex working as an engineer for a car manufacturer for the last few years and we kind of lost contact.
About 6 years ago Laurent got to know a girl from England. He wanted to go out with her. She wanted to go out with him - but there was a problem. She was a Christian. He wasn’t. So she kept putting him off. He kept pushing. And she started praying for him. She started fasting for him. She cried out to God for him.
One day, Laurent was driving along in his car and, out of nowhere, the Spirit of God came upon him in such power, such force, such intensity - with a revelation of the love of Jesus - that he had to pull over onto the hard shoulder and give his life to Christ. Laurent became part of my leadership team there and is such a man of God. Plays a mean bass guitar as well… Laurent called me to tell me he is getting married in October and he’s asked me to do the wedding for them.
It was great to hear from him and, as I reflected on his story, and wondered about what I should say tonight, I thought I’d talk about the wonder of conversion.
If you really want the mother of all extraordinary conversions, listen to this extract from the diary of Rev. William Haslam, an 18th century Church of England vicar in Cornwall. These are his words;
“I went into the pulpit and gave my text... I do not remember all I said, but I felt a wonderful light and joy coming into my soul... Whether it was something in my words or my manner, or my look, I know not; but all of a sudden a local preacher, who happened to be in the congregation, stood up, and putting up his arms, shouted out in Cornish manner, "The parson is converted! The parson is converted! Halleluiah!" and in another accent his voice was lost in the shouts and praises of three or four hundred of the congregation. Instead of rebuking this extraordinary 'brawling', as I should have done in a former time, I joined the outburst of praises and the people sang 'Praise God from whom all blessings flow' with heart and voice, over and over again.”
Most of us love to hear about radical experiences like those. But they are unusual even by biblical standards. We may not all have been visited by a manifestation of heavenly power but everyone here needs to be able to say, “I am converted to Christ.” Maybe you can't put a date on it but it's important that you know that some time in your life you turned from sin and placed your faith in Jesus.
Well now, if you have a Bible, we're going to read Acts 9.1-19.
Saul's conversion. Saul; this dangerous fanatic from the Middle-East, determined to stamp out Christianity, is struck down in the middle of the road, where he meets the risen Jesus.
And in that moment, which tips his world upside down, he turns from his murderous ways and becomes a disciple of the Christ he had persecuted. He himself put it this way; "I was on my way to arrest Christians when Christ arrested me."
And now, almost twenty centuries later, the phrase, "Damascus Road experience" is still used in the English language, when people talk of a radical discovery and change of heart. It was a dramatic turnaround.
It was such a turning point in his life that he changed his name soon after to Paul. We’d think something was up if people changed their name by deed poll. Terry might become Merry. Julia might become Peculiar. Saul means “asked for”. Paul means “the least”.
Saul's is one of the most unusual conversion experiences in the history of Christianity, certainly one of the most spectacular and unexpected.
1) Never Limit God
We might describe William Haslam's encounter with Christ - in his own pulpit - as unbelievable.
And "unbelievable" is a good word to describe Saul's conversion too. It seems, for example, that Ananias didn't quite believe it. You kind of get that impression from v13-14.
God instructs this man to go and visit Saul, lay hands on him and minister healing to him. But Ananias says to almighty, all knowing, all powerful God, the ever living Lord of heaven and earth (for whom nothing is impossible), "How can I be sure you're telling the truth?"
Ananias was stunned by unbelief. God has blown his doors off. It's as if Ananias has made up his mind too early. He thinks the Lord can do this much but that much is just a bit too much of a challenge.
Now, we know we shouldn't put limits on what God can do and can’t do, don’t we?
I once met a Ugandan pastor called John Mulinde, to whom God revealed fax numbers, by a word of knowledge, of people he wanted him to contact and meet.
I have a friend in Liberia called Dave Waines. Dave is a Canadian Christian who is red hot radical. Dave picks up thrown away and cursed children, adopts some of them, but loves all of them and watches them became a source of blessing to the very people who had rejected them.
We tend to put limits on God, often subconsciously.
Ananias says, in effect, "No, Lord." He is saying, "Look God, you cannot be serious, you must have got this wrong."
How much are you missing out on, due to limiting God to what your mind can cope with? Don’t limit God. The Bible says “Nothing is impossible with God”. And I’ve looked up that word “nothing”, it means nothing. Never limit God.
2) Follow God's leading
Another thing we see here is that God expects you to follow his leading. Ananias limited God with his thinking. But once he’d risen above his doubts, he had no hesitation in following the leading of the Holy Spirit. God says in v15, "Go!" and in v17 we're told that Ananias went.
I want you to imagine the scene. He walks down the main east-west route called Straight Street which still exists today in the middle of Damascus; this oasis city in the middle of the Syrian desert. He's wondering what he's going to say. His heart is in his mouth. He's petrified. He just knows he's going to stutter and have sweaty hands.
Think about this: What if Ananias didn’t quite hear God right? Or what if this was a trap? Or maybe he wasn’t not fazed at all. Perhaps he was perfectly relaxed and totally at rest in God's peace. We're not told.
The only thing that’s important is this: the fact is he went. And at the end of the day, that's all we need to know. Jesus said, "Heal the sick, drive out demons, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, make disciples!" It doesn't matter what I feel about that, it doesn't matter if I make a complete clown of myself every time I have a go. One thing matters; I say “yes” out of obedience or I say “no” out of fear. That's the issue.
When I was a young Christian, I received a word from God about a man who had been a father to me in the faith, but had subsequently gone off the rails and separated from his wife. It was a really, really hard word, with a revelation from God about an adulterous affair, about which I had no knowledge at all. I shared with his wife what I believed God was saying and asked her permission to confront him with it. To my absolute horror she said "yes."
So I went to see this man - who had given me so much and to whom I was so indebted – and I explained to him that I believed God was saying, in a nutshell, that he should repent of rebellion and adultery. It is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. He looked at me straight in the eye, denied everything, and with an angry tone in his voice he showed me to the door. I felt terrible. When I phoned his wife, she told me that she felt strongly whilst praying that something had broken in him that night. I just thought I'd blown it. Six months later, the truth came out, the word had been spot on, he turned from his sin, they got back together and have enjoyed over 20 years of happy marriage and fruitful ministry since then.
Praise God! When he says "Go for it!", you've got to go for it. Following God's leading. He promises to be with us (as, in v15-16, he promised he was going to be with Paul in his ministry) through suffering and hardship. Notice he didn't offer to spare him from pain and problems. He doesn’t now, but he does promise he will be the solution.
"In this world you will have big trouble," says Jesus, "but take heart, I have overcome the world."
3) Take a Risk to Love the Outsider
I love the way Ananias looks after Saul. One commentator said, "It is not always easy to show love and acceptance to others, especially when we are afraid of them or doubt their motives." That’s true isn’t it? If anyone had a good reason to be afraid or doubt the motives of someone else, it was Ananias with Saul.
Ananias places his hands on the man, imparting the healing power of Jesus.
John Stott wonders if it was also "a gesture of love to a blind man who could not see the smile on Ananias' face, but could feel the pressure of his hands."
Then his words are full of affection too. "Brother Saul" he says. All the fear has vanished. All the barriers are down. All the debt is forgiven. All the past is forgotten with just two words. Brother Saul.
Saul had spent three days completely blinded, taking no food or water stuck in a foreign city. In v18-19 we can surmise that Ananias baptised him, found him a towel, cooked him up a good meal, made sure he was o.k. and put him in touch with other Christians in Damascus. The second half of v19 tells us that he spent three days with them, enjoying their hospitality.
Nothing on earth in the field of human relationships comes close to the love in Christ we share as brothers and sisters in the Lord.
Tony Campolo tells of the time he was walking down Chesterton Street, in Ashburn, Virginia. There was a tramp (he called him a bum) looking on from a bench. Dirty old overcoat, long matted beard with bits of food stuck in it, he was covered in soot from head to toe, and drinking from a McDonald's paper cup... The guy called out, "Hey mister, you want some of my coffee?" "That's all right, but thank you, err, that's kind of you but..."
Then he thought that's wrong. So he said, "I'll take a sip." So he drank some of the coffee. Then he said to the tramp, "You're getting pretty generous giving away your coffee. What's gotten in to you?" The man said, "Well, the coffee was especially delicious today. And I figure that when God gives you something good, you ought to share it with people."
So Campolo said, "Well, is there anything I can, give you?" He thought the guy was going to ask for $5. The man said, "Yeah. You can give me a hug." When he said that, Tony Campolo was thinking, "Oh great, why didn't he just ask me for $5..."
They put their arms around each other, then he realised that this tramp was not going to let him go. He just held on to him. And people were passing in the street, staring at this sight.
Tony Campolo said this; "My embarrassment, little by little, turned to reverence and awe. Because I realised that this was not a whino I was holding in my arms. I heard a voice saying 'I was hungry, did you feed me? I was naked, did you clothe me? I was sick, did you care for me? I was the bum you met on Chesterton Street, did you hug me?' I had Jesus in my arms," he said.
Ending
So, drawing the threads together, what is God saying to us tonight through this word?
Is he saying to you that you are limiting him? Meaning, do we have too small a vision of what he wants to do in our lives? Do we need to be rebuked, and change our thinking, like Ananias did, so that we get a bigger vision – a true vision – of what God is able to do?
Is he speaking to you about following his leading? Some of us here this evening may be facing a choice where we can follow step out in faith. We know that that is going to make demands of us and stretch our faith. Or we can go the other way, which is familiar and which is easier. This man Ananias shows us what's possible when we exercise faith, take a risk and go God's way. Because Ananias did what he did, Saul became Paul; one of the greatest church planting missionaries that ever lived.
Is he speaking to you about showing love to the loveless? Like Tony Campolo with the tramp on Chesterton Street, Philadelphia, or like Ananias with the dangerous fanatic in Straight Street, Damascus. Is he speaking to you about showing hospitality to someone you would rather avoid?
Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 12th June 2011
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