The apostle Paul entered heaven
to the cheers of those he martyred.
That’s how the Gospel works.
My son recently posted the above meme on a Facebook post, and I couldn’t help but take note. God has been bombarding me with the topic of grace lately. From books I’m reading to Bible verses to conversations, I’m encountering the theme of mercy.
The more honest I am with myself, the more I see my need for grace, and the easier it becomes to grant it to others. Note I said easier; not easy.
I still have a penchant for irritation or anger before I respond with patience and kindness toward someone who has overstepped the lines of morality. It’s more natural to spout words of retaliation than to go out of my way to offer an olive branch of peace when I feel slighted.
I want to be on the receiving end of second chances, but I don’t as readily find myself the one who offers them to others.
The truth is, I’m more prone to be a Saul than an Ananias.
Saul was a scoundrel for sure. I imagine him to be a pompous sort who took out his insecurities on Christians. Flaunting his knowledge of Jewish doctrine while looking down his nose at the ignorance of others, he became zealous in snuffing out this new movement proclaiming Jesus as Messiah.
Acts 8:13 tells us Saul made havoc of the church, entering every house and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.
In the next chapter, we find Saul still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. So much so that he went to the high priest and asked for authority to travel to Damascus to root out members of the way and bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Thankfully, God had other plans in store. Plans including mercy and miracles and salvation for His persecutor.
On his way to Damascus, Saul has a divine encounter with Jesus where he is struck blind and asked why he has been persecuting the Lord. Jesus then tells Saul to go to Damascus and wait to be told what to do. Saul, blind and helpless, does as instructed.
Enter Ananias.
This disciple of Christ has a vision telling him to go to a particular place and seek out Saul. Jesus assures Ananias that Saul is expecting him. Indeed, Saul has received his own vision, one of Ananias coming to him and placing his hands upon Saul to receive his sight.
At this point, knowing that Saul is expecting him is not the most comforting news. Ananias is not so sure he wants to be the chosen means of intervention for his enemy. He reminds the Lord that Saul’s reputation is less than stellar, that he has not shown himself to be a friend of Christians and has come to Damascus with orders to drag the disciples off to prison.
Jesus answers Ananias’s fears with a directive: “Go.”
“Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel . . . ”
A chosen vessel? Saul, the persecutor of Christians, called to bear the name of Jesus?
Though he may not have understood the scope of God’s plans, Ananias was obedient to the word of the Lord. He went to the house where Saul was staying and addressed him with these words: “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Immediately, scales fell from Saul’s eyes, his sight returned, and he arose and was baptized. After spending some days with the disciples in Damascus, Saul began preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the synagogues. And all were amazed that the very one who set out with the express purpose of destroying the Christians had thrown in his lot with them.
While I find Saul’s transformation miraculous, what I see as equally noteworthy is the reaction of Ananias and the other disciples. They overcame their trepidation with grace and received Saul into their fellowship. They even invited him to stay with them for days.
In his book They Walked with God, Max Lucado writes:
“God used Paul to touch the world. But he first used Ananias to touch Paul.”
Without the obedience and mercy of Christ’s followers, Saul may have stayed blind and lost. Instead, he received his sight, was filled with the Holy Spirit, renamed Paul, and became one of the most famous apostles of Christ. A total transformation at the hand of Jesus through the hands of Ananias and the Damascus disciples.
Saul entered into salvation to the cheers of the very ones he persecuted. And as the meme suggests, he most likely entered heaven to the same uproarious accolade.
Jesus sees the full scope of His redemptive powers before faith enters the story. He looks at the present and calls forth a different future — one of grace and salvation. He changes Sauls to Pauls and uses the least likely candidate to proclaim His good news. All because of love.
Time and time again.
God welcomes those the world writes off as too far gone and calls it as He sees it when we are blind to His mercy.
Is Jesus asking you to be an Ananias today?
Is there someone in your circle who seems beyond the reach of redemption? Whose very demeanor and words scoff at all that is holy and Christian? Whose intent seems bent on the destruction of morality instead of upholding it?
Could it be that Jesus is calling you to go to them? To take them to the throne of grace and plead for them to receive their sight? Or welcome them into your home and among your friends?
Is there a “Brother Saul” who needs you to approach them without fear of the fallout?
Today I’m issuing us the challenge to be an Ananias to the Sauls of this world and ask God to give sight to the spiritually blind, granting them the vision to live as one rescued by Jesus.
Let’s remember that we were once just as blind. And seemingly just as far gone.
Instead of staying put out of fear, let’s go find our family and welcome them home with grace and love.
After all, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
Let’s add our cheers to theirs.