From Judgment to Connection
Rev. Vivian Rodeffer
April 30, 2023
Text: Acts 9: 1-22
9 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 [Saul] was with the disciples in Damascus, 20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 All who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem among those who invoked this name? And has he not come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” 22 Saul became increasingly more powerful and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Messiah.”
Over the past few years there has been an increasing temptation to make judgments about people and write them off if they don’t think like we do. You only have to check out Facebook occasionally to see some of those judgments. Or to be the recipient or the propagator of such a post.
Have you ever heard someone say something that kept you from connecting, or interacting with, or seeing their potential? Most of us have at one time or another. I think it is human nature to seek out others who agree with us even when those we disagree with may have something that would be important for us to hear and to learn from.
When we think about persons with opposing viewpoints and beliefs it would be difficult to find a better example than the two men in today’s scripture. Both Ananias and Saul believe themselves to be faithful and doing what they were supposed to be doing. They both refer to the voice speaking to them as “Lord,” connoting reverence toward something outside of themselves.
Saul persecuted the faith of Christians because they did not believe like him. Ananias had preconceived ideas about Saul and wanted nothing to do with him either (v. 13-14).
From Anaias’ perspective, it is easy to see Saul’s persecution of Christians as hateful. It may be easier for us to relate to Ananias. He wanted to nothing to do with Saul, but “for the right reasons”- Saul was terrorizing and killing his people! Scripture tells us that Saul was full of “threats and murder.”
The degree and expression of the negative feelings that Ananias has towards Saul are certainly less harmful than Saul’s towards the Christians, but notice that in both cases God seeks to overcome the judgment and animosity with connection for the sake of the gospel, which is God’s great project of love. How Saul mistreats other people as he seeks to be faithful is what needs to change.
In this famous scripture story it is in encounter with the risen Jesus (for Saul as a blinding light and a voice on the road to Damascus, for Ananias, it is a vision in which he is told “Go to the Street called Straight”) that begins the process of God’s desired change for their lives. It is an encounter with the risen Jesus that has the power to overcome their sins and raise both Saul and Ananias up to be strong, connected, and faithful followers of Jesus, working together for the sake of the gospel.
Perhaps if God could overcome Saul’s violent hatred and raise him up to become St. Paul, the central figure in early Christianity, is there anything that God cannot forgive? Could there be anyone God cannot work through? Sometimes because of shame people hold onto their “worst” or seemingly unforgivable sins. This scripture invites them to see themselves in Paul’s story, one of the worst sinners of all times. Where does God call Saul and Ananias and us to “get up and go” beyond places of shame and fear and judgment?
So for us today, our question is, how do we encourage ourselves and others to respond to God’s call and to become instruments of God? — especially if we feel unworthy or feel judgmental about others? Are there ways that by prematurely condemning or judging others, it is keeping us from seeing their God given potential? Or even interacting with them in the first place? How do we learn to hear God’s truth about others, instead of prioritizing our opinions of them? What kinds of hatred/judgement do we excuse or justify?
Perhaps the greatest lesson today is that we don’t decide who God uses as His instruments in the great project of love.. The call of the Church is to give them and us a space in the band and learn to use our gifts for the work of God in the world. In a divided world, hatred can bubble up even in the hearts of those who seek to do good. The risen Christ moves us from a place of judgement to a place of connection, so that we can work together for the sake of God’s kin(g)dom.
Let us pray.
Gracious God, How difficult it is to journey along with those we dislike and disagree with. Help us to see them through your eyes and the plans that you have for every one of us–friend and foe-to become disciples of you son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.