St Albans, Melton, Sunbury (LR)

Theme:    The Gospel of the Resurrection Creates Passionate Christians
Text:        Acts 9:1-20

 

Some people are passionate about a hobby.
I know someone who spends many hours each week constantly building and rebuilding and developing their model railways.
Some people are passionate about their garden.
I know someone who has just left for a trip to China to go and see the best display in the world of his favourite tree peonies.

Some people are passionate in their politics.
They are committed to some cause, and they become totally involved in following and promoting that cause.
They will march through the streets or do whatever is necessary to make their voice heard.

Some people are passionate in their love.
Sharing their relationship becomes the most important thing in their life.

If you are passionate it means that you get totally involved.
You have convictions.
You are committed in your time and your efforts.
It shapes your attitudes and shapes your life.

Saul was a passionate man.
Saul was passionate about his faith, about his religion.
His religion was the Jewish religion.

Saul had grown up in Tarsus in the Roman province of Asia, which is present day Turkey.
Tarsus was a city with a mixed population, but there was a strong community of Jews there.
So as he grew up, Saul learned that he had to stand up for his religion.
When he was old enough he travelled to Jerusalem, the capital city of the Jews, so that he could study his religion.
He joined the Pharisees, who were the strictest followers of the Jewish religion with great commitment to keeping all the Jewish laws.

There he heard about Jesus, and like the other leading Pharisees he considered that Jesus had been a threat to true religion.
Jesus had been undermining their faith, because he accepted people who were obvious sinners, and he did not expect people to obey all of their strict laws.
As far as Saul was concerned, the Jewish leaders had been totally justified when they decided that they had to get rid of Jesus, and the crowd was quite right to demand his blood.

But just when they thought that they had solved the problem and got rid of all the messy business, the issue sprang up again.

Jesus’ disciples started to create a stir, and to continue where Jesus had left off.
They were teaching people to still put their trust in Jesus.
And worst of all – they were claiming that Jesus had risen to life after his death, and that Jesus was still alive.

Saul was determined to put an end to that nonsense.
And being the sort of man that he was, he would do it properly.

Saul was a member of the anti-Jesus group in Jerusalem who began agitating to suppress the disciples in Jerusalem.
They had some of them arrested, and they had even had one killed.

Then they heard that the influence of this group was spreading.
So Saul was the first to volunteer to go up to Damascus, and put an end to the group there before they got too established.

He went to the chief priests and got letters which gave him the authority to arrest Christians and haul them back to Jerusalem to face trial there.
Our story says that as he set off for Damascus, the capital city of Syria to the north, he was breathing out murderous threats.

Later on, when Saul looked back, he described how passionate he had been in defending Jewish faith:
I was circumcised on the eighth day;
I was a member of the Israelite people and the tribe of Benjamin;
I was a true Hebrew;
In regard to keeping the law, I was a Pharisee.
To show my zeal I persecuted the church.
As far as legalistic righteousness goes, I was faultless.
(Phil 3:5-6)

But on the way to Damascus something happened that changed Saul’s life forever.
On the way he was stopped in his tracks by Jesus.

As Saul was getting close to Damascus suddenly he was hit by a flash of light from the sky.
He fell to the ground in terror.

Then he heard a voice:
Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
Who are you, Lord?  were the only words he could utter in his fear and confusion.
I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting.
Saul’s whole world fell apart.
He had been blinded by the light.
This proud man was now a stumbling wreck, and he had to rely on his travelling companions to help him to his feet, and to lead him into the city.

For three whole days he ate nothing and drank nothing.
How could he face life again?

He had had a strong belief in his God.
But Jesus had no place in his belief in God.
He believed that Jesus was a false prophet, a phoney, a threat to true faith.
And he believed that Jesus was dead and buried.

Now, in that dramatic experience along the way, he had met God.
He had met the eternal Lord.
But when he met the Lord, the Lord introduced himself as Jesus.
In that instant he realised that everything that Jesus had claimed about himself must be true.

He believed that Jesus was dead and buried.
But now he had heard the voice of Jesus.
Jesus must be alive.
That story of the disciples that the tomb had been found empty, and that Jesus was alive, and that Jesus had appeared to people – that must all be true.

He had thought that he was doing the right thing when he went out to persecute those who continued to follow Jesus.
He believed that it was his duty, in the name of truth and faithfulness to God, to suppress this dangerous new faith.
But Jesus had confronted him, and had said:
I am the one you are persecuting.

Saul had been so strong in his conviction, so passionate in putting his beliefs into practice – now he was shattered.

But God did not leave Saul in that condition.
God had his own plan for Saul.

God sent a disciple named Ananias to look for Saul.
Ananias protested – he had heard that Saul was a dangerous enemy.
But God reassured him.

He sent Ananias to Saul, and through the laying on of hands, Ananias restored Saul’s sight.
The Bible says that it was like fish scales falling off his eyes, so that he could see again, but now everything looked different because he was looking at life with Jesus Christ, not against Jesus Christ.

Ananias also baptised Saul.
Saul, the enemy of Jesus Christ, was baptised into the name of Jesus Christ.
Not only his eyes were opened – his heart was opened.
Through those days of darkness he had looked back on his life, and he had repented of the evil that he had chosen.
Now he was ready to open his heart to the forgiveness of Jesus Christ, and to eagerly receive the life of baptism.

God told Ananias that he had plans for Saul.
This man is the instrument I have chosen to carry my name before the Gentiles and before their kings, as well as before the people of Israel.

And God added a warning.
I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.

In the past Saul made others suffer for the name of Jesus Christ.
He had been the persecutor. Soon he will persecuted for the name of Jesus.

Saul began a new life.
He took on a new name – the name of Paul, and we now know him as St Paul, the great missionary of the New Testament church.

He approached his new life with the same passion as he had shown in his old life – but in the totally opposite direction.

Within a short time he was preaching for Jesus Christ.
Previously he had argued so strongly that Jesus was false, and that stories about Jesus’ resurrection must be lies.
Now he stood up for Jesus and proclaimed the resurrection.
He was sure.
Later on he wrote: Jesus appeared to all the apostles in the days and weeks after his resurrection. Later on he appeared also to me, and I too became a personal witness of the resurrection.

Saul had been so strong in his determination to defend the Jewish faith.
More than anyone else Paul became the defender of the Christian Gospel, and he fought so hard for the truth that the Christian Gospel was a Gospel for all people, Jews and Gentiles.

Saul believed that he had to do his religious duty to keep his relationship with God.
Paul preached that you can never enjoy a relationship with God by performing religious duties.
Instead your relationship depended on faith in Jesus Christ, and trusting what Jesus Christ has done for you.

The passion of Paul shines through his letters that we have in the New Testament.
That passion took him across the known world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
That passion finally took him to a martyr’s death, and he was proud to die for Jesus Christ.

What made all the difference?
Meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus.
And discovering that Jesus is alive.
That Jesus died and rose again and is living still.

We have just celebrated Easter.
We have just celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We have just met Jesus again, met Jesus as the Saviour who died and was raised to life, and who is living with us today.

What does that do for us?

It has to make a difference.
It has to change us, and change the way we see our lives.

So much of our life is wrapped up in ourselves,
getting what we want for ourselves,
looking for experiences that we want for ourselves.

When we meet Jesus, when we discover that Jesus is alive, then we start to understand that life is not about us.
Life is living with Jesus.
And we find purpose in life when we live for Jesus.

Some of us may be passionate people.
We love to get really involved with things.
What could be better than becoming really passionate about your faith in Jesus Christ,
really committed to making Jesus the key to your life,
really dedicated in giving your time to serving Jesus,
really excited about speaking up for Jesus,
really strong in supporting the mission of the Gospel that takes Jesus Christ to the world.

Some of us may be more reserved.
But even if you are quieter person you can carry that same conviction in your heart,
and you will always find the opportunities to be faithful, to be strong to be courageous for Jesus Christ.
No matter who you are, what sort of person you are,
Jesus Christ and his resurrection is power for life.

You know Jesus Christ.
You have met Jesus Christ, your living Lord and Saviour.
Become a Paul.
Live your lives with Jesus.
And dedicate your lives to Jesus.