Narrative Commentary for Sunday, 4 May 2014

Narrative Commentary for Sunday, 4 May 2014

Lectionary Scriptures:

Acts 9:1 But Saul, still breathing threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, 2 and asked for letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 As he traveled, he got close to Damascus, and suddenly a light from the sky shone around him. 4 He fell on the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

5 He said, “Who are you, Lord?”

The Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.[a] 6 But[b] rise up, and enter into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

7 The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the sound, but seeing no one. 8 Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one. They led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. 9 He was without sight for three days, and neither ate nor drank.

10 Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias!”

He said, “Behold, it’s me, Lord.”

11 The Lord said to him, “Arise, and go to the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judah[c] for one named Saul, a man of Tarsus. For behold, he is praying, 12 and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in, and laying his hands on him, that he might receive his sight.”

13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he did to your saints at Jerusalem. 14 Here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.”

15 But the Lord said to him, “Go your way, for he is my chosen vessel to bear my name before the nations and kings, and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name’s sake.”

17 Ananias departed, and entered into the house. Laying his hands on him, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord, who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me, that you may receive your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he received his sight. He arose and was baptized. 19 He took food and was strengthened. Saul stayed several days with the disciples who were at Damascus.

Footnotes:

a. Acts 9:5 TR adds “It’s hard for you to kick against the goads.”

b. Acts 9:6 TR omits “But”

c. Acts 9:11 or, Judas

Commentary on Acts 9:1-19 by Mitzi J. Smith

God orchestrated a meeting between Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch on the Gaza road west of Jerusalem (8:26), and Jesus met Saul outside of Jerusalem as he approached Damascus (9:3).

Neither Saul nor the Ethiopian Eunuch met or was introduced to Jesus in Jerusalem or in the Temple precincts. God meets, calls, and transforms people wherever God chooses. God meets, calls, and transforms people in and beyond religious institutions. Jesus revealed himself to Saul and called him, while he was on a mission to murder those who believed that Jesus was God’s Messiah. The preacher might preach that God doesn’t limit God’s self-revelation to Christians; God reveals God’s self to whomever God chooses and when God chooses.

Saul had condoned the murder of Stephen (8:1-3); he made it his calling to exterminate all those belonging to “the way” (9:2). For this mission, Saul obtained the official consent of the elite religious authorities, the Chief Priests, representing the Temple and its cult, the center of Judaism. In the first century, Rome ruled and controlled the world, including the Temple, its services to a degree, and its leaders and officiates.

Paul himself was a well-connected and highly educated Jewish man, a second-generation Pharisee, and a Roman citizen (16:37; 23:6; Galatians 1:13-16; Philippians 3:5) -- all of which God would eventually use in the service of the good news. As a well-connected insider, Saul had marginalized those who joined the Jewish sect centered around Jesus (28:22), those called Christian, by others, in Antioch first (11:26). The preacher might consider that sometimes we use faulty barometers to determine whether or not an organization is of God; we decided based on the power and connections that the leader or the organization enjoys, by the membership numbers and by the size and magnificence of the building, but these are superficial criteria.

When Saul becomes a follower of Jesus the Messiah, he does not turn his back on his Jewish brothers and sisters or on Judaism. God did not change Saul’s name to Paul any more than God changed Cornelius’s name (13:9). Saul has a Jewish name and a Roman name prior to his calling, and he has a Jewish and Roman name afterwards. A lot has been preached about Saul/Paul and his call. But Ananias is also called to do and to be something that takes him out of his comfort zone and that requires blind faith. Intertwined with Saul’s call is the Lord’s calling of Ananias to be present for and to lay hands on Saul.

How shall we preach this? Just as the angel of the Lord instructed Philip to “Get up and go,” the Lord told Ananias to “Get up and go.” Sometimes we respond to a call without knowing exactly what we are walking into or what the consequences of our call will be, but we just know we must get up and go. To lay hands on a person who has blood on his hands, to follow despite the negative you know and the good you have yet to see, requires a blind faith.

The glorified Jesus called Saul’s name twice, like when Yhwh called Samuel (I Samuel 3:4). God only calls Ananias’s name once, but Ananias answers like Samuel did, “Here I am Lord” (9:10). Jesus called Saul by his Hebrew name, brother to brother -- within his Jewish context. Despite Paul’s past, he declares that God called him from his mother’s womb (Galatians 1:15). Before he met Jesus on the Damascus Road, Saul believed he was doing God’s will. But his persecution of the believers was tantamount to violence against God. The preacher might consider that if our sense of a calling permits us to inflict violence against others who do not believe as we believe, then that call is not from God; that in committing violence against others in defense of our own religion is not a part of the calling and justice of God. We are not doing God a favor, but by harming others, we wound God.

Saul’s call begins with God disrupting Saul’s journey with a vision in which he is embraced by a flashing light from heaven (9:3). Some of us may stand in need of a disruption because we may be on a mission in the service of an institution and not in the service of God. God embraced Saul before God rebuked him. This too might preach. In response to the luminous divine embrace, Paul fell to the ground. The divine presence, divine love is humbling. It is while Paul is lying on the ground that he hears God’s voice (verse 4). Saul’s response shows that he knows somebody -- not just something -- has embraced and confronted him, someone to whom respect is due, for he answers “Who are you, Lord?” (verse 5). Jesus speaks to Saul as one in solidarity with those whom he persecuted: “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting” (9:6, NRSV).

The double imperatives connected by the conjunction and, “Get up (anistami) and go,” constitute a pattern we find in Acts. Saul, who has been blinded by God’s revelatory disruption of his journey, is told to continue on into Damascus where he will be given further instructions. This begins a faith walk for Saul. He will go blind, being led by his companions, into a city where he is known as and is expected to arrive as the persecutor of “the way,” as the enemy of Jesus, the Christ. The tables are turned; Saul will now be risking his own life for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Lord also appeared to Ananias in a vision, instructing him too to “get up and go” and lay his hands upon Saul of Tarsus (9:10-12). Ananias is also walking by blind faith, believing that his vision is truly from God, that Saul has indeed been transformed into a friend of the Way. God informs Ananias that Saul will expect him because he has foreseen, in a vision, Ananias coming to him and laying hands on him.

In this pericope, God directs through visions. As in Acts 10-11 where Peter and Cornelius receive visions and at Acts 16 where Paul and Silas receive a vision, both Saul and Ananias receive a vision orchestrating their otherwise unlikely rendezvous. Unfortunately in Acts, only men receive visions, as the Joel quotation promises (2:17). But this narrative and theological bias should not be used to teach that God does not give visions and dreams to females, because God will not be restricted in terms of whom, when, and how God calls.

PRAYER OF THE DAY:

God who calls us into service,

Transform us as you transformed Paul. Shape us into children who rejoice in knowing and proclaiming you to the world. Amen.

HYMNS:

“We are called”   ELW 720

1. Come! live in the light!

Shine with the joy and the love of the Lord!

We are called to be light for the kingdom,

to live in the freedom of the city of God!

Refrain:

We are called to act with justice.

We are called to love tenderly.

We are called to serve one another, to walk humbly with God.

2. Come! Open your heart!

Show your mercy to all those in fear!

We are called to be hope for the hopeless,

so all hatred and blindness will be no more!

Refrain:

We are called to act with justice.

We are called to love tenderly.

We are called to serve one another, to walk humbly with God.

3. Sing! Sing a new song!

Sing of that great day when all will be one!

God will reign and we'll walk with each other as sisters and brothers united in love!

Refrain:

We are called to act with justice.

We are called to love tenderly.

We are called to serve one another, to walk humbly with God.

“Unexpected and mysterious”   ELW 258

1. Unexpected and mysterious is the gentle word of grace.

Ever-loving and sustaining is the peace of God’s embrace.

If we falter in our courage and we doubt what we have known,

God is faithful to console us as a mother tends her own.

2. Of a momentary meeting of eternity and time,

Many learned that she would carry both the mortal and divine.

Then she learned of God’s compassion, of Elizabeth’s great joy,

And she ran to greet the woman who would recognize her boy.

3. We are called to ponder mystery and awaiting the coming Christ,

To embody God’s compassion for each fragile human life.

God is with us in our longing, to bring healing to the earth,

While we watch with joy and wonder for the promised Savior’s birth.

4. Love has died.

God sent him to teach us

love; he died for us there on the tree.

Feed the hungry and welcome the stranger:

This was his life. Then why?

His crime was

Love! Love!

Love for God’s whole creation.

Love! Love!

God’s love for you and me.

Lord, have mercy. Amen.

“All are welcome” ELW 641

1. Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live,

a place where saints and children tell how hearts learn to forgive.

Built of hopes and dreams and visions, rock of faith and vault of grace;

here the love of Christ shall end divisions:

All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.

2. Let us build a house where prophets speak, and words are strong and true,

where all God’s children dare to seek to dream God’s reign anew.

Here the cross shall stand as witness and as symbol of God’s grace;

here as one we claim the faith of Jesus:

All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.

3. Let us build a house where love is found in water, wine, and wheat:

a banquet hall on holy ground where peace and justice meet.

Here the love of God, through Jesus, is revealed in time and space;

as we share in Christ the feast that free us:

All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.

4. Let us build a house where hands will reach beyond the wood and stone

to heal and strengthen, serve and teach, and live the Word they’ve known.

Here the outcast and the stranger bear the image of God’s face;

let us bring an end to fear and danger:

All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.

5. Let us build a house where all are named, their songs and visions heard

and loved and treasured, taught and claimed as words within the Word.

Built of tears and cries and laughter, prayers of faith and songs of grace,

let this house proclaim from floor to rafter:

All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.

CHORAL

“The Call” Ralph Vaughan Williams

1. Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life:

Such a way as gives us breath;

Such a truth as ends all strife,

Such a life as killeth death.

2. Come, my Light, my Feast, my Strength:

Such a light as shows a feast,

Such a feast as mends in length,

Such a strength as makes his guest.

3. Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart:

Such a joy as none can move,

Such a love as none can part,

Such a heart as joys in love.

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John Wesley’s Notes-Commentary for:

Acts 9:1-19

Verse 3

[3] And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:

And suddenly — When God suddenly and vehemently attacks a sinner, it is the highest act of mercy. So Saul, when his rage was come to the height, is taught not to breathe slaughter. And what was wanting in time to confirm him in his discipleship, is compensated by the inexpressible terror he sustained. By his also the suddenly constituted apostle was guarded against the grand snare into which novices are apt to fall.

Verse 4

[4] And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

He heard a voice — Severe, yet full of grace.

Verse 5

[5] And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

To kick against the goads — is a Syriac proverb, expressing an attempt that brings nothing but pain.

Verse 6

[6] And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

It shall be told thee — So God himself sends Saul to be taught by a man, as the angel does Cornelius, Acts 10:5. Admirable condescension! that the Lord deals with us by men, like ourselves.

Verse 7

[7] And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.

The men — stood - Having risen before Saul; for they also fell to the ground, Acts 26:14. It is probable they all journeyed on foot.

Hearing the noise — But not an articulate voice. And seeing the light, but not Jesus himself, Acts 26:13, etc.

Verse 9

[9] And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.

And he was three days — An important season! So long he seems to have been in the pangs of the new birth.

Without sight — By scales growing over his eyes, to intimate to him the blindness of the state he had been in, to impress him with a deeper sense of the almighty power of Christ, and to turn his thoughts inward, while he was less capable of conversing with outward objects. This was likewise a manifest token to others, of what had happened to him in his journey, and ought to have humbled and convinced those bigoted Jews, to whom he had been sent from the sanhedrim.

Verse 11

[11] And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,

Behold he is praying — He was shown thus to Ananias.

Verse 12

[12] And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.

A man called Ananias — His name also was revealed to Saul.

Verse 13

[13] Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:

But he answered — How natural it is to reason against God.

Verse 14

[14] And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.

All that call on thy name — That is, all Christians.

Verse 15

[15] But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:

He is a chosen vessel to bear my name — That is, to testify of me. It is undeniable, that some men are unconditionally chosen or elected, to do some works for God

Verse 16

[16] For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.

For I — Do thou as thou art commanded. I will take care of the rest; will show him - In fact, through the whole course of his ministry.

How great things he must suffer — So far will he be now from persecuting others.

Verse 17

[17] And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

The Lord hath sent me — Ananias does not tell Saul all which Christ had said concerning him. It was not expedient that he should know yet to how great a dignity he was called.

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Sermon for Sunday, 4 May 2014

Title: The Understanding of Saul’s Conversion for Today

I do not understand all what is going on. My father was a Pharisee within the Jewish faith and I was becoming a Pharisee trained the similar way he was. I loved my faith because I loved God with my whole heart, soul, mind, and body. I loved the heritage of the Jewish and followed the law as prescribed by all good Jewish Pharisees. Yet, this group of Jews who believed this man who was killed on the cross because he said that he was equal with God, I just did not understand. Yes, I heard that they believed that this Jesus did not stay dead, but was resurrected from the dead just is unbelievable. I know from my Jewish writings the Enoch walked with God and was no more with no sign of death as well as Elijah was taken up in a world wind, but this deceiver Jesus. I was on my way to Damascus to arrest and throw into jail all these people both Jews and Gentiles who proclaimed this Jesus as The Messiah. My understanding of the Promised Messiah is that He would come as a Warrior King who would deliver us from the oppressor and set up the Kingdom of Israel as I understand it was under King David and his son, King Solomon. Then it happened. On the road there was a bright light that was brighter, far brighter than the Noon day sun as it brightest. I heard a voice who accused me of persecuting Him and I also so this man who was similar to the description I heard what Jesus looked like standing at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. I could do nothing but fall to the ground and realize I am in the presence of God just as Isaiah was in the Temple at the death of King Uzziah. I listened to what Jesus told me to go into Damascus at this house on Straight Street and wait for a man named Ananias. So, I attempted to get up and my companions helped me up as I opened my eyes but could see nothing. For three days I did nothing in this house but pray to God eating and drinking nothing then Ananias came and laid his hands on me in the name of this Jesus and I felt scale-like substance fall from my eyes. Immediately, I felt the Spirit of God come upon me and I proclaimed Jesus as the Christ or Yeshua the Messiah and was baptized in His name. Immediately, I went to the synagogue and proclaimed from the Hebrew Scriptures the proof that this Jesus is the Messiah. People who surprised that this man who came to Damascus to have the followers of Jesus arrested and imprisoned proclaiming the same thing I was attempting to stop. It was a God-thing. Amen. Then there was word that some Jews did not like my conversion to the Way of Jesus and wanted to kill me, but some faithful followers of Jesus let me down out a window and of I went back to Jerusalem. When I arrived in Jerusalem, the disciples did not trust me except one named Barnabas who took me to James, the brother of Jesus. I stayed there and worshiped God with the disciples, but was ushered off to my hometown because I was causing too much of a stir. What three years I had in my hometown re-studying the Scriptures to see the truth of who Jesus is in the Scriptures that I did not see before. Then Barnabas came and took me to Antioch where we continued to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah among Jews and Gentiles whether they were Asian, Africans, or Europeans. We were commissioned and sent off on a mission trip to proclaim to the truth of God to the Jews and the Gentiles. What a time I had even when I was persecuted for the faith Jesus gave me. I am so glad that Barnabas, John Mark, and I reconciled with each other after our disagreement over John Mark. I visited all the Messianic Communities I started planting even more Messianic Communities until I was placed in house jail until my trial. Yes, I wrote much to encourage the Messianic Communities as well as correct them in their wrong practices through their faith in Yeshua. Yes, I am glad that there are Messianic Jews and Messianic Gentiles, but I was saddened that the Jews who did not understand Yeshua as the Messiah threw the Messianic Jews and Messianic Gentiles out of the synagogue. I was not only saddened by this event, but when the Messianic Gentiles became popular and not a threat to the government, they would find violent ways to kill the Jesus if they did not convert to Christianity. This was even done to the people who were called Mohammed or Islamic in wars that they thought were defending the faith. Then when people would be led by the Spirit of God to revive the church from Saint Francis to Martin Luther to John Wesley to Phineas Bresee to Sundhar Singh to Martin Luther King, Jr., there were violent killings between people who called themselves Christians. E. Stanley Jones was correct in saying that Mahatma Ghandi was more of a Christian than the American Christians because he live by the teachings of Yeshua. Now, you are in the 21^st century and there still are misunderstandings that I said women cannot be leaders and teachers and pastors and shepherds in the Messianic Communities. This is wrong and leads to sin and exclusiveness just as you exclude the people who are living in a homosexual partner relationship for life just as a man and woman in marriage. Then, there are the people who are differently abled who are not even allowed the full rights in the church just because they are slow or whatever their ability is. Let me tell you, they are God’s people who teaches the way of Jesus in their slowness and are teachers better than some of your teachers. Get with it. Did not Jesus say, John said, and I said that people will know that we are followers of Yeshua for our love for each other and all the people who have not yet come to Yeshua as the Messiah whether Gentiles or Jews. When I came down on the homosexual, I also came down on the adulterer, the thief, etc. because they were living outside the one relationship for life. Then, there is the fact that one group of Christians say that pastors should not be married while another group come down on those who are not married. God chooses some to be single while he chooses others to be married. I pray for you from the Heavens that repentance and living out the teachings of Jesus is truly among all of you that others will come to know Yeshua by your love. May the Grace of God be with you and the Spirit of God fill you with Love as you follow in the teachings of Jesus which is also the teachings of The Father in the Torah and Hebrew writngs called the Hebrew Bible. God and be Yeshua’s witness of His love for all creation. May the prayer of Jesus that is found in the latter part of what you know as chapter 17 in the Gospel of John that you will be united even though you may think differently in your faith given to you by Yeshua’s Spirit. Amen!

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