Grace and peace to you in the name of Lord Jesus Christ.
Hear the Word of God, from Acts 9.1-19:
9 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” 7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. 10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered. 11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” 13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” 15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” 17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
I imagine that the person making the most appearances on Facebook this past week was Senator Bernie Sanders.
I also imagine that the phenomenon was wholly unexpected on his part.
After all, he simply fulfilled a senatorial courtesy/obligation by attending the presidential inauguration this past Wednesday. Due to the guidelines imposed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Senator Sanders’ seat was socially distanced from other chairs at an appropriate interval, and he wore a mask as requested. It was a cold day, so the Senator wore a winter jacket and, well, a rather unique pair of mittens. Sitting with his arms and legs crossed, he probably never suspected that his appearance stood out in the crowd…or that someone would snap a picture of him that would travel the length and breadth of the Internet in the span of 72 hours.
Thanks to the wonder of Photoshop or some other technological program, Senator Sanders has been showing up in the most unexpected places, creating memes that, at least from my perspective, have been the funniest I’ve ever seen on social media. Some of my favorites have featured Senator Sanders riding the roller coaster at Dollywood, sitting next to Tom Hanks on a bench in the movie “Forrest Gump,” and appearing with the 90’s Pop group the Spice Girls as the sixth member: “Old Spice.” My favorite meme has the senator sitting on the couch with the Culhane family from the television show “Hee-Haw,” which is a reference many of you won’t understand (and, to those who do, yes, I was raised watching “Hee-Haw every Saturday evening, and, yes, I really am that old!).
Of course, Senator Sanders isn’t the only one who makes unexpected appearances. Jesus makes some unexpected appearances in Scripture, too. He appears twice in the ninth chapter of the Book of Acts, long after His ascension into Heaven in the first chapter. This is the ingredient that makes Christianity different from every other world religion: the founders of all other religions are dead and buried, while the One at the head and heart of Christianity is resurrected and alive…and capable of showing up anywhere at anytime!
In Acts 9, Jesus appears in a flash of heavenly light and speaks to Saul, a zealous student of the Jewish law who was determined to stamp out the Christian faith by any means necessary. On his way to Damascus to take Christians in the local Jewish synagogues as prisoners back to Jerusalem, the Lord Jesus confronts Saul and asks, “Why do you persecute me?” Saul asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The Lord replies, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” Blinded by the experience, Saul is lead into the city, unable or unwilling to eat or drink for three days.
Jesus subsequently appears in a vision to Ananias, one of His followers in Damascus, and instructs him to go to Saul and place his hands on him in order to restore Saul’s sight. Saul’s murderous reputation had preceded him, and Ananias was clearly reluctant to even go near him. But the Lord said, “Go,” and Ananias faithfully carried out Jesus’ instruction. As a result, persecutor Saul became the Apostle Paul, Christianity spread to Europe through his ministry, and we have much of our New Testament thanks to the inspired writings of Saul/Paul.
I’m going to take a wild guess and say that, if you have any political leanings or inclinations at all, 2020 was probably not a year in which you increased your positive feelings about everyone you know on social media. Let’s be honest: American society is largely tribalized at this point, with most folks seeing life through the lens of “us versus them.” There appears to be very little “united” left in the ideal that is the United State of America. As a people, we are separated politically, economically, and culturally in ways that would have been unthinkable twenty years ago as we responded to the tragedies of 9/11. Yet here we are, more uncomfortable with interacting with others with whom we differ/disagree than ever before. What a challenge for our country…and, frankly, what a challenge for the Church.
This is where the Book of Acts is so instructive for us today. The book is filled with accounts of the miraculous acts of Jesus’s apostles as they carried on His ministry through the power of the Holy Spirit (hence the title of the book). But the greatest miracle recorded in the Book of Acts may be the overarching theme of faithfulness to Jesus’ Great Commission to take the Gospel to the world. Time and again, in a world in which political and cultural division alienated people from each other in a way like our time, followers of Jesus responded to His unexpected invitations and opportunities to reach out to others with whom they had little or nothing in common. They overcame their stereotypical thinking and ingrained fears and offer the Gospel to EVERYONE…and they turned the world upside down. Two thousand years later, the Gospel still has the power to turn the world upside down…all we who follow Jesus need to do is release our stereotypical thinking and ingrained fears to Him, and faithfully follow Him into a lifestyle that lives out the world-embracing Great Commission.
Ananias was willing to overcome his inclination and approach the last person on earth he wanted to encounter with the life-changing Good News of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. He was faithful to Christ’s call, he made an unexpected appearance in the life of Saul, and he literally changed the world as a result.
Jesus is still calling His followers to make unexpected appearances in the lives of the last people in the world we ever want to encounter. He is still calling us to build relationships, show grace and mercy, and share His Gospel in word and deed. It’s the way He has chosen to change the world over the past 2000 years, and He’s still doing it today.
Is He giving you an opportunity today to make a grace-filled “unexpected appearance” in someone’s life? If so, it’s your chance to change 2021…and the world.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you always.
Amen.
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