May 4, 2025 Sermon

Sermon Title:  “The Conversion of the Apostle Paul”

Scripture:  Acts 9:1-20

(Other lectionary suggestions include Psalm 30, Revelation 5:11-14, and John 21:1-19.)

Acts 9:1-20

The Conversion of Saul

1Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2and 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. 3Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. 8Saul 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. 9For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. 10Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” 11The 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, 12and 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.” 13But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; 14and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.” 15But 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; 16I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 17So 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.” 18And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, 19and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Saul Preaches in Damascus

For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, 20and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

          There is probably no more famous story than what we just heard. An enemy of one side of an argument converted whole-heartedly to the other side, and those who regarded him with suspicion did not easily give up their previously held positions! The famous or infamous persecutor had now become the other side’s best preacher - truly a remarkable turn of events.

          William Barclay, the Scottish scholar, calls this occurrence “not a sudden conversion but a sudden surrender.” If you recall, when the first Christian martyr Stephen was stoned to death, Paul didn’t throw any stones, but people did lay their clothes at his feet, and we are told that Paul was in agreement with what was happening to Stephen. However, as Stephen died, he prayed that God forgive them for what they were doing, and that forgiving spirit really got to Paul. In fact, he couldn’t forget it! He thought, “How could anyone who was being put to death actually pray for his executioners?” But that is what Stephen did, sounding a lot like Jesus on the Cross when he said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

          But Paul didn’t submit right away. In fact, he went the OTHER way for a while, asking for letters of credit to arrest certain individuals who were followers of Jesus. The Sanhedrin in Jerusalem had the authority to request that those who claimed to be Jesus-followers could be brought before it to answer for such a crime. Paul heard that there were certain Jesus-followers in Damascus, which was about 140 miles from Jerusalem, and the trip there would take about a week. So, it was on the road to Damascus that he witnessed this blinding light and was blinded for several days.

          The account in the Book of Acts doesn’t say so, but Paul had to spend much time by himself on the road, even though he was accompanied by others. That’s because that as a strict Jew, he had to stay away from the non-religious, those who weren’t as religiously strict as he. And he couldn’t shake that image of the dying, forgiving Stephen. So, Paul had a lot to think about......when suddenly he was hit by that blinding light.

          Paul, as you know, was born Saul of the city of Tarsus. Why did he change his name? That’s a great Old Testament tradition! Abram became Abraham and Jacob became Israel. And in the New Testament people would have their names changed. Cephas became Peter the Rock. The practice may have had something to do with change. If I am a new person, maybe I need a new name.

          Also, Paul was very smart. He himself was proud of his Pharisee roots. He was a Biblical scholar and a student of Gamaliel, a teacher mentioned in Acts. Christianity is indeed fortunate to have such a thinker as Paul as an early leader. Keep in mind that Jesus’s original disciples were probably illiterate. That doesn’t mean they were dumb, but they didn’t really need to read and write to do what they were called to do. But the Church needed a thinker who could read and write, and that’s what we got with Paul.

          There is something sweet about today’s account. Paul was heading for Damascus to capture followers of Jesus. But after what happened to him, he had to be led by hand by others. In the words of Charles Barclay, “He who had intended to enter Damascus like an avenging fury was led by the hand, blind and helpless.”

          Also, up until this point Paul did what HE wanted to do. Now he was prepared to do what GOD wanted him to do.

          Sometimes we are urged to do something, and we get no credit for it! Ananias seems to be such a guy. He was suspicious, and he even told God what he thought of Paul! But he was obedient anyway. Says William Barclay, “If it be true that the Church owes Paul to the prayer of Stephen, it is also true that the Church owes Paul to the brotherliness of Ananias.”

          When Ananias greets Paul with, “Brother Saul,” I am almost moved to tears. What courage on the part of Ananias, and what forgiveness in his heart! And not a LITTLE bit of trust in God, too! He could have said, “Why have you persecuted so many of us?” But instead, he said, “Brother Saul.”

          As we read about Paul’s conversion, it’s easy to assume that this all happened pretty quickly, but it didn’t. Paul talks about his experience in the first chapter of Galatians. We are told that he goes away to Arabia and then comes back to Damascus to preach for three years. It’s almost as if Paul’s Arabian experience is like Jesus’s time of temptation in the desert. Says Barclay, “for a time he had to be alone with God.” “Before him stretched a different life,” says Barclay, “and he needed two things:  guidance for a way that was totally strange and strength for an almost overwhelming task that had been given to him. He went to God for both.” Amen. Any questions?

Pastor Skip

P.S. Do you want to talk about Paul’s experience on the Damascus road? I personally believe that Paul had been wrestling with stuff for a long time, and his time alone may have given him time to meditate. The description of the light in the sky may have been the ancient way of saying, “It hit Paul like a ton of bricks!” The road to Damascus went through Galilee, so Paul certainly had to think about Jesus as he trudged through that land!