Over the last few months, during the COVID experience, my wife Evie has gotten really
into home conversion.
She just loves to be able to go home and just sort of move things around so that it feels
like a new space.
And particularly in a time like COVID, where there's so many things that we realize we
don't have control of.
When we're stuck at home, perhaps more than we would like to be, there's something really
appealing about being able to experience some kind of change.
Evie is like a Tetris wizard with this.
Somehow, when we first got married, we had one bookcase.
Now we have three, and yet somehow our home feels more spacious.
So she is both gifted at this and a regular practitioner of it.
But there's something appealing, isn't it?
When we're at home, when we're stuck at home, knowing that there is a change that we can
experience, that we aren't just stuck the same, unable to change or do anything in a strange
season like this.
And so some kind of change is really appealing.
But other change can often be uncomfortable, perhaps even confronting.
I wonder what kind of thoughts and feelings come to mind, not when you think of home conversion,
but what about when you think about people being converted?
What kind of things come to mind?
Perhaps, and I think what's a common thought for our world and culture is that the thought
of people being converted can come across as mean or arrogant, perhaps even just narrow-minded.
Maybe even for some of us who are Christians, it can still be an uncomfortable thought.
The thought that there might be real cost to relationships, to friends and family, the fear
of rejection, the relational costs that can come when sharing the good news of Jesus.
But if people being converted is so uncomfortable, if our world thinks it is so uncomfortable, if we
feel uncomfortable about it, why do we bother doing it?
Why do we bother persevering for it?
I mean, why do we bother trying to convert people at all with the good news of Jesus,
if it just brings discomfort?
Well, as we come to our passage this morning in Acts 9,
we encounter one of the most famous conversion stories in the history of the world.
And as we actually walk through Saul's conversion account, how he goes from being an enemy of God
to a loved child of his, God wants to teach us three things about the nature of conversion,
three reasons why it is worth persevering in, and that it is a good and right thing that God
has put before us. So three things that God teaches us about the nature of conversion.
First of all, that conversion is uncomfortable.
Conversion is personal.
And that conversion is essential.
It is uncomfortable, it is personal, and it is essential.
So first of all, conversion is uncomfortable.
Now, as we look at Saul's mission at the start of Acts 9 here,
we see he is on a very specific mission.
In verse 1 and 2, it describes Saul as heading to Damascus,
breathing out murderous threats against God's people.
He has a very clear mission and purpose.
He wants to round up those of the way, those who follow Jesus at this time,
and he wants to have them rounded up, persecuted and imprisoned.
And he believes that he's doing this for God's good and his honor,
that these people are blasphemers, those who follow Jesus.
And yet in verse 3 and 4, as he sets out on this mission,
he experiences a radical encounter with Jesus,
which is described as Saul being knocked to the ground by a light from heaven,
and he hears a voice,
Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?
Now, clearly, clearly this is not the plan that Saul had set out for himself.
I mean, he's going to Damascus to confront the Christians,
those of the way,
and yet now he himself is being confronted by Jesus.
But conversion, it's an uncomfortable process.
You see, the very nature of conversion, the very idea of it,
says that it begins with God, God seeking us out,
rather than us seeking God.
Begins with God seeking us out, rather than us seeking God.
And it is no different with Saul.
You see, he's confident in his understanding of the truth.
I mean, he's a guy with vast knowledge of the Old Testament.
He's a guy of position and status.
He has great authority that he comes with as he heads to Damascus.
And he believes that he is honoring his God
as he seeks to crush this rebellious uprising of Christians.
And yet, what is his response?
In verse 5 and 6,
the only words that Saul says in his encounter with Jesus,
who are you, Lord?
See, for all his knowledge and confidence and his power and authority,
when he's confronted by the living God,
it reveals that he doesn't even know who he is.
He didn't even know the God that he thought he was serving.
And we see in verse 7 and 8 following this,
that Saul, having been confronted by this Jesus,
he's left blinded, he's now relying on his traveling companions,
simply just to guide him to the city that God has instructed him to go.
I mean, how disorientating that must have been for Saul.
He's come with a purpose, he's going to persecute the Christians,
he's confronted by Jesus himself,
whom he realizes he does not know,
and now he's blinded.
He is a picture of humiliation.
He's been humbled,
his power,
his authority,
all that makes him who he is,
and now he can't even travel
without being guided by others.
You see, Saul's new reality,
when you experience that kind of radical change,
when it's that uncomfortable,
it forces you to think.
You're sort of jolted into trying to make sense of this new reality.
And that can be a really uncomfortable process.
I've got to be honest,
it was a really uncomfortable process for me in my own life.
I became a Christian midway through high school in January of 2010.
And prior to that point,
I was really sure that I had the good news of Jesus all figured out.
It was not for me.
And more so than that,
I had an older brother,
a really nice,
sort of actually annoyingly nice,
older brother,
who was a Christian,
and I just could not make sense of this guy.
Like, he was so nice,
so caring,
and if you've had anything to do with teenage boys,
those are not usually the words you would associate to them.
And I just couldn't understand him at all.
And that lack of understanding
created a lot of frustration.
From me to him,
I just could not make sense of him.
And so I took out that frustration
on other Christians.
You know,
other people who would be foolish enough
to believe that Jesus was who he claimed to be,
that he really was this Lord and Savior.
Now, just to clarify,
just in case people are watching at home,
when I say I sort of taunted and make fun of Christians,
it was not in the same sense as Saul.
I did not threaten anyone's life.
Just got to make that nice and clear.
But I was particularly rough
to one of my school chaplains.
I took a special kind of delight
in making his life difficult.
I liked to ask annoying and uncomfortable questions,
not for answers,
just to see him squirm.
I would have been a great friend
if you knew me in high school.
I hope you're getting that picture.
So as I was sharing life with this guy,
I would just continually try to sort of irritate him.
I would try to make him uncomfortable.
I'd try to make him think that his job
and his time and his efforts were wasted.
Until he actually,
well, he ended up having to quit his job.
He ended up having to quit his job.
And I like to think that I was involved in that process,
you know, that it was because of how annoying
I must have been.
It's always fun when families sit in
and hear this stuff as well.
Thinking about how annoying I must have been.
And as I saw him, quite literally,
finishing up his job,
I saw him carrying a box of his stuff
from his office to the car,
and I thought here was a chance
to get one last jab in,
you know, to really make him feel bad.
And so I went up to him
and sort of just tauntingly said,
where are you going, sir?
And I'll never forget what he said.
He looked at me,
and perhaps in a moment of weakness and frustration,
he said,
I have better things to do
than waste my time
on crappy little kids like you.
Now, to me at the time,
that really felt like a victory.
You know, it showed,
I showed this guy
for the ridiculous beliefs that he had.
You know, what a waste of his time
to go to a school
and share the good news of Jesus.
However,
over the following six months,
all of the things that I thought
made my life happy and meaningful,
playing football,
spending time with friends,
over the next six months,
I started to get quite sick,
and I had to stop playing football.
And that meant that I started
to see my friends less.
And it was really disorientating
to think how quickly
my life and the purpose
that I had from it
started to unravel.
All of a sudden,
my comfortable,
cruisy life,
I was stuck at home going,
who am I?
What is my life
without these things?
Where am I going to find
fulfillment?
And it was in this season
that very much
against my own wishes,
my parents sent me
to a Christian camp
that the same annoyingly kind
older brother was leading on.
This was particularly fun,
saying as my brother
sat there at the nine o'clock service.
He enjoyed it.
Now, when I went on this camp,
I had one goal in mind.
The only thing that I was focused on
was do not listen to the talks.
Don't humor them
by showing that you're interested in Jesus.
That'll just make them more keen.
And yet, over the course of the week,
there was one specific thought
that I just could not get out of my head,
no matter how hard I tried.
And it was a thought
that I tried to run from,
but it just kept piercing my mind.
I was reminded that,
what if I'm so stubborn
that I actually needed
to have something taken from me
to hear this message seriously?
What if I was so stubborn
that I needed to have something
taken from me
to hear this message seriously?
You see, my conversion began
with this uncomfortable realization
that I am a proud and stubborn person.
And it was only through
having something taken from me
that I actually realized
how little I am,
how frail my life actually is.
And similarly with Saul's conversion,
it begins with a very uncomfortable reality
when he's confronted by the God
that he thought he was serving,
only to realize
he didn't know him at all,
only to lose his sight
to realize how frail his life was.
I wonder what kind of discomfort
God has been bringing about in your life,
perhaps during this COVID-19 season.
What have you been learning
through this uncomfortable season?
Could it be that God is using
this discomfort
to bring you
to a new perspective
on who Jesus is?
Could it be that this is a process
of your own conversion
as you come to a humbling realization
that your discomfort,
your own weakness,
your own lack of control,
your own frailty
is brought to the very surface?
You see, conversion
begins
as an uncomfortable process.
It is God
breaking into our life,
challenging our assumptions
and perspectives,
breaking down the illusions
of control
and the craving for comfort
that we create for ourselves.
It is uncomfortable.
But it isn't just uncomfortable.
You see, conversion
is also personal.
Have a look at the beginning
of Jesus' interaction
with Ananias with me.
It's in verse 10.
It says,
In Damascus,
there was a disciple
named Ananias.
The Lord called to him
in a vision.
Ananias!
Yes, Lord,
he answered.
Go to the house of Judas
on Straight Street
and ask for a man
from Tarsus
named Saul,
for he is praying.
In a vision,
he has seen a man
named Ananias
come and place hands
on him
to restore his sight.
Now,
we don't actually know
much about Ananias
except for this
particular encounter,
except for this
description in Acts.
In fact,
he's mentioned
nowhere else
in Scripture
except in relation
to Saul's conversion.
All that we know
of him
is that he was
a Christian
in Damascus,
that he very clearly
knew who Saul was
and his reputation,
that he was not
good news for Christians,
that him coming
to Damascus
would spell trouble
for him.
But we also see him
as a picture
of faithfulness.
But if you think
about the very little
that we actually know
of Ananias here,
it seems strange
that he would even
be involved
in this story at all.
I mean,
he doesn't seem
like the kind of
go-to guy
for someone like Saul,
of great power
and authority,
one who comes
to threaten
his very life.
And so it feels
like a reasonable
question to ask,
why is Ananias
involved at all?
I mean,
Jesus has already
humbled Saul
to see who he is
and he's now
prayerfully seeking
God in his discomfort.
Is it really necessary
for God to bring
Ananias into this?
It just seems like
an unnecessary obstacle
towards God's plan
and purposes here.
And yet,
God consistently
shows us
that conversion
is personal,
that God delights
to work through
his people.
And he delights
to work through
the weakness
and faithfulness
of his people.
You see,
there is something
just so profoundly
beautiful
and encouraging
about the picture
of Ananias' witness
here.
And it's something
really encouraging
for us as Christians
to look at
and see
God's power
displayed
in his weakness.
Since it's the only time
that we get to encounter
Ananias,
the only things
that we see,
he's fearful
and he is faithful.
Right?
We see that he's fearful
of encountering Saul
and yet,
when God confronts him
that Saul
is going to be
his chosen instrument,
his chosen mouthpiece
to proclaim
the good news
of Jesus
to the nations,
he is willingly
obedient and faithful.
He goes
and meets with Saul
and he greets him
as brother.
You see,
for someone
of no real significance
in human history,
God uses Ananias
in this defining moment
as he declares
that Saul
is going to be
his chosen instrument
for the nations
and yet ties
Ananias' faithful witness
to this incredible
world-changing encounter.
And all we know
of Ananias,
a weak
but faithful servant.
Do you remember
the faithful servants
and faithful witnesses
who have shared
Jesus with you?
Can you think
of those
that God may have
given you the privilege
of sharing Jesus with?
You see,
it could well be
that there is
no one else
who knows
of the witness
of the opportunity
that God gives you
to testify
to the good news
of Jesus.
It is likely
that none of us
will have the role
that Saul had
to be a mouthpiece
to the nations.
But like Ananias,
God desires faithfulness.
He desires faithful witnesses
and he sees
your faithfulness.
He delights
in the faithful witness
of his children.
It's a little bit
like a guy
named Mordecai Ham.
Now,
that is just
an outstanding name
and I feel like
I'm appreciating it more
at the 11 o'clock service
with Ham.
I feel like it's
really close to lunch.
Anyway,
could you just get
a quick show of hands?
Does anyone know
who Mordecai Ham is?
Still no?
Okay.
I feel like you're cheating,
Evie,
since you're here
at the 9 o'clock service.
Mordecai Ham
was an American evangelist
in Kentucky
that lived over
100 years ago
and it would have seemed
laughable to him
that his name
would be mentioned
over a century later
on the other side
of the world.
And yet,
he is the man
that God worked through
to bring a certain
Billy Graham
to a faith in Jesus.
A man who became
a global mouthpiece
for the gospel
as many people
around the world
heard the good news
of Jesus
were brought to their knees
as they realized
that he offered
life and forgiveness.
But if it wasn't
for Mordecai Ham's
faithful witness,
the gospel impact
around the world
would have been
so much poorer.
See,
we don't know
the names of people
like Mordecai Ham,
but God,
in his goodness,
intrinsically draws them
in to be part
of his plans
and purposes
for the kingdom
to go forward.
And so,
St. Paul's,
be encouraged
in your witness.
God does not demand
a global audience
for each of us,
but he does desire
us to be faithful
to those he places
around us.
He does desire us
to testify
to the hope
that we have
in Jesus
in the hopes
that they too
might be welcomed
into God's family.
Because God's
primary method
of conversion
is personal.
He uses weak,
fearful,
uncertain people
like Ananias,
perhaps like you
and me,
to proclaim
the good news
of Jesus
so that others
would be converted
and welcomed
into God's family.
Now,
I want to just
take a step back
for a moment.
It could be
that what you've heard
so far today
is that conversion
is uncomfortable
and that conversion
is personal
in how God
works through
his people
to bring others
into his family.
But it's possible
that you can hear that
and it might just
make sense
of a really fascinating
story of how Saul
has gone from
persecutor
of God's people
to all of a sudden
a proclaimer
of Jesus.
Maybe it even
helps you make sense
of some Christians
that you know
in your life.
But all of us,
all of us
need to hear
the most offensive
and the most
uncomfortable truth
that is revealed
to us
in Saul's conversion.
conversion.
And that is
that conversion
is essential.
It is essential
for everyone.
You see,
as we read more
about Saul's journey
as the mouthpiece
to proclaim Jesus,
he reflects
on the meaning
and purpose
of his own
radical encounter
that's described
in Acts 9.
Later in the Bible,
in the book
of 1 Timothy,
he reflects
not just on
what happened
to him,
but on what
God is revealing
about all people.
So I just want
to read to you
two verses
from 1 Timothy.
It's from chapter 1,
verse 15 and 16.
And this is what it says.
It says,
here is a trustworthy
saying that deserves
full acceptance.
Christ Jesus
came into the world
to save sinners
of whom I am
the worst.
but for this
very reason
I was shown
mercy
so that in me,
the worst of sinners,
Christ Jesus
might display
his immense patience
as an example
for those
who would believe
in him
and receive
eternal life.
You see,
Saul's story
reveals what is
both personally
true for him
as an enemy
of God
as separated
from him
by his sin
but it also
describes a
universal picture
of humanity.
We are all
sinners
who need
a saviour
and that Jesus
is that saviour,
the one who can
free us
from the guilt
and weight
of sin.
But if Jesus
is Lord
and saviour,
if he is Lord,
it means that
we need to be
willing to hear
uncomfortable things,
that he might
reveal
uncomfortable things
within us
for our own good.
We might even
find uncomfortable
things that we
find uncomfortable
about him,
things that we
don't like.
But this is the
essential call
of conversion
and that what God
desires for everyone
in Jesus.
Not to choose
the things that you
like about Jesus
but to surrender
yourself to Jesus
so that you
might receive
forgiveness
and enjoy
new life
in his name.
You see,
what Saul's story
is not saying,
it's not saying
that wicked
and evil
people like him
who actively
persecuted
and sought to
harm God
and his people,
that people like
them need
forgiveness.
No,
what Saul's story
is saying
is so much
more deep,
so much more
profound,
so much more
hopeful than that.
You see,
it says that
even someone
like Saul,
even an enemy
of God,
someone who
actively sought
to hurt his
people,
that even
someone like that
can find forgiveness
in Jesus.
So that when you
realize that you
need forgiveness,
you don't need to
fear or doubt
or worry
if you will
find it.
That when you
ask for forgiveness
and life in Jesus,
you can have
confidence that
it will be
given to you.
If you're someone
who already
follows Jesus,
is this what
your heart
yearns for?
Is this what
your heart
desires?
That God
would use you
and his people
as we are,
frail,
weak,
uncertain,
to welcome
in the sinner,
to welcome
in the outcast,
to welcome
in the enemy,
realizing that
that was our
picture,
that was our
standing before
God,
but for Jesus.
Because
conversion,
conversion from
death to life,
from enemy
to family,
that is what
God's heart
beats for.
God is in
the business
of conversion,
of bringing
people from
death and
separation
into his
family to
enjoy life
in Jesus'
name.
So for
Saul,
he was led
through a
series of
uncomfortable
moments
before he
was brought
to his
knees
and saw
Jesus as
the Lord,
as the
only one
who could
save him
from his
sin.
For me,
it involved
a process
of uncomfortable
moments
that ultimately
meant that
I sat
in an
outdoor
gazebo
with my
brother
confessing
that Jesus
was Lord,
that he
was Lord
of my
life,
and that
in that
moment,
what Jesus
had accomplished
by his
victory over
sin and
death at
the cross,
it meant
that I
went into
that gazebo,
an enemy
of God,
separated from
him because
of my sin,
and yet I
left there
as an
adopted,
loved,
forgiven,
child of
his.
That is
the gospel.
But what
about you?
Maybe
today is
your moment.
Maybe
you've
turned up
today,
or you
are watching
online,
and you
know that
you are
not a
follower of
Jesus,
and you
felt
confronted
by this
uncomfortable
reality
that,
like Saul,
you are
an enemy
of God,
separated
by the
weight of
your own
sin,
and that
the Lord
Jesus is
the only
one who
can convert
you,
who can
change
you,
who can
bring you
in from
an enemy
and outsider
to a
forgiven and
loved family
member.
If that
is you,
then know
conversion
is essential,
but it is
also available.
You can
receive it
here and
now this
morning,
and God
rejoices when
a sinner
turns to
him to
trust in
Jesus as
their Lord
and Savior.
We're about
to sing a
song in a
moment,
and then
Adrian is
going to
lead us
through a
prayer of
repentance
and faith,
a prayer of
surrendering
oneself,
surrendering the
weight of
sin,
acknowledging
that it's a
weight that
we cannot
bear,
but rejoicing
that Jesus
bore that
weight when
he went
to the
cross,
that we
can have
confidence in
forgiveness,
because just
as Jesus
died to
sin,
he was
raised to
new life,
conquering sin
and death.
God brought
Saul to his
knees,
and having
spent several
days prayerfully
seeking God
in his
discomfort,
he was
welcomed into
the family in
a moment,
and it's a
beautiful picture
that's captured
by Ananias,
realizing that
Saul is an
enemy,
and yet when
Saul arrives in
front of him,
he greets him
as brother.
God in his
kindness,
in his
kindness,
may have
impressed the
uncomfortable
need that you
have for a
savior this
morning,
but this is
the gospel,
this is the
gospel,
you may have
entered here
this morning
only to be
confronted by
that uncomfortable
reality,
that you are
an enemy of
God,
that your sin
has separated
you from
him,
but you
could leave
here today
as family,
you could
leave here
today as
a forgiven,
loved,
and cherished
child of the
living God,
that is Jesus
promise to
you,
do you need
that gift?
,
will you wait
I want to
take care
Karen
yes
I want to
see it
I want to