Happy Sunday,
Today I want to look farther into the life of the Apostle Paul (born Saul of Tarsus in Turkey).
Last week we left Saul standing by a heap of cloaks as Stephen the Deacon became the first follower of The Way to give his life for the cause of his faith. I shared how this was not a coat-check operation, but rather the sign that Saul was in charge of the stoning.
Acts 9 picks up from there with Saul fully wrapped in murderous zeal for his faith. Still breathing threats and murder, he asked the ruling committee for warrants to go to Damascus and interrogate the synagogues there. If he found any Jews who were tainted by The Way, he was given authority to incarcerate them and bring them back to Jerusalem for judgment.
Apparently Jerusalem wasn’t enough. Or perhaps there were other zealots who had Jerusalem covered. Saul was willing to take his passion on the road and expand the program outside of the close boundaries of Jerusalem, or even all of Judea.
Damascus is a fair hike from Jerusalem. I’m talking 160 miles (or 270 km for those who like base-10 measurement systems). I plugged these cities into my handy Google Maps and discovered that it would take almost 60 hours of walking to get there. I’m thinking that would be a journey of about a week.
The link above shows a primary route that crosses the Jordan River and then climbs out of the Rift Valley to the Jordanian heights to complete the journey. Saul very likely would have taken a route like that because he would not have wanted to walk through Samaria (suddenly he had someone to hate more than the Samaritans!).
I think it’s interesting that Saul had the bulk of the journey to work himself into a proper fury about what he was going to do. The better part of a week, waiting, thinking through his plans, unable to take any real action on the thing that ate at him.
Imagine having an itch and being unable to scratch it for 60 hours straight. I think that’s how Saul felt as he reached the end of his journey.
On the way, we don’t know where, Saul met Jesus.
Acts 9 simply says “as he approached Damascus”. So it makes sense that he had walked most of the way. And given what happened to his sight, it was a real mercy that he didn’t have to walk blindly for a great distance.
Luke, a very close companion of the Apostle Paul, probably heard this story directly from Paul himself.
A light shone from heaven and a voice spoke. Saul came face-to-face with Jesus whom he hated so much and wanted to stamp out of existence. And Jesus completely called Saul on his actions.
“I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.”
Nothing about the followers that Saul wanted to put in chains. Everything about Jesus Himself.
This encounter really knocked the wind out of Saul’s sails. He allowed himself to be led to Damascus and spend 3 days waiting for what would happen next.
No longer was Saul on his own agenda and timeline. I can’t imagine the Saul who left Jerusalem breathing murderous threats waiting patiently for anything. His course had been altered. He was on Jesus-time now.
Clearly something was different in his heart. He had a new master. Rather than serving himself and his zealous agenda, he had pivoted (repented, we might say) to serve God.
Sitting quietly waiting, it’s hard to see this. But the story that comes out of Saul’s conversion piles on plenty of weight to this reality.
I really feel for poor Ananias of Damascus. He’s the guy that got the call from God to go and minister to Saul of Tarsus, scourge of the followers of The Way. Most believers had probably heard that Saul was coming and were trying to figure out how to avoid meeting him face to face. God told Ananias to go see him voluntarily.
But Saul was changed. And when Ananias finally showed up, he called him “Brother Saul.”
Ananias is one of my heroes of the faith. That took great faith in God to do. I don’t know if I could have done it. But he did, and that was the beginning of a brand new trajectory for one Saul of Tarsus.
This story is one of a complete turnaround. Saul went from persecuting Jesus in the most vicious way possible, to waiting on Him, patiently.
All believers have such a story. Not all of them are as dramatic as that of Saul of Tarsus. But we were all headed away from God, then turned and were drawn to Him.
My story began long ago. I grew up in the church, the first born son of a Pastor. My life looked good on the outside (all reports put me as a well behaved little tyke). But inside I was just as dirty and rebellious as Saul. I just didn’t have the dramatic graphical means to demonstrate it.
But in 1972, at the tender age of 4, I prayed a prayer and asked Jesus into my heart. Yes, that’s pretty early. But I have vague memories of it and when I got a scrapbook from my mom (for my 50th birthday) I saw where she had written down that I had that moment my scrapbook all those years ago.
The decision of a 4 year old is a hard thing to base a complete life change on. Going forward from there I continued as the first-born son of Pastor. I behaved and followed the rules as best I could. From the outside there might not have been much evidence of change. But on the inside it was different.
Throughout the years that followed, I struggled with confidence. I worried that I had done it wrong (a common fear for me in all aspects of my life, even to this day). I re-dedicated my life and re-re-dedicated my life to Jesus many times, seeking confidence that it wasn’t just a childish thing or a mis-remembered event.
Finally, in 1981, 9 years later, at an AWANA summer camp, I did the millionth rendition of my rededication but wrote it down in the fly leaf of my Bible. I still have that Bible and it serves as the confidence that I did hand over the reigns of my life to Jesus.
Confidence is an amazing thing. Knowing something is true gives real power. Since that time, I’ve not second guessed myself. I’ve gone on to try my best to live obediently and serve God.
I’m not perfect and I have failed. But I rest in the confidence that He has forgiven ALL my sins, not just the ones I committed as a child. So I can go back and confess and repent of my actions and set the relationship back on level footing.
It is a joy to serve. I’ve been committed to service in and through a local church my entire life. Today as a Deacon at Christ Church in Gilbert Arizona, I lead the prayer team. It’s amazing that I’ve been chosen for that because I would not consider myself a prayer warrior. But I am a willing servant and however I’m called I’ll step in.
This same service to God is what powers writing books, developing Bible studies and even writing these weekly emails to you. In all I do, I want God to be glorified and His mission furthered here on earth.
How about you?
What’s your transformation story? It doesn’t have to be dramatic like Saul’s to be relevant or meaningful. The truth is that every conversion story is one from Death To Life. That is the real transformation. The actions around that are just the indicators of that change. We ALL have received the same radical transformation because we were all desperately wicked.
Share your story with me by replying to this email and typing it out. It can be brief, or full of details.
I want you to remember your story. Remember how you turned from rebelling against God to becoming a Son or Daughter. As you reply to this email, think about that and how your life is different today because of that moment when a dead life became alive.
Then go on and live you life today in the confidence that you are changed by the same Jesus who radically redirected the life of one Saul of Tarsus.
If you look back in your life and you can’t say that you’ve ever had such a moment of repentance and turning, and that you’re still relying on your own efforts alone to please God, I’d love to hear that as well.
It’s a heavy burden. It’s a rough journey. And one that won’t succeed in the final analysis. The invitation is here today for you to give up your agenda and come under His agenda – which has already done what you cannot do for yourself.
If that’s you, I’d love to chat.
Either way, I away your story by reply.
Expectantly,
Dennis
