Get Up and Go!
Acts 9: 1-20 Rev. Marianne Niesen April 18, 2010
It is quite likely that you have heard this story before. It is one of the classic conversion stories of all time. As he went about his dastardly business of violence against those with whom he disagreed, Saul, the stalwart persecutor of Christians, was confronted by none other than Jesus himself. Luke described the moment as a ‘blinding light from heaven’ followed by a voice calling his name . . . Saul Saul. Saul - or Paul - was a faithful and faith filled man. He knew from the scriptures that epiphanies of God, complete with blinding lights and heavenly voices, could happen. He knew that God could - and sometimes did - speak to humans. (We, on the other hand, aren’t quite so sure about that!) But Paul was sure so he addressed the heavenly voice with the deference due divinity. Who are you Lord? Understand that, for him, ‘Lord’ did not mean ‘Jesus.’ He assumed he was addressing the Almighty, the one whose name was never uttered. To his surprise, he heard the voice identify itself as Jesus, the one you are persecuting. Divinity had a name.
And suddenly Paul’s world view, his faith, his politics, was overturned. Remember, Paul was a committed man, an educated man - and he was clearly also a threatened man. He was a man with some power and authority who truly believed that Christians, followers of ‘The Way,’ were fundamentally wrong about life and God and how to live. He believed they posed a real threat to his community. The threat was so great that he apparently felt justified by God to use violence to stop the people he had identified as enemies of God’s way, God’s truth. God had a lot to break through with Paul and the process was clearly not an easy one. It never is. Changing our hard won opinions, our convictions about the world, our righteous indignation about people who are different or who have wronged us or challenged us is a difficult journey. Paul ended up in the dust, and ‘though his eyes were open he could see nothing.’ That’s quite a description, isn’t it? Luke is trying to tell us something there. How often do we think our eyes are open but find ourselves unable to see beyond our own silos of information and opinion? (In fact, there is a lot of that going on these days.) Eyes wide open but seeing nothing . . . Paul, the educated, faithful man had a lot to learn still about the God he served. The divine voice then told Paul to ‘get up and go into the city.’ And so, Paul, the self-reliant crusader for God, now rendered helpless, had to be led into the city where he did what he had been taught to do at moments like this . . . he fasted and prayed and waited.
Like I said, it is a great story and one we’ve heard before. And we know quite well how it all turned out in the end. Paul took his conversion to heart and threw himself as wholeheartedly into spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ as he had once thrown himself into persecuting Christians. His life changed dramatically and he became who God had called him to be. And that is all very well and good - except for one thing. When we focus only on Paul, we miss another very important person in this story. Most of us have already forgotten his name. Ananias.
In fact, without Ananias, Paul’s story may have ended on the street called Straight. For, it was Ananias who completed what the blinding light and the voice from heaven started. It was Ananias who completed what Jesus began. In that sense, Ananias is the person in the story who is, quite frankly, the most like us. After all, most of us are not militant defenders of our faith. And most of us, though we may have had a conversion experience, have not had one like Paul’s. We are more like Ananias, the guy who was just minding his own business, trying to be a good follower of Jesus, when life happened and everything changed. We’re more like Ananias, the one who was invited, challenged, compelled - and coerced - to continue what Jesus started - which, if you think about it, is a good definition of a Christian.
Ananias is identified only as a ‘disciple in Damascus.’ He too had a vision. He heard the divine voice call to him and he answered immediately here I am Lord. For him, the voice was the voice of Jesus, the one whose way of life he lived. Here I am Lord! I’m ready! I am your disciple!
The voice responded . . . Good! Go to Straight Street and find the man from Tarsus named Saul. He’s had a vision. You’ve had a vision. His was of you healing him. Go do it. Lay your hands on him and heal him. In fact, embrace him. I have work for him to do.
Separated as we are by two thousand years, it is easy to miss the dilemma facing Ananias. You see, religious and political extremism are not 21st century phenomena. Paul had engaged in both. Ananias knew that Paul was blatantly out to get him and the others. And even if Paul was in some house, held captive for some reason, he had friends who thought like him. They were out to get Christians. After all, Paul and the others had come to Damascus to bring people like Ananias back to Jerusalem for trial and death by stoning. Everyone knew what had happened to Stephen. So, Ananias was wary - understandably wary and he asked - as Jesus himself had asked in the Garden of Gethsemane - that the cup would pass from him. Please, Lord - perhaps you’ve been busy up there in heaven getting reacquainted and all but let me tell you, this Saul is not a friend of yours or ours. He kills people. But the voice did not give in . . . I have chosen him. He will be part of my team. A big part. But I need you to make it happen. So trust me and welcome even this man into your family. Our family. Get up and go, Ananias. Get up and go.
And so, Ananias was faced with the choice that Jesus gives us all. It was the choice to respond to his enemy with love and acceptance rather than vengeance and hatred. It must have been a frightening moment for Ananias. The way of Jesus - which I believe he embraced with all his heart - suddenly got real personal and very pricey. The way of Jesus was not - and is not - a way of power. It is a way of transformation through love. And it has never been well understood - or, if we’re honest, fully embraced for very long. Ananias’ conversation with Jesus at this moment was one to which we can relate. Please, ask someone else. I could get hurt. My family could get hurt. Paul’s people know where my people live. Please!
But the voice was clear. Get up and go. Notice that Ananias was not promised safety. The voice did not say get up and go and everything will be okay. No, the command was to get up and go - make the choice to do what Jesus did, knowing that Jesus had not been safe either. Ananias was being asked to do something that made no sense in a world that valued - and still values - power over compassion, fear over love, judgment over understanding and revenge over forgiveness. He was given the choice that all of us disciples are given - to offer forgiveness and healing even in the face of misunderstanding, ridicule and persecution. To be a disciple of Jesus is, quite frankly, to do what does not come naturally.
When Ananias went to the street called Straight, he did so at tremendous risk to himself and those he loved. He didn’t know if it would be the last choice he would ever make. He didn’t know then how the story would turn out. He had simply been asked to choose which way he would go. Would he follow the way of Jesus or the way of the world? Would he risk love or stay safe? In the end, of course, Ananias got up and went to the street called Straight. And when he got there, he saw the man who had threatened so many of them. Don’t for a minute think that he didn’t consider how sweet revenge might feel. Logic alone would have told him at the very least to put Paul on probation. Heal him but ‘cuff him first! Keep him on a short leash. That would have been the normal way to go, wouldn’t it? The way of the world versus the way of Jesus. Ananias made his choice when he looked at Saul and, with the eyes of faith, saw Paul - and called him brother. Brother, I have been sent to you so that you might see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Way of Jesus won that day. Ananias claimed Paul as family, touched him so his sight could be restored and then baptized him. He didn’t just call him ‘brother,’ he treated him as one and did the public action that would confirm it all.
Indeed, Paul’s story is a great one. It is inspiring. But Ananias’ story gets us where we live. Ananias reminds us that following Jesus is mostly lived out in daily choices as ordinary people, like us, do the hard work of doing what Jesus would do. It happens as we welcome the stranger, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the wounded, comfort the sorrowing, and forgive our enemies. It happens as we join with others - and invite others to join with us - in working toward a world where angry rhetoric, the demonizing of enemies and violence in all forms are simply not acceptable responses to people with whom we disagree. It happens as we work toward a world where differences are respected and diversity is valued.
Jesus told Paul in no uncertain terms to stop killing people in the name of God - and - he told Ananias to stop dividing the world into good guys and bad guys. Neither challenge was easy. But the way of Jesus has always been edgy. Ananias faced death as he approached the house on Straight Street. Paul faced death as well - led blind into a city where he could be healed only when his enemy got close enough to touch him. To live as Jesus would have us live is to die to our need to be right, safe and self-satisfied and to rise to a new life characterized by love, respect, forgiveness, compassion and grace. On the street called Straight, there was a dying and a rising for both Paul and Ananias. Do we dare make the same choice each of them made? Are we willing to do the hard work of becoming disciples of love - reaching out to the sick, the imprisoned, the rich, the poor, Presbyterians, Baptists, Iranians, Haitians, conservatives, liberals - even Republicans, Democrats, Tea-Partyers? It does get personal you see. Death and resurrection are personal. When that happens for us, will the way of Jesus or the ‘way of the world’ win out?
One of my favorite parts of this reading is the recurring command of Jesus to get up and go. As Paul lay in the dust, he was told get up and go into the city. And he did and miracles happened. As Ananias pondered his vision, Jesus told him to get and go to the street called Straight. And he did and miracles happened. In some ways, as big as following Jesus is, it starts and continues for us the way it started and continued for Paul and Ananias. We get up and go. We each have something we are being asked to do - most often it is small. A phone call to place, an email to send, an apology to make, help to offer, money to give, a group to call together, a prayer to say, a person to visit, a hand to shake, forgiveness to offer, understanding to try. Whether we are a Paul or an Ananias we can only start where we are and move forward, doing our part to create a more peaceful world, choosing compassion over coercion, love over fear, forgiveness over revenge, and understanding over judgement. It’s a tall order but we won’t get anywhere until we get up and go. Then - and only then - will the miracles happen!
