MPC, 12th August 2001.Acts 9 - "Worst Case Scenario"
Phil Campbell MPC, 12th August 2001.
One night last month we were visiting the lookout at Mount Coo-tha. A moonlit night. Stars in the sky. And as we looked out towards the city skyline, suddenly there was an eerie thing. Not much noise. But something just like a shadow passing in front of the lights.
It was a Blackhawk Helicopter. A few seconds later another one. Then a third one buzzed by quite close and swooped towards the city.
It turned out we were in the middle of a FULL DRESS REHEARSAL of the CHOGM SECURITY FORCES. A dry run. Where they've worked out the WORST CASE SCENARIO. A terrorist attack, maybe, on the visiting heads of government. Or someone kidnapping the QUEEN. Who knows. But someone, somewhere, has worked out EVERY WORSE CASE SCENARIO they can think of. Right down to warning Ann St Presbyterian Church that to schedule NO WEDDINGS on the main CHOGM weekend. Because access to the church on Saturday September 8th CANNOT BE GUARANTEED.
Now the fact is, the whole thing with the Blackhawk helicopters was just an exercise. It wasn’t a real terrorist attack at all. They were just putting the emergency teams through their paces. They were setting up a WORST CASE SCENARIO to see how they'd go.
And by the end of it, they know. IF WE CAN HANDLE THIS – WE CAN HANDLE ANYTHING. If you try out the WORST CASE SCENARIO, everything else looks easy by comparison. And you know, anything else that turns up, you can handle it.
Well, the passage we’re looking at today has got a perfect example of a WORST CASE SCENARIO. And it’s a similar picture. Here in Acts chapter 9, we’ve got CHRISTIANITY… up against its number one FOE. We’ve got the power of the gospel – up against the most unlikely person in the world to ever become a Christian.
You might reckon you’ve got a friend at work who’s an impossible case. You might reckon you’ve got a husband. Or a school friend. Or a brother or a sister, who you just can’t imagine ever becoming a Christian. It may be that you’re here today, and you’re not a Christian. And for whatever reason, you can’t imagine YOURSELF ever becoming a Christian.
Well, let me tell you, whatever worst case scenario you want to think of, it’s peanuts – compared to the guy we’re looking at here.
His name’s Saul. And we’ve met him before.
This is the young man we saw at the end of chapter 7, eyes gleaming with approval at the stoning of Stephen. Imagine it. Imagine one of our church leaders has been dragged off by a mob. Saul is the guy cheering them on. Saul is the guy saying, here, let me hold your coat so you can THROW HARDER.
Right at the start of chapter 8 it says Saul is there WATCHING WITH APPROVAL. Stephen crushed under a pile of rocks. And Saul LIKES WHAT HE SEES. Chapter 8, first verse. And Saul was there… GIVING APPROVAL TO HIS DEATH. Saul reckons it's absolutely TERRIFIC that these Christians are finally getting exactly what they deserve.
And a few verses later, he’s graduated. Now he's leading a house to house search; verse 3 in chapter 8, hunting for Christians. Doing his level best to stamp out this new religion that threatened everything he stood for. As a top class Jew.
And by the time we get here to chapter 9, he’s taking it a step further. Seems like some of the Christians he’s been hunting in Jerusalem have slipped through the net; they’ve made it to Damascus. 300 kilometers to the North.
So have a look what he’s doing at the start of chapter 9. Meanwhile, it says in verse 1, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.” And so he goes to the High Priest, he gets letters of introduction, letters addressed to the authorities in Damascus that say, “Please co-operate with my friend Saul here as he arrests and beats and chains up these people called CHRISTIANS.”
And so he’s on his way; Saul sets out on the road north. Full of ZEAL. Ready for action. Here he is. Mr WORST CASE SCENARIO.
But follow the story from verse 3. Because Saul the Christian Hunter is about to have a life-changing experience. He’s on the road to Damascus, and he’s about to make the biggest U-Turn of his life. He's about to run into one of those big red road signs that say WRONG WAY, GO BACK.
Except in this case, it’s a blinding light. In this case, it’s the booming voice of Jesus. Who Saul was absolutely convinced was safely dead and buried. In this case, it’s a voice that says to him the words you can read in verse 4. “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute ME?”
Now Saul hadn’t realised this. That persecuting defenseless Christians was actually TREADING ON THE TOES OF THE KING OF THE UNIVERSE. I mean, that’s quite a mistake, isn’t it?
It’s like a bully trying to beat up a little kid; and he doesn’t realise the little kid’s got a VERY BIG BROTHER.
Saul’s down on his knees, he’s blinded by the light; he says in a shaking voice, WHO ARE YOU LORD?
And Jesus tells him. Verse 5. I am Jesus, who you’re persecuting. Now get up – and go into the city. And you’ll be told what to do.
Who’s calling the shots now?
The other people with Saul, they’ve heard the noise, but they’ve been left in the dark. They haven’t got a clue what’s going on; and they’re standing there speechless, watching Saul on his knees. Saul gets up, he’s literally been blinded by the light - can't see a thing; and so they lead him by the hand the few miles into Damascus, dazed and confused. Imagine the scene; Mr Worst Case Scenario with letters of introduction still in his pocket, LICENSED TO KILL. Determined to CRUSH CHRISTIANITY whatever it took. Led into Damascus blind and helpless.
Not quite the way he had things planned.
Now at the same time there’s Ananias – a Christian in Damascus. And while Saul’s finding his way into town, Ananias has a strange vision. More like a nightmare.
Because in the vision, the Lord speaks to him, and tells him to do the last thing in the world he feels like doing. Funny, isn’t it. A lot of the time when people say they feel God’s spoken to them, it seems like the thing they say God’s telling them to do is the thing THEY MOST FEEL LIKE DOING.
But this is different. Ananias hears the voice of Jesus very clearly. In you can see what he says in verse 11. “The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He’s praying. And he’s expecting you, cause he’s had a vision too, to tell him you’re coming.”
Now Ananias is no fool. Ananias knows exactly who this Saul is. He’s heard what he's done to Christians in Jerusalem. He’s heard he’s coming to Damascus to make trouble. And the LAST THING Ananias wants to do is to face up to Saul.
But he goes anyway. Because in verse 15, Jesus in the vision tells him the plan. He’s got a job for Saul to do; and it’s important. He says GO! Because this man is my CHOSEN INSTRUMENT to carry my name before the gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. And I’ll show him how much he has to suffer for my name.”
It’s sort of a neat twist, isn’t it. This Saul who was such a determined Jew; this Saul who was so determined to get rid of Christianity; Jesus is going to turn him into his number one missionary. To the GENTILES. NON-JEWS like us.
So Ananias, I guess in fear and trembling, he heads up to Straight street, he knocks on the door, he puts his hands on Saul; and Saul’s sight is restored. And in verse 17 and 18, he receives the Holy Spirit, and he’s baptised. And he’s now a 100% card carrying follower of Jesus.
There’s a word for what’s happened to Saul. He’s been CONVERTED. He’s had an absolute 180 degree turnaround. From the chief persecutor of Christians. To a Christian himself. It’s a WORST CASE SCENARIO, isn’t it? I mean, if this can happen to a Saul, it can happen to ANYONE.
We’re going to see in a moment that Paul's conversion is going to meet all the same sort of scepticism you’d expect. Because the fact is, at first people just DON’T BELIEVE IT.
Saul starts preaching to the Jews in Damascus. Down at the Synagogue, every Saturday; not preaching AGAINST Christians like he was the Saturday before. Preaching to them in verse 20, that JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD. Saul’s absolutely CONVINCED of that. I mean, why wouldn’t he be, after what’s happened. And so his first instinct is to get around and tell people HOW WRONG HE’S BEEN.
And people are absolutely dumbfounded. I mean, this is like if John Howard told everyone they should be voting labor. Except bigger. This is like the Broncos in the middle of the game turning around and running for the wrong tryline. And the trouble is, if you look at verse 22, Saul's doing it so very, very well. And over and over again, he PROVES that Jesus is the Christ. The one the scriptures had been pointing to for so long.
And so in verse 23, the Jews decide to kill him. Traitor. But he’s smuggled out of Damascus in a basket, and heads back to Jerusalem.
Poor guy. He’s not even welcome there.
Have a look at verse 23. And I guess you can understand how they feel. “When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples – but they were afraid of him, not really believing he WAS a disciple.” Maybe it’s a trap. Maybe he’s trying to infiltrate so he can kill us.
But in the end Barnabas takes him to the apostles, and explains what’s happened; how the Lord’s spoken to him on the road, how he’s preached in Damascus. And so Saul stays with them. And moves around Jerusalem, we’re told SPEAKING BOLDLY in the name of the Lord Jesus, debating with the Grecian Jews. And as usual, THEY TRY TO KILL HIM.
So the brothers take him down to Caesarea on the coast, and they put him in a boat to Tarsus. Where the heat’s off for a while. And we don’t hear from Saul again until Acts chapter 13.
Now I just want to finish up with a few observations. Things to notice. And the first one is, if you'd been one of the Christians back then, you'd be dumbfounded by what's happened, wouldn't you? And absolutely in AWE of the power of the Risen Jesus Christ. You'd have a sense that you were part of something BIG. Because even your worst case scenario, even your worst nightmare of having Saul turn up on your doorstep and arrest you; you've just seen, it's all under control. The RISEN CHRIST can handle it.
Which has to be a re-assurance for those Christians under arrest in Afghanistan at the moment doesn't it. The TALIBAN raid the house of a Muslim family. They're watching a CHRISTIAN VIDEO. And so Dianna Thomas and Peter Bunch from Perth are arrested. Facing a possible death penalty. And so in spite of appearances, what they need to do is KEEP TRUSTING THAT THE RISEN CHRIST can handle it.
Another observation. Very briefly. Do you notice that Saul is very zealous; very religious. Very, very committed to God's law. And yet along with all that - at the start of our passage this morning, it's very clear he wants NOTHING AT ALL TO DO with THE LORD JESUS. Very different by the end; so just in passing, will you notice, and it's something this SAUL wants to say himself as he looks back a few years later, ALL THE BEING GOOD in the WORLD, all the ZEAL, all the KEEPING GOD'S LAW… it doesn't for a minute make you a CHRISTIAN. What you need to do is TURN TO CHRIST. And acknowledge him like Saul did, as the CHRIST, the SON of GOD. Lord over you.
And finally, I started off this morning talking about WORST CASE SCENARIOS. In the study through the week, there was a question that asked you to list the people you know who you think are the MOST UNLIKELY to ever become Christians. The TOO HARD list. Someone you think, NEVER A MILLION YEARS would that person SUBMIT TO CHRIST.
Saul was like that. He turns up back in Jerusalem as a Christian, and they say, NO WAY. There's NO WAY IN THE WORLD it could happen. Saul's the guy who PERSECUTES CHRISTIANS. Now he IS ONE. Which is a reminder, isn't it, that it’s NEVER TOO HARD FOR GOD. Let that encourage you. Let that encourage you to keep praying for the people you might have given up on. Whether it's your husband, or your neighbour, or your brother who used to come to church as a teenager, or your son or daughter, or your workmate or your neighbour. Never say never. Because Jesus specializes in Worst Case scenarios.
You might not see it often. There was a friend of ours, his name's Andrew. A few Christian friends had been praying for him for years and years. But I've got to say I've rarely met anyone with a face more like FLINT. Hard eyes. Hard heart. But the prayers of his Christian friends were answered. Now Andrew's a Christian. And you know, to see him afterwards, he was a different guy. Soft eyes. Softened heart.
It's worth keeping in mind so you keep praying. And looking for opportunities. To say a timely word.
If SAUL CAN become a Christian, Andrew can become a Christian. And so can anyone else. Because the Risen Christ specializes in worst case scenarios.
Let me leave you with Saul’s own words. Saul changes his name. To PAUL. And becomes the greatest missionary of all time. And he writes these words to his young friend Timothy. 1 Timothy 1.
He 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 that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, THE WORST OF SINNERS - the worst case scenario - Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would BELIEVE ON HIM… and receive eternal life.