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Sunday July 20, 2008 "Picking Your Spot" Acts 9:20-31 |
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Location: Blogs Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons |
 | | Posted by: Brad Miller | 8/7/2008 2:36 PM | July 20, 2008
“Picking Your Spot”
Acts 9: 20-31
We are a suspicious bunch, aren’t we?
Oh, I’m not talking specifically about you and me, but more about humans in general. And in this 21st century world, we have been taught that there is a lot to be suspicious about, haven’t we?
Personally, I’m suspicious of anyone who wants to give me something for free. Especially if they need to take my credit card number, just so it’s on file if I decide to upgrade my free stuff to something more expensive in the future.
I’m suspicious of anyone who begins a sentence with, “You, know, I like you, so I’ll tell you what I’m gonna do,”…. I am doubly suspicious of the same person that ends that same sentence with, “And I’m not gonna make a dime on this deal.”
I’m suspicious of politicians that claim that they have all the answers to correcting the economic downturn; lower gasoline prices; design a tax system that everyone agrees is fair, end wars around the globe; fix our nations declining infrastructure; end water shortages in the southeast, flooding in the Midwest, and earthquakes in the west; solve the problems of bigotry and hate in our country and indeed, the world. Adding to the suspicion is the claim that they can do it while cutting taxes for everyone! If they can do that, they shouldn’t be running for office, they should be out walking on water somewhere! And they should take a shot at curing cancer while they’re at it.
I am suspicious of someone who suddenly has a dramatic change of heart. Someone who very suddenly turns around 180 degrees in their life, especially when the turn is away from a life of self absorption to a life of service to others. Dramatic conversions are to be held at arm’s length and watched very carefully.
We are right to be suspicious, aren’t we? We live in an age where motives must be questioned and safety first is the watchword.
I know from experience that when someone in business wants to give me something for free, there has to be a way for them to make money, so I am always looking for what I have to pay for in order to get my free stuff.
I know from having worked in retail and understanding what a large markup there is on many items, that it is very rare that a transaction is made that is completely value neutral, where the shopkeeper doesn’t make a least a little something over and above what the item cost them.
I have lived long enough to know that no politician has all the answers and wonder why they insist on telling me that they do. And if they don’t have all the answers, which answers can I trust? Which issues do they really understand and which solutions are simply smokescreens to get my vote?
There is good reason in each of these examples for me to be suspicious. The person on the other side of each of these examples - the phone solicitor, the salesperson, the politician - all have their own agendas, their own motives, something they want from me: my money, my vote.
Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t necessarily think that they are out to do me harm or fleece me or take advantage of me. They just want to sell me something. But, if I am not suspicious, I can be sold things that I don’t really need.
I don’t begrudge any of those folks from making a living, but I am very, very leery of their motives.
But what about that last person I described on my list? What about the person who suddenly has a huge change of heart in their life and seems to be a completely different person? What about the person who has an ultradramatic religious experience, a conversion experience, and suddenly wants to make up for a less than devout life by becoming a witness for their faith expeience? We know about people like this, don’t we?
A couple of examples come to mind for me.
Nicky Cruz, the author of the bestseller, “The Cross and the Switchblade” went from gang member to evangelist over night. From a life of death and violence to a life of preaching the saving grace of Jesus Christ, in the snap of a finger. Who do you think was suspicious of him? Everyone. Church people, his fellow gang members, his family.
Charles Colson, former chief of staff to Richard Nixon, a convicted felon in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal, had a prison conversion and used his notoriety and faith to begin a prison ministry that is now one of the biggest and most effective in our nation. Do you think anyone was suspicious of Colson when he started? You have to understand that he was one of the most vicious political operatives in Washington, which is saying something! Suddenly, he’s doing the Lord’s work? You bet lots of people were suspicious.
But why are we suspicious of these folks who have these dramatic turnarounds? If the conversion experience is not real, what is their motive for “faking” it? What is their agenda? What’s in it for them?
For people like Cruz, could he have had a plan that he would make a pile of money off a book and the subsequent movie rights? What about Colson, was it simply a way to make himself look better in the wake of the humiliation that was Watergate?
Maybe, but what about our suspicion? Where does it come from? How can their avowed new found faith hurt us? What is it that we are afraid of?
That, I think is the crux of it. We are afraid of things we don’t understand. Suspicion can be a good thing, especially when we have a history that tells us to be wary. But fear can be the natural response that comes when we can’t figure out the motives of the newly converted.
Am I afraid of the smooth talking salesperson? No, because as long as I hold onto my wallet, they can’t hurt me.
Am I afraid of the telephone solicitor? No, because I can always hang up.
Am I afraid of the politician? Not really, because I trust our system of checks and balances will keep things more or less in balance.
But I am not sure what to make of people like Charles Colson, Nicky Cruz, or for that matter, Saul of Tarsus.
Our scripture this morning blends that story of sudden and profound conversion and the fear that can follow it.
Saul, you may remember, was a devout Hebrew who led the charge to eradicate Israel of the followers of Jesus. He was on his way to Damascus, breathing fire and threats we are told, when he was struck blind and confronted by the risen Jesus. His conversion was immediate and total.
But that would not have been clear from the beginning. Remember, Saul was not just someone who casually opposed followers of Jesus. He hated them with a passion. He traveled the countryside rounding them up. Sending Christians to sham trials that would end in imprisonment and even execution.
Then, he met the resurrected Christ. And he became one of them.
So, let’s think about this. This ruthless man, this vicious man, this agent of death is suddenly seeking out those in the Christian community in order to witness to them, to be in fellowship with them, to travel with them. What do you think the odds are that he would be welcomed with open arms, no suspicions, no questions asked?
As my uncle used to say, “the odds are slim to none and slim just left town.”
We would question his motives, wouldn’t we? As did the Christians at the time. But there is even more to this story than the fact that the Christians were suspicious of Paul. The people whom he once represented were suspicious of Paul, too. And the suspicions of both sides were grounded in the fear that comes from not understanding the motives of the newly converted.
They had two distinct reactions, didn’t they? The Hebrew leadership plotted to kill Paul for his duplicity. The Christian leadership just wanted to keep him at arms length. Both reactions were somewhat understandable. Suppose you were someone who had been overseeing Saul’s anti-Christian activities. Might you not be afraid that he would turn his considerable persecutorial skills back on you? Suppose you were part of the Christian community who had been persecuted by Saul. Might you not be afraid that it was all a ruse to draw you into his murderous tether?
Those who hate the Christians plot to kill Saul, and in fact, are in place to do just that when Saul and other Christians learn of the plot. If you think about it, this plot to kill Saul might very well have been a key element in gaining the Christians trust. The early Christians certainly didn’t trust the cabal of the Hebrew leadership that wanted them vanquished, and if those leaders were out to kill Saul, well, maybe Saul’s conversion was real.
So, they helped him escape. And they sent him to…Jerusalem!
I think that this is one of those embedded gems in the scripture that shows the early Christians either had a good sense of humor, or that they were smart enough to know that their questions about Saul would be answered in Jerusalem, the center of Christian activity and the headquarters of the Temple leadership so threatened by the Christians.
So off Saul goes to Jerusalem. And he is treated coolly by the Apostles of Jesus. The scripture says they were afraid of him. And so, Saul found himself in the same situation in Jerusalem as in Damascus: people on one side who wanted to kill him for his traitorous behavior and people on one side who feared him because they did not believe him. So Saul preached the Gospel and told of his conversion and claimed his own apostleship because of his encounter with the risen Christ.
Still, people were wary. But in the end, for the early Christians, as well as for us today, when we are suspicious of someone’s conversion, one thing is absolutely essential: the test of time.
How many of us have known people who have had religious experiences that have fallen back into old patterns after a number of weeks, or months? I certainly have. But the longer the new patterns continue, the stronger our inclination to trust that the conversion is real.
But here’s the problem: people who have dramatic conversions need the support of other believers if they are to continue to grow and mature in their faith. We may meet God on the mountain top, but we live in the valley. And if no one in the valley will support the newly converted Christian in their new life, the chances are the mountain top experience will fade and old patterns will return.
Nicky Cruz says that he couldn’t have made the transition without a Catholic priest who believed in him, nurtured him, and stood as his living “letter of reference” so that other people of faith would learn to trust and welcome the former gang member as a part of their faith community.
Charles Colson says that the person that helped him in a similar way was Billy Graham. When Billy Graham took note of Colson’s ministry and stood as his supporter, it turned a lot of heads and opened a lot of minds. I’m guessing that many, many people who hear Colson on Christian radio talking about prison ministry today have no idea of his past, but have great respect for his ministry.
For Saul of Tarsus, it was Barnabas who stepped forward and spoke on his behalf in front of the Apostles of Jesus, those who had been closest to Jesus. It turned some heads. It opened up some hearts. And we are told, Saul became part of the Christian community in Jerusalem. He went “in and out among them”. He moved freely throughout the community, able to benefit from the nurture and comfort that is necessarily part of being a member of a loving community of faith.
Saul kept up his bold preaching and soon enough, another group of people was trying to kill him! The Hellenists, people of jewish birth who spoke greek and borrowed heavily from Greek and Roman culture in their lives plotted to kill Saul.
The other believers in Jerusalem got together, delivered Saul to a ship at Caesarea Maritimia on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and arranged his passage to Tarsus, his home town in Asia Minor, where he began his historic and storied career as an Apostle of the Good News of Jesus Christ.
What are we to learn from this episode? No one is trying to kill us for our faith.
But still, we are a suspicious people, sometimes with good reason. We are a fearful people, sometimes with good reason.
Here’s the thing: it is not up to us to decide whether or not someone’s conversion is authentic. But it is up to us to welcome that person into our community of faith and do our best to nurture that new found faith and to help guide people on their faith journey. Because if we don’t, if a newly converted person doesn’t feel the support of the church behind them, they will most assuredly fall by the wayside and return to their old ways.
Saul is the perfect example of why we must take the conversion experience of every person seriously. We must be ready to stand with them and not judge their experience, but support them as they explore their own spiritual gifts. But what if it’s not a good fit?
In the years I have been in ministry there have been a handful of times when someone came to me and told me how much they appreciated what the church did for them in supporting their faith journey, but they found themselves going in a slightly different direction in terms of theology or style of worship. I have colleagues who are upset at conversations like that. I am honored to have those conversations. I am honored because it means that these people trust me and this church enough to not just leave and go somewhere different, but to seek my help, our help, in finding that place where they will fit in a little better. And virtually every time that has happened, I have tried hard to help them and I truly believe that the church Jesus Christ is stronger for it.
At other times, the presence of someone “different” in the congregation has helped the congregation and the person immensely. It has helped us see things from different perspectives, it has pushed us to explore our own faith walk, our own faith traditions a little more. It has made us think about our own spiritual gifts. It has enriched us.
We are a suspicious people. But I am proud to be part of a group that can try so hard to lay those suspicions aside and welcome folks from so many different backgrounds, from so many different faith traditions, the newly converted and the long time believer, the young and the old. Because when we strip away all the suspicions and fears and baggage of the past, there is only one thing that matters: that we are here to connect with the God revealed through Jesus Christ. And it takes all of us to do that. Thanks be to God!
Let us pray: Calm our fears,Lord. Ease our suspicions. Let us know that we have nothing to fear, only much to give. May we be earthly examples of your acceptance, your grace and your nurturing love for all who walk through our doors.
Amen.
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