Sunday, May 1, 2022
/The Third Sunday of Easter
Acts 9: 1-20; Psalm 30; Revelation 5: 11-14; John 21: 1-19
The Rev. James M.L. Grace
In the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. AMEN.
He was the finest persecutor in the land. When it came to threats, intimidation, and putting first century Christians in harm’s way, you could do no better than Paul of Tarsus. Paul’s reputation as an intolerant religious zealot preceded him wherever he went. Paul was known as far away as Damascus, in Syria – a place where an early disciple of Jesus, named, Ananias lived. Ananias was aware of Paul’s threatening and vindictive behavior toward people who believed as he did.
And perhaps it was this knowledge of Paul which was what made it so awkward for the visit Ananias had with the risen Lord. Jesus, risen from the dead, appears to Ananias, and says, “hey, you’ve probably heard about this person named Paul – kind of a dysfunctional personality, he suffers from an extremely inflated ego and self-grandiosity, but let’s not get into that now. Just so you know, Ananias, I blinded Paul on the way to Damascus, and I want you to go to him and lay your hands on him so he can regain his sight.”
Ananias replies, “Lord I love you, but you’re crazy – I know what Paul has done and he will have me killed on sight.” And Jesus says, “I know it seems that way, but I intend to use Paul for good to spread my name amongst the Gentiles.” Well, that’s even crazier. Paul was Jewish, he had no interest in speaking about God to non Jews.
Ananias relents, he meets with Paul, lays his hand upon Paul’s shoulder, and says “Jesus has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately, something like scales fell from Paul's eyes, and he regains his sight. Now. Which was the greater miracle – that Paul’s sight was restored, or that Ananias trusted the Lord enough to meet with this angry, vile man, and tell him God loved him?
It is because of Ananias, that Paul’s sight was restored. It is because of Ananias, that we have the letters in the New Testament written by Paul, which became the foundation of early Christian faith. If there was no Ananias, there would be no Paul – I believe.
There is more to the person of Ananias, however. Why was he asked by the Lord to visit Paul and restore his sight? Was it because God needed a person to do it? Certainly not. God did not need a person to blind Paul on his way to Damascus – it just happened. So why the need for Ananias? I suspect the answer is this – God did not need Ananias to help, but rather invited Ananias into this because it would help him. God sent Ananias for Ananias’ sake, because it helped him, not because God needed a miracle maker.
We learn from Ananias that God calls us to hard tasks which demand our best efforts. None of us, including me, enjoy this. The author Scott Peck says that “the point of life is that it is difficult, that we struggle and that we grow. The problem is that we struggle to accept that truth.”
A few weeks ago I had a conversation with a person in which I walked away a lot of anger. Full disclosure: this is not a cryptic way of sharing about an argument I had with my wife – this was actually an argument with a parishioner. I felt so justified in my position, and took it very personally when this person disagreed with me. I felt like I was attacked. Yucky feeling.
The next day I was sharing about this argument with a friend of mine (who does not go to church here, and is not a Christian). I was saying how I felt wronged by this person, how they attacked me, how unfair it was, and he interrupted me. He said, “Jimmy, stop. Calm down. You feel this parishioner hurt you, right?” “Absolutely!” I replied. He said “Jimmy, I haven’t figured out the God thing, and I’m not a Christian, but didn’t Jesus say in the Bible somewhere to pray for the people who hurt you?” Marvel for a moment, just a moment, the person who isn’t even sure if God exists reminding the Episcopal priest of what Jesus says in the New Testament: pray for those who hurt you.
Pray for those who hurt you, not because they need your prayers, not because God needs it, but because I need it. Praying for those who hurt is perhaps the most liberating thing a human being can do. It is what Christ did on the cross.
So I am praying. I am grateful to my agnostic friend, my Ananias, who reminded me of what Christians are supposed to do. AMEN.