If you grew up in the church, you’re probably familiar with this story. If asked, you could probably tell someone—without opening your Bible—how Saul became a follower of Jesus; how he was walking on the road to Damascus when a light came upon him, and the voice of Jesus asked him, “Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And how, from that day on, Saul went from being a persecutor of Christians to the most prominent and influential of Christ’s apostles.
And there’s a good chance you would tell the story calling him “Paul” instead of “Saul,” since that is the name he eventually goes by.
There are a lot of churches named after Paul.
In Peoria, there’s three: St. Paul Lutheran Church, St. Paul Baptist Church, and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. All in Peoria. Do you think they ever get each other’s mail by mistake?
It gets even more confusing if you try to look them up online. St. Paul Lutheran has the website “stpaulpeoria.org;" St. Paul’s Episcopal church has the website “stpaulspeoria.org.” Now tell me that’s not confusing!
With all this attention on Saul aka Paul, it’s easy to forget that there is another character in this story: Ananias.
Ananias plays an important role in this story, and the curriculum we are using at camp this summer focuses our attention on Ananias…
Ananias was a follower of Jesus. Ananias had heard of Saul; how Saul was a persecutor of Christians; how Saul was responsible for the stoning of more than a few believers.
Saul was someone that Ananias feared and hated.
It’s hard to overestimate just how evil Saul was in the eyes of those who followed Jesus. How could the Lord appear to Ananias, and tell Ananias that he needed to go to Saul and minister to him?
Think of the person you hate the most, the person who, when their name is mentioned, makes your blood boil…
Can you imagine if the Lord appeared to you and told you to go to that person, the person you hate the most, the person you fear the most, the person who has it in for you, the person who wants you dead and who, in fact, has the power to make that happen…?
Can you imagine if the Lord told you to go to that person, and minister to them? And help them? And heal them?
Would you do it?
Ananias was, understandably, skeptical. Reluctant. He felt obligated to point out that Saul was a persecutor of Christians, as if the risen Lord who was speaking to him didn’t already know that.
Yet Ananias obeyed, and trusted, and went…
Sometimes, God tells us to do difficult things.
Jesus told us to love our enemies. And he meant it. Love your enemies.
Which implies, first of all, that love is a choice, not just a feeling.
Falling in love with someone may not be a choice, but that’s a different kind of love.
Liking someone may be a choice; but Jesus didn’t say we had to like them. He said we had to love them.
And love is a choice.
It’s a hard choice, but it is a choice.
And it’s what we are called to do.
The prophet Jonah found it hard. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, and preach to the people of Nineveh. But Jonah hated the people of Nineveh. They were evil and corrupt, and Jonah felt they didn’t deserve a second chance. Jonah felt that it wouldn’t do any good, anyway.
Jonah may also have been scared of the Ninevites, of what they might do to him if he came among them, calling them to repentance and assuring them of God’s forgiveness.
So what did Jonah do? He got on a ship and sailed as far as he could in the opposite direction… away from Nineveh.
But that didn’t work out so well for Jonah, did it?
Ananias didn’t really want to go to Saul, his enemy. Given Saul’s habit of killing followers of Jesus, Ananias may have thought that going to Saul would be the last thing he ever did. It seemed foolish to him.
Yet Ananias trusted the Lord completely. If the Lord had chosen Saul for a special purpose, Ananias trusted in that, even if he didn’t understand. Maybe something was at work here that Ananias wasn’t yet aware of.
So Ananias went. He had to let trust and love overcome his fear and hatred.
And as I think about it, I realize there is a lot of fear and hatred in our world today…and many people today are having a hard time doing what Ananias did, and moving beyond their fear and hatred, and moving to love and trust.
All this fear and hatred leads to animosity and division…
And people don’t want to engage in conversation or speak civilly with one another. They just let their fear and hatred and anger come out in ways that are hostile and divisive.
And they think: what do they have to do with me? And what do I have to do with them?
They see the world as divided into groups of people who are, and always will be, at odds against each other. It’s always “us vs. them.”
There is no love.
There is no concept that we are all in this together, that we are all siblings in Christ, that we are all one humanity.
And yet, until we understand this—until we understand that we are all one—and until we learn how to love, there will never be peace.
Conservatives in this country think Jesus is a conservative like them, and liberals in this country think Jesus is a liberal like them, as if Jesus’ primary concern was picking a side in the battles of 21st century US politics…
But Jesus isn’t on the side of conservatives and isn’t on the side of liberals. Jesus was and is always on the side of love.
And making the choice to love will always be a challenge for us all, no matter what our politics.
I mean, if ever Jesus were to pick sides in our human divides, wouldn’t you think that Jesus would pick Ananias, the Jesus-follower, over Saul, the one who persecuted Jesus-followers? If ever Jesus would pick a side, wouldn’t it be then?
If you were Ananias, wouldn’t you expect Jesus to be on your side, and to strike down enemies of The Way?
But Jesus never takes sides against another person. Jesus only takes sides against injustice and hate and oppression. And Jesus is always on the side of love, and humanity.
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I wrote in a weekly email a few weeks ago about how I’ve gone to some of the rallies that have been taking place. For me, it’s not about taking sides against any person or any political party. I know that, for some who go, that is what it is about, but that’s not what it’s about for me.
I’ve gone, because I believe it’s important to act on behalf of those who are being persecuted today. Persecuted because they are immigrants to this country. To stand in solidarity with those who have been kidnapped and imprisoned without due process… I believe it’s important to act on behalf of those who are having their rights stripped away, like the trans community… I believe it’s important to act on behalf of the poor, who must bear such heavy burdens, and who are losing the help and assistance that they need.
In other words, I believe it is so very important—that we are called by God—to act on behalf of the very people the Bible says we should be caring for and defending: the least of these.
It is about love. And justice. And what is morally right.
I’ve also gone to some of these rallies because I feel called to remind those who are at the rallies that we need to let love, and not hatred, fuel our actions. We need to remember that love, and a desire to heal, should be at the heart of all we do.
And Ananias is a good role model to follow when it comes to this.
In Ananias, we see how an individual allowed love to overcome hate. In Ananias, we see an understanding that God can work through any person, and transform their heart, and turn them toward love.
Saul needed Ananias. Without Ananias ministering to him, Saul’s transformation could not have taken place.
Saul wouldn’t have become the person he eventually became without Ananias. Saul needed Ananias to minister to him, to heal him, to show love to him.
What if we looked at those we hate, and realized that maybe what they need is someone to help lead them to healing, to wholeness, and to love?
I know, it sounds naive. It sounds way too idealistic.
Which is why we need to spend a lot more time praying about this—praying, like Saul and Ananias did—and meditating about this, and asking God to enlighten us and show us what we can do, to help make it possible.
I don’t have all the answers. I’m just trying to figure out how to navigate these times that we are in, just as you are. I’m sure I’m making some mistakes along the way.
Which is why I feel called, above all else, to pray and meditate on love. To pray that God shows me the best way to manifest love in my life and in my ministry.
Because I know that as long as we see our struggle as being against people, we will fall short.
Our struggle is never against other people. We do not fight against an individual or a group of people. If the Lord can call on Ananias to love and heal and minister to the most evil person in his world, then I know God is calling on us to practice love and healing as well.
God is love. If we want to be more God-like, then we need to grow in love. We need to choose to love not just when it’s easy, but also when it’s hard.
There are times when love just seems impossible. There are times when love doesn’t even seem right. Is it even right to love someone who wants to harm you?
But love doesn’t mean letting them walk all over you. That would actually be too easy: to just lay down and let them walk all over you.
No, love is much harder than that. Love is doing what you can to bring all people to wholeness. To bring healing.
Love doesn’t mean that you overlook your own need for healing and wholeness. Some people find loving themself to be the hardest love of all, yet that, too, is a love we are called to practice.
Love requires that you seek the path that brings the most healing and the most wholeness to everyone, yourself included.
Love requires that you seek the path that brings the most healing and the most wholeness to everyone, including your enemies.
Because love understands that we are not as separate as we like to think. Love understands that we are not separate individuals, but one humanity.
The way of Jesus is the way of love; and we are called to grow in love, every day.
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