First Lutheran Church
May 1, 2022
The Third Sunday in Easter
Acts 9:1-20 1Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. 8Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
10Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” 11The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, 12and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; 14and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.” 15But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; 16I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 17So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, 19and after taking some food, he regained his strength. For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, 20and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”
Sermon
“Seeing Is Not Always Believing”
Pastor Greg Ronning
“Seeing is believing,” right? How often have you lived by that motto - when someone tells you something just too fantastic and outrageous? A few months ago, the person who cuts my hair casually mentioned something about some kind of “bald spot” on the top of my head. What? I quickly dismissed it as nonsense, outrageous! About a week later I was watching the Livestream video of one of our worship services, and I saw myself from a different perspective, one I never get to see, from behind and above; I watched myself turn and face the altar, and there it was, in plain sight, - a bald spot! When did that happen? Sometimes you need to see it to believe it. Empirical data! “Seeing is believing.”
But seeing is not always believing! Sometimes our brains are fooled by illusions, sometimes we are mocked my magic, sometimes we only see - what we want to see, sometimes the truth remains hidden even when we think our eyes are wide open. So it is that sometimes we need, “not to see,” in order to truly see and believe! Sometimes, “There’s more than meets the eye.”
This is the story found in today’s appointed reading from the book of Acts, the story of the conversion of Saul, also known as the Apostle Paul. It is the story of someone who in many ways lived by the motto, “seeing is believing;” until he was struck blind on the Road to Damascus, and in that experience, - came to believe.
Saul of Tarsus was born a Jew, and he describes his early life, (as found in his letter to the Philippians,) in terms of the things that he achieved, the things that can be seen, life viewed and life lived - from the outside - in. Saul was extremely “confident in the flesh.” He was rightly “circumcised on the eighth day,” he was a descendent of “the tribe of Benjamin.” He was exemplary, “a Hebrew of Hebrews,” “a Pharisee,” educated by one of the best teachers of the Torah. And he lived according to the law, and with great “zeal” and pleasure he persecuted the early church. He concludes his early life biography with these not so humble words, “as to righteousness under the law” – I was “blameless.” Saul was not insecure or timid, he was not filled with doubts, he was convinced of the truth, the things that he saw, the law lived and experienced from - the outside – in.
We first read about this confident and zealous Saul in the seventh chapter of the book of Acts. He is present and “approves” of the execution, the stoning of Stephen, one of the first missionaries of the early church. “Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.” He then appears in chapter nine, today’s appointed reading, “Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” Saul was a man on a mission, a man of great conviction, a man with strong core beliefs, a man with a clear understanding of his calling in life. Once again, Saul lived from the outside – in, seeing and believing according to the law written in stone. No room for questions, no room for different interpretations, no room for something “more than meets the eye.”
And then something happened to him, on the road to Damascus, he has an encounter that will change his life dramatically and forever. A light from heaven flashed, a voice cried out, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” And suddenly, “his eyes were open,” but “he could see nothing.” And then, “for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.”
And in the middle of this “divine blindness,” he is unexpectedly visited by grace and mercy. In the dark, deprived of his sight, hungry and alone, the unknown, and somewhat reluctant healing hand of Ananias reaches out and touches him. The Holy Spirit descends, and “something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized.” Seeing is not always believing, Saul comes to believe without seeing.
Up to this point in his life, Saul lived life primarily, if not only, from the outside-in. He was a student of the law, he was raised by “the disciplinarian,” and he was all about following the rules. His obedience, his accomplishments, the way he measured up to others, - those were the things that defined him, - seeing was believing. And accordingly, though he may not have showed it, deep down he must have lived in in great fear. In fear of not measuring up, in fear of failure, in fear of making a mistake, and in fear of death - the ultimate punishment under the law. Defined by the external law, Saul rose to power and demanded respect from others, but did he live in peace, was he free, did he know unconditional love?
On the Road to Damascus, it all comes crashing down on Saul. His life comes to a standstill, a stand-off. But Saul is not the only one traveling on that road! We too can be found on that very same road, living life from the outside-in, deceived by illusions that claim to be the truth, trapped by the law in its various manifestations, anxiously wanting “to see” and then “believe.” And we too, can be found living in fear, in fear of not measuring up.
Yes, we have been blessed by grace, but sometimes grace slips through our hands, because it is just so tempting to want to find our self-worth, our purpose, and our identity; - in our own good works, our own achievements, in rules carved in stone, in proving our own goodness, in demonstrating and substantiating empirically that we deserve to be loved, not because we are, but because of all that we have done. Yes, we have been blessed by grace, but let’s be honest, it’s very easy to be tempted away. Ego and pride are just not that interested in grace and mercy. We’d rather be “saved” by our own merits.
This is the human condition, the struggle to trust grace and mercy over doing the good works of the law. To trust our identity as “beloved” in the humble proclamation of the cross, over and against trusting our identity in our own achievements, “circumcised on the eighth day,” “of the tribe of Benjamin,” “a Hebrew of Hebrews,” “blameless under the law.” What do you trust in? Baptized at First Lutheran, a third generation Lutheran from the Midwest, an American, a good citizen, …. It’s hard to trust solely in grace. But thanks be to God we are not on that Road to Damascus alone, Christ awaits us.
On that road Paul was struck down by Christ, left blind, and in that encounter, he realizes everything he had done and accomplished was meaningless, everything he held to be dear and true was worthless, living under the law proved to be empty. Is that what await us on this road we sometimes travel? Is that the good news this morning? Christ is waiting for us on the road to strike us down?
Hey if that’s what it takes, - that’s what it takes! But perhaps there is another way to encounter Christ, perhaps this morning we are invited to put life on pause for a bit, to close our eyes and to honestly reflect on our life. And in doing so encounter grace and mercy anew, opening up our eyes to a new way of believing, a faithful way of believing. Perhaps we are being invited to let go of religious legalism, to set ourselves free from all our vain attempts to live from the outside-in; and to discover ourselves once again from the inside out, to be reminded that we are the beloved of God simply because God loves us – and for no other reason!
It's true, seeing is not always believing. Hebrews 11:1 reminds us, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
Saul came to believe in Jesus, by letting go the things he could see written on stone, and trusting in things he could not see, things written on the heart, things like grace, mercy, and love. And soon after his experience, he began using his Greek name Paul. Things had changed. Saul means “to ask or pray for,” Saul was the name of the first King of Israel, the king that the people had “asked for,” “prayed for;” Paul means “small and humble.” A different name for a different way of life. Paul would become a servant, boldly proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus, - that we are justified not by works but solely by the love and the grace of God.
May we all be set free by the truth of this Gospel, may we be reminded to live from the inside-out, trusting in the new covenant written by Christ on our hearts, trusting that which we know deep down with our eyes closed, trusting and believing that we are nothing less than the beloved of God. Set free by love, to love God, to love ourselves, and to love our neighbor. Amen.