But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem… - Acts 9:10-19
At some point in our faith we have probably heard the story of Saul’s Damascus road conversion. This former Pharisee persecutor of Jesus disciples, who meets the risen Lord in a bright light and all of a sudden we find him switching sides, and writing a good portion of the New Testament.
Ok, so maybe that’s not exactly how fast everything happens, but when we look back at ancient history, we like to sum things up to make them tidy. Truth is, any of us who have had to make a change in lifestyle, in belief system, know that change is difficult, and it takes time to get used to it. We know that change is something that doesn’t happen overnight, but take time. Especially when we are talking about behaviors that have been a big part of who we believe we are. The hardest part of change, however, may be convincing others that it has happened.
This portion of the story that I’ve listed above from Acts 9, I think is very interesting. We meet for the first and only time a man by the name of Ananias. We know that he is faithful unto God, that he lives in Damascus, and that he was a disciples of Jesus, but that’s about it.
We get this one little bit of Scripture about him, and what we find is this disciple of Jesus was praying when God spoke to him, and told him to go up to the "street wich is called Straight", and ask "in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus". (Acts 9:11). Ananias objected that Saul had been persecuting "thy saints", but the Lord told him that Saul was "a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel". (Acts 9:15). When Ananias went in to Saul and laid his hands on him, the "scales" of dead tissue on the surface of his eyes fell off, and he looked up at Ananias. After additional instruction, Saul was baptized. (Acts 9:18). After that Paul stays in Damascus for a while, learning from the disciples.
Even though a change has happened, later, when Paul moves on to Jerusalem, the other disciples still fear him because he has been persecuting them. Even the one whom the Lord sends to him, Ananias, has a hard time believing the Lord, and even questions God about the transformation before trusting the Lord enough to rise and go. I imagine even in his going, Ananias was very cautious before simply announcing to Paul who he was and why he had come.
Ananias, though faithful to God’s call remained cautious. That is something that is key for us as Christians in the world today. As we are faithful to serve God, to gather in places to share our faith, we need to remain cautious in keeping ourselves and others safe. We face a different world, that is changed because of a virus that has proven very difficult to treat and navigate. We are getting back into an ever-opening society, and need to remember to be cautious. We can be both faithful and cautious. May God grant us the strength to understand how to love and care for others while remaining cautions in our faithfulness.
Grace & Peace,
Sam