Sermon – One Tough Cup
Psalm 146:5-10; Acts 9:1-20
Farmville Presbyterian Church
5/4/25
I literally read it on a fortune cookie the other day, “It is never shameful to learn from others.” In fact, I have the fortune right here in my hand to prove it. Granted, that does not sound like a “fortune” of any kind, nor am I one to put a great deal of credence in anything I find typed on a fortune cookie slip, but this is actually a pretty good bit of wisdom, if you think about it. People can be so convinced that they are correct. People can be so convinced that their perspective is the right one. People can be so convinced that they have all that they need to hold the truth. People can be so focused on their experience that they will never see another perspective. Maybe you know someone like that. At least some of that can be in the mirror, too. An open mind always beats a closed mind. Things cannot grow if there is no room. Case in point is Saul of Tarsus or as we know his Roman name, Paul of Tarsus. Jesus proved here in no uncertain terms that what we know is absolutely certain can, in fact, be all wrong.
It is terrifying to feel the ground drop away under your feet. Saul had been raised in the best education. He was a strong candidate for the top 25 under 25 list in the Jewish world. Just think – he went to the high priest for special permission to round up followers of Jewish all the way to Damascus. Who had the standing to pull off something like that and the chief priest agree to it? Paul was on a moral war, a campaign for righteousness. He was going to make his name carrying out the holy war for the sake of God. When he leaves Jerusalem for the five to six day walk to Damascus, he is marching in a position of power, and he knows it. The followers of Jesus in Damascus know it also. They are scared. Ananias is in dread of what this means. God must convince Ananias to help Saul, but I am getting ahead of myself.
I want you to understand and to feel the personal presence of Saul as he marches to Damascus with ropes in hand. The first time we meet Saul in Acts was as he was present and approving of the stoning of Stephen in chapter 7. He was wrecking evil on the people of Christ. Nothing could alter this zealot’s plan… except for Jesus. Notice that Jesus allows Saul to travel all the way to Damascus, a 150-ish mile journey, depending on his actual route. Then, as he gets right there, we have this fantastic confrontation. Everyone in his party is overcome, but only Saul is struck blind. Everyone is illuminated, but only Saul is thrown into darkness. His associates all disappear once Saul is delivered to a home in town. Saul is alone as his world collapses around him. Saul met Jesus who he was certain was a fraud, an evil and wicked expression of the demonic. Jesus’ followers were corrupt and corrupting and deserved death. Saul was filled with that faithful rage as he made that journey, only to lose everything. Right now, this reads like a Shakespearean tragedy. The rug has been pulled. His faith was all wrong. He has lost his sight. All he can do is pray his heart out. He prays so hard that food and water are unnecessary. Shame and guilt are his food and water.
Saul has become pathetic. If we did not have a place in this story, we might feel sorry for Saul. His life has become essentially meaningless as far as he knows. He needs help. That help is Ananias.
Remember that fortune cookie? It was time for Saul to learn from someone else. The man who had all the answers and the confidence and courage to hunt down renegade followers of Christ needed to learn from someone else. Our Lord called Ananias to this special, delicate task. You heard the concern in Ananias’ voice, “You mean THAT Saul? Surely, Lord, that is not what you meant.”
Thankfully for everyone concerned, Ananias listened and went. Jesus was doing something new, something never done before. Plenty of people had been called into God’s service, some of them being morally questionable. Samson comes to mind. Jacob is not far behind. Moses was a fugitive murderer, but here we have the anti-Christian being called to champion the cause of Christ. You might as well elect an atheist as the Pope. It was preposterous, but he was the exact person for Jesus’ purposes.
This brings one very, very important point to light. Who is called to work for Christ? Saul was called for some heavy lifting here, but ALL of us have a place in the mission of the Kingdom of God. I think historically we may have done a better job promoting this service. Some of the church experience might feel like we just send people to be nice. Please tell me anywhere in the Bible Jesus just wants us to be nice. Sure, being nice is fine and good and well, but the call of Jesus just turned the most dangerous man to the church into its greatest champion. There is nothing about niceness here. While we might not be the chosen instrument of the Lord in the same way as Saul, we are absolutely tasked with this. We would not even have a Saul story without Ananias showing up for a few verses. This is tremendously underrated by people in the pews. We have a genuine calling, and that is a good part of what we are doing here each Sunday. Hopefully, we are inviting the Spirit to grow our call and our service, our sense of mission and our willingness to work for Jesus in this community and beyond. If you are getting NOTHING out of your church experience, please go to another church. We are here to be honest before Christ Jesus our Savior – just like Saul.
I have always been a bit amused by what Jesus says, though. He calls Saul his chosen “instrument.” No, this is nothing musical, though if I could be a baritone saxophone, that might make practicing easier. The word Jesus uses is the generic instrument word like tool or vessel. I am so tempted to think of Saul as the blessed spork. It is a good tool, to be honest, but this is Jesus the Lord of all creation asking Saul to carry his gospel message out to the nations, to hold the grace of the good news. I think it is better for us to think of Jesus calling Saul to be his bowl or cup. Cup actually works because of its tie to Jesus and the last supper. Anything that holds liquids would have been very useful in that day. My own cabinet is full of cups, in fact. The image still works.
But this was no ordinary cup. Jesus is asking Saul to be the toughest cup the world has ever seen. His life will be very tough, and he will face all kinds of trials. If you are familiar with the story of Saul who we know as Paul, he is jailed, beaten, slandered, shipwrecked, attacked, bitten, and eventually executed. Luke knows Saul, and in his writing, he confers just how serious Saul’s journey is going to be. This is a tough message and would have been tough for him to hear, especially after the crushing last three days. Saul went from being powerful to powerless. He had a very clear purpose and lost that purpose completely, only to find a new one that would challenge him to his core. Only the hardest, most determined believer could do this task in the grace of Jesus, and that was Saul.
One last thing that I want to make sure we notice in this amazing passage is how Saul is healed. I so love running to the scales falling. Maybe this is like cataract surgery today. It is a dramatic image that has fueled all kinds of debate over the centuries over what this might symbolize, but the real image is the one before it. When Ananias shows up at the house where Saul is staying, his first word to the feared and despised worker of evil is “Brother Saul.”
There are people who are my family. I have ways of talking to them that I do not share with other people. My guess is that is the same for you. The church has adopted family language through the centuries, so it may not sound that strange to call someone else a mother or father or sister or brother, especially in the Roman Catholic Church, for instance, but long before there was any Catholic Church, there was a brotherhood of believers. They considered each other as siblings in Christ. Jesus named them such. We are his sisters and brothers and children of God, just as he is. That’s grace, but in that day, at that time, and in that place, Ananias went to Saul and made him his brother. He was not joking or throwing out this word without meaning it. Luke makes a point of including this acceptance and love because it is necessary and important. I have no idea if they embraced, but by claiming Saul as a brother, it was as much an actual embrace. Their hearts, either physically or spiritually, were pressed together and healing began. It is amazing how just holding hearts together in the same space can heal brokenness.
Our world is hug-shy. I understand a good part of that. We have abused our connections and relationships. People can and are often inappropriate, but Christian intimacy is just as vital today as it was then. People need to know we love and are loved. We need to know we are family.
This is difficult with those who have all the answers or are out to prove that they are right. This is difficult in a world that wants to dictate how we allow Jesus to use us. This is difficult when we act more like the problem than the solution. Saul as Paul marched into the lion’s den for us. Not a single one of us would be here without this one mission. We as non-Jews were made sisters and brothers in Christ. It is a gift of grace that is vital to share.
As we carry the grace of God in our lives, may we follow in the steps of the faithful who have gone before us, including our Saul. And may God bless us all as family. To God be the glory. Amen.