Acts 9:1-9
It seems that in every generation there are always famous people who we believe cannot be reached. In our generation you might name Osama Bin Laden, or some other well-known terrorist. In the generation that came before me, they might have jumped right to Adolf Hitler. It does not have to be any one so famous you might think that your boss, co-worker, or a member of your family is beyond reach. They may say and do things that lead you to believe that. They may even curse God.
This week’s chapter is about such a person. Saul of Tarsus was a religious terrorist of the highest order. The first time we see him, he is presiding over the death of Stephen who was the first Christian Martyr. (Acts 7:57-8:1). Following that he is described as a wild animal laying waste to the fledgling church. (Acts 8:3). Saul will later confess that:
9 “Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. 11 And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities. (Acts 26:9-11, NKJV)
Saul was highly schooled, and perfect with regards to the Jewish law and traditions. (Philippians 3:1-6) Indeed as we start this section we see that he is on a mission to imprison Christians in the town of Damascus.
If you alive at this time, and a Christian in Damascus you would be looking to hide someplace so that Saul would not find you and take you back to Jerusalem in chains. This is not the kind of person who anyone would knock on his door with a Gospel tract. If there ever was a man that people could point to as un-savable, it was Saul.
Saul was traveling to Damascus to persecute Christians there when Jesus knocks him off his high horse, and he is converted, but this is not where his story starts. Later he will refer back to the time he presided over the death of Stephen as part of his testimony, that event began the change in Saul that comes to a head on the road to Damascus. In our modern world we would refer to this as a seed that was planted. The biggest tree starts as a tiny seed, and that appears to be a great model of the way God prefers to work.
There are two major roads in which most people here in America come to faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Some are born in to a Christian family, and are raised in the Church. These will have a conversion point, but they might not even notice when it happens, as they are so ingrained in the religion. Others grow up outside the church, and later convert to it. It is mainly from this group that one will hear the powerful, tear jerking journey from darkness to light. This is not to say that some form the first group do not have the same kind of experience, just for the most part those testimonies come from the second group.
These two paths will often look very different, but really are the same. Think about a farmer that plants a field of wheat. After planting the seeds the farmer works to protect his crop, and make sure it gets enough water. Over time his field will grow and produce many wheat plants. This is how those who are raised in the church are like. They are given the seed of truth while very young, and that seed is nurtured, watered and protected.
The other group is more like the seed of wheat that grew in the wild. Somehow a seed got planted, and then was watered by the rain. In time it grew just as the seed of wheat did on the farm. The only difference is that it had a harder time getting there. Whether you grew up in the church or not, if you are a Christian it is because a seed was planted, and then watered.
Saul had a seed that was planted by Stephen’s testimony and death. That seed was watered over and over by the countless Christians he persecuted and tried to force to blasphemy. Eventually that seed soften Saul enough that Jesus could reach him.
Saul’s conversion was an example for us in other ways also. Saul’s conversion took places as at a specific point in time. Jesus referred to conversion as a rebirth, a singular event. There is a common saying among many modern evangelical churches that you should be able to name a “time and a place” when you became a Christian. Many people many not be able to name that time and place, especially if they grew up in the church, but it did happen. There is a point in everyone who becomes a Christian’s life where they cross the line between saved and unsaved.
Saul’s conversion is also an example of a massive life change that should follow any conversion that happens later in life. Before Saul was converted he was like a wild animal raving the church, after conversion he because one of the greatest Christian leaders of all time. He goes on to write around one forth of the New Testament, is beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, abused, poisoned, and eventually is martyred for the faith. The day before his conversion, no one could have ever believed any of that could happen, yet now looking back we can not picture a Christian Bible with out his work in it.
Saul starts out as the most un-savable person of his time, and later becomes Paul who is a mighty warrior for the faith. His conversion is given to us as an example (1 Tim 1:16) so that we know that the truth of John 3:16 really does apply to everyone. No one is beyond the reach of salvation.
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