HIS WAY

Reading: Psalm 30, John 21:1-19, Revelation 5:11-14, Acts 9:1-6
Preached at Baldwin First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, on April 18th 2010

Our reading from the book of Acts spoke of the conversion of Saul, a one-time persecutor of the church, who became, after a light blinding experience on the Damascus Road, an evangelist, theologian and defender of the Christian Way.

It is to Paul’s hand that we owe many of the great theological letters that make up our New Testament. Whilst scholars debate as to which letters he actually wrote and which were written in his name by others, even those not directly attributed to Paul are full of his influence.

It was in Paul’s writings that some of the great thinkers of the Christian Centuries found their inspiration, including the Reformers to whom the Protestant tradition owes so much; scholars such as Martin Luther and John Calvin.

Verse two of chapter nine in the book of Acts describes the early Christian church as the people of the Way. The word “Way” (In Greek, hodos ) provides a motif around which the story of Paul’s conversion is told. Saul asks the high priest for "letters to the synagogues of Damascus so that if he found any who belonged to the Way (Greek, hodou), he might bring them bound to Jerusalem."

Later in the passage, Ananias speaks fearfully of ‘Paul’s way’. He knows Paul only as a persecutor of the Christian church. He’s heard terrible things about him. God tells Ananias that he must go to Paul, because God was preparing Paul for a mighty work. When Ananias reaches him, he lays hands on him and speaks to him of the Lord Jesus who had appeared to him in the ‘way’ (again in Greek, hodoi) in which he was going.

It’s an intriguing use of words.

The picture is of Saul being on his way, in his way, against ‘the Way’.

And then… God intervenes.

A blinding light reveals to Saul that being on his way, in his way, meant that he was heading the wrong way. That his way, was a way against ‘the way’ that things should be.

The geographical region in which Paul had this spiritual change of heart is one where the hot air of the plain meets the cold air coming off the mountain ranges. That sort of weather pattern can create violent electrical storms. The word used to describe the voice that Saul hears is the Greek word ‘phone’ (from which we derive the word tele-phone) and can be translated as either an audible voice or the sound of an inanimate things such as musical instruments or thunderclaps. Maybe Saul got caught in a storm!

We know that Saul is struggling with his convictions at this point in time. The hatred he has against the people of ‘The Way’ had become obsessive. It was a week long journey on foot around, 140 miles, from Jerusalem to Damascus. His only companions were the officers of the Sanhedrin, whom as a Pharisee, he could have little to do with.

He’s been unnerved by Stephen’s vision of heaven being opened. Those he has been persecuting have responded in unexpected ways, offering him forgiveness, praying for him, speaking of God’s love. They didn’t act like people full of great wickedness. Never mind the possibility of a storm outside Saul’s life, there was a huge storm going on inside of him! Up to a point we can explain how Saul was ready for a change.

But how do account for the fact that he happened to be right there, on that road, at that time, in that storm, with a storm of emotions going through his mind? How do we explain how the impression these things made upon him was so dramatic that it completely turned him around?

How do we explain how he is given direct instructions concerning the intervention of Ananais, who would come to him in three days time, remove his blindness and give him the counsel necessary to become, not simply a follower of Christ’s way, but a leader and an apostle on a level with the disciples who walked with Jesus during his earthly ministry? The only logical explanation was that he had encountered God.

Saul on his way, in his way, against “the Way.”
Then God intervenes.

But what about us? Whose ‘way’ are we in? Where are our lives heading? Whose kingdom are we building? What can take us from heading our own way to a place where we are living God’s way? We see certain things taking place in Saul’s life that turned him from going his way to following God’s way. In verse 4 we find the words "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"

God’s call comes in a very intimate and personal way. Saul was his Hebrew name, Paul his Roman name. He hears his Hebrew name being spoken twice over. This repetition is an indication of the concern God had for him. Then comes the rebuke. “Why are you persecuting me?” It is a question that forces Saul to see that what he was involved in was wrong. Before he would ever be a saint, he had to acknowledge that he was a sinner.

We need to know that God is calling our name. Over and over and over again. We live in such an impersonal world. We can sometimes get the idea that God is an impersonal God and not really concerned about us. No more aware of that are we then we are going through the storms.
It matters not whether those storms are outside of us, like the light from heaven that struck Saul down, or whether the storm is inside of us, like that Saul was experiencing as he struggled to understand what was going on with those crazy "People of the Way".

We need to know that God understands and cares and can help. That God has a personal interest in the way our lives are going and can and will intervene to help us go the way that is best for us, the way of God's love. We don’t need to be walking down a road towards Damascus to find that conviction. We don’t need a blinding light and an audible voice. We can find that assurance as we read the Scriptures and turn ourselves towards God through prayer and active participation in the service and worship life of our church.

If we make it our way, to orientate our lives towards God's way, then we will discover that God has a depth of concern for us that we had not previously recognized. Through making the most of the opportunities for worship and learning and serving and fellowship that our churches provide, then we will hear our name being called and we will want to respond!

At times the voice of God may come as a startling rebuke. "Why do you persecute me?". Saul’s initial reaction was to ask, "What do you mean, persecute me? Who is this speaking? I don't understand!".

Rebellion against the claim God makes on our lives, be it in a small way or in a big way, is still ‘a way’ we need delivering from. Sin, whatever form or variety it takes, (and for sure it does takes many forms and many varieties) is still the stuff that Jesus died on the cross to deliver us from. There is no deliverance where there is no recognition of personal shortcoming. To spiritually move forward, we need the transforming power and the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Are you starting to see the challenge this reading places before us? We can this morning walk out of this church determined to go on our way, in our own way, and consider very little what Christ's way for us may be.

Or we can consider that this time of worship is a time when God is calling our name. We can take this opportunity to consider the way our life is headed. We can make this a moment for resolving to get our lives in tune with God. We can resolve, here today, that whatever comes our way, we are going to try and handle it God’s way, seeking His will and seeking His glory!

Saul’s confrontation with Jesus on the Damascus road was a turning point in his life. As God confronts us with that story this morning, let us seek to live our lives in God’s way, in the way of the Holy Spirit, in the way of Jesus Christ. Let us come to the table laid with bread and wine and seek for God to direct us in the ways of His Kingdom.

What it boils down to is this. We can go our own way, in our own way and do it all our way. Do that and it will eventually lead us the wrong way. Or, here and now, we can come to God and pray that we want to live only … in His Way! A way described elsewhere in Scripture as the better way, the higher way and as the way forward. His Way.

And to God’s name be all glory and honor and power!
Amen.

Adrian Pratt