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We are in a series called From Here to Everywhere, walking through the book of Acts. Today's passage is Acts 9 — the story of Saul's encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus.
"Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples..."
Isn't it strange how this text starts with Saul breathing out murderous threats, and ends with the church enjoying a time of peace? I believe Luke wants to show us how the church can be transformed and grow in a time of crisis — but only if we live in the fear of the Lord and are encouraged by the Holy Spirit.
I've decided to name today's sermon "A Pep Talk." Not the kind of pep talk you'd expect — because our "P.E.P." stands for Persecution, Encounter, and Peace.
Before we dive into Acts 9, we need to remember Acts 7 and the story of Stephen — the first martyr, stoned to death by the Jews while a man named Saul approved of his death, with the crowd laying their coats at his feet.
Luke describes Saul in vivid terms: a wild, ferocious beast, someone "breathing out murderous threats," creating havoc, persecuting the church. The word for "persecuting" literally means an aggressive chase — like a hunter pursuing prey. Saul was actively destroying the church.
Paul later describes himself in Philippians 3:
"If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more... circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless."
This man was the top representation of what the Jewish people could look like — the complete antithesis of what the church was becoming. He could not find in religion or the law what the followers of Jesus had found in a personal relationship with God. Something about that obsessed him.
Saul was so proactive that he didn't wait to be asked — he requested letters of authority himself and set out on the 140-mile journey to Damascus, roughly a week's walk. As he travelled, he passed through Galilee, the very region where Jesus once walked. He had nothing to do but think.
Interestingly, as he left Jerusalem — the place that represented God's presence through the temple — he was, in a sense, walking away from God. And it was there, far from Jerusalem, that a light from heaven suddenly blinded him. Those traveling with him heard the sound but could not see anyone.
Jesus came to his encounter. The great persecutor was encountered by the great Pursuer.
The mighty Saul, full of authority, fell to the ground — blinded and trembling. Not even Saul was beyond God's grace. Not even the man who represented everything opposed to the church was beyond reach.
Jesus revealed Himself as the very one Saul was persecuting. Remember His words in Matthew 28: "I am with you always, to the very end of the age." He was keeping His word — when Saul persecuted the church, he was persecuting the Head of the Church, Jesus Himself.
God met Saul where he was by His grace, but He loved him too much to just let him continue the life he had.
These are the good news of the gospel: God's grace can reach where you're at, but He loves you too much to leave you there.
No one preached anything to Saul before this moment — his life changed purely through his encounter with Jesus. Yet Jesus did not force anything on him. As John Stott writes:
"Divine grace does not trample on human personality, rather the reverse. It enables human beings to be truly human. It is sin which imprisons. It is grace which liberates. The grace of God so frees us from the bondage of our pride, prejudices, and self-centeredness as to enable us to repent and believe."
It was a display of God's glory that changed Saul's life.
Now blinded and vulnerable, Saul needed someone to guide him. God's response came through Ananias — an ordinary, almost forgotten hero of this story. We don't know much about him. But he had an obeying faith.
The Lord told Ananias to go and meet the very man who wanted to kill him and welcome him into the church. Ananias had questions, but he kept them between himself and God rather than gossiping about them. When the Lord said "Go," Ananias simply said, "Yes, Lord."
It was to Ananias that God revealed His purpose for Saul: "He is my chosen instrument to carry my name." The word for "instrument" is vessel — and the most important thing about a vessel isn't how pretty it is, but what it carries. The greatest privilege any of us can have is to be a vessel worthy of carrying God's name to others.
As Ananias approached the blind and vulnerable Saul, he laid a hand on him — bringing comfort. The first words the great persecutor heard from a believer were: "Brother Saul."
This is what the church looks like — able to welcome even the greatest persecutor as a brother, not because of anything we've done, but because of how Jesus changes lives. Ananias prayed for him, the Holy Spirit filled Saul, he was baptized, and he ate and regained his strength.
When the church listens to God and obeys, it becomes capable of loving as family those who were once our enemies.
We may not know much about Ananias, but we know he obeyed God and welcomed as a brother the man who had likely harmed people he knew and loved.
A telling reflection captures this moment:
"There is all of Christianity in what the risen Christ said to Paul: 'Go into the city and you will be told what to do.' Up to this moment, Paul had been doing what he liked, what he thought was best, what his will dictated. From this time forward, he would be told what to do. Christians are men and women who have ceased to do what they want to do and who have begun to do what Christ wants them to do."
This shift would shape the rest of Saul's life — he would later describe himself in his letters as a slave of God, because grace had reached him in such a profound way.
Now this transformed man had to retrace his steps — but now as the persecuted rather than the persecutor. How the tables had turned.
Acts simply says "some days passed," but in Galatians, Paul explains that it actually took three years in Arabia — a season where he had to relearn everything. He knew Scripture inside and out, but his encounter with Jesus brought it all to life in a completely new way.
We sometimes imagine that Saul's transformation happened overnight — that he simply became a new man and immediately started changing the world. That is true in a sense, but there is also a process that takes time.
So don't be discouraged if transformation in your life feels slow — it takes time. But we have time, and we're working on that our whole lives.
What was immediate for Saul was his boldness. He preached as boldly as he could from the very start. He was not ashamed and was not seeking comfort. And when people had no arguments left against him, the only response left to them — as we see throughout Acts — was violence. This would come to mark the early church again and again.
Real Christianity is always in peril because it is proof that what we're saying matters. Jesus came to change the status quo, and that cost him his life. As his followers, how could we expect something different?
We keep in mind Jesus' words:
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."
Saul, even though he had all the strength — this wild wolf we knew before — is now a tame sheep, and would later become a shepherd. He did not respond in kind, but he also did not stop preaching boldly.
Once again we see the peace of God operating through unknown heroes. We don't know the names of Saul's followers, but they helped him — they very literally saved his life. This man who was persecuting the church was now being helped by the church, because he was faithful to what he did.
Saul had to go back from Damascus to Jerusalem. Imagine what that was like — going there with all the strength and energy chasing his prey, now returning humbled and persecuted. He knew he would not be welcomed by the church. Why would he be? He no longer had the authority from the Pharisees. He had caused havoc in Jerusalem, and the people there were hesitant about him. They did not welcome him with open arms.
Then enters another character who transformed Saul's life: Barnabas. The name Barnabas means son of encouragement or son of consolation — what an appropriate name.
When the church was hesitant to welcome Saul for his past, Barnabas entered the scene and welcomed him for his future. He was not focused on judging Saul; he was focused on the evidence. Saul had preached the risen Jesus. He was being persecuted. He was faithful. He would not shut up because he had something that changed his life. That's what Barnabas looked at.
Just as Ananias welcomed Saul as a brother, Barnabas welcomed him as his brother, and later they would go together on their first missionary trip. What an example of what the church looks like.
We should be known as the most welcoming and loving community there is. We don't just welcome people — we befriend them like brothers, even those who were once our enemies, our total opposites. Only in a church filled with the Spirit can you see all those opposites coming together.
Jesus said in John 13:
"A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
But let me put it another way — if you don't love one another, we would not be his disciples. That's what the church must be known for. Not our structure, not the amazing things we do (though those are important), but because we love and welcome the one who comes through that door.
Saul was persecuted, but now he was no longer the persecutor — he encountered friends and found peace. He had to escape again, and people helped him get all the way back to Tarsus, his home. It would take fourteen years before we see him again in the book of Acts, even though we just flip a few pages.
I understand the temptation to want to preach right away, but it has been a matter of letting God work quietly and privately in your life so that you can bear fruit. Many people won't see it, many people won't know it — but God does, and he's going to use it.
So how is it that we started with the church being persecuted, and yet Christ's mission keeps happening? Even through crisis and persecution, God took the gospel further and further out. The church is not threatened by persecution — the church actually flourished through the persecution.
The chapter finishes in verse 31 with peace. The word there is related to being joined together into a whole — wholeness, when all the essential parts are joined together. That's God's gift of wholeness: a church that was being scattered, persecuted, and running away, now finding peace.
The encounter with God changed Saul's life. The encounter with God through Ananias changed Saul's life. The encounter with God through Barnabas changed Saul's life. But Luke, writing Acts, is always playing with two lenses — a microscope, focusing on one story, and a telescope, showing the church moving forward. He wants to show us that for God, the encounter with one person is valuable, and that for Jesus, the persecuted church is valuable. Your own story matters. The church matters.
So we see in Saul's story that this is not about individuals. If I may be so bold, I'd say it was probably Ananias's faith and obedience that challenges me the most — because in God's upside-down kingdom, the greatest are not the ones with the most letters in the New Testament, not the ones who fill stadiums, but the ones who serve. That's how Jesus modeled us to live.
Saul's encounter wasn't just a sudden light and instant transformation — it took time, and it wasn't about individuals. It was about the church community:
The church is not about individuals. Even though our encounters with God may be unique, the church — our collective — is the body.
When we hear "the road to Damascus," many of us picture a dramatic scene — it's even used in movies and pop culture. But what strikes me is this: we need an encounter with Jesus, yes, but we also need the church. You cannot be a follower of the Way on your own.
His sacrifice on the cross was for you as an individual, yes — but it's also for the peace of the church, for the gospel to be extended. The road to Damascus for us today doesn't mean walking through a desert or being struck blind by a spotlight. He can encounter you here and now. He is available to us.
Luke is teaching us that we need to be a church that is like Christ — known by how we love one another. The most revolutionary thing we can do is welcome someone.
This is very personal to me, because as an immigrant — I've learned what it's like to leave everything behind and come to a new country. Many of you can identify with this. You don't know where you're heading, you don't know what's happening.
When I came to the church, I encountered people who literally opened not just their arms but their homes. They welcomed us. They helped us when we didn't have a car — giving us rides, picking us up, dropping us off. They fed us, and the food was so good. When we needed help, God gave us brothers and sisters who were there every step of the way. We had our encounter with God, but we needed the church.
Think of all the people who make up the body: the ones who welcome you at the door, who take care of your kids, who serve you coffee, who help you find your seat, who handle the media, the ushers, the preachers, the worshipers. You are not alone. It takes a village for us to encounter God.
We might think the best thing we can do is preach a sermon — and yes, that's valuable, it's a challenge. But the greatest thing you can do is welcome someone with love.
Have you found someone who is your total opposite? Love them. This isn't a hippy, feel-good love where we say "we love one another" and then go home and talk trash. This is a sacrificial kind of love.
The most Christlike thing we can do as a church is to genuinely welcome and love those who are new — even those who were our enemies. Feed them, welcome them, so they can have an encounter with God.
If you're here today, it's not just because of you. How many people prayed so you could be in this room? How many people have consistently helped and invited you so you could be here today?
Can I encourage you today? If you haven't yet, the great Pursuer of your heart is going to encounter you — whether you like it or not. You can be blinded and humbled, or you can simply welcome him into your heart. He will not trample on your will, but he will show you his glory. Have an encounter with God.
And if you have had an encounter with God, but you feel like nothing is happening — like your life isn't a dramatic testimony like Saul's, like you're "just a nobody" — let me tell you: it's thanks to people who were faithful in quiet ways that stories change in God's eyes. There's no such thing as a nobody.
Persevere. Be obedient. So that when the moment comes and God tells you to go — like he told Ananias — you will say, "Yes, Lord," because God has been working in your patience and your obedience.
If you're part of this church, get involved. There are so many ways — not just within these walls on a Sunday, but in our whole lives, day to day. How can I help you? You're moving — let me help. You're hungry — let me feed you. You need to go to the airport — I'll drive you.
I've received all these things, and that's why I can tell you: I've been loved and welcomed by the people in this church, and I encourage you to be one of those people too.
We tend to worship, as a culture, the idea of the "self-made" person. But it takes community. Don't think your story is less — but also don't come thinking you're the only one, that you can do it all by yourself. It takes people who pray for you even when you don't know it, people who come here early in the morning to pray for every seat. It takes their effort so that you can feel welcome and at home.
If you need that encounter, we have the cross — the same cross that was driving Saul crazy, because even as people were being dragged away and killed, they would not stop believing in the words of Jesus. Come and have an encounter with him, because he is pursuing you.
If you need encouragement — if you've been at church but haven't found your place, if you don't know what your next steps are, if you're tired because your life isn't where you want it to be — come and receive prayer. We can support one another.
And at the table, just as Saul ate after he was prayed for and received the Holy Spirit, come to the table recognizing that it's God's goodness that lets you be where you are. It's his grace that reached you, and it's his love that continues to work in your life.
Jesus, thank you for pursuing us from Genesis to the end of times. Thank you for your love and your grace. Help us love and welcome those around us. Help us show the world the revolutionary act of love — a love that is like yours, that is costly, that transforms life. We know that we ourselves cannot transform anyone's life, but you can. If we can help facilitate that, let us help. For those in the room who feel like they want to be welcomed and haven't found a place — welcome home, brother or sister. Welcome home. Let the church love you. Let the church do life with you. Let Jesus work through the church in taking care of you as well. Let us be instruments worthy of carrying your name and preaching boldly that Jesus is the Messiah. In Jesus' name, amen.
