Written for/given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on April 25, 2004… Recorded LIVE, with a Special intro, at the Wanda (IL) UMC on April 19, 2021!

The Scripture is from the 9th chapter of the book of Acts of the Apostles, verses 1 – 6…

       Some of you may know that one branch of Ellie’s family found themselves living in the Chicago area many, many years ago. And while many of them have since spread out across the country, one of her ‘favorite’ cousins still lives in one of the southern suburbs. We keep in touch, somewhat, through e-mails and an occasional phone call or visit. A few years ago, when we were able to get away a little more often, we would sometimes meet him and his wife for dinner before going to watch him perform in one of the local theatre productions that he loves to take part in.

       Once, they had insisted on meeting us at our motel and taking us for an evening out ‘on the town’, Chicago style. Since they had brought along another couple, Ellie and I opted to just follow them in our car instead of all of us squeezing into theirs… this had the added advantage to giving us the option to leave whenever we were ready to… Ellie and I are such party-animals, you know!

       Though they no longer lived in the area where our motel was, Ellie’s cousin was familiar with it, and so took us first to one of the local Bohemian restaurants. Oh, my! Eleanor was already a fan of Polish cooking, and I became hooked on it that night… we have been back to it and several of the other ones in the area a number of times in the years since… good stuff!

       Leaving there shortly before nine… a time that Ellie and I are usually getting ready for bed, if I’m home, mind you… we followed them as they zig-zagged their way to a cowboy dance bar on the northwest side of downtown Chicago… at least I think that’s where we were! Pushing our way through the crowd, we finally reached a spot on the second floor where there was enough room for the six of us to stand together and watch the dancers down below. Soon the other couple headed to the dance floor and Ellie and I were invited to join them. “I don’t dance,” I said. Oh! As they headed away, Ellie’s cousin and his wife elected to stay with us, so as not to make us feel abandoned. As we found a table and settled in, drinks were being ordered… “Just a Coke for me,” I said, while Ellie got her Mountain Dew. Her cousin objected, ‘Don’t worry; we’re paying for it… order what you want!’ “I don’t drink” A strange look came over his face as he said slowly… “Did I do a baaad thing bringing you here?!”

       We both assured him that everything was OK, and we really appreciated the thought and effort they had put into setting all of this up. I think I allowed as to how I appreciated the opportunity to examine close-up this side of social relationships and cultural exchanges. (Actually, I probably said something to the effect that I enjoyed seeing some of the outfits!) After a polite amount of time, Ellie and I both noted that we really had an early start planned that next morning, and made our way out of the building, to the car, and home to the motel.

       The Life Application Commentary notes that, “The book of Acts, written by Luke, picks up where Luke’s Gospel left off, providing details of the birth and early years of the church that Jesus had promised to build. Together the two books, Luke and Acts, form a seamless account of how the followers of Jesus “turned . . . the world upside down” by taking the good news of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ “to the ends of the earth”.

Then, Matthew Henry’s Commentary reads, “We found mention made of Saul two or three times in the story of Stephen… and now we are come to it, not quite taking leave of Peter but from henceforward being mostly taken up with Paul… the apostle of the Gentiles as Peter was of the circumcision… He was born in Tarsus, a city of Cilicia, a free city of the Romans, and himself a freeman of that city. His father and mother were both native Jews; therefore he calls himself a Hebrew of the Hebrews; he was of the tribe of Benjamin, which adhered to Judah. His education was in the schools of Tarsus first, which was considered a little Athens for learning; there he acquainted himself with the philosophy and poetry of the Greeks. He was then sent to the university at Jerusalem, to study divinity and the Jewish law. His tutor was Gamaliel, an eminent Pharisee. He had extraordinary natural talents, and improved mightily in learning. He had likewise a handicraft trade (being bred to tent-making), which was common with those among the Jews who were bred scholars for the earning of their maintenance, and the avoiding of idleness. This, then, is the young man we read about in today’s verses, and on whom the grace of God is about to make a ‘mighty change’, about a year after the ascension of Christ.

We may well imagine that in the days before Jesus, God might have looked upon one such as Saul and say, ‘Here is a young man who follows my statutes… a man who is faithful and just… a man who would do well as an example for all of My people.’ And he was! Saul was a very devout Jew… He believed in God… He had been well educated in Jewish law and tradition, and was a strong believer and activist in both. He seemed to be the very epitome of what God wanted ALL of His chosen people to be… loyal and faithful to Him. Furthermore, he was loyal and faithful to his teachers and to the authority figures of his religion. Since he had not met Jesus in person, he believed all that the ‘official’ reports said of him. The people he believed and respected were telling him that this Jesus movement was wrong and an abomination unto God, and he was zealous enough in his faith to feel that he should take a stand and act against it!

When Ellie’s cousin made plans to take us out ‘on the town’ that weekend it was not done without some forethought… he knew my penchant for dressing in western cloths and Eleanor’s history of all things ‘horsy’… he knew we were about as ‘Midwestern’ as could be, and not at all familiar with the Chicago night-life… in other words, he took into account many things as he planned out what we would do, and firmly believed that he had laid out the perfect evening for all. And by all that he believed, it was! The problem was that he did not have all of the facts… and that lack of knowledge led him to be in error!

By the same token, Saul was NOT a bad person doing evil things… he was a strong follower of the law and firmly believed that he was doing the work of God in persecuting and eliminating Christians! But he did not have all of the facts straight… he did not KNOW Jesus! So… on the road to Damascus, Jesus introduces Himself! “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”  “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.

Can you imagine what Saul was feeling as he came to realize the truth? First must have been the astonishment and joy at realizing that this truly was the promised Messiah. Next, though, may well have been a dreadful fear as he also realized how he had been working so diligently to destroy all that Christ had done! In his zeal to serve God, he had missed the truth and was working against all that God was doing and changing!

But… God understood that Saul’s intent was to faithfully support the law and what he believed to be true… So… God took that faith… that zeal… and turned it towards the right path and made use of it! Jesus told him, “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”  And from there, Paul became one of the staunchest supporters of Christ, and redirected all of his zeal and passion to serving the Lord and spreading the Good News throughout the world!

I imagine most of us have had an occasion where something we held as true has been proven wrong. We are embarrassed… we might try to make excuses… we may even try to resist, insisting that what we ‘knew’ to be right must be! But generally, given enough time, we accept what we have been told as fact and go on with our lives, right? My friends, there is great danger in that!!!

Saul was struck to the ground by a blinding light and addressed by Christ, Himself… he was blinded and led to a Christian teacher, where his sight was restored. He KNEW it was the Lord! He knew he was being told the truth! And so he changed his life and dedicated it to the service of Christ!

I ask you now to consider… where are your truths coming from? Who or what has caused you to change any of your ideas and beliefs about life? When your parents insisted that Santa would bring your presents, but the kids at school told you different, who did you believe? Why? When the monsters came in the dark of night, but disappeared when the lights were on, did you believe in the dark or the light? Why? And when learned people tell you that the Bible is wrong, or that it really means such-and-such, or that the meanings have changed with time, who is there to dispute it?

It is a fact of life that we sometimes learn and relearn many things over the years. As a child, most of us here learned how to push or pull a button to turn on the television and physically turn a knob to change channels… today, if you can’t work a remote, you stare at a blank screen! The farming methods that I was taught in Ag class in high school are today considered wasteful and unproductive. I don’t know about you, but I’ve gotten to where I kinda’ like not having to shift gears in our car every time I stop at a stop sign! And if I were still waiting for Santa on Christmas morning, I would be sore disappointed!

My point is that there are many things that it is right and proper to rethink and relearn as time and technology goes by… we see and experience many changes happening around and to us as our minds mature and our understanding of the world increases… there are even cultural and social issues and ‘truths’ that change as our world grows and changes and matures… indeed, it might seem as if there are very few things that do not change in our lives as we grow from adolescence into maturity! But… if someone tries to tell you that the Bible has changed, or doesn’t apply anymore… ask them if they have been on the road to Damascus… ask them if they have had a personal revelation from Jesus… because without that… their ‘thoughts’ don’t mean a thing!

If the Bible is the Word of God… and I believe it to be… then only God has the authority to change it! So if someone is touting changing the words and meaning of this Bible, you must ask yourself… is this God I’m listening to… or Satan?! For those are your only two choices! And unless there’s a great blinding light and a voice from above, I’m going to tend to stay with what I know to be true!