I Saw The Light

"I Saw the Light!" Wake-Up Call #6 Act 9:1-19a June 7, 2020 Author Frederica Mathews-Greene shares the following about a spiritual wake-up call she experienced. She begins her story revealing a bit of her spiritual background. Frederica says, When I was around eight or nine, I went through a spurt of very strong faith. My parents didn't think it was entirely healthy to be that religious. When I'd say that I wanted to be a nun they said that such an idea was neurotic and that I was running away from life. I clearly got the message that it wasn't good to be too religious. When I was 12 or 13, I began to doubt the entire Christian story. I felt almost as if somebody had tried to cheat me. They had fed me this long, complex story about virgin birth, born in a manger, died on a cross, came back to life . . . it just sounded preposterous to me. I thought that it was something that no normal, sane person could be expected to believe, and I'd been made a fool. I began to consider atheism, agnosticism, and various other religions. But I rejected Christianity with vehemence. Initially, I chose Hinduism because it seemed to me the most intriguing and colorful of all the different world religions. But God used a strange wake-up call to get my attention and lead me out of Hinduism. I was with my husband, Gary, on our honeymoon, hitchhiking around Europe. He was an atheist who had been assigned in one of his classes to read a gospel from the Bible. And he kept saying, "There's something about Jesus. I've never encountered anyone like this before. I know that he's speaking the truth. I'm an atheist. But if Jesus says there's a God, there must be a God." It was a very scary experience for me, because I didn't want Gary to be a Christian. He wasn't ready to make a full commitment to Christ at that point, but he was curious and wanted to study more. While sightseeing in Dublin, we walked into a church. We were admiring the windows and other furnishings. In a corner of the church there was a small altar with a white marble statue that showed Jesus' heart exposed on his chest with flames coming out of the top and thorns wrapped around the heart. As I was looking at this, I suddenly realized that I was on my knees. And as if a radio inside of me suddenly clicked on, I could hear a voice. I didn't hear it with my ears, but it was like a presence that filled me. The voice said, "I am your life. You thought that your life was your history, your name, your personality. You thought that your life was the fact that your heart beats. But that is not your life. I am your life. I am the foundation of everything else in your life." It was pretty incontrovertible who it was that was speaking to me. I started reading the Bible, and I found that I disagreed with Jesus about a lot of things. But something had happened to me in that church . . . I realized that I didn't know everything about the world. Frederica shares that over time she and her husband, Gary, came to faith and personally received Jesus Christ as their Lord. But the most pivotal moment in her journey from agnostic to believer was the wake-up call from Jesus she received in the church in Dublin. Have you ever received a spiritual wake-up call from God? A moment where Jesus Christ was revealing himself to you and calling you to believe in and follow him? Our story today is about a man who experienced just this kind of spiritual wake-up call from God. His name? Saul. We read about Saul's wake-up call in Acts chapter 9. Who was Saul? He was a Jew who had been raised in Tarsus on the coast of modern-day Turkey. He apparently came from an aristocratic family because they were Roman citizens and Saul was able to study abroad. He was trained and became skilled in Jewish theology in Jerusalem under the tutelage of a Pharisee named Gamaliel, one of the preeminent Jewish teachers of his day. Saul was intellectually bright and developed strong rhetorical skills. He advanced in Judaism beyond many of his contemporaries and was extremely zealous for maintaining the traditional beliefs and practices of the faith. We first read of Saul in the book of Acts at the stoning of Stephen, one of Jesus' early disciples. Paul is said to have approved of Stephen's murder and to have overseen the outer garments of those who threw the stones. Saul believed that followers of Jesus were totally misguided in their belief that Jesus was God's Son, God's chosen Messiah. He saw their beliefs as blasphemous and as posing a serious threat to Jewish beliefs and practices. Saul had assumed a role of detective and prosecutor to ferret out and punish Christ-followers in Jerusalem. He led a strong wave of persecution against them. Numbers of Christians were being tried for blasphemy, imprisoned, or even sentenced to death with Saul's full approval. Due to both normal migration within the Roman Empire and flight from persecution, Christianity was beginning to appear in other cities. Saul learns that Christians have surfaced in the city of Damascus northeast of Israel. We learn in Acts 9:1-2 that he requests and receives authorization and extradition papers from the high priest to travel to Damascus and arrest any Christ-followers found there. He plans to bring them as prisoners back to Jerusalem for trial. Saul is convinced that these Christians believe and are teaching error that has to be stamped out at any cost. But God has different plans for Saul. As he nears the end of his week-long journey to this large oasis city on the main trade route to Mesopotamia, about mid-day, Saul and his travelling companions encounter a blinding light from the sky. Saul falls to the ground and a voice from heaven speaks to him. Luke tells this story three times in the book of Acts. From details provided in the three different accounts, we learn than Saul's travelling companions see the light and hear sounds but only Saul understands the voice. The voice calls him by name saying, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" Saul responds, "Who are you, Lord?" "I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting," the voice replies. "But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." Within just seconds, Saul's world is turned upside down. He recognizes that the spiritual leader he has believed to be a fraud is God's true Messiah. He recognizes that in persecuting Christians he has been persecuting Jesus, God's Son. This was not the first time God had sought to get Saul's attention. In Luke's third account of Saul's encounter with the risen Lord, we are told that Jesus said, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' Acts 26:14 An ox goad is a pointed stick that's used to train and to steer an ox or cow in the direction desired by its owner. What is Jesus saying here? Surely, Saul had been hearing from the Christians he was arresting that Jesus had suffered on the cross for the sins of the world, that Jesus is the true Messiah, that he had risen from the dead after three days in the tomb. It had all sounded to him like cultish lies. Surely, Saul had seen the way in which the Christians forgave their persecutors. He had heard Stephen ask Jesus to forgive those who were killing him. He had surely heard Christians imprisoned or being executed for their faith crying out to God in prayer to have mercy upon his soul. Jesus had been attempting to get Saul's attention like an owner gets the attention of his wayward ox or cow with a goad. But rather than heeding God's direction, like a rebellious animal, Paul had been kicking against the prodding of God. Kicking against a goad was not a pleasant experience for the animal. Goads were normally applied to an animal's shoulder. But if the ox or cow kicked in response, the owner would place the goad just behind the beast's leg where it would kick right into the pointed stick. It hurt. There was a price the animal for resisting the will of its owner. Paul had been resisting God's attempts to show him that Jesus was his Son, that Jesus deserved his full surrender and obedience. In those moments on the road not too far from Damascus, Saul's stubbornness was broken. Saul was now blind and had to be led by the hand of his travelling companions into the city. Rather than head to meet with synagogue officials, Saul and his mates end up at the house of Christian named Judas. Luke tells us that Judas lived on Straight Street, a main east-west thoroughfare that still exists in Damascus today. There, we read in v. 9, Saul fasted and prayed for three days in his blindness. Toward the end of the three days, God spoke through a vision to another Christ-follower in the city. His name was Ananias. In a vision, God tells Ananias that he is to go to Judas's house on Straight Street and ask for a man named Saul of Tarsus. God tells Ananias that Saul has also been given a vision, a vision of a man named Ananias coming and placing his hands on him to restore his sight. Ananias objects strongly to God's instructions in the vision. He's heard many reports about Saul and the harm suffered at his hands by Christ-followers in Jerusalem. Ananias has even received intelligence reports through the Christian grapevine that Saul was heading to Damascus to arrest believers. But God insists that Ananias go to Saul and tell him of God's astounding plans to use Saul to proclaim Jesus as God's Messiah to Jews and Gentiles alike. Ananias obeys. By the way, those of us who've already come to faith in Christ can learn a valuable lesson from our story. Jesus often chooses to use his followers, you and me, to deliver or to assist him in the delivery of wake-up calls to people. To do so often requires faith in the face of significant risks. Judas and Ananias were no dummies. They had heard of Saul, the enforcer, and the countless Christians he had arrested and either imprisoned or executed. They knew of Saul's intentions in coming to Damascus. They were aware that the supposed blindness could be a ruse to infiltrate the Christian community and identify Christ followers. For three days Judas' surely lived with the knowledge that at any moment, Jewish authorities could storm his home and arrest him for his faith in Christ. What if Ananias' vision wasn't truly from God? They risked their lives and the lives of other believers by stepping way outside their comfort zones in response to what they believed was God's initiative in Saul's life. As modern-day Christ followers, God calls you and I to do the same, to make ourselves available to love, serve, befriend, and share the truth of Jesus with others. Ananias comes to Judas' home, places his hands upon Saul and says, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road you were traveling, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." (Acts 9:17 CSB) Do we realize the magnitude of Ananias' words? The first word that Saul hears is brother. The man who has been Christian arch-enemy number 1 is being called a brother in Christ. Can you imagine the experience of God's forgiveness that must have been Saul's when he heard that word. Fellow believers, when we respond to God in obedience, demonstrate his love, and proclaim his truth, God's power is released. Luke tells us, At once something like scales fell from his [Saul's] eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized. And after taking some food, he regained his strength. (Acts 9:18-19a CSB) Saul's life made a 180 degree turn after his spiritual wake-up call. Within a short time, he was proclaiming to others the saving power of Jesus Christ. God is still in the business of delivering spiritual wake-up calls that radically transform lives today. Putti Sok is one such changed person. Putti told her Christian college friends, "Leave me alone and quit praying for me." She described herself as a "Cambodian Buddhist girl," even though she was born in Long Beach, California and grew up in Dallas. "I figured I was Buddhist because my parents told me I was Buddhist," she said. "I thought Christianity was just a religion for North Americans." Eventually Putti came to consider herself "an evangelistic atheist," challenging others to prove that God exists. When Putti started her college education at the University of Texas in Arlington in 2008, one of her goals was to build deep relationships. She succeeded in that, but some of her new friends were Christians who were active in a student ministry. During her sophomore year, Putti says she "hit a wall." "I began to see that everything I was doing was becoming meaningless. If what I was doing didn't have eternal meaning, then it was all in vain." She began to think, "If God is real, he should be able to hear my prayers." Each night she began to pray that he would help her understand what she had been hearing from her friends because it seemed like foolishness to her. Then one day Putti entered a closet in the student ministry building that had been turned into a prayer room. Inside she found a bowl filled with pieces of paper with the names of students' friends. One after another she looked at the slips of paper. She found her own name written on one of the slips. She knew how strongly she had urged her friends not to pray for her and yet they had faithfully loved her and prayed for her anyway. She burst into tears that day in the tiny prayer room. "God was softening my heart," she says. The next night she felt that God was asking her for a specific response, so she finally prayed to receive Christ. "All of a sudden, I had a desire to go and share with people," she says. "God is real, and he has changed my heart." Like Saul, God is now using Putti to share her story of spiritual transformation in Jesus with others. She works as the Associate Director of the same campus ministry at University of Texas Arlington where she received her spiritual wake-up call from Jesus. Like Frederica, Gary, Saul, and Putti, have you experienced a spiritual wake-up call from Jesus? Like Saul, have you been ignoring Jesus' attempts to get your attention? Perhaps the wake-up call has come through the words and love of a Christian friend like Putti's experience, perhaps it's come like it did for Gary through reading God's Word, the Bible, perhaps it's come through a seemingly supernatural experience like Frederica's or Saul's. Perhaps it's come in some other manner. Whatever the medium of communication, has Jesus gained your attention? Have you acknowledged the truth that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, the only way to God? If not, perhaps he's providing you a wake-up call right now through this message. The question you must answer is this: Are you willing to respond in faith to God's wake-up call to you? Frederica, Gary, Paul, and Putti each had a choice. They chose to respond in faith to the wake-up call God sent their way. God doesn't ever force anyone to trust in Jesus. God provides the call, but we must choose whether or not to respond in faith. You say, Kent, how do I do that? You choose to admit that you need Jesus, that you're a sinner whose rebellion toward God has separated you from him and from spiritual life. You choose to believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins and that he rose from the dead three days later to prove he has the power to free you from sin's control and give you eternal life. You choose to release control of your life to Jesus, to make him your Lord. You say, Kent, I don't know if I can live up to that commitment. You're right. You can't. But if you'll turn from sin and turn toward him, Jesus will fill you with the power by which he rose from dead. By his power within, you can overcome sin's pull and hold upon you. If you're hearing a spiritual wake-up call from God right now, I invite you to pray this simple prayer with me. The words are not magical, but they can help you to respond in faith to Jesus. Say, Dear Jesus // I know I'm a sinner // and I'm separated from you. Thank you that you died on the cross // to pay the penalty for my sins. Thank you that you rose from the dead// to give me eternal life. // I give you control of my life. // Help me to follow you all my days. // Amen. If you prayed that prayer and meant it, Jesus has come to live inside you. You've taken the first step in what God desires to be a life-time spiritual journey. God never intended us to walk our spiritual journeys alone. He designed you and me to be part of a spiritual family called the church. We want to invite you to journey spiritually with us, the people called Hawkwood Baptist Church. If you prayed that prayer of faith to Jesus a few moments ago, or, if you're a Christ-follower looking for a church with which to connect, I invite you to contact us. You can do that by emailing me, Pastor Kent - the email address is hbc@hawkwood.ca. I would love to hear how you've chosen to respond to the spiritual wake-up call God has given you today. Jesus died and rose, again, so that we might experience hope. Hope that is real. Hope that is sure. Hope that is living. Let's join Edu and the worship team right now as they lead us in singing about our Living Hope, Jesus Christ. I Saw the Light 2