In
When Abraham asked Eliezer - his chief servant - to go to his homeland and find a wife for his son Isaac, he didn’t put a whole lot of restrictions on him. As a matter of fact, he didn’t give any restrictions at all - except to make sure that he went back to Abraham’s homeland and brought back a woman with him. If you think about it, he could have grabbed the first lady he saw - the nastiest, laziest, most pathetic and desperate woman in the land of the Chaldeans. But as a faithful servant Eliezer wanted what was best for Isaac. So he also left much in God’s hands – praying that this woman would prove to be generous, caring, and hard working by offering to water his camels. When Rebekah then came and filled the bill, Eliezer whole heartedly accepted his guidance. He did not complain about Rebekah’s nose, her legs, or her hair. He was happy with the LORD’s response.
Ananias – the man in today’s story - was to be in some respect God’s “Eliezer” when He chose Paul to be His chosen instrument. However, he didn’t give Ananias any thought or choice at all in the process. He simply told Ananias, “Saul is my man – go get him.” Ananias didn’t like that; he thought God was making a mistake; and he let God know about it. It’s an interesting text, because it reveals to us the private conversation – the miniature argument – if you would - that Ananias had with God. Today I want you to take you along with me as we examine the arguments of Ananias and the answer of God. It will reflect the awesome truth –
There’s a World of Difference Between Us and God
I. We are only human
It’s always kind of ugly to hear men trying to argue with God. Yet Ananias was not the first nor is he the last. When Job was being attacked with boils and death he argued with God. When Elijah was on the run from evil Queen Jezebel he also had some pretty strong words with God. The thing is - these were not mere puppies in the faith and neither was Ananias. Actually, Ananias was a spiritual strong man. Years later in Acts 22:12 Paul said that Ananias was a “devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there.” Luke refers to him as a disciple and Ananias himself confessed his faith in the Lord Jesus to Saul. Here we have the portrait of a man who was well schooled in the Old Testament and also a believer in Jesus Christ. He was a rare and strong commodity to the early Christian church – a man with a foundation in the Bible and a strong faith in Jesus Christ.
So why did he have a problem with
what God was asking him to do? Well,
let’s listen to his own words. “Lord,”
Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he
has done to your saints in
So what was the problem with what Ananias was saying? The world would answer that and say, “oh, I know! He was being judgmental! Who was HE to talk about Saul’s sins!” That’s NOT the answer. As a godly man – Ananias was judging Saul by what he knew to be true. In the parable of the fig tree in the vineyard, the keeper of the garden said to the owner, Luke 13:7 ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ The keeper was trained to look for fruit on the fig tree – and to judge the tree based on the fruit that came from that tree. Jesus Himself also said that a good tree produces good fruit. It was obvious by Saul’s own works that he had no right to be carrying the name of the Lord. Yet the Lord was about to make Saul an associate of Ananias – to put him on the same team. From everything that Ananias could see – Saul was the last person that would be fit for such an honor or privilege – so he opposed God’s choice. Even in Paul’s own letters after conversion he himself relayed strict guidelines as to who would be God’s own pastors. They had to have prerequisites – they had to be self controlled, one women men, reputable, not given to greed or drunkenness. These were the common fruits that Paul – by inspiration of the Holy Spirit – told the church to use in their judgments as to who they would call to be their pastors.
Should we then judge Ananias for judging Saul? If we are going to judge Ananias two thousand years later – what would we have to say against him? The problem was that he had a direct revelation and vision from God – yet He was judging the Lord’s words and actions through the eyes of man – through the vision of flesh. He only was thinking in earthly terms. Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is being sure of what we HOPE for, certain of what we DO NOT SEE. Instead of thinking of the future, Ananias was only thinking about Paul’s past. Instead of focusing on the Word and command of the Lord, Ananias was only focusing on the faults and sins of Saul.
The eyes of faith cannot look at the world this way. Everything thing that we see, everything that we look at – we do it through the eyes of faith. The birds of the air, the grass of the ground, the children, the air, life and death – we all see these things through the eyes of faith. We recognize that every hair of our head is grown by the Lord Himself. We are called on by the Lord to recognize all that we see through the eyes of faith. God calls us to recognize that everything that happens in our natural world is ruled by our Supernatural God. He tells us that He is not limited by nature. In the battle of Joshua and the Israelites He was able to overcome the dark of night by causing the sun to stand still. Therefore, Ananias should also have recognized concentrated on what He was commanded to do – not through the eyes of the flesh, but through the eyes of faith.
The difficulty that he had – and we ourselves have – is that we have eyes of flesh – that constantly judge this world through that flesh. We know how this world works and it becomes sadly predictable. We don’t expect our spouses to ever start caring – to ever look at life from our point of view because in our twenty plus years of marriage they “never have.” We don’t think we’ll every get better in regards to our temper or our tongues, because we’ve always lost our temper or never controlled our tongues. We never expect our neighbor to actually come to church because he has been rejecting every invite we’ve ever given from day one. Instead of thinking that the Lord may in fact cause a miraculous change in ourselves or our friends, we expect sinful people and a sinful world to continue on forever.
Faith means looking for a change – looking for hope – from the Lord. But we have so much trouble doing this! when Jesus calls us to task and says to us, “oh ye of little faith!”, we – like Ananias and Peter – must confess our sins. The sin is in looking at life as if it were bound to sin because it is born in sin. God have mercy on all of us for binding ourselves to such a view. We forget that the rules and principles of this world do not bind the One who created it and redeemed it. We forget the Lord is entirely different from us.
II. God is a gracious God
So how does God respond to
Ananias’ argument? Does he say to
Ananias, “oh, really? I didn’t realize
that! Thanks for the heads up! Let me think some more about this – hold a
meeting with the angels – and make sure that this is the right guy. Maybe I messed up – maybe I was thinking
about another Saul!” No, of course not. He simply said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to
carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of
May this illustrate for you a profound insight into who our LORD is and how He works – how different He is. He does not base His choice on the worthiness of the recipient. If He did, we would all be lost – for Isaiah declared in 64:6, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” If this is true, and we are all in fact filthy in God’s sight – then the reason for God’s choice of ANYONE has to be based on something outside of us. So what is it? Is it the birds, the air, the sound of the trees? Of course not – these too are under the curse of sin. The reason for the LORD’s choice then has to come from WITHIN HIMSELF. This choice of Paul illustrates for us what God is made of – what drives Him. The LORD says of Himself that he is COMPASSIONATE and GRACIOUS, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. (Exodus 34:6.) He says of Himself that He does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked. (Ezekiel 33) The Bible describes the LORD as someone who loves to cover the unrighteous and the filthy sinners in His holiness. He loves to be gracious and giving to those who have nothing. He enjoys granting heaven to those who have deserved nothing but hell. This is seen no place clearer than on the cross – when God decided to bathe His only Son in our sins and filth – in order that He could give us His Son’s righteousness and holiness. Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 8:9, “you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”
When we look at Saul through the
eyes of faith – then we can get it – then we can see what the LORD is
doing. For the LORD’s
choice has nothing to do with Saul’s past, present or future. The LORD’s choice
has everything to do with the LORD.
Grace begins and ends with the love of God in Christ. If we understand
and see the LORD in this way – we then also can understand and appreciate the
gracious power and mercy of the Lord. He
loves to work wonderful miracles through absolutely powerless and weak
things. Think of your history of the
Bible – and you will see this time and again.
What was it in Aaron’s rod that made it grow and bud almonds? This was no special piece of wood. It had been cut off from the tree – with no
roots in any ground. Yet the Lord made
it grow and bud. It was through that
same staff that the LORD had turned the
The eyes of faith learn not to focus on the power or ability of the man, wood, or whatever object that the LORD attaches Himself to – but to the LORD who promises to work through them. So the Lord tells us not to connect our faith to the piece of wood that we carry around our necks – but to the Savior that died on the piece of wood. We do not look to the sun to keep us warm, but to the LORD who gives the sun it’s power to make us warm. We do not trust in the bread to keep us healthy and fed, but to the Lord who has attached his sustenance therein. We do not trust in the bread and wine to forgive our sins, but in the Word and promise of God which says to us, “body and blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” This is what faith clings to. It is not limited to the type of bread or the degree of the sun or the element of the sacrament – but to the Word and promise which are attached therein. Faith is not limited or hindered by the brand of man that the LORD chooses. Faith simply clings to the LORD and finds it’s power and future in HIM. In his faithful and forgiving mercy, the LORD did not condemn Ananias to hell nor put him to death on the spot for questioning His judgment. No, in mercy and forgiveness, He – like with Jonah – gave Ananias a second chance – even explaining his intentions for the evil and wicked Saul. How different! God responds with mercy and patience when we would respond with anger and frustration.
III. God is a powerful God who works through mere humans
This explanation gives us a greater
picture of God – one so wonderful that it is difficult if not impossible to
comprehend. “This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles
and their kings and before the people of
Think for a moment how God’s
predictions of Saul proved true. After
Paul was baptized he went on to profess Christ throughout
If the LORD did in fact do this through Saul – a one time persecutor of the church – then think about this whole concept in the way you look at yourself, your fellow Christians, and those throughout your life. Do not cut the arms of the LORD short – based on your own past or the past of those around you. Have you been raised to believe that you’ll never amount to anything? Have you convinced yourself that you would be a terrible father? Have you in fact earned a track record of being a lousy husband or a lazy employee? Have you had a history of being short tempered? It is so easy in these situations – looking at your past – to believe that you will die the same person you are today. It’s so easy to believe you’ll always be regarded as a loser – or that you’ll always be in debt – or that you’ll never be loved. It is so easy to run away from promotions, marriage, children, and so many things because you have absolutely convinced yourself that you just can’t do it. When it comes to others around you, it’s also so easy to think that your spouse, your boss, or your children will never change.
When you think this way – take a look back at what the LORD did with Saul. It may just happen that you will be called to be a father, mother, husband, wife, preacher or teacher. These are all daunting and sometimes impossible tasks. We are not worthy or able of the calls. Yet if the LORD is still the LORD – and if the LORD did in fact forgive and change Saul from a persecutor and turn him into Paul the apostle – if the LORD could make a dead stick flourish and grow almonds - then surely the same LORD can work tremendous changes through you – yes YOU. The LORD can give you control of your anger. The LORD can give you the ability to raise children. The LORD can make you a faithful and patient spouse. If the LORD could breathe life into a dead stick, the LORD can surely change your husband or your wife or your children. It’s not a matter of how strong you are – but how gracious and powerful the LORD is. You need to look at it through the eyes of faith – because the LORD is entirely different than us – He’s much more powerful and gracious than we can imagine.
In another week or so the NFL will hold it’s annual draft of prospects from college. Before, during and after the draft all of the “experts” will tell them who they should have chosen and why they should have chosen them. Yet all of these experts will in the end have to admit that there really aren’t any “sure things.” Those who have all the stats and wonderlic tests don’t always end up like they are projected to. Only time will tell – because humans are just unpredictable critters.
As we look around this church and try to play the role of Ananias, we can conjecture all we want. We can think to ourselves, “he will be a great pastor. She would be a great teacher. He will never get married. She should never have children. He will always be an egotistical jerk!” In considering who we will invite to church, we can say to ourselves, “he would never be a good member. She will never repent.” We base our decisions on the attitudes and abilities of the people in our lives. We use our logic – and it is usually correct. We judge the trees by the fruit they produce.
Yet in all of our decisions and plottings and thinking – we cannot forget about one aspect of life that cannot be measured by man. It is the grace of God. God’s grace is not limited or based on man’s past. God’s choice has nothing to do with man’s potential. There’s a world of difference between us and God. We are limited by logic and ability. God is not. He can work through anyone and anything at any time – no matter what the statistics say. The future is in His hands – dependant on grace alone – as shown through his choice of Paul. Thank God for that – that there’s a world of difference between us and God. Amen.