and Preschool
How would you describe color
to a blind person? If someone
asked us to relate something
like that to a blind person, most
of us would probably have a
hard time describing what we
see in a way that speaks to
someone who can’t see, don’t
you think? It would be hard for
us to relate to such a person.
But, you know such an exercise
might get us to appreciate what
we have in our gift of sight. Sometimes we get so caught
up in complaining about we don’t have (I wish I had
better sight or better hearing) that we forget to thank
God for what we do have (thank you for the proper use
of the senses that I do have, Lord!)
This morning we have a lesson about a man named
Saul to whom most of us probably wouldn't think we
could relate very well. You see, Saul was a Jew, and a
very good, devout Jew at that. He was a Pharisee, the
best of the best, studying under some of the most
learned Pharisees of his day. This man, Saul, followed the
Old Testament laws and regulations set up by God to a T.
He didn't miss a Sabbath, he didn't fail to keep a sacrifice.
He was a true Pharisee. But this Pharisee named Saul was
spiritually blind. For all of his knowledge and studying
and learning, Saul missed the most important part of
everything he had learned. He had missed the promises
about his Savior. In fact, not only did spiritually-blind Saul
miss his Savior in the Old Testament, he had missed his
Savior when he was on this earth. Saul, like every other
good Pharisee of his day, saw Jesus not as their Savior
but as a blasphemer whose followers needed to be done
away with. Saul and these Pharisees were spiritually
blind. They were blind to the truth that God loved them
and sent them a Savior in Jesus.
Listen to Saul’s intentions in his blindness: “But Saul,
still breathing threats and murder against the disciples
of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for
letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he
found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he
might bring them bound to Jerusalem” (Acts 9:1-2). Saul
is described as “breathing threats of murder” and
looking to “bring people bound to Jerusalem.” This was
not a pleasant person you would want to run into if you
were a Christian. Listen again to the way he describes
himself in his own words in his letter to the Galatians,
“For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I
persecuted the church of God violently and tried to
destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many
of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous
was I for the traditions of my fathers” (Galatians 1:1314). Saul was so entrenched in dragging Christians away
as prisoners that he was well-known for doing it across
the land! Ananias knew this guy too. “Lord, I have heard
from many about this man, how much evil he has done
to your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority
from the chief priests to bind all who call on your
name” (Acts 9:13-14). Many reports about him, Ananias
says! Yes, before he was the famous missionary, Saul was
a violent persecutor and well-known for it. Saul was
spiritually blind, and he could not see the truth.
Then the Lord comes to Saul. “Now as he went on his
way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light
from heaven shone around him. And falling to the
ground he heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why
are you persecuting me?’” (Acts 9:3-4). God takes away
Saul’s physical sight to reveal the problem of his spiritual
sight. Notice how pointed Jesus is with his accusation!
Jesus exposed the depth of Saul’s sin. He wasn’t just
persecuting Christians, he was persecuting God himself,
Jesus. But Saul was too spiritually blind to see it before.
He doesn’t even know Jesus because of his spiritual
blindness: “Who are you, Lord?” (Acts 9:5). Saul was
about to be given spiritual sight.
Saul’s life was changed that day. Saul saw Jesus in all
his glory. He was led to the city, he prayed for three days,
and fasted. And finally he was baptized. That changed his
life. Listen again to what God says happened. “But the
Lord said to [Ananias], ‘Go, for he is a chosen instrument
of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings
and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much
he must suffer for the sake of my name’” (Acts 9:15-16).
Jesus gave Saul spiritual sight, and led him to know, to
understand, and to see his Savior. Jesus gave Saul a life
free from blindness. Where did this life begin for Saul? It
began at baptism. “Then [Saul] rose and he was
baptized; and taking food, he was strengthened” (Acts
9:18b-19a). Saul, or better known to us as Paul, the
great Christian missionary, was baptized. That connected
him to Christ. It changed him. It created in him a new
man. It gave him spiritual sight. No longer was he a
violent man seeking to persecute Christians, blind to the
truth that he was really persecuting Jesus himself. Now
Paul was a Christian himself, God’s own child, with
Christ’s
name
on
him,
proclaiming Jesus to others in
the Gospel. What Paul never
had seen before, now he
saw—Jesus was his Savior.
This is a story that we can
relate to. Paul’s story is also
our story. You see, we too are
spiritually blind by nature.
Sure, probably none of us were
ever devout, practicing Jews,
studying the Old Testament
Scriptures under the best
Rabbi’s of the day, going
around dragging out Christians
and persecuting them. But you
know, by nature I am just as
much against Jesus as Saul
was. By nature, I cannot do
what God wants me to do. I’m
spiritually blind to God’s will.
Apart from Jesus, I don’t know him, and I can’t obey him.
In fact my sinful nature is so opposed to God that it is
capable of the worst sins imaginable. And we’re always
capable of that as long as that sinful nature still clings to
us. By nature we are violent people, hating our neighbor,
wishing we had what they had, scheming to get it by
whatever means possible, tearing each other down, and
living only for ourselves. That’s what the sinful nature is.
It’s spiritually blind. And when our sinful nature takes
over and we sin that way we aren’t just sinning against
each other, we’re sinning against God himself—against
Jesus. That same question Jesus asked Saul, the
persecutor, he could ask us as well. “Why are you
persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4)
But listen again to the grace of God to the blind Saul.
“Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my
name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of
Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for
the sake of my name” (Acts 9:15-16). Those same words
also apply to you, dear Christian. God has chosen you to
be his own. He has chosen you and made you his
instrument. He has named you as his own dear child,
washed clean in the waters of Baptism and made new by
the power of his Word. God gave us spiritual sight. He
gave us a life free from blindness. In our baptism, just like
Saul, we were changed. Our sinful nature—that old
violent, blind self that only thinks about me and is
opposed to God—that old sinful nature is drowned in
baptism. That’s what Baptism is! It’s the drowning of our
sinful natures. And that’s the power that Baptism still
has. It connects us to Christ. It connects us to his burial,
where our sinful nature was crucified with Christ and was
placed in the tomb and was
left there. And what comes up
in baptism is a new creation, a
believer, a Christian created to
serve God. Just like Jesus was
raised from the dead so you
were raised too. In baptism we
are no longer blind but are
those who have been given
spiritual sight. Like scales
falling from our spiritual eyes,
we now see our Savior clearly
through the eyes of faith, faith
created at baptism and
strengthened in God’s Word.
And now you serve God. You
serve Jesus, just like Paul
served Jesus. He was a chosen
instrument, appointed by God
himself just for the exact tasks
that God had planned out for
him to do. For Paul, that was to proclaim the gospel to
the ends of the earth as a missionary. You know, God has
chosen us to do the same. That’s what he tells us in
Matthew 28 when he commissions, “Go therefore and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing [and] … teaching
them to observe all that I have command
you” (Matthew 28:19-20a). That’s what God has
appointed us to do: proclaim the gospel. We are his
chosen instruments to give sight to those who are
spiritually blind.
This isn’t an easy task, to be God’s instruments to
proclaim his Word to those who do not yet know him. In
fact, Jesus promised that we could expect to follow in his
footsteps of suffering too. Remember, our baptisms
connect us to Christ, to his death and to his resurrection.
We are also connected to him in his suffering. Remember
how Jesus connected himself to those whom Saul had
persecuted? “Why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4).
Jesus does the same for us. When we suffer, that is the
mark of our Christianity, it is proof that we really are
Christian, that we are God’s very own children. God told
Paul the same thing through Ananias. “For I will show
him how much he must suffer for the sake of my
name” (Acts 9:15). And Paul did suffer, in many ways
just for preaching the Word. That was part of what
connected him to Christ.
Jesus promises the same for us. “If anyone would
come after me, let him deny himself and take up his
cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). That is what we can
expect as Christians, as new creations made to serve
God. But let’s not be blind about what this truth means.
We are not left without hope! God still loves us. And to
his very same believers—to us—Jesus also promises
comfort. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you,
and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy,
and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). That’s
right, Jesus’ burden is light. Yes, Jesus promises us
suffering when we are connected to him and made his
own in Baptism. But that suffering is fleeting. It only lasts
a little while here on earth, and it is not worth comparing
to the glory that is also ours because of our connection to
Christ. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, you too
will rise to live with him forever in heaven. That’s the
easy burden that is waiting for us.
That is Paul’s story. That is what he looked forward
to. “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is
gain” (Philippians 1:21). Paul could only speak those
words after being given spiritual sight. Paul always
looked forward to what was his through Baptism, won
for him by Christ. That was eternal life. That’s how his
story ended, and now he lives forever in heaven with
Jesus his Savior, no longer with any sinful nature to cling
to him, no longer with any spiritual blindness. That’s how
your story ends too. It ends with life forever in heaven
without any sinful nature to cling to you either, without
any spiritual blindness. You will live forever in heaven
with Jesus, just like Paul, and just like every saint who
ever lived. Jesus gave you a life free from blindness.
Paul’s story is your story. It began with Christ in baptism,
and it ends with Christ in heaven. Amen.