Being Ananias

The message given in the Sunday night service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on August 21, 2022.  The Bible verses used are Acts 9:1-20.

            The conversion of Saul is one of the most awesome stories in the Bible.  Saul of Tarses was one of the most prominent persecutors of Christians ever.  He was good at it.  I mean, really good.  And he enjoyed it.  He loved it.  He thought his purpose in life was to persecute Christians.  He was so dedicated to persecuting Christians that he actually went to the high priest to get permission to go to Damascus and arrest any Christians he could find and take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

            On the way, of course, Saul met Jesus.  He was blinded by the light of the Lord.  Eventually Saul’s sight was restored, he was baptized, and he immediately began to preach that Jesus is the Son of God.

            It’s a remarkable story.  But you know who gets overlooked in this story?  Ananias.  The man who restored Saul’s sight.  Did you even know his name, before we read the story tonight?  Maybe you did, I don’t know.  In all honesty, I’m not sure I’d have remembered his name.  But he plays a pivotal role in the story of Saul’s conversion.

            The only place the name Ananias appears in the Bible is in the book of acts.  Oddly enough, Acts also references two other Ananiases.  One is in Acts Five, where an Ananias and his wife Sapphira lie to Peter about the sale price of some land and are struck down.  The other is in Acts Twenty-three and Twenty-four, where Ananias is the name of the high priest.  But the Ananias we’re talking about tonight is in the Bible only in Acts Nine.  Well, Paul references him in Acts Twenty-two, when he’s re-telling the story of his conversion.  But our Ananias is in the Bible for only one thing:  restoring sight to Saul.

            We don’t know much about Ananias.  He obviously lived in Damascus.  He was a disciple of Jesus Christ.  In Acts Twenty-two, Paul tells us that Ananias was “a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there.”  

But that’s really all we’re told about him.  We assume he did not hold any religious office.  If he had been a priest or part of the ruling council or something, we presumably would’ve been told that.

As it seems like happens so often in these Bible stories, Ananias is having just an ordinary day.  He’s doing whatever he did all day–we’re not told what Ananias did for a living, but presumably whatever it was, he was doing it.  And all of a sudden, he had a vision.  The Lord was speaking to him.

Think about what that would be like.  You’re going about your day.  You’re doing the things you do.  And all of a sudden you get this vision, and the Lord is speaking to you.  To you.

How would you react?  Would you freak out?  Would you think you were hallucinating?  I mean, even if you could accept that it really was the Lord, it would still be quite a deal, right?  Would you be scared?  Would you wonder, why me?  I mean, really think about it.  What would it be like, to all of a sudden, out of the blue, have this vision of the Lord, speaking to you?

Well, the way this is written, Ananias pretty much took it in stride.  He has no doubt that this is the Lord speaking to him, and he does not hesitate.  Ananias simply answers, “Yes, Lord.”

The Lord tells him to go where Saul is and restore his sight.  And that’s where Ananias objects.  We don’t know what was behind his objection–whether he was scared, whether he simply could not believe God was telling him to go help this man who had been persecuting Christians, or what.  But Ananias objects.  He says, hey, God, I heard about this guy.  I know who he is.  He’s the sworn enemy of Christians.  You really want me to go to him?  You really want me to help him?

And of course, God says yes.  I want you to go to him and help him.  God says, “This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.”

            We’re not told what Ananias thought about that.  I would have to think he wondered about it, at least a little.  But regardless, he did what the Lord told him to do.  He went to Saul, restored his sight–with the Lord’s power, of course–and Saul began to preach that Jesus is the Son of God.

            So why am I going through all this?  Why am I talking so much about Ananias, this guy who most people don’t even remember?  This guy who did this one thing, and then was never heard from again?

            Well, I think a lot of us are kind of like Ananias, in a some ways.  We’re followers of the Lord, or at least we try to be.  I don’t know if any of us would call ourselves “devout”, but we would say we’re doing the best we can.  

            And for the most part, we do it quietly.  Maybe people know we’re Christians–I certainly hope they do–but we don’t make a big deal of our faith.  We just do what we do, trying to do what’s right.

            And we wonder, sometimes, if what we do makes any difference.  We wonder if anybody notices what we do, and if they did notice whether anyone would care.  Not that we’re doing it for applause or anything.  It’s just that, well, we’d like to know that somehow, what we do matters.  We’d like to know that, in some way, something is made better because of us.  

            We’d like to know that, but most of the time, we don’t.  And so, all we can do is just keep going.  Just keep going, just keep trying, just keep doing our best.  And trust that, somehow, in some way, God is going to use what we do for something, even if we don’t know when or how.

            We’re not told this, but I suspect that’s how Ananias felt, sometimes.  He was trying his best to follow God, to observe the law, to do what he was supposed to do.  And he wondered if anyone noticed or cared.  He wondered if his life was making any difference at all.

And then, all of a sudden, his chance came.  He got a vision from the Lord, and he was told this one thing to do.  It was not a hard thing, although it may have been a little scary because of who Saul was.  All he did was place his hands on Saul and say a few words.  But what he did was an important part of the conversion of Saul.  It was one of the things that led to Saul eventually becoming known as Paul, the first and maybe still the greatest Christian evangelist ever.  This little thing that Ananias did played a part in changing the world.

            We don’t know what happened to Ananias after that.  We never hear from him again.  Did he know that what he’d done would be remembered forever?  Probably not.  He probably just went back to whatever his job was and kept living the life he’d been living.  Maybe, years later, if he lived long enough, he heard about what Saul, now known as Paul, was doing, and was pleased that he’d had some small part in his conversion.  Or maybe not.  But the chances are that Ananias’ life did not particularly change because of this.

            And so we think, well, this is all well and good, but how does it apply to me?  I have not gotten a vision from the Lord.  I’m not likely to ever get a vision from the Lord.  I mean, good for Ananias and all, but what’s it got to do with my life?

            And we’re probably right.  We probably will never get a vision from the Lord.  I mean, you never know–Ananias probably never thought he’d get a vision from the Lord, either, until it happened.  So it’s always possible.

            But even if we don’t, this should still give us confidence that we make a difference.  Because after all, what did Ananias do?  Hardly anything.  Put his hands on someone.  Say a few words.  Anybody could’ve done that.  And yet, look at the difference that this little thing made in the history of the world.

            Anybody could’ve done what Ananias did–but he actually did it.  And that’s the point.  The things we do might seem like little things.  We might think, well, anybody could do what I do.  And that may be true.  Anybody could–but somebody actually has to.  Somebody has to be the one who actually does it.  And it’s up to each of us to be that somebody.  That somebody who does the little things.  The somebody who does things that anybody could do, but that somebody has to be the one who actually does them.  You and I need to be that somebody.

            The little things we do, do make a difference.  We may never see the difference.  We may never know that they made any difference at all.  But they do.  And sometimes, those little things we do make all the difference in the world.

            So keep going.  Keep doing the best you can.  Stay faithful to God.  Serve God.  Show love to God.  Show love to others.  Do the little things that need to be done.  They do make a difference.  And who knows?  If God so wills, they may change the world.