The Compassion of Ananias

Acts 9: 10-16

10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; 16 I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”

Saul was blinded by the light of heaven and was waiting for Christ’s plan to unfold  in Damascus, fasting and praying while he waited. Meanwhile, also in Damascus, Ananias, a follower of Christ, received a vision in which Christ asked Ananias to help Saul.

Ananias did not want to do this because he had heard how much harm Saul had done to those who believed and thought that Saul may be setting a trap.  Christ insisted that Ananias overcome his fear and anger and understand that God was about to use Saul for His purposes.

Ananias considered Saul an enemy of the faith and Christ asked Ananias to show him kindness, love, and compassion.

In the end, the Christian church owes as much to Ananias as it does to Saul (Paul).   

From the compassion of Ananias, the Apostle Paul arose. 

May the love of Christ be with you

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Reach of Christ

Acts 9: 1-9

“1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” 7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.”

Saul was an educated man, a Pharisee who thought he knew God’s will.  Saul thought he was on the right path but he was spiritually lost and he did not know it.  He thought he was working in the name of God but was actually working against God’s plan for the redemption of the world.

Saul did not know the voice of the Shepherd and was not yet one of His flock.  But Jesus had plans for Saul.

God can convert even the hardest of hearts.  

No one is beyond the reach of His love.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Humility

Acts 8:26-31

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. 31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

God led Philip away from his thriving ministry in Samaria to a lonely wilderness road so that he could share the gospel with a lonely Ethiopian eunuch.  The eunuch, the Treasurer to the Ethiopian Queen, had gone to Jerusalem to worship and maybe to seek answers to questions that he had about scripture.

The eunuch was reading from the Book of Isaiah as Philip, at the urging of the Holy Spirit, approached him.  He saw that the eunuch did not understand what he was reading and the eunuch invited Philip into his chariot to sit with him and explain the scripture.

As we read the Bible, we will discover passages that we do not understand.  The first step in understanding is to admit to ourselves that we do not understand.  The second step is to invite someone who is knowledgeable to explain its meaning.  These two steps are acts of humility.  

All spiritual things should be approached in a spirit of humility.  

It is only through humility that we grow in our relationship with God.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Faith and Forgiveness

Acts 6: 8, 12, 7:58, 8:1

“6:8 Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.12 They (the Jews in the Temple) stirred up the people as well as the elders and the scribes; then they suddenly confronted him, seized him, and brought him before the council.  7:58 Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. 8:1 And Saul approved of their killing him.”

Stephen, a man full of grace, died a terrible death by stoning.  The future Apostle, Saul, who was not yet a believer, stood by as the crowd stoned him.  And he approved of their action.  

Saul, or Paul as they called him later, was used in a powerful way by God in the spreading of the gospel across the ancient world after he came to faith.  Because of God’s forgiveness, Saul was able to put away his past as a persecutor of Christians, and allow the Holy Spirit to work within him so that he could accomplish the things that God was asking him to do.  

In Philippians 3:13-14, Paul wrote: “ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Let us all move forward in the faith and in the forgiveness that God has given us.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Opposing God

Acts 5: 33-34, 38-39a

“33 When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. 34 But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, stood up and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time...38 “So in the present case, I [Gamaliel] tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them—in that case you may even be found fighting against God!”

The Disciples survived this encounter with the Sanhedrin but ultimately all the Disciples met untimely deaths, with the exception of John. Yet the faith survived.   No matter what the world threw at it, no matter how bad the persecution, more people came into the faith.

Gamaliel was right.  In the work of the Disciples, God was moving and at work, and nothing the world threw at it could prevent its spread.

God is still present in this world and working.  His Spirit goes where He wills, introducing us to new ways of worship, new church models and new church members.

Like most new things, not everyone is happy with them.  But in all of these things, let’s remember the words of Gamaliel.  If any of these things are of human origin, they will fail, but if they are of God then they will prosper and if we fight and strive against them, we are actually opposing God. 

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Choices

Acts 5:27-32

“27 When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than any human authority. 30 The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

The authorities on the council, Sadducees and Pharisees, thought they knew every aspect of God and viewed the Disciples as heretics, but the Disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit of the God the Sadducees and Pharisees supposedly knew and worshiped. The authorities who thought they had God figured out, refused to acknowledge that God was moving in a new direction.

The Disciples were confronted with a choice; stop preaching the gospel in Jesus’ name or face imprisonment or worse. They chose to obey God rather than an oppressive human authority who chose not to understand the gospel of Christ even though the Disciples offered it freely.

Each day Christians are confronted with similar choices.  Do we choose to believe the gospel of Christ or the gospel of materialism, anger and hate?  Do we choose to obey the God of love or the god of the world?

The choice is ours.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Shadow of Peter

Acts 5: 12-15, 17-18

“12 The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.17 Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18 They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.”

Crowds gathered so that the shadow of Peter might fall on them.  And the High priest and the Sadducees were jealous.  So jealous that they arrested the apostles and put them in jail.  

Jealousy is a kind of envy that is directed toward another person or persons when they are getting the things, the attention, the admiration, and the affection that you wish you had.  The Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 5:19 that “ the works of the flesh are plain: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy,”

When we are jealous of others we are not being led by the Spirit of God, we are being led by the world.  The world tells us to put ourselves first, to expect to receive the love and attention of others, to expect to receive the material things.  And when someone else receives these things, we do not rejoice.  We are not happy.  We are jealous.

When we are led by the Spirit we are led by love and we rejoice in the spiritual successes of others.  

The shadow of Peter healed many who were sick.

And the people rejoiced and believed.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)