Acts 9 v20-31: living in two worlds...

Acts 9 v20-31: living in two worlds...
Suddenly, Saul finds himself living in two worlds.  There is the Jewish, Pharisee world of the Synagogue, the temple, the Nation, the Law; and there is this new world of “The way, the Kingdom, the Disciples, the Gospel.”  For every Christian, the new birth marks means we have to live in these two worlds.  And how we  do that is a vital part of Christian discipleship.  It's too easy to hide ourselves away in the Christian ghetto. We need to know how to live in the world. 

The “regular” world
Although Saul knows he is one of the disciples, he also knows he needs to be in the synagogue. Types are reversed: the anti Christian polemicist is now the Christian apologist.  Wherever Saul/Paul went, he began his ministry in the synagogue.  So as he heads back to his old synagogue friends and tries to persuade them about Jesus being the Messiah, he is establishing a pattern for life. 

It is good to be among the disciples, but we also need to be present in the possibly hostile environment of the synagogue, pub, classroom... The synagogue was at that time, and to a certain extent remained, a place where Saul was with people to whom he identified, related and communicated.  It was the place where he spoke the language; it was the place where he shared a sense of nationhood, a common culture. 
Someone recently said “Jesus died to take away your sins, not your mind”... and I would want to add, and not your nationality, your culture, your identity. 

Identify  Yes, we are going to be different; we are “new creatures” in Christ, and our identity is in something more than being Scottish, fifer, dockyard, Pars supporter or Rangers supporter.  But we should be able to identify with some of the struggles, joys and fears of the people around us.

 Relate  Saul went back among his brother Jews.  Less than a week before they had been putting their heads together to get rid of the Christians.  They were family, tribe.  He loved these guys, even although now his understanding of truth had taken a giant leap forward.  We need to be among the people with whom we have natural, unforced relationships.  And among those people, whether they be family, friends,  or a rugby club, we need to share the God news of Jesus.  

Communicate   Now there may be aspects of the language of your  office or factory that you don't want to copy!   But in general we should understand the spoken and unspoken signals of the everyday word, and do our best to communicate the love of Jesus in the same spoken and unspoken ways. 

We don't all need to learn how to speak “Christianese” … I have a problem with so much of the language we use in and around Christians.  We sit on pews, listening to sermons and singing hymns, then go to the hall for fellowship;  we appoint deacons, elders, pastors.  (Many years ago someone who was told I was the “Pastor”  thought I had something to do with Italian cookery!) 

Saul's relationship, his identity, his understanding of the language, his command of the arguments, are all impressive.  The Damascus Jews are baffled by all this; for many, that led to anger and rejection.  They start plotting to kill Saul off: the hunter is now the hunted.  Even when we do make our best efforts to get alongside people, to lvoe them and communicate with them simply and clearly, we may still find ourselves rejected, criticised, and even hated. 

The Christian world. 
That's where the new, Christian world kicks in.  When his Christian brothers realise the danger Saul is in, they decide to get him out of the situation. What their plan lacked in dignity ti certainly made up for in ingenuity, and it shows just how risky life was for all of them at that time:  because the gates of the city are being watched all day, every day,  they let Saul down the city walls in a basket one night.  We need a church life where we look after one another in the context of dangerous mission.  That doesn't mean we are all desperately trying to keep each other out of the “big, bad world”. But we are aware of the dangers (too many nights in the pub; the lure of an ungodly lifestyle; the risk of crowding out any time with God) and we watch each other's backs so we are safe from the dangers. 

There is a problem in this passage: Luke tells us Saul went from Damascus to Jerusalem.  Paul tells us (Gal 1. 16ff) that he went from Damascus to Arabia, then back to Damascus and then on to Jerusalem.  Luke uses the word “made havoc”.  The only other time that word is used in the NT is in Galatians 1, so we can presume  Luke got his information from Paul: but they didn't see the problem with their narratives which suggests there's a simple answer.  The first thing to say is that “Arabia” isn't Saudi Arabia as we know it today but the desert areas wrapped around Israel on its western and southern sides (Arabia Petraea) where Saul could easily have gone for a short time. When Luke says Saul was in Damascus for “many days”  we should not  assume this means a “countable” number of days. When Paul says he was in Damascus for three years, he probably used counted“inclusive reckoning” that each year or part of a year as “one year”. 

What was Saul doing in Jerusalem?  Did he want or need the approval of the Apostles?  I don't think so.  He wanted to have fellowship with other believers.  He wasn't looking for credentials or recognition.  He  was looking fro brothers and belonging. What are we looking for from the  church?  If we are looking for credentials, for validation, for the opportunity to be someone important, we are looking for the wrong thing. We should be looking for brothers and belonging.

What happened next was really, really embarrassing. Saul had been a believer for a couple of years... from the perspective of the Jerusalem Church, he had simply disappeared off the map.   It should never have happened! Wouldn't you have been a bit embarrassed a few years later, when reports came back of Saul traveling the worlds to preach the Good News, to remember "I didn't even believe he was born again!" We need to learn how to be brothers and sisters to one another; to develop a culture of welcome and inclusion. It's right that we protect ourselves form those who want to harm the work of God.  But more harm is done by self-seeking exclusivity than by risk-taking inclusivism. 

It was Barnabas, the Son of Encouragement, who recognised the truth of Saul's conversion story; the reality of his call to preach the Gospel, and the significance and potential of his gifts, and not only encouraged the ordinary believers to accept him, but got him an introduction to Peter and James.

So, what sort of world is this “Christian world” that we also live in?  Its atmosphere is grace. Its bedrock is the truth of who Jesus is. Its life source is the Holy Spirit of God.  It's a world where we find brothers and belonging; it's a world where we look out for one another; where we welcome one another. It's a kaleidoscope world where we value difference; it's a world of growth where new life is celebrated and where gifts are released so we all fulfill our God-given potential.  Maybe our local Church be such a world, a place where the Kingdom, the reign of God, is experienced.

© Gilmour Lilly September  2013