No Small Parts - Ananias of Damascus
December 20, 2020 Sunday Evening Study

I want to read the lyrics to a song by a Christian recording artist that you may have heard of. This is a man who recorded 25 albums during the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s, and has been covered by such artists as Petra, Pat Boone, Sandi Patty, Amy Grant, and even Placido Domingo. He has worked with Promise Keepers and Campus Crusade. His name is Scott Wesley Brown, and this song is off of his 1988 album titled “To The Ends Of The Earth.”

Oh Lord I am your willing servant, You know that I have been for years
I'm here in this pew every Sunday and Wednesday, I've stained it with many a tear
I've given You years of my service, I've always given my best
And I've never asked you for anything much, So, Lord I deserve this request

Please don't send me to Africa, I don't think I've got what it takes
I'm just a man, I'm not a Tarzan, Don't like lions, gorillas or snakes
I'll serve you here in suburbia, In my comfortable middle class life
But please don't send me out into the bush Where the natives are restless at night

I'll see that the money is gathered, I'll see that the money is sent
I'll wash and stack the communion cups, I'll tithe eleven percent
I'll volunteer for the nursery, I'll go on the youth group retreat
I'll usher, I'll deacon, I'll go door to door, Just let me keep warming this seat

Please don't send me to Africa, I don't think I've got what it takes
I'm just a man, I'm not a Tarzan, Don't like lions, gorillas or snakes
I'll serve you here in suburbia, In my comfortable middle class life
But please don't send me out into the bush Where the natives are restless at night

I will tell you the truth of that song in my life. I heard this song when I was in Jr. High and Scott came to our church and performed for our Sunday night service. I will tell you that I only ever heard that song one single time - live - and it has popped into my head at key moments a dozen times in my life. In fact, in studying for this lesson, this is the first time I have ever even seen the lyrics - I only ever remembered parts of the chorus. 

There was a real and measurable truth to these words on both occasions where I was stepping into ministry as part, or as all of my career. When we were looking for a place to serve as Senior Pastor, I would look at the cities around the country that needed pastors and the “Please don’t send me to Africa” would rattle around in my head. I will admit - I thought of that song more than once when looking at Bevier - especially after Brother Scott told me he called this place Si-bevier-ia…

Please open your Bibles to Acts 9:10-19. For most of us, we spend our lives as Christians in relative comfort, at least in our country. But sometimes, God calls on us to do something outside of our comfort zone - sometimes things that evoke very real fear in us, and we are going to read the story of a guy here who despite his years in the pew - so to speak - got sent to Africa.

In this story, Saul of Tarsus - Paul to you and I - was on his way to Damascus during his tour of holy terror against the Christian church when God appears, calls him out, makes him blind, and causes him to wander and not eat for three days. Read Passage.

Here in Damascus is a man - a disciple - named Ananias. Obviously he has no connection with the Ananias of Acts 5 who drops dead after holding back his possessions from the church community. We don’t get a lot about this man - his background, the duration or the beginning of his faith. Did he follow Jesus specifically, or was he a later convert? All we know is that he lived in Damascus, and God had a divine appointment for him.

Ananias receives a vision where he is told exactly where to go, exactly who to see, and exactly what to do. There is no ambiguity here - the directions are clear. He is even told that the man he is to see is receiving a vision like this one, so he knows exactly who is coming to him and what he will do.

This is cut and dry - simple. There’s no complication here. Except….Ananias has heard of Saul of Tarsus, and is not overly inclined to go and lay hands on the man famous for murdering Christians. He is just a man - he’s not a Tarzan!

Let’s not lose sight of the fact that we have no Peter and John here as we did in chapter 8. No apostles were sent scurrying from Jerusalem to connect a future apostle with their succession from the Lord. In fact, no apostle would have greater impact for Christ in the Mediterranean world over the next few years than this blind and broken Pharisee. Still, he never formed any serious bond with the Jerusalem church. God is not in the business of religious ritual and ecclesiastical ceremony; he focuses on regeneration and sanctification - the conditions of the heart. Sanctification is more than just being cleansed of unrighteousness - it means a setting apart for the purposes of God, precisely what happened in this passage.

Ananias wasted no time in expressing reluctance. Saul’s reputation had preceded him to the Christians in Damascus; they even knew his mission. I don’t believe that there is a rebuke or critique of Ananias by Luke or by Jesus in this passage. This normal human response seems no more negative than that expressed by the Jerusalem church later in the chapter. Ananias did not say (like Jonah) that he wouldn’t go, simply that he had a few reservations about his safety in answering this call.

Notice another fascinating development here. Whereas Saul, the unbeliever, was absolutely shocked to hear even a few words from the mouth of Jesus on the road to Damascus, Ananias seems to enter comfortably into conversation as though he were speaking to a member of his family. We can assume that in the vision he actually saw Jesus, and the dialog, though brief, took place in great reality. This shows us more about Ananias’ character than maybe anything else - he has a familiarity with Jesus that shows in his very demeanor.

Verse 15 holds the key to the chapter, for it identifies not only the fact of God’s call but its intended purpose. One could argue that in one verse Luke has laid the foundation for everything he will tell us in the remaining chapters of this book. “This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.” Some may think that Paul later deviated from the plan of proclaiming salvation in Jesus only to Jews when he dashed out on a mission to the Gentiles. We see here in Acts 9:15 that God himself changed the church’s strategy of evangelism, and that a humble Christian by the name of Ananias knew it before Paul had the slightest inkling of what lay ahead in his life.

Ever the obedient servant, Ananias not only went to the house on Straight Street, but he also acknowledged Saul’s conversion by addressing him as Brother Saul. His message was brief but contained all that would spur Saul on to his new ministry:

•     Jesus appeared to you on the road.
•     Jesus sent me here.
•     Jesus will give your sight back.
•     Jesus will fill you with the Holy Spirit.

After entering the city, Saul had seen a vision, and so had Ananias. The experience out on the road was no vision, but a direct and personal encounter with Jesus. Paul based his apostleship on the fact that he had seen and talked with the Lord (1 Cor. 9:1; 15:8). As Ananias spoke one sentence, flaky scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he received believer’s baptism in the manner of all who have come to the Lord in Acts. Thereby he identified with all the Christians in Jerusalem, Samaria, Damascus, Ethiopia, and wherever else the gospel had gone. Only after his baptism did he break his fast and get back his strength. Somewhere in these few minutes (or perhaps even seconds), God filled Saul of Tarsus with the Holy Spirit, as had become the normal  experience at the time of regeneration.

Anyone who has ever been a teacher has likely experienced a scenario like this one. I used to teach drum lessons, and one of my students from over 20 years ago is now a member of a Christian band with several gold records, and he is a far better drummer than I could ever hope to be if I played nonstop for the rest of my life. I used to tell my students that I only had 2 rules - they had to use what they learned to worship God, and they weren’t allowed to be better than me at drums.

I can say that there is a special pride in knowing you contributed to greatness - it means that I communicated greatness, even if I was just the messenger through which God blessed the life of my student. Ananias has this experience which, all things considered, was probably very much like any other conversions in which he played a part, except for the visions. But here, Ananias is there for what is essentially the birth of a great apostle - a man who would change the world for God more than just about anyone else throughout history.

It is true - I do not want to go to Africa. I, like Scott Wesley Brown, am happy to serve in suburbia, and would likely be terrified at the prospect of putting myself in harm’s way for the purpose of God’s call. And chances are, I probably won’t get called to Africa. However, every day I am given the chance to put faith in Him to provide for me or protect me, and sometimes even the small things get treated like Africa. To those who are faithful in the small things He gives the opportunity to be faithful in greatness. Ananias was faithful, and he baptized Paul the Apostle, thereby changing the world forever. Let’s pray.