Paul the Disciple Acts 9:1-9
You’ve heard me talk of Peter many times. This week it occurred to me that I never did a study on Paul. Paul wrote over half of the New Testament so it’s safe to say God directed him and trusted him to deliver a vast amount of information to the world. This information is given in his writings but also in how his life played out.
“But the Lord said to Ananais, ‘Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer in my name.’” (Acts 9:15-16)
People throughout history have been called by God to reach his people. Some go to the African bush; some go into mostly Muslim countries; many give up all the comforts of home and some give up their lives trying to reach others for Christ. For those who say Jesus is a myth I counter with a myth doesn’t change a man or woman’s heart to give up everything including their life to share it. Only God can do that.
Back to Paul. Paul’s heart was stone cold, He was stained by his sin. His eyes were blinded to the Lord. Yet his encounter with Jesus brought him healing. People very often come to Jesus in similar circumstances; wounded, hurt, damaged and in desperate need of his presence and healing.
1 Timothy 14-15, “The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly…Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst.” Paul, the worst sinner, healed and glorified in Christ and used by God. Each of us who believe are sinners, healed and glorified in Christ, called by God to be used for his purpose.
Great, isn’t it? God’s with me! I’m going to do his work! Don’t forget what we read in Acts 9:16, “I will show him how much he must suffer in my name.” Being chosen to introduce Christ to others doesn’t mean life will be rosy, that we’ll have a bully pulpit, that every word will be received as gospel. In 2 Corinthians Paul gives us a short list of what he endures for God including lashings, stoning, shipwrecks, and imprisonment. We may not suffer these things, but we may suffer loss of friends or estrangement from family. I don’t believe God took our son Jared to cause our suffering, but he allowed our suffering so now we can give real understanding when we talk to other parents going through the loss of a child.
People suffer many pains and losses, keeping God in our life, allowing Jesus into our broken lives, keeping in faith during the worst of our troubles; this shows others the power of God.
Paul’s life shows us that as Christians we will suffer life’s pain but as you read his epistles, you’ll find he weaves opposites together in Christ. Philippians 1:18, “But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way…Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice.”
Jesus came and suffered the greatest of suffering because of the joy from reconciling God’s children with their Father in heaven. Hebrews 12:2 “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross…” In his writings Paul explains the strength in his life, the strength in ours; if Jesus our Lord endured the cross because of the joy at the other end of it, we can walk into and through the difficulties of life because of the joy we know is ours in heaven. 1 Peter 4:13, “But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.”
Paul’s life shows us how to be good disciples of Christ. Acts 17:2, “As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue…explaining and proving the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead.” As disciples it should be our custom to bring Jesus with us wherever we go. It should be our custom to openly give him thanks, to ask his help, and to make others aware of our faith in him.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Be imitators of me as I am of Christ.” We should imitate Christ, interact with others in love, aide others with no expectations, comfort others with no thought to who they may be, give our all for someone in need for no reason other than to honor them and to honor God.
Like Paul we should make connections. He didn’t travel alone, he always had others with him to help and give support. Being a disciple of Christ means we need to involve ourselves with other believers. In this way we profit from prayer and from spiritual support. We can have comfort when we are hurting. We can see joy in our life as we worship God in fellowship and community.
Paul shows us that being a disciple means we don’t move on from someone once they say they believe in Christ. On our recent trip to Utica, I was getting gas when the man filling his car next to me said “Happy Easter, do you know our Lord?” I said, “Yes, I have strong faith and am your brother in Christ.” He responded “Good” and turned away more than likely to look for someone he could convert.
This is not how we should respond to another Christian, or anyone else. We are called to really care about others. Care about their eternal place in heaven, absolutely, but care about them, all of them, their entire life. Paul demonstrates this in his relationship with Timothy.
Paul offers Timothy advice on how to share the Gospel; 1 Timothy 2:1, “I urge…that petitions, prayers and intercessions be made for all people,” In essence, don’t let your notions and prejudices keep you from doing God’s work with all people. 1 Timothy 4:12, “…set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.’ In other words, let your words and actions show God’s love for you and your love for him. But Paul was not interested just in Timothy’s ministry, 1 Timothy 5:23, “Stop drinking only water and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.” Paul was interested enough to notice Timothy’s illnesses, to notice Timothy’s whole life. Paul was invested enough through Christ to be concerned and to demonstrate this concern in a meaningful way.
We should be interested in others beyond their acceptance of Christ. We need to notice all their life, their triumphs, and tragedies and to do more than offer them lip service. James 2:14, “What good is it if someone claims to have faith but no deeds.”
Jesus cared about our physicality. He healed lepers, the blind and the crippled. We should care about other’s struggles in life too. Several weeks ago, as Jen and I were leaving church a man stopped us outside and asked for a ride to Price Chopper. We were going in the opposite direction; we didn’t know this person; but here was one of God’s children standing in front of us asking for help. What would it say about us if we told him no, we can’t help? We put fear aside, we put inconvenience aside and we did the work of Christ, we drove him to the store. Discipleship must be meshed into all areas of our lives and it has to dictate all our actions.
Paul’s writings show us that as disciples and followers of Christ we must be a forgiving people. Paul, a recipient of Christ’s all-encompassing forgiveness never shies from telling others how important it is for us to forgive others. Ephesians 4:32, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other as in Christ God forgave you.” Colossians 3:13, “Bear with each other and forgive one another…”
God forgave us a lifetime of sins including sins we don’t even know we committed. Can we now turn our backs on others, or should we emulate Christ and forgive? When a believer withholds forgiveness, they deny the debt Christ has forgiven them. They stray far afield from the example of Christ.
Paul wrote more than half of our New Testament. So much of his writings are included by the Holy Spirit because they are rich in teachings and information, teachings and information on Christ, on the church and on the entirety of discipleship.
Paul shows us that as Christians we will suffer all of life’s pains. Faith in the midst of our suffering is a strong faith and a faith that radiates to others. Paul teaches us that the joy of knowing Christ transcends what we go through in life. Paul teaches us that to be a true and total disciple of Jesus, we need to make sure our words and our deeds demonstrate God in us and us in Christ. Paul’s life demonstrates that we should be involved and concerned for all of a person, body, mind and soul.
And Paul teaches us that forgiveness should be at the core of our being. As God forgives us, we should forgive others. I will tell you forgiveness is not trust; forgiveness is not forgetting. Forgiveness is letting go of the pain. Trust is earned, forgiveness is given. God’s forgiveness came hard, it came through the cross. I’m not saying forgiveness is always easy, but it’s always Christian.
Amen.