Recently, a church member asked me if there were any humorous stories in the Bible. I appreciated his question because there is more humor in the Bible than we might imagine.
Sometimes the humor is lost in translation since the Bible was written in Hebrew and Greek, and humor in one language might not translate well into another. But if you look underneath the surface, you will find plenty of inside jokes, playful use of words, comical situations, and some sarcastic references here and there.
Our scripture reading this morning from the Book of Acts is one of those humorous stories. Of course, for anything to be funny, there needs to be some context to set up the punch lines.
Our Acts scripture reading is about two of the most unlikely people becoming friends, Saul and Ananias.
Ananias was a follower of Jesus and Saul was a religious extremist who wanted to kill followers of Jesus. Yeah, these two people became friends.
Usually when people are looking to make new friends, they gravitate toward people who aren’t trying to kill them, at least that’s been my experience. That’s what makes this story feel a little bit like a TV sit-com.
The humor in this story is set up in verse 1 of our scripture reading. It says, “Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murders against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.”
Now, what Ananias doesn’t know is that while Saul was on his way to persecute Christians, he had a “come to Jesus meeting,” and I mean that literally. As Saul is breathing threats against Christians, this is when this religious extremist, this terrorist encounters the Risen Christ.
He is knocked down by a heavenly light and a voice from heaven which is Jesus, tells him that he is the one he has been persecuting all this time.
I know that there are many different ways that people become followers of Jesus. For Saul, it was what is known as the 2 x 4 approach. Knocked to the ground, Saul finally sees the light, as they say.
What a dramatic conversion story! Saul, now blinded by that light has to be guided into Damascus, the place where he was heading to round up Christians to take them back to Jerusalem.
And then the story shifts to Ananias, who we don’t know anything about except that he was a follower of Jesus and was in Damascus at that time. Ananias receives a vision from God telling him to go to a particular house to lay hands on Saul to restore his sight.
Now, don’t you think it would have been helpful if the Lord would have also mentioned to Ananias that this ruthless religious extremist just had this conversion experience? I think that might have been helpful I nformation.
Which leads Ananias to respond to the Lord and I’ll fill in the blanks a little bit to flesh out this story, “Uh, Ok, Lord, but just want to remind you in case you haven’t noticed, that this guy wants to kill us.”
The Lord fully aware of who Saul is tells Ananias that he’s now a changed man so everything will be alright.
So Ananias goes to the house where Saul is staying probably still wondering if he will leave that house alive. And the first words out of Ananias’s mouth when he greets this murderous man is, “Brother Saul.” And just like that, they are instant friends.
[Saul & Ananias Painting by Ciro Ferri, 1660]
Saul, whose name will later get changed to Paul is who we end up remembering the most of these two people. But without Ananias’s willingness to trust the Lord and accept Saul as a brother in the Lord, Saul wouldn’t have been able to start his ministry which led to the gospel being shared throughout the world.
There are really two miracles in this story; Saul’s dramatic conversion and Ananias who was willing to say to this recently converted terrorist, “Brother Saul.”
I’ve grown up in the church all my life, and I continue to find it fascinating that God is able to bring such a diverse group of people together where we become a family. We truly are the church together!
What is it about the church that often leads to this sense of belonging and community where we are brothers and sisters? I think humility is a big part of what brings us together. Saul was humbled when he was on his way to Damascus and encountered the Risen Christ. Ananias was humbled when he was reminded that people can change, even people like Saul who was seeking to do harm.
Humility is what reminds us that we are all in need of God’s grace. We all have our share of flaws and brokenness. Thank God that we don’t have to pretend that we have our act together.
The church is that place where broken people can come together in humility, and be there for each other. It’s that place where it’s not uncommon for someone to say something like, “I know you don’t know me very well, but when you offered that special music last Sunday, that song was just what I needed to hear. It helped me to get through the week.”
Or “thank you for that prayer shawl you gave me. I keep it right next to me and it reminds me that I’m not alone.”
Or “I don’t know what I would have done without the support of my small group when I found out I lost my job.”
I went to see a church member in the hospital one day. A group of people in the church who knew I was going had all signed a get well card for me to give to him. There were probably 20 people who had signed that card and included brief words of support next to their names.
This church member was in ICU with all kinds of tubes attached to him. I gave him this card with all of those signatures. He opened it and a big smile came to his face. Because he was so weak, he could only whisper to me, “thank you. This means a lot.”
After I chatted a bit with him, I offered a prayer. As I started to walk out the door, I looked back at him there in the bed and noticed that he was now clutching that card against his chest.
The church really is that special place where even when we are separated by distance, we are brothers and sisters in Christ, supporting, encouraging, and praying for each other.
In her book, Traveling Mercies, Anne Lamott shares how the church has been a family for her just when she needed it the most.
Struggling with alcoholism, an eating disorder, and trying to pay bills, Anne lived in a tiny cabin on a houseboat outside San Francisco. One day as she was walking to a flea market, she could hear singing coming from a nearby little church. She wandered in and ended up staying for the singing but then left when the sermon started.
But she found herself coming back to that little church each week, lingering a little longer each time. The quiet acceptance of those church members helped Anne kick her addictions for good and finally accept the helping hand of Jesus in her life. Sometimes people just need a little space and a little time.
Several years ago, the church I was serving was in need of an Associate Pastor. My District Superintendent called me to say that he had someone in mind for our church. He set up an introductory lunch meeting with the three of us to see if this would be a good match.
These meetings are kind of like blind dates. I didn’t know this pastor at all. We had never met. Turned out that we were about the same age and shared a similar approach to ministry. He also had the particular gifts that our church was seeking in an associate pastor. We also found out that we kind of had the same sense of humor which is kind of scary.
We ended up serving together in that church for the next five or so years. Our families ended up becoming really close since our children were about the same age. Our families even went to England together. I would end up officiating at the wedding of one of his daughters and he officiated at the wedding for our daughter.
Mark and I continue to meet up with each other at an annual sermon planning retreat. We’ve been doing this the past twelve years. People refer to us as brothers. And that’s true because even though we are serving churches that are hours apart, we know that we can always call each other at any time.
We became brothers in Christ through this community called the church.
Noted preacher, Fred Craddock tells of being stuck in a Canadian snowstorm, in a bus station café. The weather was freezing and the wind bitter; travelers would call out, “close the door!” every time another stranger straggled in. The watered-down soup in that café tasted horrible, but both the soup and the room provided needed warmth.
When the manager tried to turn away a woman unable to purchase some soup, all of the customers got up to leave with her in protest. The manager relented and let her remain, not waiting to lose all his customers.
Fred said that as he sat there at his table reflecting on what everyone was willing to do for that one person, he recognized a new flavor to that tasteless soup. He said it was something familiar. “I don’t know what was in it, but I do recall when I was eating it, it now tasted a little bit like bread and wine. Just a little bit like bread and wine.”
When the Risen Christ appeared before Saul on that road to Damascus, thanks to Ananias he became part of the community of people he had been seeking to destroy. These two unlikely people became brothers in Christ.
Whenever we gather around the table to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion, we gather as brothers and sisters in Christ. We gather as a community of people who not only receive God’s grace, but who also share that grace with others.
Diverse as we are, we become unlikely friends around this table. We become family.
Unlikely Friends
God of surprises, you are at work in mysterious and unexpected ways. Sometimes you choose the least likely people to fulfill your purposes. We confess that our expectations and our plans do not always line up with your divine vision. Open our eyes and our hearts to see others as you see them, as people created in your image with unique gifts and callings. Thank you for bringing such a diverse group of people together to be your church. We are your church together! Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment