Following Jesus with Skeletons in your Closet
The Life of Paul 2.0 
Acts 9 
by Eric Stillman
November 12th, 2006

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Acts 9:1-22  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.  ¹⁰ In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!" "Yes, Lord," he answered.  ¹¹ The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.  ¹² In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight."  ¹³ "Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.  ¹⁴ And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name."  ¹⁵ But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.  ¹⁶ I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."  ¹⁷ Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord-- Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here-- has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit."  ¹⁸ Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized,  ¹⁹ and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.  ²⁰ At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.  ²¹ All those who heard him were astonished and asked, "Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?"  ²² Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.

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Raise your hand if you’ve ever been to a class reunion.  Keep it raised if you count that as one of the more surreal experiences of your life.  A couple of years ago I visited my ten year high school reunion, and it was definitely one of the most surreal experiences of my life.  It was kind of like being in a dream, seeing people that I had not seen since I was 18 years old, when I was in many ways a different person altogether.  In some ways, it was like picking up right where I left off with people – we felt like we knew each other, we could reminisce about old times, and we knew how to talk to each other even though it had been 10 years.  Some of the cliques seemed like they hadn’t aged at all, but were still doing the same stuff they had been doing 10 years ago.  But on the other hand, even as I was talking with people who had been my best friends in high school, I couldn’t help but think – you don’t know me.  You don’t know what I’ve been through these past 10 years, how I’ve grown, and especially how God has transformed my life.  I am not the same person I was in high school.  But when people saw me, that’s who they saw – the 18 year old Eric Stillman.   

Jesus did not go to high school, and never had a ten year reunion, but he also experienced what it was like to return to his hometown after some time away.  Now, I think we’d all agree that Jesus was a pretty decent guy, and he seemed to do incredible healings and miracles and teach profound things wherever he went.  But when he returned to Nazareth, we find that the people took offense at him.  Matthew records in his story of Jesus’ life in chapter 13 verse 55 that the people said "Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?  ⁵⁶ Aren't all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?"  ⁵⁷ And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor."  ⁵⁸ And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. 

Jesus could not do many miracles because the people could not see past his past – and it wasn’t even a bad past!  They just couldn’t see how a carpenter’s son could suddenly become a miracle worker.  Now, my situation is very different than Jesus’ situation, but the similarity is that when people know your past, know where you’ve come from, they are more likely to reject you or discount what God is doing in your life.  The people of Nazareth knew Jesus’ past, and so they didn’t believe he was capable of miracles.  The people of South Windsor knew me from high school, and had a hard time seeing me any other way than how I was in high school.