The Conversion of St. Paul
The Third Sunday after Epiphany 
January 24, 2010 
Acts 9:1-22 
The Ministry Behind the Scene 
Brad Ross, Pastoral Intern

Today we celebrate one of the most important events for the spreading of the Gospel in the last two thousand years. We celebrate that day when one man, noted for his passionate zeal against the emerging church, was stopped in his tracks as he attempted to carry out more persecution. We celebrate that day when the light shining from heaven brought this staunch powerful figure to his knees. We celebrate that day when his Lord and Savior confronted him and set him on a different path, beginning one of the greatest journeys in ministry this world would ever see. We celebrate that day when a new life emerged in Damascus, and began a proclamation of a Resurrection hope to people all over the world. Yet on this day, we tend not to celebrate a certain person God called to make all of this come to life.

We do not know much about this Ananias. Evidently, the author only wants people to know that Ananias served as a disciple not for his own recognition, but only to glorify this Risen Christ; and yet I cannot help myself but feel a sense of pain for this Ananias. This Ananias who grew up hearing the stories of these visions of God: the stories of Abraham, Moses, and the prophets, all of whom engaged with God in such a special relationship that they actually experienced a back-and-forth dialogue with the Divine. Ananias must have craved for this special connection with God, if only for a moment in his life, to experience but a glimpse of what he heard.

Then, one day, it happened. This God showed up to Ananias in a vision. Finally, God fulfilled one of his greatest desires. Ananias must have been so ecstatic, but then came God’s call for Ananias, turning Ananias’ uncontrollable joy to sheer frustration and absolute fear. God called Ananias to play a pivotal role in starting a ministry to lands he never even heard of, but it would be with a man he absolutely despised. Now, Ananias would connect with Abraham, Moses, and the prophets, in another way: questioning and even getting angry with God. All Ananias could say after hearing God’s call was, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.” (By the way, that would include Ananias himself.)

Ananias must have thought at the back of his mind, “God, what are you thinking? Anyone else but him, God. Anyone else.” Nevertheless, God wanted that very man, that very persecutor of the church, that very man who separated families by putting parents in prison, that very man who could put Ananias away from his community. God called that very man “to bring [God’s] name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel.”

And while Ananias went back and forth with God, that very man came closer and closer, and that very man was walking in darkness. He had been blind for three days, and not only that, he neither ate nor drank anything. God called this Ananias not simply to help him see again, but to bring light to the darkness and to give to that very man a glimpse of the Resurrection itself, when the encapsulation of light overcoming darkness became reality, and a new birth of life began. Ananias would give to that very man whom he feared the gift of a new life in Jesus Christ. Today, we most certainly celebrate Ananias’ powerful ministry that began a proclamation of that Resurrection throughout the world.

However, today part of that world struggles to see the Resurrection. Instead of celebrating, most of our brothers and sisters in Haiti lament. They know far too well the words of our first hymn, describing a world of “pain…surround[ing] [them] with darkness and despair…searching just confounds [them] with false hopes everywhere…lives are starved for meaning and destiny is bare.” It’s as if the words were written just for them. Now, after an earthquake and even aftershocks, it’s as if all they can do is wait, wait for help, wait for their own Ananiases to show up, as they live in darkness, as they go days without eating or drinking anything. Some will refuse simply sitting back and waiting, so they will travel as far as their feet can take them, and search for their own Ananiases. Many people arrived fulfilling the role of Ananias, hoping to provide a sense of new life in the midst of fear, frustration, uncertainty, and all around hopelessness. Yet these Ananiases could not reach the people who needed their help, for the chaos did not stop with an earthquake or even the aftershocks, but it continued hours and even days beyond, preventing the Ananaises from simply placing their hands on the people who need it the most. The circumstances create so much anger, even for the Ananaises, who simply want to serve their neighbors, and yet so much stands in the way. It is truly a world of pain that surrounds them, and yet their determination cannot be stopped, for this is a ministry that cannot be curtailed by an earthquake or the rubble that stands thereafter or even crowds of desperate people seeking some form of aid; and we are all one in this mission to serve our neighbors whether we are in Haiti or not, to serve as the Ananaises to the world, including helping other Ananaises who struggle in the midst of that chaos. As that hymn goes, God calls us, “to plan and work together that all may know Christ’s love.”

And today, as we celebrate here in this place, we will leave with a bold proclamation that we have indeed seen the Lord. We will see Him come to life through bread and wine into the body and blood, as this Risen Christ keeps on showing up. He shows up not only to nourish our own bodies, minds, and souls, but empowers us to be the Ananaises to the world, not for own recognition, but to proclaim to the world that this Christ is indeed alive, and this Christ shows up even to the people who may find it to be the most difficult to see Him. For this Christ shows up in the form of doctors, technicians, nurses and so much more, the very ones who sometimes simply place their hands on those who mourn, and in those hands there is Christ Himself. They will indeed see the Lord, and they will begin to catch a glimpse of a world when earthquakes and hurricanes will cease, and it will no longer be a world of pain that surrounds us, but instead eternal peace and wholeness, and that is our hope, a Resurrection hope that Promises life over death and stillness over chaos. So on this day, we as Americans boldly pray, “God bless Haiti,” and God bless the Ananiases who serve in the midst of the chaos. Thanks be to God indeed. Amen.