The message was clear. Unambiguous. No doubt from the Lord, the significance of it rocked Ananias, leaving him confused and frightened. He was to present himself to the chief persecutor of the fledgling Christian faith. A man to hide your babies from rather than to embrace, a man to avoid at all costs. Saul, brilliant and murderous, tormented Christians, yet the Lord sent Ananias to actually help him in his time of pain and confusion. Ananias walked into the room with Saul representing the bravery of many, many Christians who followed him over the centuries.
Saul, an energetic zealot, saw Christians not as people but as problems. His life work morphed into the eradication of the new, dangerous, sect of Judaism. Not only did he approve of the murder of Stephan, the first martyr of the early church, Saul set out to add to the list of beaten and imprisoned followers of Jesus. Today we might call him a radicalized fanatic, even a terrorist. Saul certainly spread terror as he pursued anyone who lined his or her life up with Jesus. This was the Saul on the mind of Ananias when the Lord sent him on his mission to heal his new affliction of blindness. Ananias did not know of Saul’s dramatic encounter with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. Ananias did not know of Saul’s remarkable change of heart, or his new devotion to Jesus, or of his humble conversion. The Lord didn’t fill in many details as he sent Ananias to Saul’s aid.
Ananias questioned the Lord and received a bit more intelligence in return. The Lord had plans for Saul, plans involving both speaking before kings and plans for suffering and humility. Then Ananias went. No pause is recorded, no taking a night to sleep on it or time to kiss his family good-bye, maybe for the last time. Ananias walked to Saul’s house, placed his hands on Saul and prayed. Ananias even welcomed Saul to his new club of Christ-followers by calling him “brother.” From despised enemy to brother. Only then did the scales fall from Saul’s eyes.
Leading involves bravery. Ananias showed us the way by going to meet Saul. Ananias walked straight into the house of a man who could kill him and his family. That’s bravery. Some might say foolhardy, but it paints for us a picture of faith. Ananias heard God speak, so he went. Acting on faith always involves a level of bravery. Even if you go with questions in mind, just like Ananias, you demonstrate bravery when you step out your door. You don’t just think bravely, you act bravely. You may feel brave in your mind, but unless you follow up that thought with action you’re only daydreaming. The world holds lots of daydreamers, far fewer brave leaders.
Saul, soon to change his name to Paul, demonstrated bravery throughout his life as he spread the gospel across the Roman world. Whether in beatings, shipwrecks, persecutions, or facing crowds filled with hateful people just like he once was, Paul stood bravely for the Lord. There is no more powerful example of bravery in Scripture except for Jesus himself, and maybe Ananias, the quiet man just living out his faith, who quickly and unreservedly acted on the Lord’s command. Ananias left home that day to heal the devil himself. God used his hands to remove the scales from Saul’s eyes and from Paul’s heart. Ananias was literally the first Christian to touch Paul. In doing so, God used Ananias to change a life that changed the world. A simple man acted in brave obedience. Happens every day. God grant us the grace to do the same.
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