God’s Chosen Instruments Acts 9:1-22
Grace, mercy and peace be with you, from God, our Father, and our risen Lord, Jesus Christ, who has chosen us to be His voice to the world.
Today we’re going to talk about being God’s Chosen Instruments, based on our reading from Acts 9, the conversion and calling of St. Paul, especially verse 15, “… he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.
We’re first introduced to Paul, in the story of the martyrdom of St. Stephen in Acts 7:58, when he was still known as Saul.
It says, And they laid down their garments (those who stoned Stephen) at the feet of a young man named Saul. And Saul approved of his execution.
Chapter 8, verse 3 says, Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
The rest of chapter 8 then tells the story of Philip, the deacon and evangelist, and his encounter with the Ethiopian official, before returning to the story of Paul or Saul in chapter 9.
Luke says, Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way (which is what Christianity was called at that time), men or women, that he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Paul wanted to expand his reign of terror, hunting down Christians wherever they could be found, and wiping the Gospel of Christ off the face of the earth.
Ironically, as it turned out, he was the apostle who had the most to do with spreading the Gospel throughout the Empire.
We’ve heard it said: A funny thing happened on the way to… wherever…
A most amazing and unexpected thing happened to Paul on the road to Damascus, his enemy confronted him; surprisingly, though, not to punish him, but to reason with him -- to change his life, and his purpose in life.
Jesus, risen and ascended, appeared to Paul as a bright light from Heaven.
4 And falling to the ground, Luke says, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Why are you doing this to me?
Not why are you persecuting my followers, why are you persecuting Me.
When followers of Jesus are hated and persecuted in this world, it’s really and ultimately Jesus who’s being hated and attacked.
5 Then (Saul) said, “Who are you, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”.
Paul must have expected to be punished, or maybe even killed, but Jesus planned to rehabilitate Paul, to take his religious zeal, and transform it for good, instead of for evil; to spread the Gospel and start and grow churches, rather than destroy churches, and disperse and scatter and imprison Christians.
If Paul could be forgiven and changed into a follower and servant of Christ, anyone can be forgiven and changed to follow and serve Christ.
If Paul could be called to share the Gospel of Christ after the murderous, evil things he had done, we all can know Christ and make Him known.
Verse 8 continues, 8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
This formidable, cold-blooded killer, had become as weak and dependent as a little child. Jesus was teaching Paul to depend on God, and not on himself.
In his weakened state, Paul was led by the hand to Damascus, where he waited and fasted and prayed for 3 days.
As Jesus was in the tomb 3 days and then rose, in three days, Paul would be transformed.
On the third day, the Lord appeared in a vision to a devout disciple named Ananias, telling him to go to where Paul was staying, and deliver a message.
Ananias said, “But he kills people like me.”.
15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
Paul’s conversion and calling started with suffering three days in body and mind, and so the remaining years of his life and ministry wouldn’t be easy.
In 2 Corinthians 10 and 11, Paul defends his ministry from the false teachers who were saying that he was misleading people by teaching that we’re saved by grace alone through faith in Jesus, and not at all by our works.
And they said about Paul, “He’s really not an apostle, you know. He’s a con-man; he’s taking advantage of you.”
Paul wrote to the Corinthians that he was indeed, called by Christ to be an apostle; and that the Word he had taught them was authentic, it was from God.
And Paul told them how much he had suffered for the Gospel, not to boast, but demonstrate integrity.
He said, 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers (false prophets); 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
Yet in 2 Corinthians 7:4 Paul wrote, In all (my) affliction, I am overflowing with joy.
Paul rejoiced to be a child of God, and an apostle of Christ, His chosen instrument.
Even though it wasn’t easy, it was supremely rewarding, and the greatest of honors.
While we’re not apostles, as God’s baptized children, we’re also called to be His instruments, to serve Him and others with the gifts we’ve been given.
1 Peter 2:9 says, 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Being God’s chosen instruments means that we’ll sometimes have to suffer and sacrifice for the Gospel. Maybe not to the extreme that Paul and the apostles did, although many Christians in the world today live in constant danger and persecution.
For us it may be more in the form of exclusion and ridicule.
And also the sacrifices of time and treasure we make to serve God and support spread the Gospel, the mission of making Christ known to the world.
Like Paul, we consider it an honor and joy to sacrifice for and work for and serve Christ, who sacrificed His all to serve and save us.
Being God’s chosen instruments also means that He supplies the grace and the power.
In 2 Corinthians 12, when Paul asked God to remove the thorn in his flesh that was hindering his ministry, whatever that was, God reminded him that His grace was sufficient; that it was God, not Paul, who was doing the real work of ministry, through the power of His Word and Spirit.
So it is for us; we’re just instruments of the Holy Spirit to serve and bring Christ to the world.
The power to repent and believe, and grow in faith and love comes from Him, not from us.
Knowing this lightens the load as we serve; it keeps us from expecting too much of ourselves, trying to do and be what only God can do and be.
It reminds us that the changes and the results come from Him, not from us.
This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t give and do our best in serving God -- we should.
But as limited creatures, we can only do what we can do.
But for God, as Jesus says in Luke 18, all things are possible.
And so as we serve, a part of what we do is to just pray and get out of God’s way, and let Him do what He will do; we’re just His instruments, and honored to be so, but He’s the One who’s doing it.
Knowing this, let us dedicate ourselves to serving God and doing His work, but leave the results up to Him, and give Him the glory.
Thanks be to God that He’s given us this blessing of being His chosen instruments, to serve Him in this world, and to make a difference with His Word.
May He help us to work hard, and to do our best as we serve.
Finally, as His chosen instruments, He blesses us with His peace, which passes our understanding, and guards our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus, our risen Lord, whom we serve with dedication and joy. Amen.