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GOD’S HEART FOR THE LOST IN THE COMMUNITY: LOST & FOUND - by Darren Choo
Acts 9:1-19a, Luke 19:1-10
14 December 2008


Introduction

If you happened to be a fan of the series “LOST”, then I am sorry to disappoint you, because what you see on the screen is not the latest episode. It’s just merely the power point intro to my sermon this morning. But since we are on this particular topic, let me begin by relating a story about being lost.

I recalled a time when I was just about 10-12 years old, my aunt took me and my brother out to the Central Business District (CDB). Now, never been to that area before, I was naturally awed by its many tall buildings and skyscrapers. In my excitement, however, I failed to heed my aunt’s call that it was time for us to get down the bus. After awhile, I turned towards her direction to enquire about a particular building, only to discover to my horror that she was not there and I was all alone! Eventually I got down the bus and found myself wandering, lost and alone in Clifford Pier! To cut the long story short, a kind soul happened to chanced upon me and took me to the nearby police station. It was only late in the evening that my parents eventually found me and took me home.

Have you ever been in an unwanted situation like this before? Well I’m sure many of us have been in many “lost” situations and have our fair share of the stories to tell. Whether as a teenager lost in the jungle while serving your nation - yes I was lost there too! Or (don’t laugh) driving through an unfamiliar HDB estate in the night where visibility is limited and where every street you turn happens to looks the same because of the tall buildings - yes I experienced that too!

If you like me have gone through such “lost” experiences, you would agree that it was definitely not a pleasant situation to be in at all. The tension is great, there is the emotion of fear, agony, confusion and much frustration. But in any of these lost situations, one thing is true – those who are lost require some kind of help …

a) Sign/map to show the location (HDB estate)
b) Path to show the direction (Jungle)
c) Guide or person to show the way (Clifford Pier)

Saul’s Lost Situation (V1-2)

Today as we take a closer look into this chapter and unpack it, we encountered the story of a man named Saul, or as we know him better as Paul.

At this point, not much is known of his former background, education or motives. But if we were to trace back, Saul first appears on the scene in 7:58 and is described here as a young man who watched over the garments of those who stoned the first martyr, Stephen. But note that Saul was not just any young man.
Neither can we claim that he was just an innocent bystander. In fact, Scriptures tells us that he not only approved of Stephen’s death (8:1) but he was also instrumental in leading a violent crusade against the Christian community. We read in 8:3 that Saul was ravaging the church and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

To help us understand the impact of Saul’s action, just imagine the grotesque picture of the Nazis hounding the Jews in WWII. Now, if this was not bad enough, in 9:1-2 Saul followed up his vicious act in seeking from the high priest approval letters to do more harm to the disciples.

But what has Saul got to do with our theme for today of being lost and found? Well, just based on his deeds alone, we conclude that Saul was not only public enemy number one for the early church. But more importantly, we focus on Saul because he was also a man who was lost. Certainly Saul fit that description. He was a man who was lost simply for two reasons:

a) He did not know what he was doing.
b) He was spiritually blind

In spite of his great learning (Acts 26:24), he still didn’t have a relationship with God or know the Messiah. In fact, he though he was doing the right thing. In his great zeal, he thought that by persecuting the church he was doing a great service to God. Saul would justify the reason for his action something like this: Why should I believe Jesus of Nazareth? He is a crucified nobody! How can He be the promised Messiah? According to the Law found in Deut 21:23, anyone hung on a tree is cursed! How then can God used a cursed man as the Messiah?

God’s Heart for the Lost

Although Saul was initially lost, he ended up being found. Saul’s dramatic account is a good example that those who are truly lost are in need of some kind of help. Interestingly, upon closer study, Saul’s conversion story cannot be seen on its own. It flows and forms part of a larger context of three series of earlier conversions beginning in chapter 8.

Part one begins with Philip proclaiming the Messiah in Samaria which resulted in many believing the Word (8:5-14). Part two continues on in 8:26-38, where Philip next crossed path with an unnamed Ethiopian in the desert, who was also converted and baptized. The final part ends with Saul’s own miraculous experience.
What is noted in each of these stories is that the conversion account becomes more dramatic. Each conversion account unfolds the fulfilling of Jesus’ Great Commission as the Gospel moves further away from the original community in Jerusalem and into the ends of the earth. But more crucially, through all of these conversion stories, we see God’s heart for the lost community in that The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10).

We only need to comprehend where the lost will end up to fully understand why God’s heart is for the lost community. Lester Sumrall was lying on his bed when he had a vision. On one side of his bed, he saw people who are lost screaming as they were falling into hell. On the other side of his bed, Sumrall saw a big, glowing Bible and he heard God’s voice saying, “Choose.” Realizing that these lost people will eventually end up in hell because they have not been found, Sumrall chose the Bible. And from then on at an early age, Sumrall preached the Gospel for over sixty years till his death.

God Reaching Out

a) A Divine Encounter (v3-6)

And so we come to the conversion story of Saul and see how God intervened in reaching out to him in his state of “lostness”. As seen in the passage, it began with a divine encounter in the form of a bright light (V3)
Now as he (Saul) went on his way, he approached Damascus
and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

Saul was determined to do what he was doing and the only way to stopped him in his tracks was through something spectacular. God had to catch Saul’s attention by appearing to him personally firstly, in the form of this bright light. Sandhu Sundar Singh encountered this same bright light as he contemplated suicide by the railroad. Ultimately it changed his life and became India’s great evangelist. It was this great light that also caused a complete turnaround for Saul.

As the light flashed around him, Saul fell to the ground and then heard a voice saying to him... Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? (V4). The voice Saul identifies as Christ and reveals the “lostness” of Saul actions. This revelation of Christ blinded Saul temporarily and it apparently shocked and disturbed him such that he lost his appetite for he neither ate nor drank anything (V9). In fact, he was disturbed so greatly that V11 also record that he resorted to praying.

Now, one would expect that experiencing such a divine encounter of a bright light and voice from heaven would be enough to cause us to change our ways and turn to Christ. Though this may be true, God however, doesn’t limit Himself from using other means. In addition to experiencing a divine encounter, God can use and work through human agents (as seen in the case of Philip).

b) A Human Encounter (V10-19a)

The human encounter is in the form of two persons which God uses - Ananias (V10) and Judas (V11). Like Saul, not much is known of both of them. All we can say of the two is that they were just ordinary people. In fact, based on the limited information from the text, we discover that Ananias ...

· He was a disciple at Damascus (V10)
What he was doing at this point in time, we do not know. Probably as a devout disciple he praying, which would explain the vision he received from the Lord to seek out Saul (V10b-12).

· He was a faithful disciple who obeyed the Lord’s instruction
The initial response of Ananias to the Lord’s instruction was to protest (V13-14).

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
call on Your name.

And we can’t blame him, can we? After all, we known of the evil intentions of Saul. Besides aren’t we ourselves at times guilty of protesting and bargaining with God? While it is alright to query God regarding the concerns at hand; while it is OK to voice our fears and questions but that is as far as we must go. Ultimately, as His faithful disciples, when the Lord calls or commands, there must be a respond. And Ananias did just that.

After receiving the assurance from God (V15-16), he promptly and faithfully obeyed the Lord’s command. He seek out Saul and said in V17… Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you … has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Have you ever wondered: Why Ananias? Why not Peter or John or any of the other leaders? Ananias was an ordinary bloke just like you and I, yet God choose him to be the person to guide and lead Saul out of darkness and into the light of His kingdom. The point is this: God uses any man or woman as his agents for His purposes.

Just think about Billy Graham. It was said that there were a chain of conversions leading to Billy Graham's own conversion. It started with a simple Sunday School teacher named Edward Kimball who taught and led Dwight L Moody to Christ. Moody in turn personally counseled Wilbur Chapman on the certainty of his salvation. This led to Chapman influencing his assistant named Billy Sunday. Through one of Sunday’s men's prayer and fellowship group, Mordecai Ham was converted. Finally, it was Ham’s meeting that was instrumental in molding a certain Billy Graham. And as we know from his many crusades, Billy Graham has led thousands to Christ, of which some of us have been the beneficiary!

It all started with God using one ordinary man or woman to reach out to the lost. Saul could have been found through his divine encounter with God but the human encounter with Ananias cannot equally be ignored.


Conclusion
I started by asking the question whether we have all been lost. If we seriously think about it, the truth of the answer is “Yes!” The Bible affirms this in Romans 3:23 that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. In other words, we are all lost - lost in darkness!

John Newton in his well known hymn penned these words down that best describes the pre-Christian life correctly: I once was lost, but now am found! This Advent/Christmas period know that Jesus came to seek and save the lost. The fact that Jesus did the unthinkable of sitting and eating with sinners like Zacchaeus shows that He is indeed a friend of the lost. Idolaters, adulterers, prostitutes, homosexuals, murderers, thieves, slanderers and swindlers – they are the kind of people that Jesus came for.

Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those
who are sick. I came not to call the righteous but sinners
(Mark 2:17).

We are all the lost that Jesus came to save.

As I conclude, pause and think of your own salvation/conversion. How is it that you are here today? You are here simply because someone first reached out to you. Would you

a) Give thanks for that person that God had brought to you like He did to
Paul.

b) Who can you be an Ananias to this Christmas?

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