Conversion

Introduction

A. Ever had to do a “change of address” packet? This is a set of forms used to let the post office know that you have moved and that your mail needs to go to a different location. Obviously, there are a number of folks who will not know about your move and the Post Office needs to know how to get your mail to a new place. I heard someone say one time that if you really want to play with a person’s mind, then fill out a change of address packet for them even though they haven’t moved. What would happen if the Post Office ignored your change of address? Confusion would follow. You would begin to wonder why you weren’t getting mail. Companies would begin to think that you were not paying your bills. You may find yourself in all kinds of financial problems.

B. What about a spiritual change of address? What would happen if you expressed that you were spiritually changing your life but nothing really changed? What if you said that you were going to follow God but you kept living as if you didn’t? What if you said that your values and actions were going to be different but you kept doing and saying the same things that you always said and did? Do you think confusion might follow?

C. We are going to look at Saul’s conversion today from Acts 9. We are going to notice that changes for Paul were immediate while others struggled to understand the changes that were taking place. But our emphasis today is that conversion leads to changes.

The Trip

A. At the end of chapter 7 we have the stoning of Stephen. Stephen spoke well in defense of Jesus and the resurrection. For his profound impact, his life was taken from him. And we are told that a man named Saul was at the execution giving his approval to Stephen’s death. Inspired by this violence, a persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem. Luke tells us that Saul is a leader in this persecution. He goes from house to house looking for people to arrest and when his search is exhausted in Jerusalem, Luke tells us that Saul wants to expand his search to Damascus.

B. Saul along with companions head to Damascus and God directly intervenes in Saul’s life. Appearing to Saul on the road, Jesus confronts Saul with his misunderstanding about the nature of God. Saul is sinning against the very God he is trying to protect. With God-directed Ananias, Saul becomes a follower of Jesus. Baptized to have his sins washed away, Saul immediately changes. One of the great ironies of scripture is found here. Saul goes to the synagogue just as he planned but now instead of looking for believers of Jesus, he is one. Instead of stopping speakers, he begins speaking for Jesus. Instead of persecuting the believers he becomes the persecuted. Instead of leading Jews to arrest believers he is being sought in order to be arrested.

C. What changed for Saul? We are quick to rightly point out that God appeared to Saul on the Damascus road and life changed. We say Saul saw the light and changed. A man dedicated to destroying God’s church, became a changed man. But how do we explain this kind of conversion when a man is so hardened as Saul. Remember he is the man who watched and approved of Stephen’s death. This is the Pharisee who was so much a lover of the law that he went from house to house in Jerusalem looking for anyone who uttered the word “grace” or “Jesus.” This is the man who according to Luke in 9:1 was breathing out “murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. Speak the name of Jesus favorably and Saul was your worst enemy. So terrorizing was Saul that God’s own man, Ananias, didn’t want to have anything to do with Saul even when God told him it would be okay. What God did for Saul was more than confront him leaving him in a spiritual and physical blindness for three days. God showed him that Jesus was the Messiah. He showed him that his pursuit of the good went through grace not through the law.

So What?

A. So what you ask? If a murderous, ambitious, and unrelenting sinner like Saul can be changed, do you think it might be possible for you? If God pursued Saul, do you think it might be possible that God pursues you as well? Do you think that God wants your life to matter just like he wanted Saul’s life to matter? Saul described himself in 1 Timothy as the chief sinner of all. He said that God’s grace was so significant that God used Paul to show his unlimited patience. If Saul can be changed, so can you.

B. We know people that God is going to have to work on directly to get their attention, so don’t stop praying for God to act. Don’t give up on the one who needs to change. But this story isn’t just about Saul’s conversion and how the worst man could be changed. This story is also our story. This story is about learning what it means to be converted---to be changed.

C. Many of us were not bad people before we met Jesus and we aren’t bad people now. Many of us are decent human beings with more good in us than evil. Many of us care about what happens to most people that we know and we care that good wins out. But in our goodness we have not become convinced about who God is or that we really need that much grace. In our minds grace is for the really bad guys. We just need to do more good than wrong in this world and God will save us. Which only expresses the truth that we are not living by grace we are living by our own efforts.

D. For many of us we were church going folks before our baptism and we continued to be church going folk after our baptism. There really wasn’t much change. We may have become convinced that baptism was necessary as we changed from one fellowship to another but our hearts didn’t really change.

1. We had the asterisk removed from our name in a church directory but nothing much changed.

2. We served the Lord's Supper on Sunday while refusing to serve our family.

3. We taught children's classes while refusing to teach another about the beauty of Jesus.

4. We listen to sermons while still listening to the voices of media that negate what we hear on Sunday.

5. We talk about following God while insisting that the only thing that matters is that we aren't inconvenienced.

E. Where are the signs of conversion?

1. Where is the converted heart that changed from insisting on what I want and started insisting on what God wants?

2. Where is the converted heart that changed from seeking to win to finding ways to make sure that God is seen?

3. Where is the converted heart that changed from pursuing personal immoral pleasures and started pursuing godly living?

4. Where is the converted heart that finally said "it isn't about me; it's about God."?

5. Where is the converted heart that moved from timidity to boldness and courage? That quit being concerned about what others thought and cared more about what God thinks?

6. Saul's story is our story. Conversion may come quickly for some and for others it is gradual. But conversion is what God is seeking and for those of us who want to follow God it is what we seek as well. Invitation.

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