“Two Men Named Ananias, and the Call of the Good Shepherd” April 29, 2007

Acts 9: 10-19, Psalm 23, John 10: 11-16, 27-30

There are times when I wish a stained glass window wasn’t so permanent – times when I wish we could push a button and rotate our Good Shepherd picture out of this window for a few weeks and then bring it back after we’ve seen some other images of God or Jesus. I know this picture is special to a lot of people, and I wouldn’t want to get rid of it, but Christ encounters us in a lot of different ways, some of which you would never imagine if the picture behind us is the only image of Jesus you know.

A few weeks ago I read a review of a new book that has a challenging title: Why Men Hate to Go to Church. According to this book there are lots of men who think that

churches have no room for the traditional or stereotypical male values of strength, action, passion, and self-reliance. They think – and sometimes churches give them every reason to - that the church wants to make them soft, reflective, weak, dependent, and everything that stereotypically is considered “feminine,” so they go to the fire department, or the hunting club or somewhere else where it’s OK to be “a real man.” Well, we’re obviously talking in stereotypes and generalizations here, but even partial truths can stimulate us to think. Does the Church have a place for strong, responsible, passionate, autonomous, confident people – whether they are men or women?

What does our picture suggest? It shows us a Jesus who doesn’t look particularly strong, and implies that to be in relationship with Jesus the Good Shepherd is to be like a lamb – weak, soft, foolish, and incapable of anything except being protected and cuddled. Is that the way you see yourself? Is that the way you want to be? Is that what we are supposed to be like if we have heard the call of the Good Shepherd?

That’s the trouble with an unchanging picture. It gives us one image. Oh, I know the truth about me is that there are times when I am weak and foolish, and there have been times in my life when I’ve been so sad or troubled that the embrace of God to comfort me like a little lamb would have been welcome – but that’s not the whole story of my life. Far from it! None of us will ever be so wise as to be able do without any guidance from a Good Shepherd, but I don’t think Jesus wants us to stay lamb-like forever. I can’t think of any scripture that says it in precisely these words, but the overall message of the New Testament seems to say “Jesus the Good Shepherd is calling his flock – but he wants you sheep to become something new, to be something more than sheep-like. He wants you to become like him. A sheep in the pasture can’t turn into a shepherd, but that’s what Jesus wants his followers to do. He doesn’t want you to lie in his arms like a helpless lamb forever. He wants you to be strong and responsible – not so much like a sheep but more like a shepherd.”

That’s certainly the theme of the story we read from the book of Acts today, about the Christian man in Damascus whose name was Ananias. Actually there are three men by that name in the book of Acts. One Ananias was a high priest during Paul’s lifetime, and he’s a rather marginal figure in the Biblical story, but the other two “Ananiases” have very significant, though brief, appearances in the scriptural narrative. They both were Christian believers, men who had heard the call of the Good Shepherd, but they responded in very different ways.

The story of one Ananias is told in Acts chapter 5, and it’s not a very happy story. Ananias and his wife Sapphira were members of the first Christian congregation that came together after Pentecost in Jerusalem. Acts says that there was a wonderful spirit of oneness in this fellowship, so that people voluntarily gave up private ownership of their possessions and all the believers – rich and poor alike – shared on an equal basis and no one was in need. Ananias had some property which he sold, and he brought the money to the apostles to be shared with the church family, but he and his wife had decided to secretly keep some of it for themselves. The phrase “have your cake and eat it too” is not found in the Bible, but it looks like this is what they wanted – to get the status and honor of being generous contributors without making the full sacrifice their gift implied. When Simon Peter saw through their lying he confronted them and they were so upset they both fell over and died. Our new stewardship leaders have threatened to use this dramatic story as the theme for next fall’s pledge campaign - I think they’re joking – but it is a good story to take to heart. When Ananias and Sapphira heard and responded to the call of the Good Shepherd they were not required to give away all their possessions, but they were expected to be truthful. They’re sort of like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In their selfishness they let loose a spirit of negativity in what had previously been a community fashioned in God’s plan, and it was never the same again.

A lamb being cradled in the arms of the shepherd doesn’t have to be responsible for anything – but nobody here has a life like that. None of us are helpless lambs. We all have possessions, we all have jobs of some sort to do, we all have influence over some people, we all have people that count on us, we all are voting citizens in a democracy, to name just a few of our responsibilities……. If we are God’s people then, like Ananias and Sapphira, we are expected to be honest and faithful followers in the way we approach these particulars of our lives. It matters how you spend your money, how you do your job, how you relate to your family and neighbors, etc. because you are not just a passive lamb. The Ananias of Acts 5 was neither a faithful sheep nor an aspiring shepherd – actually more like wolves in lambs clothing, claiming to be a faithful member of the flock while infecting it with a negative spirit of selfishness. That Ananias is a model of everything we should not be if we’ve heard the Good Shepherd’s call.

But our other Ananias, the one of whom we read today in Acts chapter 9 – he’s a very different story. He has a cameo role in the great story of the Apostle Paul – the fiery Jewish leader who had been sent to Damascus on a mission to harass and imprison any followers of Jesus he might find there. If you’re familiar with the Biblical story you know that Paul (also known by his Hebrew name, Saul) had a powerful vision on the Damascus road, one in which he encountered the spirit of Jesus, was knocked to the ground, and rendered blind. The voice of Jesus told him to go into the city, where he would be told what to do. So Paul’s comrades lead him, now sightless, into the city and for three days he waits, wondering what is to become of his life. And that’s where Ananias enters the story.

Ananias was a Christian believer in Damascus – one of the people Paul intended to persecute – and he has a vision in which God calls to him, saying “Ananias, go over to the house of a man named Judas, on Straight Street and look for a man from Tarsus by the name of Saul. He’s praying and I’ve told him that you are going to come and lay your hands on him so that he can regain his sight……” Not surprisingly, Ananias is a bit taken aback, and he does something that might sound unfaithful, but actually is very wise. He argues with God. He says “God, I’ve heard about this man. He caused all kinds of suffering among our people in Jerusalem and I know he was sent by the authorities to do harm to us……” Ananias doesn’t quite say this, but the implication is “Wouldn’t it be better for everybody if I stayed home and Saul just stayed blind?”

God does sometimes challenge us to do unexpected and unwelcome things – but that doesn’t mean that every crazy idea that comes into our heads is a heaven-sent vision. God wants us to test the spirits, to clarify our visions, and to argue with God – not in a lazy and unfaithful way, but for the sake of making sure we’ve really heard the message correctly. There have been plenty of foolish and hurtful things done by people who think “God commanded me to do this…..” when in fact it was their ego, their unacknowledged wishes, their fears, or some other factor at work. We need to test our visions and argue with God – not in rebellion, but in search of clarity and truth. So Ananias argues – probably in part because of fear or because he thinks Saul deserves to suffer – but in his arguing he doesn’t shut the door. God persists, saying “You go, whether it makes sense to you or not, because I have chosen this Saul to be an instrument of mine……”

So, Ananias goes. We don’t know his early history or how he had become a Christian, but perhaps at one point in his life he was like that lamb in the Good Shepherd’s arms – lost, weak, dependent and needy. But that’s not what he is now. Now he goes to find the would-be persecutor, Saul, and his opening words are among the most moving in the Bible. He addresses him as “Brother Saul” – Brother Saul - and tells him that he has come at Jesus’ command so that his sight may be restored and so that he may receive the Holy Spirit. And as Ananias lays his hands on his enemy something like scales fall from Paul’s eyes, and his sight is restored.

Ananias is faithful to the call of his Good Shepherd, but he is anything but sheep-like. He’s a representative of Christ, a bearer of Christ – he’s shepherd sent in the name of the chief shepherd, sent out to find and help one who has been lost. He fulfills his mission and that’s the last we hear of him. Saul, or Paul, is the ongoing story in the book of Acts – because he’s the one equipped with the gifts, the training, the intellect and the courage to carry the message of Christ across the known world. Paul becomes a most remarkable shepherd in service to the Good Shepherd. But he was just a helpless blind man until Jesus came to him in the person of a humble man named Ananias, a humble, fearful-yet-courageous man who was willing to be like his shepherd Jesus.

So, we read in the Psalms, “The Lord is my shepherd…...” We hear Jesus’ words, “I am the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep……” We look at our special stained glass window of Christ the Good Shepherd……. And what are we? Lambs who need protection and comforting? Sometimes, but not always. Sheep who need guidance? Yes, but more than that.

I would love to have some additional pictures of our Good Shepherd, perhaps in another pose with one of you, handing you the shepherd’s staff, as if to say “There someone lost out there – you’ve got to help him.” I’d like a picture of the shepherd with his hand on your shoulder, pointing across the field as if giving your next assignment. Our Shepherd is there for us in our weakness, but he also says, “Come follow me. Be like me. Join my work. Look for those who are lost. Shelter those who are weak. Guide the thirsty to the streams of water. Feed the hungry………” “Come follow me,” says the shepherd, “Come follow, not as a helpless lamb, but as one like Ananias, through whom a shepherd’s care was given, and God’s love and grace became real…..” “Come follow,” says our shepherd, “and be a shepherd for others by the grace of God.”