The Lord sent a disciple

[AI translation] My Christian Brothers and Sisters. The apostle Paul is the most outstanding figure in the whole New Testament story after Jesus. More than half of the book of Acts is devoted to his missionary journeys. He was the pen in the hand of God in writing much of the New Testament, and wrote most of the missionary epistles. He was the first to summarize and systematize the teachings of Jesus Christ, the first and greatest theologian of Christianity. He was the first to break down the narrow Jewish national barriers, the first to understand the universality of Christianity, what it means to make disciples of all nations. He was the first to take the gospel to the Gentiles in the West, the first Christian missionary in Europe. The story we are about to read is a link in his great and wonderful conversion story.Paul's conversion story is a familiar one. Last time we reflected on it a week ago. We saw how, in his religious bias, he rushed with a vengeance to Damascus to intercept the Christ-followers who had fled from the persecution of the Christians in Jerusalem and drag them back to Jerusalem. But before he could reach his destination, Jesus, whom he was about to pursue, suddenly appeared in front of him and stood in front of him. This unexpected, shocking encounter broke Paul in body and soul.
Blinded in his physical sight by the sight of heaven, he was taken to the city where, according to the Scriptures, he did not see, eat or drink for three days. This physical blindness was a blessed opportunity for him to meditate in quiet solitude on the ruins of his life and to seek to know more fully in spirit the Christ who had revealed himself to him. At last God had mercy on him and sent him a disciple. Then follows the story we are about to read.
The temptation of this story is that the figure of the other character, Ananias, goes unnoticed alongside the hugely prominent figure of the apostle Paul. The story of Paul's turbulent and eventful conversion completely overshadows the quiet, anonymous ministry of this disciple of Christ. Let the Word speak to us today, then, not through the mighty apostle Paul, but through the figure of the small, insignificant disciple, all the more so because the example of his life has a very blessed message for us.
Today, when theories are being developed, when new political parties are being organised in order to help this sick and broken social and public life towards healing, when hundreds and thousands of Hungarian people are truly selflessly striving to serve the nation's rebirth as perfectly and effectively as possible, it is very good to see from the example of Ananias what the most humble service in the name of Christ means to help the sick soul. The meaning and significance of the whole story may be summed up in these few words. Who did Jesus send? A disciple. Jesus sent a messenger.
Who was this disciple? This is the only place where he appears in the Bible, so the Scriptures do not say much about him. We know his name, but all we know about him is that he was one of Christ's ambassadors, one of the disciples, one of the Christians who fled from Jerusalem to Damascus to escape the persecution of the Christians that broke out after the death of Stephen the Martyr. Ananias was therefore neither a missionary, nor a church leader, nor an evangelist, nor an apostle or a prophet, but (to use an incorrect modern expression) a simple lay believer, one disciple among many.
It was this simple, anonymous Ananias that God chose for this important ministry, which was to have such a decisive influence on Paul's life. Why not Peter, the famous apostle, or Philip, the evangelist, or James, the brother of Jesus? For such a great ministry as this, and for such a great man as the apostle Paul, this would have been worthy...
There is something purposeful and programmatic about God's use of insignificant men to accomplish his sublime divine purposes. To prepare for his coming into this world, Jesus chose for himself a people who were hated and despised by mankind from the beginning. His work of redeeming and saving people was accomplished through an instrument whose life on earth began in a stable and ended in a dungeon. Christ used men to carry on His work who had left the simplest occupation, fishing, or the most hated place, the tax collector's table, for Him. Here again the Lord sent a disciple, a simple man, to carry the message to the greatest missionary in the world.
We human beings might do otherwise, but it is almost a constant practice of God, which He Himself has declared to us in another place in the Bible: '... God has chosen the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak of the world to shame the strong.' (1 Corinthians 1:27)
This is so that, on the one hand, no one who feels in himself that he has ability, talent, and skill, may not trust himself, but remember that he is only an instrument in the hand of God, as a pen in the hand of a writer, - but also, on the other hand, so that no one who feels himself unfit and small to serve in God's mission may withdraw from service. We all know that being a Christian necessarily implies conversion, the missionary command to make disciples of all peoples. We know that, ideally, each Christian is an ambassador of Jesus Christ, a messenger who is there to spread the kingdom of God, to set his or her surroundings aflame with the fire of the Holy Spirit.
Many people, however, believe that they are incapable of this service, that they do not have the capacity. Well, my brothers and sisters, the example of the simple disciple in Damascus expresses the great truth that the most blessed ministry of saving souls, of proceeding in the mission of God, does not require great human ability, nor aptitude or some special training, but simply willingness, obedience. God does not need clever men, but faithful servants to entrust to them the performance of great tasks.
The weak, the powerless, are given incredible strength and self-awareness by their sense of mission, that is, the knowledge that they are on a divine mission, carrying a divine mandate. The envoy of the ancient Roman Empire dared to go alone into the camp of the most formidable enemy, because he knew that behind him stood the whole army of the Roman Empire. He who walks in the embassy of God on this earth has the power and might of the living God himself behind him. Well, my brothers and sisters, however difficult and however risky it is to walk as God's ambassadors in a world that prefers to listen to Satan's messengers rather than God's, the knowledge that God sends us only gives us the strength to live exemplary, witnessing Christian lives. So let us not be afraid to turn to others as God's ambassadors, and let us not be afraid to represent God in all places and at all times.
Ananias addressed Saul with this greeting: 'Saul, my brother, the Lord has sent me, Jesus, who has appeared to you on the road' - and with this he gave him the message of Jesus. Nothing shows how much the broken-hearted Saul had been waiting for this than the fact that under the influence of this message he was restored physically and spiritually, baptised, filled with the Holy Spirit, and in fact became the apostle Paul.
Brothers and sisters, we cannot imagine how much people are waiting for the message of Jesus, how hungry this world is for Jesus, for the Gospel. Without knowing it or wanting it, there are endless people who long for Jesus, but perhaps they are not even aware of it. Indeed, as we read in the Bible, the created world is longing for the appearance of the Son of God.
It would have been no use to Saul if Ananias had brought him a warm, soft loaf of bread, if he had given him a purse filled with gold, if he had had a few hundred acres of land written in his name, but all this would have been of no help to him - his soul was healed by the message of Jesus alone. If only we could all see for once that the salvation of a fallen soul is impossible without the gospel.
Would that all those who are called to help and to lift up the fallen would see that they can only hope to succeed by spreading His message as followers of Christ. The beggar who stands before us on the street is far more grateful for a kind word, for the faintest manifestation of love, than for a piece of money pressed into the palm of his hand. For a sick man lying abandoned in hospital, to have someone stop by his bedside for five minutes and give him a message from Jesus is a precious experience he will never forget.
In our parish there is a huge hospital nearby - many of our brothers and sisters lie there for weeks, waiting, waiting, like Saul of Ananias, for someone to come to them, someone who comes from the Lord Christ, - and waiting in vain if no one comes.
I have often observed that the postman is one of the few people who are expected and received with secret joy in every house, whose appearance creates a secret, happy excitement in the soul, in case some good news should come from somewhere. Well, my brethren, to walk in the following of Christ is to be a postman of Christ in every place and time, who is everywhere joyfully awaited. That is what Christ wants of us and that is what the world expects of us.
It is interesting now to look at the example of Ananias to see how this postal ministry is entrusted to individuals. Jesus calls Ananias by name and he replies, "Here I am, Lord." Behold, this is how it is done militarily for those who are in the service of Christ. It's all about readiness, a constant state of readiness, because here it's round-the-clock duty.
One must always be ready to hear the word of Jesus and to do His bidding. Without this readiness there is no divine mission, without this there is no divine leadership. That is why we must place great emphasis on keeping the daily quiet time on time, because it is a state of readiness, listening to God's guidance by turning off the noise within and without. It was surely during such a spiritual quiet that Ananias received his commission.
It was during prayer that a street name appeared before him and he understood that he had to go there for the so-called "prayer". Straight Street. A name also resounded in his soul: Saul, Saul of Tarsus. He must have heard this name before and knew that he was one of the most dangerous enemies of Jesus' cause. Then he sees in his soul the praying Saul. Behold, this is how God leads a man. This is how Ananias knew that he must seek out Saul and lay his hands on him to see again. All who seek and are willing to obey can receive this spiritual guidance from God.
This guidance from God is usually interfered with by Satan, who seeks to confuse and mislead the soul. This is also clearly seen in the example of Ananias. Ananias begins to doubt: is there really a commission from God that actually leads into the lion's den? And he says to God his objections, "Shall I, Ananias, go to Saul, shall I be to him with tender, helping love, who with the greatest rudeness and most daring determination persecuted you, O Lord, and your followers? Knowest thou not who this man is, and why he came hither?
This is the most critical moment of God's messages and guidance. We hear well the word of God, we know well His will, but... and the excuses come. We know that we should give more to the glory of God, both in time and money, but we don't have enough of either. We know we should care more for the poor, visit the sick, live as followers of Christ, but who can do all that?
Our discourse is as full of "buts" as hedgehog thorns, whose function is to ward off the external inconveniences that disturb the tranquillity of the self. Everyone would receive a mandate from God, but not everyone takes it seriously, and not everyone accepts it. What terrible consequences would have resulted if Ananias had yielded to temptation and refused to accept God's leading! Again, after all the excuses, God just said, "Go away!" and Ananias went away.
Finally, if one walks in the ambassadorship of God, he need not fear that his work will be fruitless. Many times, even the ministers of the Word are tempted by the apparent lack of any tangible result from their preaching. Pity. All we owe is that God has spoken to us, entrusting us with his message to carry it. It is not the postman's job to write the letter, but to deliver the letter already written to the addressee. It is Christ's postmen's job to deliver the message - the content and the result of the message will be the responsibility of the one who sends it.
One thing is certain: Ananias did what he was told - and saw a miracle: Saul's eyes were opened and his soul filled with the Spirit of God. Saul became the apostle Paul. If we turn to others with the words, "Son of God, the Lord has sent me", then our journey leads from miracle to miracle, from glory to glory. Are you a disciple? - I am bound by the Word: the Lord has sent you. Are you a disciple? - Empowered by the Word: the Lord has sent you.
Amen.
Date: 22 January 1939.