Sunday Worship
Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the Third Sunday of Epiphany. Our Church Services this morning are at the usual times of 9.15 at St Agnes' and 11.15 at St Thomas'.
If you are unable to be with us in person, you will find resources below to worship at home.
Our first hymn this morning is "Great is Thy Faithfulness"
Today's Bible Reading
Acts 9:1-22 The Conversion of Saul
Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”
The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight and neither ate nor drank.
Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.”
But Ananias answered, “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 invoke your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptised, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” All who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem among those who invoked this name? And has he not come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” Saul became increasingly more powerful and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Messiah.
Reflection
A long scripture passage today and one that comes around frequently in the cycle of bible readings. It tells of the story of the conversion of Saul which we recount this week. Saul, later known as Paul, wrote many of the letters contained in the New Testament and was we might nowadays call ‘a wrong un’ . Well certainly up north anyway!
He was despised and feared by the new Christian movement, (referred to as The Way, in verse 2 above), because he enjoyed persecuting them. He asked for permission from the High Priests to hunt them down and bring them back bound, to stand before the priests and Pharisees for their blasphemy.
But, in this short reflection, I want, for a change, to spend a few moments reflecting on Ananias the faithful Christian, who also has a key role to play but who is often overlooked.
The Lord comes to Ananias in a vision and asks him to go to seek out Saul in the house of Judas, and furthermore to heal him of his blindness. Ananias’ first reaction is one of shock, and horror. He has heard how terrible Saul has been and that he is in the region right now on a mission to gather up people like him and punish them. Imagine what your reaction might be.
It is likely that the Christians were in hiding keeping well away from Saul, so the thought of going to visit him would be like asking him to volunteer to put himself in grave danger. Maybe, for a moment, he has doubts about following Jesus - why would he be asked to do such a thing? He is so dubious, that he even challenges the Lord, as good as saying, “you cannot be serious!”
The response he gets is, “I have chosen Saul to be my instrument …… I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name”. [v16]. Despite his fears and reservations, Ananias immediately puts his apprehension aside and obeys the Lord, seeking Saul and healing him. We don’t even know if Ananias was a healer, all we are told is that he was a disciple of Jesus. I think it is fair to say that his faith was strong and he believed he would be safe, and also that the Lord would give him the power to do whatever he was asked to.
As disciples of Christ, how far would we be willing to go to follow Him? Would we befriend someone who was an ex-convict or someone whom other people despised for some reason? Do we just want to love those we find acceptable or are we willing to face those we don’t relate to. Like Ananias, we need to have faith in Jesus that He will give us the power we need to do His will and bring the kingdom of God into our whole community.
Paul
