Acts 9:1-20
August 2, 2020
Sermon by Rev. Caela Simmons Wood
First Congregational UCC of Manhattan, KS
There’s a scene in the movie Hidden Figures that always blows my mind a bit. Katherine Johnson, one of the main characters, is talking with others who work at NASA about the calculations needed for the Friendship 7 space flight. In order to get John Glenn up into orbit they have to not only figure out how to launch him into space but ALSO how to get him back home again.
And so it turns out there are some very complex mathematical computations that need to take place in order to figure out something called the “go/no-go” point: The point at which his craft has to re-enter the earth’s atmosphere in order to land at the designated place. I have to say that before watching the movie I had never given much thought to the mechanics of all of this. The precision that is needed in order to bring an astronaut back home safely.
In the movie, Ms. Johnson does the calculations and says that Glenn will be able to land at the designated spot near the Bahamas...give or take 20 miles. It’s called the “go/no-go” point because if the window of opportunity is missed….well, I guess I’m not sure exactly what happens? Perhaps a fourth orbit around the earth and they try to hit it the next time around?
What is clear is that it is precise and unwavering. Hit that re-entry point or everything falls apart. It’s a high-stakes situation with intense demands. The numbers are not up for negotiation. You either make it or you don’t.
Today's story from the book of Acts is about a very different “go/no-go” point. This one on the dusty road to Damascus. There are, as far as I can tell, no precise mathematical computations...but the stakes are high. Saul, “still breathing threats and murders against the disciples of the Lord” is on his way to Damascus. His hope is to find some wayward followers of Jesus and arrest them...bringing them to Jerusalem for imprisonment or execution.
Saul, who we will later come to know as the Apostle Paul, is unrelenting in his persecution of Jesus’s followers.
He is a devoted, zealous, fundamentalist Jew. He has devoted his life to upholding a rigid understanding of his own faith. It is not enough for Saul to be devoted himself...he has also decided everyone else must feel the same way he does. And so he ruthlessly goes after those who are attempting to change the faith as he understands it. He sees it as his mission in life to correct and chastise those who are following Jesus. And he’s not above using violence to get his point across.
And then...one day...while on his way to Damascus, everything changes. The Spirit speaks to him in a booming voice, he falls on his knees, he loses his sight for three days. At this precise location on the road to Damascus, Saul’s trajectory is irrevocably altered.
No longer will he be Saul, the one who persecutes Christ’s followers. Instead, he will be Paul - a devoted follower of Christ.
This is a story about changing trajectories. A story about being stopped in your path. A story about turning around in a 180. It’s a story about something Paul would have known in Hebrew as shuv: to turn around, to return, to repent.
You see, in Hebrew, repentance is not about a change of heart but a change of direction. It’s not as simple as saying a prayer or admitting what you’ve done wrong. Real repentance is about changing our trajectory...often in a complete 180. A change of heart is often a part of it, of course, but it’s not repentance unless our actions are different. It’s not repentance until we go in a new direction.
This story is often called the “the conversion of Paul”...but it’s about more than just Paul. He’s not alone on the road to Damascus. There are others with him who hear the voice and whose lives are changed.
And then there’s Ananias. He also receives a vision. He is told to find Saul and be a part of his transformation. Ananias, a follower of Jesus, should be terrified to go anywhere near Saul. But he follows the voice and seeks Saul out. His hands are necessary to complete the work of repentance. Through his touch, Saul’s eyes are re-opened and his new life begins.
Repentance, restoration, conversion, transformation...these are not things that typically happen in a vacuum. Even when they seem to only affect one individual, we know the movement of the Spirit sends ripples out into the wider world.
On February 20, 1962 John Glenn splashed down just north of the Bahamas. Just like he was supposed to. The “go/no-go” had worked out just fine. In the midst of all the celebration and chaos and confusion of that moment, I doubt anyone paid much attention to the ripples that the Friendship 7 sent out into the ocean. But they must have been there. And somewhere deep in the sea, a school of fish swimming along must have noticed a slight shift in the water around them.
One small fish at the front of the group felt it first, an almost imperceptible change in water temperature or movement. And as the fish turned to go a different direction, the entire school of fish...hundreds of them, turned around. If you were watching it it would look like they were moving as one. You wouldn’t even be able to tell which fish turned first.
Somewhere overhead that day geese were winging their way to a new home. A slight change in the atmosphere, almost imperceptible, and one of the geese shifted her flight pattern just a bit. The others, moving as one, adjusted, too. And the great V changed course a bit, moved by the movement of the one bird who felt the change first.
Repentance, restoration, conversion, transformation...these are not things that typically happen in a vacuum. Even when they seem to only affect one individual, we know the movement of the Spirit sends ripples out into the wider world.
It can be so easy to forget that we each have the power to make a difference. The problems of the world can seem insurmountable. Most of us are not Pauls….most of us are not bound to be major players of the stage of human history. But each and every one of us can be the lead fish or the lead goose.
Each and every one of us has the opportunity every single day to shuv, to turn towards God and return to healing and hope. It might be pausing to look someone in the eye or offering a kind word. It might be making the active choice to stop doomscrolling and savor a moment with God instead. It might be voting or writing a check or playing with a child or having a difficult conversation with someone that helps them move towards healing. Heck, it might even be as simple as NOT saying the unkind thing, NOT reposting the funny meme that’s actually a little cruel.
The choices we make to turn towards Love are not always big...but they always matter. And often we do not see the ripples we send out into the world. But just as the school of fish seems to turn at once, humans can change whole societies by dancing together towards justice and peace and kindness and health.
One of the great questions about this story from Acts is, of course, why Saul? Why would God choose to use someone who was so vehemently against Jesus? Weren’t there other candidates who could have written most of the New Testament who weren’t murderers?
I’m certain there were. But the story of Saul invites us to consider the ways our God’s grave is different from those precise mathematical computations necessary for NASA.
There isn’t a go/no-go point in our lives. There isn’t a point of no return when it comes to God’s love. There isn’t a path we can put ourselves on that can’t be altered.
In God’s eyes there is always room for resurrection...new life. In God’s eyes we are always just one step away from turning and making new choices, returning to the people God created us to be. In God’s eyes it’s not “go/no-go” it’s just an unending invitation…”go...go...go...go…” do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with me.
Did you miss your chance yesterday? The invitation is still there…”go...go….go...go...turn and return to the ways of love.”
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