MaryEllen Montville

“The Lord told him, ‘Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” –Acts 9:11-14.

Warning! Today’s message will not be warm and fuzzy—hopeful, yes, always, but challenging. Yet so long as there is breath in the lungs, there is hope, to change, to grow in obedience, to repent…

I felt led today to speak to the “Ananias” in you and me, beloved of God. Spiritually speaking, of course. To the visceral repulsion, that inner alarm which sounds when fear arises in us the moment, we encounter man’s hatred toward man. Sadly, we’re reading about such hatred on a near-daily basis these days, witnessing its byproduct: bruised and bloody fist-to-cuffs, on our television screens. We hear about man’s hatred toward man on radio broadcasts or podcasts. Then, there’s the visceral hatred and persecution God’s people are experiencing personally, around the globe, simply because of who they are, and the fear associated with them—that, sadly, will never change until Jesus comes. I speak of the Jewish communities and of us, Christians.

Still, not all of what we see and hear about is evil.

Some of what we interpret as evil or hatred in men is them being “Sauls unawares.” People who, unknowingly, are waiting on the Lord’s timing to become who He, not our enemy, has destined them to be: “a Paul.” “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name. “But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.” –Acts 9:15 –Acts 9:13-15.

You want me to love him, Lord? Her? That one? He’s covered in tattoos! She’s confessed to having been a prostitute! Have you seen how they act? Heard how filthy their mouths are. They hate me—us, Your own children, and you want me to pray for them? Love them as a brother?

I felt led to speak to the “Ananias” living inside every Blood-bought believer—starting with me. To remind us, those who love Jesus, serve and obey Him, that apart from the love we know began when He first loved us—loving those who appear to be our enemy, who look different, dress, talk, live differently than we do—can feel impossible. Ananias teaches us that. Only by loving others as Jesus loves us does this become possible. “We love because he first loved us.” –1 John 4:19.

The very instant we forget that just a moment ago we, too, looked, dressed, talked, and lived differently, the door to our experiencing fear and hatred opens.

We live in a world that has seen many life-changing, life-saving advancements. Sadly, however, men’s hearts have remained much the same. “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil” –Jeremiah 13:23.

How I’d love to tell you, assure myself of the fact, that Jeremiah wrote such ineludible words to convict an unbelieving world, but he didn’t; Jeremiah was addressing God’s chosen people—us, Christians included, having been grafted into His people, Israel; we’re the bullseye Jeremiah was aiming such pointed words toward, our hearts the target such conviction was intended to pierce. Since time immemorial, man has been incapable of changing his own heart with any true and lasting effect; Ananias couldn’t, neither can you and me.

It is said, “The very best of men are just men at best.”

Said Scripturally: “The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out. But I, God, search the heart and examine the mind. I get to the heart of the human. I get to the root of things. I treat them as they really are, not as they pretend to be.” –Jeremiah 17:9

Just as we have no idea the depths of darkness and deceit in our own hearts, conversely, because of Who lives inside of us, neither can we fathom the unplumbed levels of love, compassion, or obedience, even, which exist within us; only God knows. It’s His, all of it; of Him, entrusted to us for a time.

And, thanks be to God that it is because Jesus causes what’s been entrusted to us to be poured out on others to bring about their salvation, realignment, correction, calling, or redirection, all for the sake of His Kingdom plans and purpose. “However, we possess this precious treasure [the divine Light of the Gospel] in [frail, human] vessels of earth, that the grandeur and exceeding greatness of the power may be shown to be from God and not from ourselves.” –2 Corinthians 4:7

Jesus did this with Ananias, using what He had placed in him to bring about Paul’s salvation long before Ananias was filled with apprehension, confusion, and perhaps fear of Paul, when Jesus tasked him with finding and praying for the very man who was hunting Jesus’ followers like prey. “Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.” –Acts 9:1-2

But here, beloved, is where hope, the sugar in the salt of today’s message, is found—in Jesus—in Whom every man’s hope is found. Hope conceived in the womb of faith and birthed when Jesus’ strength and our remembering of His faithfulness in times past, partner. Jesus imparts His will into us, using our hands and feet to ensure His will is done. Never our own. Never in our own strength or ability, remember, friends, it won’t last! Even those things we claim as ours: faith, obedience, perseverance, endurance, etc., are all gifts from God used to accomplish His plans and Kingdom purpose. But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.” –Acts 9:15

Hear me, friends: this is not a message intended to condemn anyone, God forbid!

No, the Holy Spirit placed this on my heart as a mirror of sorts, held up to me first, then to all who call themselves followers of Jesus, or who will be, soon. Why? As a reminder not to react in our flesh, instead, to respond in the Spirit when, not if, we encounter man’s hatred of man on display, as Ananias did.

We cannot, must not, respond in kind with fear or hatred.

Was Ananias frightened? doubtless.

Was he apprehensive about approaching Saul? Scripture makes it pretty clear he was.

Did any of that stop him from obeying God, finding Saul, and praying for him? Absolutely not!

The very same man whom Ananias once feared, he ended up calling brother. “Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” –Acts 9:17

That, beloved, is the power of this Treasure we carry in these earthen vessels on irrefutable display!

I pray when you and I encounter our “Saul,” and we will, we’ll follow Ananias’s example of unwavering faith in the face of our fear and we’ll pray for those who hate, persecute and deceitfully use us by remembering these two things, one: “our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places.” –Ephesians 6:10

And two: Jesus commands those He calls His own to: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” –Matthew 22:37-40

Do you know Jesus, friend? His power to overcome fear and hatred? If not, you can today. Invite Jesus into your life, offer Him your weakness in exchange for His strength. Ask Him to forgive your sins, He will, if you’re sincere. Paul did! And look at how the Lord used him! “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.” –Romans 10:9-10