"REPURPOSED!"

 

TEXT:      Acts 9:1-22

 

 

INTRO:    I want you to see these two pictures:  These are the two doors leading into the sanctuary in the church in Vergennes, Vermont and the cross over the baptismal tank.

 

                                       

 

What is interesting about these two pictures is that when we were building the first building program for the church in Vergennes these two doors for the sanctuary were delivered as solid doors with no windows.  As I was installing them I got concerned that people would get hurt since we hinged the doors to swing in both directions - in and out.  Since you couldn't see who might be on the other side you could swing the door into someone coming through.  So, I decided to cut a slot in each door and put in a piece of glass so you could see from either side if someone was also trying to come through them, thus avoiding the accidental collisions.  The two pieces of wood that were cut out were going to be tossed away.  Suddenly, it hit me that we would need a nice cross over the baptismal tank.  So instead of throwing away the two pieces of wood cut out of the doors, I took them and repurposed them and made a cross to hang in the baptismal area.  So what would have been tossed away became the materials used to make that cross that is still there to this day.  I even mentioned to the elders at that time that Jesus said he was the "door" so now the cross came from the door. 

 

The point of sharing this is that we often did a lot of repurposing during the three building programs.  Scrap wood that was being tossed away was taken by Doug Yantz and he made a beautiful pulpit out of it, and I used that pulpit to preach from for almost 20 years.

 

This is the story of God and us!  Once mankind had sinned and fallen away from God – God immediately set to work to repurpose His creation back into a real relationship with Him.  He didn’t just let us become wasted or useless material.

 

So, no matter who you are today, no matter what you've done, no matter how far away from God you have lived, if you give God a chance, He can repurpose your life into an amazing life.

 

PROP. SENT:  The Bible teaches us that God always tries to repurpose our lives so that we can live a life that is both pleasing to God and productive for this world.  God changes people, and changed people change the world!  You are never too bad for God to repurpose!

 

I.   THIS IS US!   Acts 9:1-22

 

A.   Misguided!   Acts 9:1-3

1.   We see a man named Saul of Tarsus in Acts 9:1-3.  He was quite a character.

a.   No one hated Christians more than Saul!

b.   He literally rounded up the early Christians and arrested them, some who were put to death for their belief in Jesus as the Messiah.

c.   Saul had stood by when Stephen was stoned to death, Saul was watching the robes of those killing Stephen.

2.   Saul went to great lengths to find them, even in faraway places.  This is what is happening here in Acts 9 in the early verses.

3.   He literally thought he was doing God's work in getting rid of these crazy people called "The Way" – the early name for the believers.

a.   He didn’t care if they were men or women, they were all arrested.

b.   Saul was cold hearted about getting rid of believers!

4.   Many of the great people in the Bible started out as MISGUIDED souls.

a.   Moses – in his early years he kills an Egyptian overlord in his zeal, and it cost him becoming an outcast instead of a future ruler of Egypt.  He fled for fear of being punished by Pharaoh. 

b.   Matthew was a tax collector, hardly the stuff to become a disciple of Jesus’.

c.   Peter and Andrew were fishermen, not exactly the kind of disciples that we would think could change the world.

d.   James and John were the "sons of thunder" – their emotional outbursts had gained a reputation as being overly passionate.  Again, hardly the stuff we would have thought of for leaders in the early church.

e.   Simon the Zealot – his name says it all, he was a political zealot, all he wanted to do was overthrow Rome.  Hardly the material to be a leader of a kingdom that was to be God’s kingdom, a kingdom of peace!

5.   You could put your own name in here!  We were likely not the best examples or material for God to use before we became Christians!

6.   But God is in the business or repurposing lives!  So ANYONE can become useful in God’s kingdom; with His Spirit in us it changes everything!  Jesus changed everything when He died on the cross for our sins.

 

B.   Misgivings!   Acts 9:4-14

1.   Notice in the story about Saul of Tarsus that God found him, and now calls him into ministry as an apostle! 

a.   He was going from Saul of Tarsus, to Paul the apostle!

b.   How exciting, except the early believers had misgivings about this sudden turn in his life, it was so radical!

2.   Saul is struck down on the road to Damascus – he is blinded and hears Jesus ask him why he (Saul) was persecuting Jesus!

a.   Notice that Jesus didn't say he was persecuting the followers, but Jesus Himself!

b.   If you hurt someone who belongs to Christ, it is the same as hurting Jesus!

3.   For 3 days and nights Saul was blind, and he did not eat anything.  Now what?

4.   Jesus speaks to a man named Ananias who was a follower of Jesus, and a leader of the early believers. 

a.   Jesus tells Ananias to go into town and find the house on "Straight Street" and he will find Saul of Tarsus.

b.   At the same time, Saul was praying and Jesus told him a man named Ananias would be coming to pray over him and he would be healed of his blindness.

c.   At first thought, this sounded great – BUT

5.   Notice Ananias' response to Jesus’ request for him to go and pray over Saul to heal him, Acts 9:13-14  "'Lord,' Ananias answered, 'I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.  And he has come  here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.'"

a.   Ananias had serious misgivings about this man, and this assignment!

b.   It is one thing to pray for a couple of fishermen, or a tax collector, but not someone like Saul of Tarsus!  He was a horrible man to early believers!

6.   Who can you think of that would fit this picture, they would be the last person you would want to pray for in person?

a.   No one is too far from God to be reached!

b.   God can change anyone!

 

II.  THIS IS GOD!   Acts 9:15-22

 

A.   Merciful!   Acts 9:15-16

1.   In spite of Ananias' misgivings about Saul, here is Jesus’ pronouncement about Saul in the next verse Acts 9:15-16 "But the Lord said to Ananias, 'Go!  This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.  I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.'"

a.   What man saw as Saul of Tarsus, God saw as Paul the Apostle!

b.   Jesus doesn’t see us the way we are, but the way we become in Him.

c.   In Christ the old man has died, and was buried with Christ.  We are born again, and have an entirely new identity.

2.   In Christ we experience mercy, and forgiveness of all sins!

a.   This new identity gives us the ability to not only think differently, but to act differently.

b.   This change is real, not just a religious face.  It goes deep to the heart and soul of a person.

c.   It changes drug dealers into elders, gossipers into preachers, liars into people of truth, etc.

d.   These are not superficial changes; they are deep, ingrained by the mercy of God and His grace.

 

B.   Missional!   Acts 9:17-22

1.   In spite of his early misgivings about Saul, notice how Ananias addresses Saul the moment he meets him in the house on Straight Street, Acts 9:17 "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.'"

a.   Though nervous, Ananias refers to Saul now as "Brother Saul."

b.   This was no easy change for Ananias!

2.   Immediately the next verses state, Saul was healed and baptized.  He regained his strength.

3.   You will note that as soon as Saul began to minister, the other believers had similar misgivings about this sudden change in Saul; yet as time goes on his life proves that he was transformed by Jesus.

4.   And it isn’t long before he no longer is Saul of Tarsus, but the Apostle Paul, who writes much of the New Testament that we have today.

5.   This is what God does through Christ, He takes the most unsavory person who is evil and literally changes them into a beautiful life of faith, and powerful living in the eyes of this world.

a.   Nothing proves Christianity more to others than a changed life!

b.   If God can change a Saul of Tarsus, He can change you too!

 

CONCLUSION:   What keeps you from believing that God wants you, just the way you are now?  Did you know that Jesus can change anyone?  There is no one so bad or so far away from God that they are hopeless.  We are all candidates for God to repurpose us into lives used for God’s purposes!