Acts 9:1-19
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 prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and he did not eat or drink anything.
In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.
The Lord said to 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 saints 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 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.”
The high school football season starts this week so I think that’s why I thought of this story.
My introduction to tackle football came in a 5th grade pee-wee league near our town. My Dad loved football so he got me signed up.
I loved it too - until about the 3rd game of the season.
The other team had this giant red-headed kid named O'Neill who was terrorizing our team. Ever play he just stood up, pushed the kid trying to block him out of the way and tackled our quarterback. Every play. It was like the Israelites vs. Goliath and Goliath was a pre-pubescent monster named O'Neill.
About half way into the game I was standing on the sidelines minding my own business waiting for the game to end when the coach yelled, "Hey, Coffey, c'mere!"
He said, "I want you to go in there and block O'Neill!"
Now I was a skinny wide receiver and had never blocked anyone in my life. But I couldn't say no to the coach. So I just nodded my head dutifully and started toward the field. Then my Dad, who was watching the game from the sideline, and who I found out later had told the coach that his skinny son could block O’Neill, took
me aside.
Now, my Dad not only loved football but he had been an all-conference lineman way back in high school. He said, "I know he's big, but this is how you do it. When he stands up, you just hit him right in the belly with your helmet, and he'll stop. Trust me."
So I ran onto the field scared out of my mind.
I lined up in front of O'Neill and he looked at me like he was going to eat me for a snack.
The ball was snapped, he stood up, I hit him as hard as I could with my helmet....and I could hear the air go out of his lungs. Whoooosh.
The next play...the same exact thing.
On the third play, O'Neill started crying. I don’t think he made another tackle, we went on to win the game, and I was a hero! The great slayer of O'Neill!
But the best feeling was knowing that I had been given an assignment and had done the job!
The story of Saul reminds us that the gospel comes with an assignment.
To Saul, Jesus says, “...go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
To Ananias, Jesus says, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul.”
To Saul now Paul, Jesus says in Acts 22, “Go, I will send you far away to the Gentiles.”
And he has an assignment for each one of us.
One of my dreams here at FBCG is to be able to stop anyone anytime and ask, "Hey, where are you serving? What's your gospel assignment?" and have people look right back at me and with both certainty and enthusiasm say:
“I serve in Children’s ministries!”
“I serve in the Food Pantry.”
“I coach my daughter’s soccer team.”
“I am a member of the iPray community.”
“I love to invite women to join me at Moms Together.”
We know that the gospel is the power of God for salvation; but God doesn’t save us just so that we can know we are going to heaven when we die. He also saves us for something! The gospel always comes with an assignment.
There are really two questions embedded in the good news of the gospel.
First: Do you know Jesus and what he has done for you?
Second: Do you know the assignment he has for you?
Pastor Brian Coffey
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