What We Call One Another Makes All the Difference; Sermon on Acts 9:1-25

Rev. George Miller
July 7, 2019
Acts 9:1-25

Today’s rather lengthy reading is such a vital moment for the church and one of its most illuminating-

The #1 threat to the Good News becomes the biggest proponent of the Christian message.

Today’s reading is not just about the Resurrected Christ, or about Saul.

It is about a man named Ananias who calls Saul “Brother”, and a community that welcomes him in when they could’ve easily shut him out.

Grace and mercy; mercy and grace.

So let’s get going-

The Holy Spirit has been moving through the early church.

Peter has found his voice; a man who was crippled has been given a new lease on life.

Philip has discovered that he can preach and heal. The Court Official from Ethiopia has been welcomed into the family of Christ.

But in the midst of all these events are the hot, violent storms of persecution coming from a man named Saul.

Saul is an overly exuberant Pharisee who is all about keeping things “as is.”

He’s a young, high achiever who believes it’s either the right way or wrong way, and Christianity is the wrong way.

So Saul wages a war against all things Christ. He’s going into folks homes, dragging them out.

He’s ravaging their places of worship. He’s sending folks to jail. He’s going to their trials just so he can vote to have them killed.

He sets religious traps to weed believers out, and he gets local officials to approve all the havoc he can create.

In other words, Saul is his very own ICE unit, and he’s after Christians.

Today’s story begins with Saul breathing hot hate against the disciples.

He’s gone to the higher ups seeking permission to travel to Damascus to capture more followers of Christ.

Men or women, it doesn’t matter to Saul, just as long as he can drag them back to the state capital and have them persecuted.

But here’s the thing- Damascus is 140 miles away; a week’s journey.

In a world before Facebook, planes, trains, and UBER, why would anyone care what grown folk are doing so far away in the privacy of their own homes and houses of worship?

I don’t care how athletic you are or how much you track your exercise on a FitBit, who in their right mind would waste their life taking 280,000 steps so they can bust into churches and rip people from their pews?

What was really going on with Saul that he felt he had this righteous need to hunt out and humiliate anyone who did not believe as he did?

There is passion for what you love; and then there is obsession with what you hate…

It seems that traveling 140 miles is a bit much.

So we got to wonder- What was Saul really storming off to? OR- what was Saul really running away from?

Cause no one puts that much effort into hurting others unless they themselves are dealing with great hurt.

…We will never know what Saul was really, really dealing with, internally.

What we can focus on though, is how Saul was received after his miraculous encounter with the Resurrected Christ.

As Acts tells us, Saul experiences a bright light, hears a voice call out his name, and is struck blind.

He is left helpless in the wilderness; MAGENTA; and requires the help of others to make his way into town.

The Saul who had planned to storm in breathing hot flames of fire, is escorted like a helpless babe who needs to be bathed and fed.

There, he is greeted by one of the very people he had planned to arrest, a man named Ananias.

Ananias knows exactly who Saul is; he knows what Saul is all about; but inspired by God, Ananias goes to where Saul is, lays his hands on the very man who meant to hurt him and everyone he knew…

…and calls him “Brother Saul.”

Not “Pharisee”. Not “Persecutor”. Not “Police Officer”.

Not “Mr. Mad-At-The-Whole-World-And-Everybody-In-It.”

But “Brother.”

Brother Saul.

…Because names have POWER, and names affect how we see, are seen, and how we treat one another.

Please allow me to share a personal story:

Years ago I was living off of Dinner Lake, in an apartment complex made up of families who were from Sebring.

We’re talking about individuals who have a southern drawl, aren’t afraid of gators, like their cigarettes, their beer, their country music, and their guns.

Here I am, from the north, gay, church pastor, listening to Lalah Hathaway, and living in the “Lake House” by the water, while everyone else was in the concrete apartments up the hill.

One Sunday after service, I came home wanting nothing more than to relax, but my neighbors were down by the water, blasting their music, talking loud, jumping off the dock, catching fish.

I just wanted to lay out on my porch and fall asleep but that’s hard to do when folks are cranking their country.

I was feeling so angry, but decided I was not going to be “that guy.” I was not going to be that snobbish Yankee killjoy.

So I grabbed a bottle of Tequila that had been languishing in the fridge, all the shot glasses I could find, and made my way to the water… and was I ever well received!

Folks gathered round. Drinks were poured. Toasts were made. And the afternoon was spent talking, chatting, swimming, and just being neighborly.

But here’s the biggest thing- my name was changed. One person called me “Bubba.” Another called me “Uncle George.”

And I knew enough to know that names like that are not randomly given out; names like that have to be earned; they are a token of affection and of trust.

From that moment on I became part of something I originally felt so angry about.

…and that night, I intentionally fell asleep without locking my doors, because I knew I was now part of a community that could be trusted, that would protect me at any cost, even though I may have been different.

Names, title, and what we call one another makes all a difference.

For example, if you walk into a store or attend an event in which you don’t know anyone but people call you “Chief”, “Papi”, “Mama”, “Fam”, “Sister”, or “Son”, know that what they are really bestowing upon you is an honor that says-

“I SEE you.” “I TRUST you.” “I KNOW you.”

Names make all the difference. Names affect how we are treated; names affect how we act.

For example, the current issue with illegal immigrants. Not many people realize that is not the correct name.

According to our nation’s immigration laws, no one is listed as a “legal” or “illegal” immigrant.

They are either someone who is “in status” or “out of status.”

May not seem like a big deal, but think of how different we as a nation may treat or react to people if we stopped calling someone “illegal.”

Same can be said for physical and mental conditions.

How often have we heard someone described as being “bipolar” as opposed to “living with a bipolar diagnosis.”

How often do we say someone is disabled as opposed to “living with a disability.”

Rev. Andy Conyer of UNITY Church teaches that we are not our emotions, but that we experience our emotions.

In other words, Rev. Conyer suggests that instead of saying “I’m angry,” as if it’s a title, you say “I feel angry.”

Instead of saying “I’m sad,” state “I feel sad.”

It may not seem like a huge shift, but by refusing to be named by one’s emotion, one is free to faithfully address why they feel the way they do.

Names make a difference. Labels make a difference.

How we call one another and are called by one another can shift the very nature of our own personal narrative.

Imagine what could have happened if Ananias had decided not to call Saul “Brother.”

Imagine if he had called him a “Pig” or “Persecutor.”

Imagine if he refused to greet Saul at all, and instead left him standing blindly in a room full of strangers.

Imagine where our faith would be, where the Gospel would be, where WE would be, if Ananias had refused the nudge from God and said “That man is no brother of mine!”

Would we even be here today? Would Emmanuel UCC stand?

Ananias welcomed a call from God, and in return called Saul “Brother”, and it made ALL the difference.

Today we are reminded just how revolutionary it is to be part of the Family of Christ.

That though we are all, in many ways, people living between “magenta” and mountaintops, we are so much more.

We are not just Elaine and Carnide, Curt and Lisa, Sonia and Walter, Betty and George.

But we have other names too.

We are Sisters and Brothers in Christ.

We are Children of God.

We are Sons and Daughters of the Spirit.

We are Beacons of Light.

We are Voices of Change.

We are Hands of Christ.

We are Emmanuel UCC.

In Christ, our names are more than what we have been born with. Our names are more than what we do; or how we feel, or how we act.

Our names are indications of Who We Belong To, what we mean to one another, and who Christ calls us to be to the world.

We are Brothers and Sisters, Hermanos y Hermanas, Frere et Soeur.

Bubbas and Bubbettes.

Praise be to God, Amen!