To say he was not a nice man is just about the kindest thing you could say about him. You know the type; they are smugly arrogant. They are convinced they see the world more clearly than everyone else and they quickly become agitated with anyone who would dare to disagree with them. You don’t want to get into an argument with these kinds of people because they are completely incapable of letting it go; they harass, and torment, and badger you to death. As a result, you end up walking on eggshells around them. No doubt you have learned, from personal experience, it is best just to avoid these types of people.

You know the type, but this guy was the prototype of the type. This guy for some irrational reason hated Christians. He stood and watched with glee as an angry mob crushed Stephen’s skull with rocks because they didn’t like how Stephen kept proclaiming that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah. Seeing the blood of a Christian soak into the ground must have made something snap inside this guy, because shortly after the stoning of Stephen he starts going from house to house and dragging Christian men and women off to prison. This guy was so filled with hatred for Christians that all throughout the city of Jerusalem he screamed “murderous threats” against them. This guy was so consumed with hatred for the Christians that he asked permission to travel to other cities and hunt them down. He actually went to the high priest and asked for letters to the synagogues so that if he found any Christians there, he would have authority to drag them back to Jerusalem and throw them in prison with the rest of their kind. This guy goes out of his way to be hateful to people. As I said, to say he was not a nice man is just about the kindest thing you could say about him.

So, you can imagine the apprehension that filled Ananias when the Lord told him to “11 Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and” visit that man. 13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

We understand Ananias’ apprehension. Ananias “was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living”[1] in Damascus, but he wasn’t a rockstar apostle like Peter. Peter was like the Warren Buffett of disciples, when Peter spoke people listened. One time Peter preached a sermon so powerful that it converted about 3,000 people to Christianity.[2] Further, Peter was filled with power from the Holy Spirit. People from all over brought their sick and those tormented by evil spirits to have Peter heal them.[3] Finally, Peter wasn’t afraid of anyone. On more than one occasion he stood defiantly before the Sanhedrin (the very men that handed Jesus over to Pilate to be crucified) and refused to stop preaching about Jesus Christ risen from the dead, saying “we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”[4] If anyone should be sent by the Lord to visit the hateful man on Straight Street, you would think it would have been a rockstar apostle like Peter, not Ananias. Nothing against Ananias. He was, as I have already said, a devote observer of the law, but that is basically all we know about him. There is only one other place he is mentioned in all of scripture and that is simply a reference to this encounter he has with the hateful man. As quickly as Ananias appears on the pages of Scripture he disappears and is never heard from again.

You wouldn’t think the Lord would pick an ordinary Christian like Ananias to go visit the hateful man on Straight Street, but He did. Still today the church has its fair share of rockstars, and yet the Lord often uses ordinary Christians to do His work; the Lord often uses people like you and me. It makes you wonder if those smugly arrogant people you try to avoid are in your life for a reason. Could it be that the Lord is calling on you to step out in faith and go visit them?

Ananias was understandably apprehensive about visiting the hateful man on Straight Street. However, the Lord reassured Ananias, “15… Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” I wonder what Ananias thought when he heard these words. No one wanted to share anything good with the Romans. The Romans were jerks to the Jews. The guy who was sent to do mission work among them would have a tough time of it to be sure. I wonder if Ananias was filled with a mix of relief and sympathy; relief that the Lord had not sent him to the Romans and sympathy for they guy the Lord had told him to go visit.

When Ananias entered the house on Straight Street, he did not find a hateful man, he found a broken man; a man who had been knocked off his high horse (or in this case donkey), robbed of his sight, and was wasting away in front of him. Ananias approached the man and placed “17… his hands on” him. It was just a little thing; a simple touch of the hand, but sometimes there is a great deal of power in a simple touch of the hand. I learned that lesson a long, long time ago in a state far, far away while working in a nursing home. Occasionally one of the residents would become agitated; either dementia was scaring them, or they were frustrated by their lack of mobility and freedom, or they were hurt that their family did not come to see them. You could try reasoning with them, you could try to bribe them with extra desert, but, more often than not, I found 5 minutes sitting by their bedside holding their hand calmed them down faster and more reliably than anything else. I was reminded of the power of touch a few weeks ago when I passed a bridge player in the hallway here at church. The poor thing was in tears because she is losing her eyesight and doesn’t know how much longer she can play cards with her friends. I didn’t know what to do so I did what any of you would have done and probably have done in similar situations, I hugged her and let her cry. I don’t know if it helped, I don’t know if she will remember it, after all it was just a little thing.

Ananias spoke kindly to the man. He called him “17… brother”. I know it doesn’t seem like much, it wasn’t exactly an eloquent oration like Peter was known to deliver, but sometimes it is not so much what you say but how you say it. A few days ago, I was talking with a friend. She told me someone she cares about; someone she is very close to had been diagnosed with stomach cancer. The news has been hard on her family. She told me, ‘you have no idea how hard it is to listen to your father cry.’ She tried to laugh it off, but I could hear the pain in her voice. I didn’t know what to say, so I said what you would have said, what you no doubt have said in similar situations. I told her the body was not meant to be eaten by cancer and we were not meant to contemplate the death of loved ones. I told her, “sin sucks”. I wasn’t very eloquent. my words were not profound. I doubt she will remember our conversation, after all it was only a little thing.

Ananias told the man the Lord had sent him so that could regain his sight and “18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s [the man’s] eyes, and he could see again.” Admittedly, this is impressive. This is the kind of thing the rockstar apostles did. But I don’t think it was so much the majesty of the miracle that impacted the man, I think it was that Ananias met the man’s immediate need. Little things like kindness go a long way, even for those of us who do not have the power to cause scales to fall off people’s eyes. A few months ago, I was walking up to a building when I noticed the gentleman in front of me was struggling with the door. He was in a wheelchair and while the building had a handicapped ramp it did not have electric doors. So, I jogged ahead to catch up to him, held the door open for him, and he wheeled on in. He said thank you and we went our separate ways. Now I seriously doubt I am the only one here who has ever held a door open for a person in a wheelchair. I am confident if presented with the opportunity everyone here would do the same. And I doubt the man gave it a second thought. Compared to the struggles he must face on a daily basis I don’t imagine a random stranger holding a door open made much of a difference in his life, after all it was only a little thing.

After the man regained his sight Ananias “18… baptized” him. Ananias shared the means of grace with the man. Nothing fancy, nothing dramatic just plain water, applied in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Last Monday as I walked in Erin was taking a message from a man named Albert who wanted to ask the pastor a question. I am sure something like this has happened to you before. Someone finds out you go to church, and they want to know why or they see how your faith provides you strength when times are tough and they want to know if faith can do the same for them. Albert had recently discovered that Jesus was both a descendant of David and Aaron, making Jesus both a king and a priest. We talked for a little bit about the sacrifice Jesus made as the great High priest and how He would one day return as our king. We talked for 20 minutes or so and then said goodbye. I will likely never speak to Albert again. Chances are he will forget me as faster than I forget him. I don’t imagine our conversation made much of an impact on him, after all it was only a little thing.

After he finished visiting with the man the Lord had sent him to visit, Ananias disappears from the pages of history. And why shouldn’t he? He was simply an ordinary Christian who didn’t do anything spectacular, remarkable, or extraordinary, he just simply did a few little things. But think about what God accomplished through the little things done by this ordinary Christian. I know you know the name of the man Ananias went to visit. After Ananias visited him, the man became one of the greatest missionaries of all time. It is estimated that the man Ananias went to visit personally started at least 20 Christian churches. Those Christian churches daughtered other Christian churches and soon all of Rome was filled with Christians, so much so that in 313A.D. The Roman Emperor Constantine signs the Edict of Milan and Christianity becomes the official religion of Rome. From Rome Christianity spread to different continents all over the globe, including North America and the town you grew up in and the city you now call home. In a way, you, and billions of others, believe in Jesus as your Savior because of the little things done by an ordinary Christian named Ananias.

More than one sermon has been preached about the man Ananias went to visit, but today I didn’t want to preach a sermon about that man. I wanted to preach a sermon about Ananias so that you could see what great things the Lord can do through the little things done by ordinary Christians, just like you. Now, I am not saying every little thing you do is going to change the world, but I am saying … it could. Therefore, my fellow ordinary Christians, let’s Go, let’s go out into the world and do the little things to the glory of our God. Amen.

[1] Acts 22:12

[2] Acts 2:41

[3] Acts 5:16

[4] Acts 4:20