Acts 9 vs 1 - 9
The Difference a Question Can Make
I must confess that when I read to the two passages for today’s service (John 21 vs 1 – 19, Acts 9 vs 1-9)
I was very tempted to run a mile from the Road To Damascus story. Yes, it’s one of the most significant
events in world history. Yes, I believe this is one of the ways we can encounter God today. BUT, it feels
far too sensational for ordinary Christians like me to relate.
And yet, I kept being pulled back to this passage and I began to study it, a thought struck me:
it’s amazing the difference a question can make. And so I began to look at this idea of questions in
more detail and realised that there was a lot to get my teeth into.
Questions: Who wants to be a millionaire? How do you solve a problem like Maria? Who shot JR?
What’s the capital city of Mongolia? Why are you late? How’s your knee, is it better?
Will you marry me? Would you be willing to stand for the PCC?
Questions. They can open a whole world of opportunity, challenge us, mystify us, teach us, affirm us,
change us, and engage us.
In reading the Bible, you discover that God is a fan of asking questions. To Adam – ‘Where are you?’
(Genesis 3 vs 9); to Cain ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ (Genesis 4 vs 9); to Job ‘Where were you when I
laid the earth’s foundations? ’ (Job 38 vs 4) (In fact He asks Job 27 questions in ch 38 alone);
To his disciples ‘Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention
to the plank in your own eye? (Matthew 7 vs 3); To the Pharisees when asked about paying taxes,
‘Whose portrait and whose inscription is on this coin?’ (Matt 22 vs 20); To Simon Peter in the gospel
reading today ‘ Simon, son of John, do you truly love me?’ (John 21 vs 15, 16); To Saul/ Paul ‘Saul,
Saul, why do you persecute me? (Acts 9 vs 4)
Today by looking at the passage from Acts chapter 9, I want to explore the difference a question
can make
The Context
We meet Saul in Chapter 9, storming down to Damascus ‘breathing murderous threats’ vs 1, aiming to
imprison those who followed ‘The Way’. Luke’s portrayal is more of a wild animal than a human being.
This is not Saul’s first mention in Acts. In Ch 8 verse 1 we are told he witnesses and approves of the
stoning of Stephen, a few verses later we are told he is beginning to destroy the church (Ch 8 vs 3).
His trip to Damascus is to catch those who have escaped the net in Jerusalem.
So Saul is a passionate opponent of ‘The Way’/ Christianity. He’s not in the mood for considering the
claims of Christ. And yet by the end of the chapter he is ‘speaking boldly in the name of the Lord’
and is himself being threatened with death by Grecian Jews (vs 29). Something changed
And the trigger to that change is described in vs 3 & 4: as Saul neared Damascus,
suddenly a light from Heaven flashed around him, he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying ‘Saul,
Saul, why do you persecute ?’ (vs 4)
Saint Paul on the road to Damascus
image: Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
In understanding this transformation, there are 4 features of the question I want to briefly expand:
God asked a personal question, a relational question, a revealing question and a
transforming question.
1) A Personal Question
The question was for Saul and no one else. His name is mentioned twice, the term ‘you’ is used.
His travelling companions see a light, hear a sound, but remain speechless; it’s not they that are
the focus. It’s Saul. This was a personal encounter for Saul with Jesus. And furthermore, it gets to
the heart of the matter: WHY are you persecuting me? It’s asking Saul what is making him tick.
We see this too in Jesus’ encounter with Peter: Do you really love me?
This is how Jesus operates with all of us. We are individuals, who he wants to meet personally
and intimately. Does that mean we look for bright lights, blindness and audible voices from heaven?
I don’t believe it does. God chooses the best strategy for each individual. For Saul,
in his state of mind he did really need a sledge hammer! For Elijah God chose to whisper.
For us it might be a pull at the heart, a nudge, a strong sense of compulsion, a Bible verse
jumping out at us, a few words repeatedly appearing in our minds, or something else.
Can you remember a time when you personally encountered Jesus? Do you expect to personally have a
personal encounter with Jesus?
2) A Relational Question.
By asking a question ‘Why do you persecute me?’ Jesus was inviting a response from Saul.
He could have said ‘Saul, you are an intelligent, well-educated, misguided and dangerous fool.
Stop causing trouble!’ But that would have put Saul in a corner, put his defences up and shut him up.
Jesus was aiming to start a conversation, open a dialogue and begin a relationship with Saul.
Through the question he appeals to Saul’s reason and intelligence, inviting Saul to give an answer
and in doing show demonstrates respect for Saul. Interestingly Saul doesn’t answer, but himself
asks a question ‘who are you, Lord?’ (vs 5). The conversation is flowing, the relationship is
beginning.
I find it quite mind-blowing that God who knows everything, still asks questions. In the
Garden of Eden he knew exactly where Adam was and why he was hiding, yet still he asked
‘Where are you?’ Thus a door is opened to a conversation. I personally often picture God making
commands or making promises, yet I am learning to see God asking questions again and again in
scripture and this encourages me. God wants to hear from me. It’s the practice of prayer,
God inviting us to speak. Because God wants a relationship that is two way.
3) A Revealing Question
In asking this question, ‘Why do you persecute me?’, Jesus is revealing a truth to Saul.
You can imagine the cogs turning in Saul’s mind as he mulls of the question as he continues his
walk to Damascus. The truth is that Jesus is identifying with his disciples, whatever you do to my
body, you do to me. Teaching that Saul/ Paul later unpackages in letters to various churches.
Implicit in this question is the message, ‘You are wrong Saul, those who you attack are right’
Another example of God using questions to reveal truth is God’s response to Job in the Old
Testament: 27 questions asked in a single chapter to get over the basic truth to Job –
I am much bigger than you!
These days in schools, questions aren’t just used to test what you know but also to inspire you
work things out. It’s called an enquiry approach. As a teacher, it’s a very satisfying thing to see
the light suddenly come on in a student’s face as you ask a question, experience that slightly
awkward silence and then suddenly they work it out. A question doesn’t just test, it can also teach.
4) A Transforming Question
This question on the road to Damascus begins a process of change in Saul’s life that continued
for the rest of his life. It grabs Saul’s attention, gets a dialogue going, challenges his
preconceived ideas and his wrong assumptions. It humbles him and opens him up to change.
And following the question, comes a command. ‘Get up and go to the city and you will be told what
to do’ (vs 6). Saul is still to go to Damascus, but now with a completely different agenda.
The pattern is the same in Jesus’ conversation with Simon Peter: Question ‘Do you really love me?’
Command ‘Feed my sheep’. Saul and Peter are to become the two key players in the early church for
the Jewish and gentile world. The transforming work that took place in these two men,
had a huge effect from the 1st Century to the present day. Their transformation has transformed
others.
Your road to Damascus?
image: Licenced under the GNU free licence
Author, Sukuru
Conclusion
Get personal – How’s your knee? Are you coping now that X has happened? Would you like to come for tea on Sunday?
Start new relationships.
A question could build a bridge with someone you feel you couldn’t at all relate with – Hello, do you live
local to St Denys? How long have you been coming here?
Help someone to recognise something- ‘I know you’re struggling at the moment, can you remember a time
when God felt close?’
Or maybe you could help a transformation – ‘Would you be interested in joining the PCC?’
But what about our relationship with God? Is there a question you want to ask God,
just like Saul did? Or is there a question Jesus is asking you? Maybe:
‘Why do you persecute me?’
‘Do you really love me?’
‘Where are you?’
‘Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations?’
‘Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
Or something else….
One question can make a big difference; maybe we can be part of a Damascus Experience every day!