Rochester, MN UCC - "Vision Restored" - Acts 9:1-20

A few years back we were in the market for a new car, or at least a car that was new to us.  I’m not much of a car guy- makes and models of cars are not things of which I usually take note.  But the process of buying a car changed that for me.  All of sudden, everywhere I went I saw cars that I now knew something about- “There’s a new Prius, there’s a late model Toyota Camry…”  Of course these cars had always been there, but now it was like a veil had been removed; I suddenly saw each and every car, noticed it, gave it thought.  Something to which I was typically blind, had become visible all around me. 

In the 9th Chapter of Acts, Paul is on his way to Damascus to bring the followers of Christ bound in chains to Jerusalem when he is struck blind by his vision of the risen Christ.  He is unable to see for several days until Ananias lays his hands on him and he receives the Holy Spirit.  At this very moment, “something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored to him.”  When his vision returns Paul is baptized and immediately begins proclaiming that Jesus is the Son of God.  Up until that point Paul had been unable to see that Jesus was the Son of God, he was unable to understand Jesus’ gospel as good news.  But after he receives the Holy Spirit all that changes- now everywhere he looks he sees the good news of the resurrection and his life is forever changed.

Among the many reasons to come to worship is the hope of having an experience that changes how you see the world.  Building a relationship with God in Jesus Christ is something that changes us and changes how we see things.  Hopefully we begin to see others as beloved children of God.  Hopefully, we begin to see reasons for hope in the midst of despair.  Hopefully we become more humble, more ready to forgive, more ready to extend compassion and generosity.  Let us all hope for this: that our continued relationship with God will let the scales fall from our eyes so that we may see the world anew, see it closer to the way that God Herself sees it.

Pastor Andrew Greenhaw