Some of the greatest Christian art has been produced by people who might not be called “saintly” people. In fact, writes journalist Elizabeth Lunday, if you want a heavenly picture, it’s often best to hire a sinner. Take for instance the painting, The Calling of St. Matthew by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. See how the apostle is in a dark and dirty Roman tavern, surrounded by the “riff-raff” of society? That’s because Caravaggio spent plenty of time in these pubs himself, drinking and brawling. In 1606, this hot-tempered artist killed a guy in a fight following a tennis match. Makes John McEnroe look like a whimp!
Or how about Rembrandt’s 1633 etching The Good Samaritan? It’s so down to earth that it has a dog relieving itself in the foreground. Members of the Dutch Reformed Church loved Rembrandt’s realistic artwork but didn’t appreciate his relationships with women. He painted his wife, Saskia, as a prostitute in a tavern, sitting in the lap of one of the most well known of Jesus’ characters, the prodigal son. After Saskia died, he became lovers with his housekeeper and then left her for another servant, causing his housekeeper to take him to court. Messy stuff! Rembrandt lost the support of church members because of his behavior and died in poverty in 1669 — but not before he painted one of his greatest works, Return of the Prodigal Son. Like the sinful son in the parable, Rembrandt knew he needed forgiveness.
Then there’s Salvador Dali, the artist who created The Sacrament of the Last Supper. I actually had to do a paper on this painting in a college art education class. Although born to devout Catholic parents in Spain, he was an atheist who indulged every outlandish whim, including the throwing of orgies that he called “erotic masses.” Dali returned to his Catholic roots after moving to the United States, but some people questioned his sincerity. Dali may have been motivated more by money than by spirituality, bragging that postcards of his Last Supper sold more copies than all of the works of Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael combined.
Great Christian art, produced by not-so-great Christian artists — if indeed “Christian” at all.
One of the most amazing things about God’s grace is that it works through sinful human beings such as each of us. Isn’t it amazing that God’s grace works through the “broken brushes and sloppy colors” of our lives?
The great story of Paul’s conversion experience is an excellent example of how God’s amazing grace works through those broken brushes and sloppy color times. Paul, known at this point in the scriptures as his given name of Saul, is out ravaging the Way (those who call themselves followers of Jesus). He has been given permission by the high priest in Jerusalem to travel to Damascus to arrest them, bind them up, and bring them back to Jerusalem to be punished…or at least “shown” a different “way.”
Along the road from Jerusalem to Damascus as Saul nears Damascus, suddenly “a light from heaven flashed around him.” A voice speaks, asking why Saul is persecuting him. Saul replies with, “Who are you, Lord?” Jesus identifies himself as the speaker and reiterates that he is who Saul is persecuting, firmly identifying himself with the followers of the Way. Jesus further instructs Saul to enter the city, at which point he will be told what he is to do. At this point of the story Saul is not being claimed by the community of faith as a “saint;” more like a sinner.
Enter Ananias… Possibly could have been one of the wise leaders of the Way in Damascus. Perhaps he even could be claimed as a “saint” by the other followers of Jesus there. It is in Ananias’ conversation with God that we read this morning that the reader is told about Saul’s future ministry and suffering. And in the Lord’s words to Ananias, the reader is even given a preview of the future retellings of this conversion story, to “kings and … the people of Israel” (v. 15). This guy named Saul is going to be a “saint” in the stories told by the followers of Jesus. At this point Ananias would not have even given Saul the title of “saintly sinner” let alone “saint!”
Up to this point, Saul has been determined to wipe out the early church. But Jesus sees potential in him and calls him to be an apostle. But Ananias is not too thrilled to be asked by God to risk his life and the lives of the other Jesus followers for such an imperfect person as Saul. The Message translation of the passage puts it this way:
Ananias protested, "Master, you can't be serious. Everybody's talking about this man and the terrible things he's been doing, his reign of terror against your people in Jerusalem! And now he's shown up here with papers from the Chief Priest that give him license to do the same to us."
15-16But the Master said, "Don't argue. Go! I have picked him as my personal representative to non-Jews and kings and Jews. And now I'm about to show him what he's in for—the hard suffering that goes with this job."
17-19So Ananias went and found the house, placed his hands on blind Saul, and said, "Brother Saul, the Master sent me, the same Jesus you saw on your way here. He sent me so you could see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." No sooner were the words out of his mouth than something like scales fell from Saul's eyes—he could see again! He got to his feet, was baptized, and sat down with them to a hearty meal.
19-21Saul spent a few days getting acquainted with the Damascus disciples, but then went right to work, wasting no time, preaching in the meeting places that this Jesus was the Son of God. They were caught off guard by this and, not at all sure they could trust him, they kept saying, "Isn't this the man who wreaked havoc in Jerusalem among the believers?
Most of the time when we read from this passage of scripture (especially beginning in vs. 1, we focus on Saul’s conversion experience. But I want to focus on Ananis because it is when Ananias lays hands on Saul, he regains his sight and is filled with the Holy Spirit. I mean think about it- Within days, Saul is preaching in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God, and he goes on to become the apostle Paul — the one who spreads the gospel throughout the Mediterranean region. Paul is a saintly sinner, a man who admits to the Corinthians, “I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:9-10).
Could God have healed Saul without the help of Ananias, taught him the ways of Jesus, sent him to minister and spread the good news wherever he went? Of course! But it was more important to do something special, in and through, the community of believers. Sharing of stories- Saul’s, theirs, God’s story found in Jesus, and the story about those who did not yet know the God story found in Jesus besides Saul. Healing- work done through the community of faith by God; the healing of relationships; the building of trust; the development of a relationship from one saintly sinner to another. Sharing of a meal. Joining together in the waters of baptism. God’s grace towards Paul — and towards us — is not in vain. The Lord makes a beautiful picture with the broken brushes and sloppy colors of our lives through the efforts of the community of faith as witnessed through Ananias and the rest of the community of Jesus followers in Damascus.
I don’t know about you but I would take the label of “saintly sinner!” We are both saints and sinners, at the very same time; Martin Luther described us as simultaneously righteous and sinful. This means we don’t achieve some kind of moral perfection before the Lord begins to work through us; instead, God’s grace is doing great things while we are still struggling with sin. God paints truly beautiful pictures using people such as ourselves, the saintly sinners of this world. We are God’s instruments — paintbrushes, if you will — and God uses us to splash a wide range of colors on his canvas, including those colors we might consider to be rather ugly.
Many of you know I like to play golf, and golfers such as I realize there is a certain “etiquette”; certain rules that golfers must abide by. That’s why I want to tell you this story about a particular golfer named John. John, an avid golfer, came in from the course one Saturday. His wife, Mary, asked him with whom he had played that day. He said, “Oh, no one in particular.”
She asked, “Why don’t you play with Bill anymore?”
John replied, “Would you like to play golf with someone who throws his clubs, swears all the time, lies about his scores, moves his ball in the rough and won’t stop talking while you’re trying to play a shot?”
“Of course not!” said Mary.
John said, “Well, neither does Bill.”
For Ananias and the community of believers written about in the Book of Acts, they thought there was certain “etiquette, certain rules for being a part of the Christ follower community. Putting one’s life on the line, wasn’t necessarily their first choice? They were willing to sacrifice for the good of the community, but what God was asking them to do with Saul was “above and beyond” the call of obedience.
If it were me there I might have said, “I mean, seriously, God, you really want me to put my life on the line? How would you like to face the possibility of being arrested, tortured, and possibly killed? Oh wait a minute, you do know don’t you?”
You see the etiquette of God that Jesus taught is that for one to become a follower of Jesus and live out God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven meant that all were worthy of partaking of it- The imperfect; the despised by society; the despised by the community of faith; those who despise themselves. Think about it. God used Saul. God used Ananias who was a little questioning of the sanity of allowing a sinner such as Saul access to the community of believers in Jesus. If that is the case, why can’t God use you and I? Why can’t God use our doubts? Why can’t God use our story to change the lives of others? Why can’t God use imperfect people such as us?
While reading my devotional book this week the commentator spoke about this particular passage and said the following:
“Moments of disclosure can free us to go on with life (22).” (dg)
“When the Lord asked Ananias to visit Paul, he protested because Paul had persecuted Christians. The Lord convinced Ananias to go by telling him that Paul was God’s chosen instrument for bringing many people to Christ. When Ananias obeyed, Paul was healed from his blindness…Sometimes our understanding of others is clouded by our own preconceptions, and God gives us eyes to see what God sees (115)…But sometimes the blindness is our own that is clouded by our preconceptions of our abilities, our gifts, our talents that can be used to change a person’s life. We look into the mirror and sometimes don’t see what God sees.
God really does understand us. Think about the picture God painted with the life and sacrifice of Jesus to show us how much worth each of us is to God. Jesus took a journey here on earth to show us the love of God, the power of God to not only give us life to the fullest, but also to be agents of transformation in the lives of others. When people are willing to come to us to share their stories, share a meal with us, listen to our stories, and commit to following Jesus with us in this journey of life, then the “saintly sinners” can paint a beautiful picture of the amazing grace of God offered to all. Sometimes it is just a matter of admitting who you are, turning it over to God, and let God free us. Sometimes it is in those moments of disclosure that God can free us to go on with life.
Isn’t it amazing that God’s grace works through the “broken brushes and sloppy colors” of our lives?
What will you allow God to do with your “Ananias moments?”