NOTES for Act 9:10-19

How is God's work done? Over the two-thousand-year history of the Church, more has been said and written about this than actual works of God have been done. And with all this, no one has managed to understand it exactly to this day, much less has anyone managed to create a single general theory that would describe the algorithm of divine-human interaction in history.

Why is that? One could simply answer: because the ways of the Lord are inscrutable. And that would certainly be true: God's plans are known to no one except God Himself. But the question is how God interacts with people, and here the situation is somewhat different: insofar as God includes a person in His plan, He reveals this design to him, at least in part.

The point is perhaps something else: the very quality of the relationship between God and man. If everything had been scheduled in advance with God, the situation for His servants would, perhaps, have been simpler in some respects: then it really would be possible to try to develop some classification of possible interactions, not immediately, and over a long time, but the task would be solvable in principle. But the point is that with God, it appears, only the goals are marked out in advance, while the plan for achieving them changes continually according to the developing spiritual situation, or, more simply, according to who has once again said to God another "yes" or another "no."

In any case, classifying this mosaic of possibilities and the options for their realization is, of course, completely unrealistic. What remains is only to listen and hear God, who, having set the task, will certainly indicate the one to whom it can be entrusted. This does not mean, however, that over time a new worker will not replace the former one. And the options may be completely unexpected, at times in no way corresponding to any human ideas.

Who, indeed, could have seriously considered Paul as a preacher of Christ at the time when he appeared in Damascus? Humanly speaking, the most reasonable choice would have been to keep away from him. But Ananias makes a different choice, acting as God commands him to act. And Saul the persecutor becomes Paul, the great witness of Christ and the Kingdom.

How is done the work of God? More were probably said and written by it during two thousand years of the history of the Church, than the works of course were done. And with all this, nobody was able in the accuracy so far to understand it, and especially nobody has really managed to create a generalizing unified theory, which would describe the algorithm of the interactions divine-man in the history. Why so? It might be easy to answer: because the ways of God are inscrutable. And that would be an undoubted truth: God's plans, except Himself, are unknown to anyone. But indeed, it is about the way God cooperates with men, but here the situation is all the same a little bit different: as long as God includes man in His plan, He also opens it to him, at least in part.

Maybe, the problem is all the same in another thing: in the quality of the relationships between God and man. If for God everything was determined beforehand, probably, in some how the situation for His servants would have simplified: then if one could try to develop some kind of classification of the variants of interaction, whether it is not immediately, whether it is during a long period, but the task would be mainly solvable.

But it is in this the problem, the fact that it seems, for God only the goals are beforehand fixed, but that the plan of their realization varies constantly according to the prevailing spiritual situation, or, by speaking more easily, according to the one who once again said to God "yes" or another "no". Be that as it may, to classify this mosaic of possibilities and variants of their realization is of course absolutely unreal. It remains only to listen and to hear God, Who, having fixed the task, will absolutely indicate the one, to whom it could be entrusted.

What, moreover, does not mean that one day, on the place of the worker indicated before will not come a new one. And the variants can be the most unexpected, sometimes not at all in compliance with any human representations. Well, who really could take seriously Paul as a predicator of Christ when he appeared in Damascus! Humanely the most reasonable choice would be to stay far away from him. But Ananias does another choice, acting as God ordered him to act. And the persecutor Saul becomes Paul, a great witness of Christ and the Kingdom.

What is Christian washing (baptism)? Cleansing from sins? Yes, of course: it is rooted in the ritual purifying washings prescribed by the Torah as a most important part of the process of cleansing from sin. But even before Christ's coming, washing was not the only element of the cleansing ritual. The second, no less important element was the purifying sacrifice. Because in Yahwism it was precisely sacrifice that was the main means and main form of communion with God. God's presence overshadowed and sanctified all who took part in the sacrificial meal or simply stood by the altar. This presence cleansed a person from the consequences of committed sin or other uncleanness. Cleansing was not an end in itself; it was the necessary condition of full communion with God, insofar as such communion was possible before Christ's coming.

So it is with Christian washing (baptism): it was only the outward side of what was taking place. Yes, of course, the one washed in the name of Christ is cleansed from the consequences of earlier sins just as the believing Yahwist of former times was cleansed from them. But in addition, the one washed in the name of Christ meets during the washing with Him Himself. He finds himself at the threshold of His Kingdom, into which he can enter and in which from now on he is to live. He touches the life of the Kingdom in the fullness available to him, as one entering, at that moment. And he begins the spiritual path in the Kingdom so that the fullness available to the new inhabitant of the Kingdom may become ever deeper.

That is why one meeting with Christ on the Damascus road was not enough for Saul. That is why he too, for all the depth of what happened to him, needed baptism. And perhaps this is precisely why, after losing his sight at the first meeting with Christ, he regains it after receiving baptism and entering the Kingdom. Jesus Himself took him by the hand and led him into His Kingdom. And therefore into His Church.

Today we read about the conversion of Saul, an event that not only turned his life upside down, but also in many ways determined the course of Christian history. Such conversions do not happen often, but they have happened and continue to happen. In essence, every person sooner or later meets God on his path. This meeting often overturns a person's consciousness in much the same way as happened with Paul. He considered himself a servant of God, but turned out to be His enemy, and the reverse was also true: he thought Jesus was his enemy, but He turned out to be his Lord, his life, his calling.

In fact, such an overturning of consciousness is called repentance (in Greek, "metanoia," a "change of mind"). When a person suddenly sees that his whole life is a persecution of Christ, which he carries out inside himself or among those near and far from him, the mercy of the persecuted Son of God is also revealed to him. He will not only accept him among His disciples, but will also lay on him a new mission: not to tear apart, but to build up Christ's Church.

The Lord had prepared a surprise for Ananias. Ananias was plainly quite ready for God to speak to him. But even he did not expect this: to go to Saul of Tarsus, about whom everyone knows that he persecutes Christians and has come to Damascus with one purpose, to root out Christianity.

Ananias is shocked. But he does not reject the vision (though he could have said: going to Saul is madness, so this is not a vision but delirium). On the other hand, he does not argue with God; he does not say, "No, Lord, I am not going anywhere." He clarifies: "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to Your saints, and here in Damascus he also wants to persecute Your Church..." In answer, the Lord does not say whether this is true or not (evidently because it is already known that it is true); He says: "Go, because I have chosen him."

And Ananias makes the only right decision: he simply goes and does what the Lord told him.