OUT OUR WAY: "The 4 –S Rule"

Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." He answered, "Here I am, Lord." The Lord said to him "Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the House of Judas, look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, At this moment, he is praying and he has seen a vision, a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight."

But Ananias answered, "Lord I have heard much about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem: and he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name."

But the Lord said to him, :Go for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before the Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel. I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."

So Ananias went and entered the house he laid his hands on and said "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on your way here has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy spirit."

And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and his sight was restored, then he got up and and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

- Acts 9:10-18.

Out our way, most Montanans know the 3-S rule for dealing with grizzly bears, wolves, mountain lions and some pesky neighbors: Shoot, Shovel, Shut Up. If I had been carrying my .45 that day that cougar started stalking Goliath and me not very far from here, I might well have joined the 3-S club. Fortunately, he decided Goliath was a bit more than he wanted to tackle, a very wise move on his part, and high-tailed it.

But in studying the Book of Acts, as we are doing in our series, I came across the "4 S Rule" for Christians. It is found in the Ninth Chapter of Acts, verses 10-18. It's the story of an early Christian by the name of Ananias.

As you may recall, Saul of Tarsus, who would later become Saint Paul and the author of most of the New Testament, was an enemy of the Church and was very good at persecuting believers. He discovered a large number of early Christians were living in Damascus and so he got a warrant for their arrest and went with the Temple guards to that city in order to arrest and put them all in prison. On the way, Jesus appeared to Saul in a blinding light and Saul was struck blind for three days.

Now the text picks up with Christ then calling to Ananias to go and heal Saul - and in the text we see four descriptions of what a true follower of Christ is.

First, we are told that a Christian is a student.   Ananias is described as a " disciple" of Jesus. A disciple is someone who attaches themselves to a particular teacher to learn all they can from them and seek to become like them. It is expected the student will in time also become a teacher.

A disciple lies with the master 24/7 - listening, learning, and following their example.    It is not enough to go to Church on Sunday  - a Christian is studying and learning how to be a follower every day. A Christian is never finished learning.

The next description of a Christian is Saint - contrary to popular belief, a saint is not made of plaster, but of flesh and blood. The word saint simply means one who has be set apart for God. In the early Church, all believers were called saints because, by definition, that is what a Christian is: someone set apart from the secular world who belongs to God. To be a saint is about attitude and commitment - not about being a superhero of the faith. Not all people who are members of the Church are saints - but all Christians are. It's clear from their priorities.

Saul is also a Christian and we discover God has chosen him as a servant. He is the instrument God has selected for bringing the Gospel to the pagan world. The Greek word actually refers to a vessel - like a cup or a bowl - in which God is pouring and transporting His blessings to other people. Every Christian is called by God for some specific task, great or small, and thus every one of us has a job to do.

You know that ditty about how for want of a nail, the horse's shoe was lost, for want of the horseshoe, the horse was lost, for want of the horse the king was lost and thus the whole kingdom fell.

Compared with the man and mission of St. Paul, the role of Ananias seems pretty small - but little Ananias was the one God chose as the instrument by which Saul was healed and became Paul.  

Last of all, Ananias, obedient to the Lord despite all his reasonable hatred, anger and fear of Saul, went anyway - and his first word to his arch-enemy was  "brother." Christians are family, siblings to one another as children of God.  We have all been adopted into the royal household with the same big brother helping us along.

Brothers and sisters fight - sometimes don't even like each other very much - but blood will tell. Family stand together in the long run. Ananias declared Saul to be family because despite everything else, God had adopted him too.

    The 4 S rule of the Christians:  Students, Saints, Servants and Siblings. By these signs you will know them.

(John Bruington is the pastor at First Presbyterian Church. He and Goliath can be reached at [email protected]. Their book, Out Our Way is available on Amazon.com)