Rev. Tully M. Fletcher IV
Decatur Presbyterian Church
April 19, 2026
Saul Who Became Paul
Acts 9:1-9 and 18-22 and 26-28
1Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
3 Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5 He asked, “Who are you, Lord?”
The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”
7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. 8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.
9 For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
Acts 9:10-19
10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.”
He answered, “Here I am, Lord.”
11 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, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.”
13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.”
15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; 16 I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
17 So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul 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.”
18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
Acts 19b-22
For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, 20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”
21 All who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem among those who invoked this name? And has he not come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” 22 Saul became increasingly more powerful and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Messiah.
Acts 26-28
26 When he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him, brought him to the apostles, and described for them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 So he went in and out among them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.
Sermon
Intro:
The Scripture we are reading today, is easily one of the most well known stories from the new testament.
It’s about a guy named Saul, who is also known by his other name Paul.
Saul was a powerful, intelligent, and likely very wealthy man.
He was a Jew and a Citizen of Rome.
He spoke both Hebrew and Greek, the languages of the old and new testaments.
+In Hebrew, the language of the Jews, his name is Saul.
+In Greek, the language that dominated in the time of the early church, his name is Paul.
It is helpful that he has two names, because when we think about him, its like there are two men to be considered.
Saul = was a bad guy. He was a pharisee, and a persecutor.
He was a patriot for his nation, and he wanted to purify his community.
Paul = was a good guy. He was an apostle, and one who was persecuted.
He was a patriot for Christ, and he wanted to diversify his community.
Intro 2
We are about to read part of the story from Acts 9. Before we do, a bit of context.
At this time, Christianity was like a Baby religion, born within Judaism. Most people who followed Jesus at this time were Jews first. And to follow Jesus, was to Follow “The Way.”
Saul, and the other Jewish leaders did not like this at all. They had executed Jesus to stop people from following him, but as we know, that didn’t work.
There was another execution, Stephen, was just recently stoned to death for following Jesus. But that did not stop the spread of this new baby religion. In fact, it only accelerated it.
Now, this new movement was spreading to cities and areas outside of Jerusalem.
The Jewish leaders doubled down on their technique, and they continued using violence to stop Christ’s non-violent movement.
Let’s read:
Acts 9:1-9
1Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
3 Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5 He asked, “Who are you, Lord?”
The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”
7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. 8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.
9 For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
Part 2 of the story
As I said before, it was around this time that the Baby religion of Christianity was growing up. At first inside the house of Judaism, but eventually, would grow up, leave home, and spread all over the world.
In the Old testament, we read about God’s promises to Abraham, and Abrahams great-grand children who became the 12 tribes of Israel.
In the Old testament, for the most part, God’s promises are only for the Jewish people. People born into that culture and community.
Then Jesus comes along, and we se a few stories in the Gospels where Jesus unlocks the door to God’s love, and cracks that door open just a little bit.
Then along comes Paul, and he blows that door wide open!
God’s love is for everyone!
You no longer have to be Jewish to get into heaven.
What is so surprising about this, is that is was Saul, one of the Jewish leaders, who was trying so desperately, trying so violently, to keep that door locked tight—that he becomes the one to open it up.
That drastic change happened!
In a sense, Saul the persecutor died on that road to Damascus, and when his sight was recovered, Paul was reborn as a follower of Christ.
We are all like Saul
We love to read this story, and see the redemption of Saul. Even the most violent persecutor can be forgiven.
And if Saul can be forgiven, then that means we can be forgiven.
Because Each of us, is a little bit like Saul.
What did Saul stand for
Maybe we aren’t as extreme or as violent as Saul, but in some ways we are all like Saul.
Saul was engaged in violence and murder for a reason. And in his way of thinking, the violent means were justified by the righteous goal.
Saul was engaged in a holy war.
He was seeking to cleanse his nation and his religion of something he deemed impure.
Saul has is onw ideas of who was in and who was out.
Saul had his own ideas of who was a citizen and who wasn’t.
Remember that there was no separation of church and state at that time, so Saul thought that Christians were illegal. In fact, that’s exactly what had happened. Saul, as violent as he was, was following orders.
As Vernon pointed out in his BLOG this week, the parallels between Saul and ICE agents today are pretty strong.
We are like Saul
When we consider this story, and think about the world around us, it is easy to find Sauls out there. It is easy to point at someone else, and say how wrong they are.
What is difficult, is to find Saul in here… in our own hearts.
How are we like Saul?
What holy wars are you fighting?
Who have you judged to be illegal, or out, or not worthy of God’s love?
These are very difficult questions.
How am I like Saul
Earlier this week, Vernon and I were studying this scripture together, as we do most Mondays.
Vernon in our discussion challenged my, in a way that made me most uncomfortable, as Vernon is known to do.
He asked, how are you like Saul?
I thought for a moment, and gave some trite answer, I think it was about politics and my frustration with Christian nationalism, or maybe it was about people who don’t root for the right sports team.
But that wasn’t good enough for Vernon.
He probed again and challenged me to be vulnerable.
I didn’t have an answer at the time, and
I didn’t have an answer for most of the week,
but finally it came and I remembered the moment I was most like Saul!
It was when I was in college.
My first 2 years of college had been ok. But I hadn’t made a lot of friends. My dorm was filled with introverts who kept to themselves. I was in the nerdy dorm… and while I was a nerd too, I still wanted more friends.
But I was in luck! For in my junior year of college I was going to be an RA in a freshman dorm.
All summer long My head was filled with visions of all the new freshman I was going to get to mentor and guide. I would be like their older brother who showed them the ropes.
Maybe I should have seen them that I was destined to be a youth pastor.
But here’s the thing, when the semester started and all the freshman moved in, I got a bit too zealous about enforcing the rules of the dorm. I let the smallest amount of power corrupt my heart.
And I developed a reputation as an authoritarian hard ass.
The freshman quickly learned that I was not the cool older brother to turn to for guidance, but rather I was the uncool pharisee who would write them up for drinking and scold them for playing their music too loud.
After a couple of months, I had become a full Saul.
I took too much joy in getting these kids in trouble.
I learned then, that the Sauls of the world make more enemies than friends.
They called me the Tully-Ban, a play on the Afghanistan terrorist group Taliban.
I didn’t make any new friends that year.
For Vernon:
So there you go, Vernon, that’s the answer to your question, when was I like Saul, was when I was writing up dumb freshman for being dumb.
And in my loneliness, I realized I needed to approach my work with a sense of love, not a sense of vengeance.
I changed my approach the 2nd semester. I learned to use a sense of humor, instead of condescending tone when a person needed discipline.
Saul & Paul
Saul and Paul were often in the same business, disciplining people who have gone astray.
Saul, disciplining Jews who have drifted away from Judaism to follow Jesus.
Paul, disciplining Christian who have stopped following Jesus.
But in both cases you have someone who is doing something wrong, and you have a person in position of power trying to stop that sin.
Where Saul used violence and cruelty.
Paul used words and letters to remind to guide to bring them back into the way.
For us today…
There are many so called Christians that approach their faith with a sense of vengeance. For them, Faith is a battle, and the world, the sinners, are something to be conquered.
They are like Saul. They judge, the persecute, and they hold very legalistic views of what is right and what is wrong.
And for us to condemn them, makes us just like Saul.
So, got out into the world and be like Ananias.
Be filled with forgiveness.
Give food, drink, and comfort to those in need, even those who have hurt you in the past.
Ending
Because if their can be redemption for Saul, and their can be forgiveness for me, than there can be forgiveness for you too.
