"The Right Tool for The Job"
Text: Acts 9:1-20
4-24-2022
In the name of our risen Lord and Savior, dear friends in Christ. If you spend any time around farmers, you will quickly learn that most of them carries around a "Multi-Purpose-Tool." It’s commonly known as a pliers. This tool is so versatile that it has a hundred uses. It can be used as a wrench, or a screwdriver, or a wire cutter, or a hammer, or even a forceps when working with livestock. It can even be used like a garden tool when you’re digging in the dirt to see if the planter is dropping the seeds properly. Most farmers feel naked without a pliers on their belt. But let’s face it. Even though a pliers can be used as a substitute for other tools when you’re in a pinch, it isn’t always the right tool for some of those jobs. That’s true of other tools also. A screwdriver isn’t meant to be used as a chisel and vice versa. Likewise, a butter knife isn’t a screwdriver. If you don’t believe me, guys, just ask your wife! There’s an old axiom which is very true: “Use the right tool for the job.”
In our text from Acts 9 we hear about the remarkable conversion of St. Paul. In verse 15, God tells a follower of Jesus named Ananias that Paul is going to be His "chosen instrument" for spreading the Gospel. The Greek word for "instrument" can mean various things. One of the meanings is a tool. So, God was saying that He would use Paul as His chosen "tool" for a specific job that He had planned. That sounds so simple, and yet if we look at what led up to Paul’s conversion experience, we’ll find that it was nothing less than a miracle.
Our reading starts with that word "meanwhile" which ought to tell us that something important was said in the preceding chapters. And there certainly was! In chapters 6, 7, and 8 we have the trial and stoning death of Stephen for proclaiming the Gospel. Guess who was involved with that? Saul, also known as Paul, was standing by, watching and approving of this execution. More like, he was a cheerleader for it. When Stephen was killed, it’s safe to say that Saul watched with a look of satisfaction and self-righteousness. But he was more than a casual observer. After that incident, a cruel persecution started against the church in Jerusalem, which scattered the believers throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. Only the apostles stayed put. And guess who was heavily involved in that massive persecution? Chapter 8 verse 3 says, "But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.”
That’s what happened in the vicinity of Jerusalem. But in the opening verses of our text for today Saul is extending his rampage up north to Damascus in Syria. That’s about 150 miles away. And we’re told he had a carte blanche letter from the High Priest authorizing him to do this. He was a very zealous man on a mission. Saul used Gestapo-like tactics– arresting people and hauling them away to jail at will. He was convinced he was doing the Lord’s work, rooting out these Christians whom he believed were blaspheming the Lord with their teachings about Christ. He was a tool alright, but not a tool in the hands of God. He was actually being used as a tool of Satan in order to destroy the newly forming Christian Church.
That’s when Jesus stopped Saul dead in his tracks on the road to Damascus. Did you catch what Christ said to him? "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" You see, by persecuting the followers of Jesus he was persecuting their Master. Jesus once said, “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.” There is an intimate connection between Christ and His followers. So, when Paul attacked them, he was actually attacking Jesus and resisting God’s purpose and plan.
That was an eye-opener for Saul. Or should I say, it was an eye-closer? He was blinded by God to get the point across. For 3 days, Saul fasted and prayed trying to sort this all out. That’s when God told Ananias to go to Paul with the healing message of forgiveness. Paul had been convicted by God’s Law for his wrongdoing and now God was going to deliver the Gospel. That’s the normal way that God deals with all sinners. No one has ever been converted without being first convicted by the Law. Then God follows up immediately with the good news of forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
Consider Ananias for a minute, though. Saul was being used as a tool of Satan. Ananias, on the other hand, was a faithful tool in the hands of God. In His wisdom, God chose the right tool for the job of bringing the good news to Saul. In fact, if you look more closely at the text, it says that God had all the preparations made. The Lord gave Ananias specific directions to the very house where Saul was, and what he should say. This man of God was to be a precision tool in accomplishing the Lord’s will.
But Ananias was a little apprehensive. He had heard the news about Saul’s murderous rampage. He had legitimate concerns that maybe this was a trick by Saul to lure out the believers. Ananias expressed all this to God. I’m sure it was said with the utmost respect, but he basically says, "Lord, are you sure you know what you’re doing?" God doesn’t debate with him. He just says, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine..." You see, humanly speaking, Ananias didn’t think Saul was the right tool for the job. But God made it clear that Saul would indeed be utilized for spreading the Gospel to the Gentiles as well as the people of Israel. In retrospect we can see that God was definitely right! Saul became known as Paul and he was a powerful tool in God’s hand. He masterfully spread the Gospel throughout the civilized world of his day. And he wrote close to 2/3’s of the New Testament.
Before that could happen, Paul needed to be changed by God. He had repented of his sins but now God needed to clean him up and sharpen his skills so that he could be an effective tool in the Lord’s hand. My father-in-law was meticulous when it came to his tools. For instance, when he finished using his spade to dig in the dirt, he’d take a brush and water and scrub it clean. Periodically, he’d sharpen the edge with a grinder and oil the wooden handle. At first, I thought it was a foolish waste of time. Later I discovered how that tool lasted and served him well for a long time. Paul had been an abused tool in the hands of Satan. However, God cleaned him up by having Ananias baptize him. Then, God sharpened Paul’s skills with the truth of the Gospel and prepared him for service by filling him with the Holy Spirit. Now Paul was ready to be the right tool for the job.
Christian friends, through Baptism the Holy Spirit has also prepared us to be tools in the hand of God. He washed away all our sins and gave us faith so that we could function as effective tools of the Gospel. Through Sunday School and Confirmation Instruction, through worship and our private reading of God’s Word, the Holy Spirit sharpens us and makes us ready for God’s tasks. Sadly though, not all Christians are prepared and willing tools in His hands. It makes me think of my dear father and all his tools that my 4 brothers and I left laying out in rain or lost in the grass. A rusty handsaw is not a very effective tool. Neither is a tool that has been neglected or misplaced. Your faith is no different. If you skip worship and neglect Bible Study, your faith can grow rusty and less effective. When you do come, if you let God’s Word simply go in one ear and out the other your faith will become dull and meaningless. And if you’re not careful, when faith is neglected and abused long enough it may become totally lost. Which means that your soul will be eternally lost and destined for hell.
That’s where repentance and confession of sins comes in. God promises that if we will humbly come and lay our sins before Him, He will clean us with the forgiveness that’s ours in Jesus. If we willingly submit ourselves to His hands, He will sharpen us so that we are prepared to be powerful tools for Him. All the abuse and neglect of our faith can be rectified by the power of the Holy Spirit working in us.
When Ananias considered Paul, he didn’t think that God was choosing the right tool for the job. Sometimes, we may look around us and think that about our fellow Christians. We may even think that about ourselves at times. I’m just as guilty of that as anyone else. When I felt that God was calling me into the Holy Ministry, like Ananias, I said, "Lord, are you sure you know what you’re doing?" I certainly didn’t feel like I had the skills to be the right tool for the job. But God firmly said, "Go! You are my chosen instrument..."
It’s easy for us to assume that God wouldn’t choose us or a seemingly unskilled fellow member as His special tools for spreading the Gospel. But you’d be wrong. God can and will prepare each of us to use our individual talents to be special tools in His hand. Because in God’s hands, you are the right tool for the job. All you need do is be willing instruments utilizing the talents and abilities He has given you. May God the Holy Spirit work mightily in each of us to prepare us to be effective tools for His holy purpose. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!