NOT THAT GUY!

July 23

Bible Reading: Acts 9:10-19

Acts 9:11-13, “And the Lord said to him, ‘Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 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.’ But Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem.’”

One can appreciate Ananias’ reluctance.  He’d heard about all the evil Saul had done to the saints in Jerusalem.  If the church had a “Ten Most Feared” list, his name would have been at the top.  If there’d been a list of the “Ten Most Unlikely to be Saved,” he would have topped that list as well.  Why in the world would God tell him to visit that man?  But that’s exactly what God commanded Ananias to do!

In November 1945, Chaplain Henry Gerecke was called into the office of his commanding officer.  He’d been assigned to the 6850^th Internal Security Detachment at Nuremberg.  Why?  To serve as chaplain to the top Nazi war criminals on trial there.  He was told he didn’t have to, given the unpopular nature of the task, but he decided to go. 

“The men he went to see in their cells at Nuremberg, Germany, just after midnight on Wednesday, 16 October 1946, were no ordinary prisoners. They were high-ranking Nazis sentenced to be hanged for the vilest crimes.  He walked with each of the ten condemned men from their cells to the gallows. He heard all their last words. Some expressed thanks and faith. Others stayed defiant to the end, their belief in Hitler still unshaken, even though he was dead. One condemned man even shouted, ‘Heil Hitler!’ on the gallows before taking the final drop into the darkness.”

—War and Grace, Short biographies from the World Wars, by Don Stephens, published by Evangelical Press, Faverdale North, Darlington, DL3 0PH, England

Though there are some in our lives we might deem irredeemable, Saul’s conversion proves none truly are.  God’s mercy is such that it can reach beyond any human set limitations (Isaiah 55:6-9).  The God who “desires all people to be saved,” may lead us to share truth with some “unsavory” soul.  In that respect, both Ananias and Chaplain Gerecke have left us with good examples to follow.

“The mercy of God is an all-embracing mercy and it breaks down the barriers that man erects.” – Alistair Begg

THE MERCY OF GOD
Thy mercy, my God, is the theme of my song,
The joy of my heart, and the boast of my tongue;
Thy free grace alone, from the first to the last,
Has won my affections, and bound my soul fast.

Thy mercy, in Jesus, exempts me from hell;
Its glories I’ll sing, and its wonders I’ll tell;
’Twas Jesus, my Friend, when he hung on the tree,
Who opened the channel of mercy for me.

The door of thy mercy stands open all day,
To the poor and the needy, who knock by the way.
No sinner shall ever be empty sent back,
Who comes seeking mercy for Jesus’s sake.