December 28th, 2021
 

Happy New Year!
 
There is something about flipping the calendar page from December to January that invites us to reflect, to take stock, to set goals for the new year, perhaps even to make a New Year’s resolution or two. And yet, surveys consistently show that only 7 – 8% of those who make resolutions this time of year keep them.  There are many reasons for this, but perhaps the main reason is simply that old habits die hard.  Folks wisdom has known this for ages, we know the expressions:
 
“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”
“The leopard cannot change its spots.”
 
It seems old proverbs die hard, too, and unless human nature undergoes some radical modifications in the near future, most of our grandchildren will grow up hearing these same folk wisdom proverbs.  Their longevity reflects their reliability. They bear witness to something is as basic to our nature as eating, breathing, and sleeping, namely, our tendency to resist change.
 
In the face of these reflections on the inflexibility of human nature, we are brought up short by a peculiar story in the book of Acts. The story bears witness to some surprising departures from proverbial wisdom in that it gives an account of at least two instances of overcoming the behavioral odds.
 
First, there is the story of Paul’s conversation, a story so famous for its radical reversal that any equally dramatic change of heart is often described as a “Damascus Road” experience. Paul starts out for Damascus planning to take Christ’s disciples captive. Instead, he ends up being taken captive himself, a captive of the Risen Christ.
 
The surprise in this story is definitely on Paul. Yet we should not overlook Ananias in our tally of drastic instances of behavior modification. Chances are that if Ananias had spent hours compiling his agenda for that day, he would never have penciled in “Visit Paul; do baptism.” God’s instructions to go and look for Saul (later renamed Paul) on the street called Straight (vv. 11 – 12) must have struck Ananias as the height of lunacy! All the Christians in Damascus must have been doing their utmost to avoid Saul, given his reputation as a self-appointed persecutor of Christians.  Notice how vivid the characterization of his activities is in Acts 9:1. Anyone who could be described as “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord,” was not someone to be toyed with. Paul says as much about himself in Galatians 1:13.
 
Ananias is diplomatically doubtful in his response (vv. 13 – 14) and, as such, stands in a long line of biblical figures who have dared to respond to God’s orders with “Yes, but…” That he dared to dispute at all with the Almighty is an index of how deeply shocked he must have been at the idea that Saul was to be the instrument by which God’s name was to be brought “before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel” (v. 15).
 
Finally, however, Ananias surmounts his fears and goes to visit the street called Straight. When he arrives at the appointed house, he finds a Saul much changed. One has to wonder if, even at this point, Ananias did not fear a trap. What if it was all a setup? What if Saul was only putting on a charade designed to flush out unsuspecting Christians? If Ananias was worried, he did not let on. Instead, he laid healing hands on the man who had caused hurting hands to be laid upon so many. The Church has never been the same since.
 
So what lesson are we take from this story in the season of resolutions at the start of a new year? Are Paul and Ananias exceptions to the rule of human inflexibility? Are they superhumans who can “change their spots” after all?
 
The point of this passage, at least to me on this day, is not that Paul and Ananias are so much more heroic than the rest of us. It is that God has the power to change us, sometimes even in spite of ourselves. This is the truth that can give us hope in the face of all those discouraging proverbs about the improbability of human change. If we were to go back, in light of this passage, to the proverb about the hypothetical leopard and ask, “Can the leopard change its spots?” the answer would have to be “No, the leopard cannot – but God can.” If there are spots in our lives that need changing, resolutions that need keeping, then we would do well to remember who created that leopard, and each of every one of us, in the first place!
 
Peace,
--Tony