From Bah-Humbug to Barnabas: Embracing New Identities

Text: Acts 9:1–27

Acts 9:1–27 KJV 1900

1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, 2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. 3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. 7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. 8 And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. 9 And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink. 10 And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. 11 And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, 12 And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. 13 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: 14 And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. 15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: 16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. 17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. 19 And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus. 20 And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. 21 But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests? 22 But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ. 23 And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him: 24 But their laying await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him. 25 Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket. 26 And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.

Big Idea: We must allow ourselves and others to embrace new identities in Christ.

Application: Being a Scrooge means embracing forgiveness and transformation—for ourselves and for others.

INTRODUCTION — THE PROBLEM WITH OUR VIEW OF SCROOGE

Last week we began our Christmas series, Be a Scrooge, looking at how Ebenezer Scrooge’s story illustrates the power of redemption and transformation. We watched him change from a selfish, miserly curmudgeon into a generous and joyful man.

But let me ask you a question:

Why is Ebenezer Scrooge still remembered for his “bah-humbug” and not his transformation?

We all know the phrase: “Don’t be a Scrooge!” We use it to describe someone joyless, stingy, cold.

But think about this: The story doesn’t end that way. The Scrooge Dickens gives us at the end is leaping through the streets, laughing, giving, restoring relationships, and overflowing with joy.

Ronnie Martin writes:

“The Scrooge we remember is not the forgiven one… We like to keep Scrooge locked in our hearts as the greedy, depraved, unregenerate sinner of his pre-visitation… Ebenezer found joy, but we rarely let him have it.”

Think about that.

The story ends with a man completely changed. He wakes up on Christmas morning overwhelmed by grace, shouting “Glorious! Glorious!” He restores broken relationships. He gives generously. He becomes, in Dickens’s words, “as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man as the good old city ever knew.”

But that’s not the version of Scrooge we remember.

We don’t say, “Be a generous Scrooge.” We don’t say, “Be a joyful Scrooge.” We don’t say, “Be a transformed Scrooge.”

No—we lock him into his worst identity. We freeze him in his biggest failure. We remember what he was, not who he became.

And yet—listen closely—that is not the Christian life.

The Christian life is not about being chained to who you were. It’s about being changed into who Christ is making you to be. The Christian life is not about staying stuck in an old identity. It’s about walking boldly in a new one. The Christian life is not about defining people by their past. It’s about celebrating the power of grace to rewrite their future.

If we treated Christians today the way we treat Scrooge, none of us would ever get to grow. None of us would ever move on from our mistakes. None of us would ever be known by redemption—only by regret.

But God does not work that way. Grace does not work that way. The gospel does not work that way.

And that’s why Acts 9 is such a powerful echo of Scrooge’s story.

Because long before Ebenezer Scrooge had a supernatural visitation, Saul of Tarsus had a divine confrontation. And just like Scrooge, Saul was known for all the wrong reasons.

Until the grace of God rewrote his identity.

But here’s the real question: Will we let God rewrite our identity? And even harder— Will we let God rewrite the identity of others?

“Before God rewrites your story, He reveals your condition. That’s exactly where we meet Saul.”

I. THE CONFLICT OF THE OLD IDENTITY – SAUL’S PAST (vv. 1–2)

(What he was.)

Before Paul was the apostle who wrote half the New Testament, he was Saul—the persecutor of the church.

A. A Ferocious Opponent - (Vs. 1)

We are last met with Saul in Acts 8:3

Acts 8:3 KJV 1900

3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.

The text says he was “breathing out threatenings and slaughter.” Verse 1 literally reads, “breathing in threats and murder.”

“Threatening and slaughter had come to be the very breath that Saul breathed, like a warhorse who sniffed the smell of battle.” - Kent Hughes

This wasn’t irritation. This was hatred. This was violence. This was obsession.

He hunted Christians. He tore apart families. He approved of Stephen’s execution. His name struck fear.

He was a frightening, violent enemy. Paul later described his behavior to Agrippa by saying:

Acts 26:9–11 KJV 1900

9 I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. 11 And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.

B. A Fearful Reputation - (Vs. 2)

Everyone knew Saul. Everyone feared Saul. He had legal authority to arrest anyone who followed Christ.

He was a callous, self-righteous, bigoted murderer set on a full-scale inquisition. Soon Jerusalem could not hold him. He sought and received extradition papers from the Sanhedrin so he could go to Damascus and ravage the growing Christian community there as well. It was 150 miles to Damascus (about a week’s travel), but he would have traveled a month for the privilege.

Paul's own "commentary" on his obtaining permission from the Jewish hierarchy in Jerusalem is found in Acts 22:4-5

Acts 22:4–5 KJV 1900

4 And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. 5 As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished.

It is fascinating that Saul's action illustrates the saying "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," because here we see Saul, a Pharisee, asking for letters from a Sadducee (probably Caiaphas)! Stated another way, their common hatred of Jesus made them "strange bedfellows!"

Much like Ebenezer Scrooge, Saul was known for what he used to be - hard, hostile, dangerous, unapproachable.

C. A Faulty Identity

Saul thought he was serving God, but he was spiritually blind.

2 Corinthians 4:4 KJV 1900

4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

The old identity always blinds us:

Pride blinds us to truth.

Sin blinds us to compassion.

Religion blinds us to grace.

Transition: But just as Scrooge experienced a supernatural visitation, Saul’s identity was about to collide with divine intervention.

II. THE CHANGE OF A NEW IDENTITY – SAUL’S CONVERSION (vv. 3–19)

(What God did.)

Someone has quipped that this was the supernatural showdown at high noon! This was the day a foe of Christ became a follower of Christ! If Jesus could save Saul, is there anyone He could not save? The answer to this rhetorical question is of course a resounding "No!"

The story of Saul’s spiritual transformation ought to remind us never to write anyone off as being beyond the love of Christ.

A. A Confronting Light - (Vs. 3-4)

Acts 22:6 KJV 1900

6 And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.

Acts 26:13 KJV 1900

13 At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.

Saul was spiritual blind until the Spirit opened the eyes of his heart to see Jesus…

2 Corinthians 4:3 KJV 1900

3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

Jesus interrupts Saul’s path, purpose, and pride.

“Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?”

When Christ confronts us, He confronts:

our sin,

our lies,

our story,

our identity.

Saul fell physically, but more importantly, his identity fell.

B. A Crushing Humbling - (Vs.8)

The great hunter who was going to wreak havoc on the Damascus church entered Damascus led by the hand—blind, weak, impotent. Saul was frightened and in despair. This was the midnight of his soul. His physical blindness paralleled his spiritual sightlessness.

“Our Damascus Roads are generally less dramatic than Saul’s, but they are meant to have the same effect—to break our compulsive independence and arrogance and to bring us to Christ for salvation or reconsecration” - Kent Hughes

Though he was blind, he had seen Christ, and as he saw Christ he also saw himself for the first time. His life was utterly wrong. He was a criminal before God. As he wrote later

Romans 7:18 KJV 1900

18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

This is Scrooge on Christmas Eve— brought to the end of himself, confronted by who he really is.

C. A Compassionate Helper - (Vs. 10-17)

Enter Ananias—one of the heroes of this chapter.

Ananias knows who Saul is. He knows the danger. But he obeys God, lays his hands on Saul, and says:

“Brother Saul…”

Before Saul preached a sermon, before he performed a miracle, before he proved himself to anyone, he was welcomed with the grace-filled words: “Brother.”

“Ananias’s protest reveals the sheer miracle of Paul’s radical turnabout.” - John Polhill

Ananias chooses to see:

not who Saul was,

but who Christ was making him to be.

Transition: If Scrooge needed someone to celebrate his new life, so did Saul. And that’s where Barnabas enters the story.

III. THE CALL OF A RECOGNIZED IDENTITY – SAUL’S ACCEPTANCE (vv. 20–27)

(What others must acknowledge.)

After his conversion, Saul begins preaching in Damascus. People are amazed—but not convinced.

A. A Suspicious Community - (Vs. 20-21)

People were genuinely amazed at Saul’s conversion; it was hard to believe just how powerfully Jesus could change a life. Years later, Paul himself would write

2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV 1900

17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Paul lived that verse long before he wrote it.

When Saul eventually goes to Jerusalem, the believers are afraid. They remember the past Saul, not the present Saul.

And here’s the truth:

People remember your old identity long after Jesus has changed it.

Just as we remember Scrooge for “bah-humbug,” the early church remembered Saul for breathing threats.

B. A Significant Advocate - (Vs. 27)

Enter Barnabas—“the son of encouragement.”

Barnabas takes Saul by the hand, brings him to the apostles, and testifies of his transformation.

“This time with the apostles in Jerusalem was important, because it finally and certainly welcomed Saul into the family of the followers of Jesus.” - David Guzik

Barnabas does for Saul what few are willing to do today:

Believe in God’s work in someone.

Stand beside someone with a past.

Celebrate someone’s new identity.

Give someone a chance to grow.

C. A Shared Responsibility

Imagine if Ananias and Barnabas had refused to see Saul differently.

“The Christian needs another Christian who speaks God’s Word to him.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Transformation flourishes in community. Imagine if the church had rejected him. Imagine if Saul was chained to his past instead of released into his calling.

We would’ve lost:

13 letters of the New Testament,

countless churches,

missionary journeys,

theological foundations.

And the world would never have known Paul.

This is the Scrooge problem: When we chain people to their past, we rob them of their future.

CONCLUSION — EMBRACING THE NEW NAME

Scrooge found joy, Saul found purpose, and both found new identities.

The tragedy is not when people fail. The tragedy is when we refuse to let them grow beyond who they were.

Christ came at Christmas to give:

new hearts,

new hope,

new stories,

new identities.

Don’t lock others into their old names. Don’t chain yourself to your old story. Christ has given you a new one.