Connecting Saints and Sinners

We Christians, the church, you and me have been entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation. We are ambassadors persuading people to be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5). I understand, as do you, the good news message. We can communicate that message. We can persuade others to follow Jesus.

But I have been thinking lately about how God connects seekers/sinners with saints, those of us who are saved.

So I went back through Acts looking at how God does this. It was helpful for me, and it may also be helpful for you. I also believe some of this is valuable for our people to remember.

In Acts 8, an angel told Philip to go to a desert road. The Holy Spirit told Philip to meet the chariot passing by. That is how the Ethiopian seeker heard the message of Jesus. A seeker was sent.

In Acts 9, Saul encounters Jesus on the Damascus road. He spends three days in the city waiting on someone to come tell him what to do about Jesus. The Lord told a believer, Ananias, to go to Saul because Saul had seen a vision in which a man named Ananias restores his sight. Ananias has a little trepidation – as well he should have. But God explains that he has a mission for Saul. And Ananias heals him, baptizes him, and commissions him.

In Acts 10, the gentile centurion Cornelius sees an angel in a vision and is told to send for Peter. Cornelius, the man who prays fervently, gives generously, and is known for his devout character. He loves God but doesn’t know Jesus.

In the meantime, Peter is having visions/dreams about things clean and unclean. Then the Spirit tells him there are men there to see him and he should go with them. This results in the sermon and conversion of a whole crowd of Gentiles.

Then, in Acts 16, Paul and his companions are prohibited and stopped by the Holy Spirit from doing the mission they had intended. Paul then had a vision of a man from Macedonia asking them to come help. They concluded that God was calling them to go preach in Macedonia. I love that common and familiar touch of humor. “We concluded.” I guess so.

They went on, looking for a place of prayer, and ended up baptizing a group of women, one of whom supported their ministry. They landed in jail and engaged in worship. An earthquake caused the jailer to want to know how to be saved. Obviously, there is more to the story, but that is the essence. A man did not know Jesus but perhaps had a heart ready for new life. And a whole household was baptized.

So what is the lesson here? When God connects saints and sinners, it is often the saint he is moving. Philip. Ananias. Peter. Sometimes he connects the seeker. The Ethiopian. Saul. Cornelius. Sometimes the person who at least on the surface has no God-interest.

God. The Holy Spirit. Angels. Visions. Messages. Sometimes preventing our plans. But always working. Always connecting.

When I share this with our people, I don’t tell them to be listening for the Holy Spirit or angels to speak directly. Though it may not be a bad idea… even if it never has happened that way to me. But I do get those moments when I have that overpowering urge to approach someone. I have the fleece dry / fleece wet moments that shape where I do ministry.  

So the lesson? There are seekers in our world ready to hear about Jesus, and God will connect us. So pay attention. You know what to do next: tell the good news and persuade people to be reconciled to God through Jesus.