📖 Matendo ya Mitume — Somo la Kina — Sehemu ya 4: Njia ya Dameski (Matendo 9:1–31)📖 Acts Intensive — Unit 4: The Damascus Road (Acts 9:1–31)

I. Mtu Aliyesimama Karibu na Rundo la NguoI. The Man at the Cloak Pile

Katika sehemu iliyopita tulimwacha kijana mmoja aitwaye Sauli wa Tarso akiwa amesimama katika uwanja nje ya kuta za Yerusalemu, nguo za wauaji wa Stefano zikiwa zimerundikwa miguuni pake. Matendo 8:1 inamfanya kuwa mshiriki wa kosa hilo kwa sentensi moja baridi: "Na Sauli alikuwa akiridhia kuuawa kwake." Kufikia tunapofungua Matendo 9, ridhaa hiyo imeenea kama saratani na kuwa kampeni. "Lakini Sauli, akizidi kupumua matisho na mauaji juu ya wanafunzi wa Bwana, akamwendea Kuhani Mkuu, akataka ampe barua za kwenda Dameski kwa masinagogi, ili akiwaona watu wa Njia hii, wanaume kwa wanawake, awafunge na kuwaleta Yerusalemu" (Matendo 9:1–2, SUV).Last unit we left a young man named Saul of Tarsus standing in a field outside the walls of Jerusalem with the cloaks of Stephen's executioners piled at his feet. Acts 8:1 makes him an accomplice with one cold sentence: "Now Saul was consenting to his death." By the time we open Acts 9, that consent has metastasized into a campaign. "Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem" (Acts 9:1–2, NKJV).

Soma kitenzi hicho. Sauli alikuwa akipumua matisho. Picha ya Kigiriki ni ya mtu ambaye mauaji na vitisho vilikuwa ndiyo hewa yenyewe aliyoivuta. Hakuwa mpinzani wa kawaida tu wa mwamko huu mpya; alikuwa mwangamizaji wake aliyejiteua mwenyewe. Na mtu mwenye historia hiyo hakuwa mhuni wa Kirumi. Alikuwa nyota inayochipuka ya Uyahudi wa karne ya kwanza.Read the verb. Saul was breathing threats. The Greek picture is of a man for whom murder and intimidation were the very air he inhaled. He was not a casual opponent of the new movement; he was its self-appointed exterminator. And the man with that résumé was not a Roman thug. He was the rising star of first-century Judaism.

Kwa ukiri wake mwenyewe baadaye, Sauli wa Tarso alikuwa Farisayo, mwana wa Farisayo, aliyezaliwa Tarso ya Kilikia, aliyelelewa miguuni pa Gamalieli mkuu — naam, Gamalieli yule yule ambaye tahadhari yake tuliisoma katika Matendo 5. Alikuwa ameendelea katika dini ya Kiyahudi kuliko wengi wa rika lake. Kama mhubiri mmoja alivyozoea kusema, alikuwa "Bwana Mashuhuri" wa Uyahudi wa Kifarisayo. Baadaye angetazama nyuma kipindi hiki cha maisha yake na kusema, "hapo kwanza nalikuwa mtukanaji, mwenye kuudhi watu, mwenye jeuri" (1 Timotheo 1:13, SUV) — na kwa pumzi ile ile, "lakini nalipata rehema kwa sababu nalitenda hayo kwa ujinga, nisipokuwa na imani." Sauli alidhani alikuwa akimtumikia Mungu. Kumbe alikuwa akipigana naye. Alikuwa ameingia moja kwa moja katika onyo ambalo Gamalieli alilitamka mbele yake sura mbili zilizotangulia, wala hakuwa amesikia neno lake hata moja.By his own later admission Saul of Tarsus was a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, brought up at the feet of the great Gamaliel — yes, the same Gamaliel whose caution we read in Acts 5. He had advanced in Judaism beyond many of his contemporaries. He was, as one preacher used to put it, the Mr. Who's Who of Pharisaic Judaism. He would later look back on this season of his life and say, "I was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man" (1 Timothy 1:13, NKJV) — and, in the same breath, "I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief." Saul thought he was serving God. He was actually fighting against Him. He had walked right into the warning Gamaliel had pronounced in his own hearing two chapters earlier, and he had not heard a word of it.

II. Safari ya Uwindaji IliyokatizwaII. A Hunting Trip Cut Short

Dameski ilikuwa maili mia moja thelathini na tano kutoka Yerusalemu. Hiyo si safari ya siku moja kwa miguu au kwa punda. Sauli hakuwa akimfuatilia mshukiwa mmoja tu; alikuwa akiongoza kile kilichokuwa sawa na operesheni ya kimataifa ya kuwasaka wakimbizi. Alikuwa na barua za kuhani mkuu ndani ya mkoba wa tandiko lake zilizompa mamlaka juu ya masinagogi ya Kiyahudi katika nchi ya kigeni ili kuwarudisha wafuasi wa Yesu Yerusalemu wakiwa wamefungwa minyororo. Wanaume kwa wanawake, Luka anabainisha kwa uangalifu — Sauli hakubagua kwa jinsia. Njia ilikuwa maambukizo, naye Sauli alikuwa daktari wa upasuaji aliyeteuliwa.Damascus was a hundred and thirty-five miles from Jerusalem. That is no day trip on foot or by donkey. Saul was not chasing a single suspect; he was leading what amounted to an international fugitive operation. He had letters from the high priest in his saddlebag granting him authority over Jewish synagogues in a foreign country to extradite the followers of Jesus back to Jerusalem in chains. Men and women, Luke notes carefully — Saul did not discriminate by sex. The Way was an infection, and Saul was the appointed surgeon.

Kisha ikafika adhuhuri katika njia nje ya Dameski. "Hata alipokuwa akisafiri, ikawa alipokaribia Dameski, ghafula ikamwangaza kotekote nuru kutoka mbinguni; akaanguka chini, akasikia sauti ikimwambia, Sauli, Sauli, mbona unaniudhi?" (Matendo 9:3–4, SUV). Kurudiwa kwa jina lake ni urudiaji ule ule wa upole ambao Mungu aliutumia kwa Ibrahimu wakati wa kufungwa kwa Isaka, kwa Musa kwenye kichaka kilichowaka moto, na kwa kijana Samweli hekaluni. Sauli, Sauli. Sauti ile haikusema, "Mbona unaliudhi kanisa langu?" Ilisema, "Mbona unaniudhi Mimi?" Kristo alijitambulisha kwa ukamilifu sana na wafuasi wake waliopigwa kiasi kwamba kuweka mkono juu yao kulikuwa ni kuweka mkono juu yake. Chukua somo hilo nyumbani. Bwana bado anasikia kila pigo.And then came noon on the road outside Damascus. "As he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?'" (Acts 9:3–4, NKJV). The repetition of his name is the same gentle reduplication God used with Abraham at the binding of Isaac, with Moses at the burning bush, and with the boy Samuel in the temple. Saul, Saul. The voice did not say, "Why are you persecuting My church?" It said, "Why are you persecuting Me?" Christ was so identified with His battered followers that to lay a hand on them was to lay a hand on Him. Take that lesson home. The Lord still feels every blow.

Sauli alijibu kwa neno pekee la kweli lililobaki kwake. "Wewe u nani, Bwana?" Bwana akajitambulisha: "Mimi ni Yesu, unayeniudhi wewe" (Matendo 9:5, SUV). Zikafuata siku tatu za upofu, kufunga, na kutafakari katika chumba chenye giza ndani ya nyumba ya mtu mmoja aitwaye Yuda katika njia iitwayo Nyofu. Angalia tofauti ambayo Luka anaiandaa. Sauli aliingia Dameski akiwa na barua za kukamata watu. Aliondoka Dameski akiwa na utume kwa Mataifa. Alikuja akibeba karatasi ambazo zingewatia watu minyororo. Alitumia maisha yake yote yaliyobaki akiandika barua ambazo zingewaweka watu huru. Kama mhubiri mmoja alivyosema, mtesaji wa Wakristo akawa mhubiri wa Kristo. Agizo la kuhani mkuu lilifutwa na mwito wa Kuhani Mkuu aliye juu zaidi.Saul answered with the only honest word he had left. "Who are You, Lord?" The Lord identified Himself: "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting" (Acts 9:5, NKJV). Three days of blindness, fasting, and dark-room thinking followed in the house of a man named Judas on a street called Straight. Notice the contrast Luke is setting up. Saul rode into Damascus with letters of arrest. He left Damascus with a mission to Gentiles. He came carrying papers that would put men in chains. He spent the rest of his life writing letters that would set men free. As one preacher put it, the persecutor of Christians became the proclaimer of Christ. The high priest's commission was canceled by a higher High Priest's call.

III. Ndugu SauliIII. Brother Saul

Hapa Luka anamtambulisha mmoja wa watu jasiri kabisa katika Agano Jipya ambaye karibu hakuna anayelijua jina lake. Anania wa Dameski — si yule Anania aliyekufa katika Matendo 5; ni mtu mwingine kabisa — alikuwa mwanafunzi aliyeishi kwa utulivu mjini. Bwana alimjia katika maono akampa kazi: nenda Njia Nyofu, mwulize mtu aitwaye Sauli wa Tarso, weka mikono yako juu yake, na umwombee apate kuona tena.Here Luke introduces one of the bravest men in the New Testament whose name almost nobody knows. Ananias of Damascus — not the dead Ananias of Acts 5; a different one entirely — was a disciple living quietly in the city. The Lord came to him in a vision and gave him an assignment: go to Straight Street, ask for a man named Saul of Tarsus, lay your hands on him, and pray for his sight to be restored.

Jibu la Anania ni mojawapo ya nyakati za kuchekesha kabisa katika Agano Jipya. Kwa maneno mengine alisema, "Bwana, nadhani huenda umechukua faili lisilo sahihi." "Bwana, nimesikia habari za mtu huyu kwa watu wengi, mabaya mengi aliyowatenda watakatifu wako katika Yerusalemu. Na hapa ana amri itokayo kwa wakuu wa makuhani awafunge wote wanaoliitia jina lako" (Matendo 9:13–14, SUV). Karibu unaweza kusikia sauti ya Anania ikipanda. Huyu ndiye mtu, Bwana, aliyekuja kunitia minyororo. Nawe unataka niweke mikono yangu juu yake na kumwombea?Ananias's reply is one of the funniest moments in the New Testament. He effectively said, "Lord, I think You may have the wrong file." "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name" (Acts 9:13–14, NKJV). One can almost hear Ananias's voice rising. This is the man, Lord, who came to put me in chains. And You want me to lay my hands on him and pray over him?

Jibu la Bwana ni mojawapo ya sentensi zenye matokeo makubwa kuliko zote zilizowahi kusemwa kwa Mkristo: "Nenda tu, kwa maana huyu ni chombo kiteule kwangu, alichukue jina langu mbele ya Mataifa, na wafalme, na wana wa Israeli; kwa maana nitamwonyesha mambo mengi yampasayo kuteswa kwa ajili ya jina langu" (Matendo 9:15–16, SUV). Mambo mawili ya kusisitiza. Kwanza, kabla Sauli hajahubiri hubiri hata moja, anaitwa chombo kiteule. Mwito wa mtu huyu uliwekwa kabla huduma yake haijaanza. Pili, mwito unakuja na bei yake, na Bwana anaichapisha bei hiyo moja kwa moja kwenye risiti: nitamwonyesha mambo mengi yampasayo kuteswa kwa ajili ya jina langu. Kristo hamwahidi Sauli mafanikio. Anamwahidi Sauli mateso. Miaka mingi baadaye Paulo anapoandika orodha ya mapigo yake, kuvunjikiwa merikebu, na kupigwa kwake kwa mawe katika 2 Wakorintho 11, halalamiki. Anapokea mzigo wa kile kilichoagizwa siku ile Anania alipomwombea.The Lord's answer is one of the most consequential sentences ever spoken to a Christian: "Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake" (Acts 9:15–16, NKJV). Two things to underline. First, before Saul has preached one sermon, he is called a chosen vessel. The man's calling was set before his career began. Second, the call comes with a price tag, and the Lord prints the price tag right on the receipt: I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake. Christ does not promise Saul success. He promises Saul suffering. Years later when Paul writes the catalog of his beatings, shipwrecks, and stonings in 2 Corinthians 11, he is not complaining. He is accepting delivery of what was ordered the day Ananias prayed over him.

Anania alitii. Aliingia katika chumba cha mtu ambaye alikuwa na kila sababu ya kumwogopa na akamwita kwa hubiri tamu kuliko yote la maneno mawili katika Agano Jipya: "Ndugu Sauli" (Matendo 9:17, SUV). Soma maneno hayo mawili kwa makini. Sauli bado hajabatizwa. Sauli bado hajahubiri hubiri hata moja. Sauli bado hata hajafumbua macho yake tangu kule njiani. Na sauti ya kwanza ya mwanadamu anayoisikia katika maisha yake mapya inamwita ndugu. Ushirika wa Kikristo, ukiwa wa kweli, unaweza kumgeuza adui kuwa ndugu katika muda unaochukua kusema maneno mawili. "Mara vikaanguka machoni pake vitu kama magamba, akapata kuona mara; akasimama, akabatizwa" (Matendo 9:18, SUV).Ananias obeyed. He walked into the room of the man he had every reason to fear and addressed him with the sweetest two-word sermon in the New Testament: "Brother Saul" (Acts 9:17, NKJV). Read those two words carefully. Saul has not yet been baptized. Saul has not yet preached a sermon. Saul has not yet so much as opened his eyes since the road. And the first human voice he hears in his new life calls him brother. Christian fellowship, when it is real, can turn an enemy into a brother in the time it takes to say two words. "Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized" (Acts 9:18, NKJV).

IV. Mwiba Ndani ya Dameski ya KiyunaniIV. The Bee in the Bonnet of Hellenized Damascus

Kilichotokea baadaye kinapaswa kuwa kielelezo kwa kila mwongofu mpya katika kila karne tangu hapo. Luka anasema, "Mara akamhubiri Kristo katika masinagogi, ya kwamba yeye ni Mwana wa Mungu" (Matendo 9:20, SUV). Sauli hakwenda kwanza seminari. Hakungoja leseni ya madhehebu. Hakujitenga katika kibanda cha kutafakari ili kuyameng'enya yaliyompata. Aliingia katika masinagogi yale yale ambayo orodha za washiriki wake alikuwa amezibebea barua za kuwaita mahakamani, akafungua Maandiko yale yale ya Kiebrania aliyokuwa akiyatumia kama silaha dhidi ya Njia kwa miaka mingi, akathibitisha kutoka kwa manabii kwamba Yesu ndiye Kristo.What happened next ought to be a model for every brand-new convert in every century since. Luke says, "Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God" (Acts 9:20, NKJV). Saul did not go away to seminary first. He did not wait for a denominational license. He did not retire to a contemplative cottage to digest the experience. He walked into the very synagogues whose membership rolls he had brought letters to subpoena, opened the same Hebrew Scriptures he had been weaponizing against the Way for years, and proved from the prophets that Jesus is the Christ.

Sinagogi la Dameski likaingia katika vurugu kubwa. "Na wote waliosikia wakashangaa, wakasema, Je! Huyu siye yeye aliyewaharibu wale waliokuwa wakiliitia Jina hili huko Yerusalemu, naye alikuja hapa kwa nia hiyo, ili awafunge na kuwapeleka kwa wakuu wa makuhani? Sauli akazidi kupata nguvu, akawatahayarisha Wayahudi waliokaa Dameski, akithibitisha ya kuwa huyu ndiye Kristo" (Matendo 9:21–22, SUV). Mtu yule waliyesikia kwamba anakuja kuwafunga minyororo badala yake alikuwa katika mimbari yao akizibomoa hoja zao.The Damascus synagogue was thrown into pandemonium. "Then all who heard were amazed, and said, 'Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?' But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ" (Acts 9:21–22, NKJV). The man they had heard was coming to chain them was instead in their pulpit demolishing their objections.

Mapokezi ya sinagogi yaligeuka kutoka mshangao hadi uadui — Luka anasema ilitokea siku nyingi zilipopita (Matendo 9:23). Wayahudi wa Dameski walifanya shauri la kumwua. Walilinda malango ya mji usiku na mchana. Mwongofu mpya aliyekuwa ameingia mjini na hati ya kimamlaka mfukoni mwake sasa alilazimika kutoroka kama walivyofanya wasafirishaji wa magendo. "Lakini wanafunzi wake wakamtwaa usiku, wakamshusha ukutani, wakimtelemsha ndani ya kapu" (Matendo 9:25, SUV). Mtu aliyekuja kuwakokota wengine wakiwa wamefungwa minyororo alishushwa nje ya mji na marafiki zake wapya ndani ya kapu la samaki. Kristo ana ucheshi, naye huutumia kwa watumishi wake. Mtume wa baadaye kwa Mataifa, mtu ambaye angeandika Warumi, alivuliwa nje ya Dameski kama samaki kinyume chake, bila heshima yoyote.The synagogue's reception swung from amazement to hostility — Luke says it happened after many days (Acts 9:23). The Jews of Damascus plotted to kill him. They watched the city gates day and night. The new convert who had ridden into town with a Roman-style writ in his pocket was now reduced to sneaking out the way smugglers did. "Then the disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall in a large basket" (Acts 9:25, NKJV). The man who had come to drag others away in chains was lowered out of a city by his new friends in a fish-basket. Christ has a sense of humor, and He uses it on His servants. The future apostle to the Gentiles, the man who would write Romans, was unceremoniously reverse-fished out of Damascus.

V. Daraja Ambalo Hakuna Aliyetaka KulivukaV. The Bridge No One Wanted to Cross

Kutoka Dameski Sauli alirudi Yerusalemu. Wagalatia 1 inajaza baadhi ya mambo ambayo Luka anayaacha — kwa kweli Sauli alitumia muda fulani Arabuni kwanza, labda miaka mitatu ya kujipanga upya kwa utulivu kabla hajakanyaga tena Yerusalemu. Lakini Luka anakazia kile kilichotokea Sauli alipoingia tena hatimaye katika mji mtakatifu. "Hata alipofika Yerusalemu akajaribu kujiunga na wanafunzi; nao wote walikuwa wakimwogopa, wasisadiki ya kuwa ni mwanafunzi" (Matendo 9:26, SUV). Bila shaka waliogopa. Mara ya mwisho kanisa la Yerusalemu lilisikia habari za Sauli wa Tarso, alikuwa akishika nguo wakati Stefano alipokuwa akipigwa kwa mawe. Habari kwamba alikuwa ameongoka katika njia ya Dameski ilisikika kama hila ile ile ambayo mtu wa namna hiyo angeitumia ili kujipenyeza ndani ya kanisa.From Damascus Saul made his way back to Jerusalem. Galatians 1 fills in some details Luke leaves out — Saul actually spent some time in Arabia first, perhaps three years of quiet recalibration before he set foot back in Jerusalem. But Luke focuses on what happened when Saul finally walked back into the holy city. "And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple" (Acts 9:26, NKJV). Of course they were. The last time the Jerusalem church had heard about Saul of Tarsus he was holding the cloaks while Stephen was being stoned. The story that he had been converted on the Damascus road sounded like exactly the kind of trick a man like that would pull to infiltrate the church.

Hapa anaingia mtu wa pili jasiri kabisa katika sura hii. Barnaba — Yusufu Mlawi wa Kipro, Mwana wa Faraja, mtu tuliyekutana naye akiuza shamba lake katika Matendo 4 — "akamtwaa, akamleta kwa mitume, akawaeleza jinsi alivyomwona Bwana njiani, na ya kuwa alisema naye, na jinsi alivyohubiri kwa ujasiri katika Dameski kwa jina la Yesu" (Matendo 9:27, SUV). Barnaba alimthibitisha Sauli wakati hakuna mwingine aliyekuwa tayari. Alimchukua mwongofu huyo mpya, akamwingiza chumbani, akasimama kando yake alipokuwa akisimulia habari yake.Enter the second bravest man in the chapter. Barnabas — Joseph the Levite from Cyprus, the Son of Encouragement, the man we met selling his field in Acts 4 — "took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus" (Acts 9:27, NKJV). Barnabas vouched for Saul when nobody else would. He picked up the new convert and carried him into the room and stood up beside him while he told his story.

Nataka kusimama na kusisitiza jambo hili. Kitabu cha Matendo kina sehemu yake ya wahubiri, manabii, na mitume. Lakini kanisa ninalolijua lingekufa bila akina Barnaba wake. Hao ndio watu wanaomwendea muumini mpya ambaye kila mtu anamnong'oneza na kusimama kando yake kwa namna inayosema, Mimi niko pamoja naye. Hao ndio watu wanaomwinua mchungaji kijana aliyeshindwa katika kanisa lake la kwanza na kumwongoza hadi mimbari ya pili. Hao ndio watu wanaoandika barua ya mapendekezo kwa ajili ya mhalifu aliyegeuka kuwa mwanafunzi. Bila Barnaba hakuna Paulo. Bila Paulo hakuna nyaraka za Agano Jipya. Bila nyaraka za Agano Jipya, kusema kweli, hakuna Ukristo wa kimafundisho. Kuwa Barnaba. Roho Mtakatifu ataendelea kuwainua akina Sauli; anawahitaji akina Barnaba ili kuwapokea.I want to stop and underline this. The book of Acts has its share of preachers, prophets, and apostles. But the church I know would die without its Barnabases. They are the people who walk up to the new believer everyone is whispering about and stand next to him in a way that says, I'm with him. They are the people who pick up the young pastor who failed his first church and walk him to a second pulpit. They are the people who write the recommendation letter for the felon-turned-disciple. Without Barnabas there is no Paul. Without Paul there are no New Testament epistles. Without the New Testament epistles there is, frankly, no doctrinal Christianity. Be a Barnabas. The Holy Spirit will keep raising up Sauls; He needs Barnabases to receive them.

Mitume walimpokea Sauli kwa neno la Barnaba. Sauli alihubiri kwa ujasiri Yerusalemu pia, na kwa mara nyingine Wayahudi wa Kiyunani walijaribu kumwua. Ndugu walimpeleka Kaisaria na kumpandisha merikebu kwenda Tarso, mji wake wa nyumbani. Kisha unakuja mojawapo ya mistari ya muhtasari ya Luka iliyo tulivu na mizuri kabisa. "Basi makanisa katika Uyahudi wote na Galilaya na Samaria yakapata raha, yakijengwa; na kwa kuenenda katika kicho cha Bwana na faraja ya Roho Mtakatifu, yakaongezeka" (Matendo 9:31, SUV). Mtesaji mkubwa kabisa wa kanisa alikuwa amekuwa mshiriki wa kanisa, na kanisa likaonja amani kwa mara ya kwanza baada ya miaka kadhaa. Joka lilikuwa limefungwa kinywa. Mbegu ambayo Stefano aliipanda kwa damu yake ilikuwa imeota.The apostles took Saul in on Barnabas's word. Saul preached boldly in Jerusalem too, and once again the Hellenistic Jews tried to kill him. The brethren got him to Caesarea and put him on a ship to Tarsus, his hometown. Then comes one of Luke's quietest, most beautiful summary verses. "Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied" (Acts 9:31, NKJV). The greatest persecutor of the church had become a member of the church, and the church got its first taste of peace in years. The dragon had been muzzled. The seed Stephen had planted with his blood was up.

VI. Kile Ambacho Kuongoka Huku KunatufundishaVI. What This Conversion Teaches Us

Masomo matatu. Kwanza, hakuna aliyepotea kupita kiasi. Ikiwa una mwana uliyekata tamaa naye, ndugu anayelichukia kanisa, rafiki wa zamani anayeidhihaki Injili — soma Matendo 9 tena. Bwana alimpata Sauli wa Tarso katika njia nje ya Dameski. Anaweza kumpata mpotevu wako pia. Kristo yule yule aliyesimamisha mahakama ya mateso ya mtu mmoja kwa mwako wa nuru ya adhuhuri bado anatembea katika njia za ulimwengu huu akiwatafuta watesaji wagumu. Hajapoteza uwezo wa kuwafanya akina Sauli kuwa akina Paulo.Three lessons. First, nobody is too far gone. If you have a son you have given up on, a brother who hates the church, a former friend who mocks the gospel — read Acts 9 again. The Lord found Saul of Tarsus on the road outside Damascus. He can find your prodigal too. The same Christ who stopped a one-man inquisition with a flash of noonday light still walks the roads of this world looking for hardened persecutors. He has not lost the ability to make Pauls out of Sauls.

Pili, kuongoka kunamgharimu mwongofu. Bwana hakumwahidi Sauli starehe. Alimwahidi Sauli mateso. Sehemu kubwa ya kanisa la Magharibi imepoteza uaminifu wa kuwaambia watu jambo hili tangu mwanzo. Tunaiuza Injili kama mpango wa kujiboresha kisha tunashangaa waongofu wetu wanapoanguka mara ya kwanza gharama inapojitokeza. Isome bei kwa sauti kama Bwana alivyofanya. Nitamwonyesha mambo mengi yampasayo kuteswa kwa ajili ya jina langu. Injili ndiyo zawadi ya bure yenye gharama kubwa kuliko zote ulimwenguni.Second, conversion costs the convert. The Lord did not promise Saul comfort. He promised Saul suffering. Most of the Western church has lost the honesty to tell people this on the front end. We sell the gospel like a self-improvement plan and then act surprised when our converts fall away the first time the cost shows up. Read the price tag out loud the way the Lord did. I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake. The gospel is the costliest free gift in the universe.

Tatu, na hapa ndipo wengi wenu mlipo, kanisa linawahitaji akina Barnaba wake kuliko akina Sauli wake. Kuna nafasi nyingi zaidi zenye umbo la Barnaba katika kusanyiko lolote kuliko zitakavyowahi kuwa mimbari zenye umbo la Paulo. Wakati ujao wa Injili unapita kupitia watu wanaoweka sifa zao hatarini kwa ajili ya muumini mpya ambaye bado hana sifa yoyote. Sauli hangeweza kulijenga kanisa peke yake. Ilibidi apokelewe. Mtu fulani, mahali fulani, alichukua hatari hiyo. Kuwa mtu huyo. Roho aliyemvunja mtesaji katika njia ya Dameski bado anawatumia wanafunzi wa kawaida wenye majina kama Anania na Barnaba kukamilisha kile alichokianza.Third, and this is where most of you live, the church needs its Barnabases more than its Sauls. There are more Barnabas-shaped roles in any congregation than there will ever be Paul-shaped pulpits. The future of the gospel runs through the people who put their reputation on the line for a new believer who does not yet have one. Saul could not build the church alone. He had to be received. Somebody, somewhere, took the risk. Be that somebody. The Spirit who broke the persecutor on the Damascus road still uses ordinary disciples named Ananias and Barnabas to finish what He started.

Mtu aliyeondoka Yerusalemu katika sura ya 9 akipumua matisho alirudi Yerusalemu katika sura ya 9 akiwa ndugu. Joka lilikuwa limekuwa mwana-kondoo. Mtesaji alikuwa amekuwa mhubiri. Mwangamizaji wa kanisa alikuwa amekuwa mjenzi wake mkuu kuliko wote. Mkono wa Bwana haujapungua. Bado yuko katika kazi ya kuwaongoa watu. Naye ataendelea hivyo mpaka Sauli wa mwisho aliye njiani apatikane.The man who left Jerusalem in chapter 9 breathing threats came back to Jerusalem in chapter 9 a brother. The dragon had become a lamb. The persecutor had become a preacher. The destroyer of the church had become its greatest builder. The hand of the Lord is not shortened. He is still in the conversion business. And He will be until the last Saul on the road is found.

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