Like Saul, Your Father Can Meet Jesus

Introduction

When you look at your father, your brother, or someone close to you who still refuses Jesus, there are moments when you feel like giving up. You tell yourself that his heart is too hard, that too many years have gone by, that nothing will ever change. Saul's conversion on the road to Damascus reminds you that no one is beyond the reach of Christ. This sermon, preached just days before Father's Day, connects Saul's story to that of a Japanese father who turned his back on the gospel for years before surrendering to Jesus at 56. A father who forbade his son from going to church, who prayed in a Buddhist temple, who lived for his work in Tokyo, and whom God still reached.

1. Saul, a Zealous Persecutor: But Never Beyond Reach

Acts 9 opens with a terrible scene. Saul "was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord" (Acts 9:1). He was not simply indifferent to the gospel: he wanted to crush it. He was heading to Damascus, carrying official letters from the high priest, to arrest men and women and drag them back in chains to Jerusalem. In the eyes of the Christians of that day, Saul was public enemy number one. No one was praying for his conversion while truly expecting to see it happen.

And yet, he is the one Jesus stops in full stride. A light from heaven, a voice: "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" (Acts 9:4). The persecutor falls to the ground. The man who thought he was defending God learns that he was fighting God himself. This is the full power of grace: it reaches a person at the very moment he is farthest away.

2. A Father Who Turned His Back on Jesus for Years

The preacher tells his own father's story. When he and his brothers were converted, one after another, their father first ignored it. Then he became hostile. One New Year's Day, on the way to a shrine, the youngest brother refused his father's offering, simply saying, "I'm a Christian, I don't give offerings to idols." The father came home furious. He confronted his oldest son, who had already refused the same thing a few days earlier at his uncle's house, and forbade him from going to church.

For three to six months, this thirteen year old boy could no longer go to church. He was thirsty. He cried. He prayed. His hunger to praise God grew, and his prayer for his father became more determined. "That year I understood that coming to church is not something owed to us, it is a grace," says the preacher. He also remembers the sick, the bedridden, those who are unable to attend worship even though they long to. God even used this fatherly ban to shape his heart.

3. God Converts in His Own Time: Not Ours

The preacher's father had solid human reasons to reject Jesus. A former high school rugby player and a university kendo practitioner, he had been hardened by discipline. For work, he left at dawn and came home in the early hours of the morning, moving between Ginza, Akasaka, and Roppongi. On Sundays, his wife and children were at church when he would have wanted them home. He had even spent time doing zazen meditation at a well known Buddhist temple in Kamakura, for "mental training." In short, everything in him resisted the gospel.

And yet he eventually gave in. At 56, he recognized Jesus as his Savior. He served in his church as an elder and as a member of the choir. He went home to be with the Lord at 89, four years ago, in the very place where the preacher now leads today. Thirty three years of faith. "The same length as Jesus' earthly ministry," he notes, visibly moved. Ananias had to overcome his fear to go and find Saul (Acts 9:13-15). The oldest son never imagined he would one day preach in front of his baptized father.

4. What God Sees in the Man You Think Is Lost

When Ananias hesitates, the Lord answers him, "Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of mine, to carry my name before the nations, before kings, and before the sons of Israel" (Acts 9:15). God does not see Saul the way Ananias sees him. Ananias sees a criminal record. God sees an apostle in the making.

Try the same exercise for the person who worries you. Your spouse who still refuses Christ. Your hardened parent. Your coworker who mocks your faith. God can see in them what you no longer dare to imagine. Your prayer is not naive: it aligns with a decision the Father has already made. As the preacher reminds us, "I needed to pray for my father, not only for his sake, but also for my own church life, which depended on his conversion."

5. Three Days of Blindness, Then Ananias

After his encounter with Jesus, Saul goes three days without sight, without food, without drink (Acts 9:9). Three days of emptiness, of silence, of dying to himself. Then Ananias comes, an ordinary disciple sent by the Lord. He lays his hands on Saul and calls him "brother," the persecutor now a brother (Acts 9:17). The scales fall from his eyes. Saul is baptized. He eats. He gets back on his feet.

Do not overlook your role as an Ananias. You may just be an ordinary Christian with no great title. But God can use you to lay a hand on someone who has just met Jesus in the silence of his heart. The right word, a welcome free of judgment, sharing in a baptism, these can complete what grace has already begun.

Key Takeaways

No heart is too hardened for grace. Saul was a persecutor; he became an apostle.
God even uses the refusals and restrictions that hurt you to shape your hunger for him.
God's timing is not yours. Thirty three years before conversion, then thirty three years of service.
Pray specifically for the person you think is lost: God already sees in them what you no longer dare to see.
Your role as an Ananias matters. An ordinary Christian can be the hand that completes the work.

Personal Application

Who have you stopped praying for because you thought they were too far gone? Bring that person before the Lord again this week.
Is your Sunday practice something you feel entitled to, or a grace? What would you change if it were taken from you for three months?
What is God trying to shape in you through a restriction or a refusal you are facing right now?
If Ananias had obeyed his fear instead of obeying the Lord, Saul would never have become Paul. Who is God asking you to go to today, even though you are afraid?
Write down the name of one person you will pray for every day for a month. Hold that name before God the way the son in this sermon held his father's name.

Scripture References

FAQ

What should I do if I've been praying for a loved one for years without seeing any change?

The preacher's father was converted at 56, after decades of resistance. Your prayer is not wasted. It joins the patience of God, who does not count the years the way you do. Keep naming that person before the Lord, and let him decide the moment.

Is it normal to suffer when a loved one opposes my faith?

Yes. The son in this sermon was hurt, kept from going to church, misunderstood by his own father. That suffering is real. It is not a sign that God has abandoned you. Often, it becomes the exact place where your prayer grows deeper and your hunger for God becomes more genuine.

Should I refuse to take part in any non Christian ritual with my family?

The sermon does not offer a universal rule, but a testimony: a thirteen year old boy simply said, "I'm a Christian, I don't give offerings," without aggression or provocation. Where you draw that line is a matter to settle before God, with respect for your family and without denying Christ. Ask the Lord for wisdom for your own specific situation.

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