Acts 9:11

Straight Street

The street which is called Straight. Acts 9:11.

The street called Straight was in the city of Damascus. St. Paul went to stay there just after his conversion and it was there that he received back his sight.

Damascus is an old, old city. Some people say it is the oldest city in the world. It was in existence thousands of years before Christ, and it is still in existence. Through the center of the city still runs the street which is called Straight. It leads in a direct line from the western gate to the eastern gate. Much of its glory has departed, but in St. Paul's time it was a very fine street. It was over one hundred feet wide, and nearly a mile in length, and it was divided by beautiful columns into three parts. The middle portion was reserved for foot passengers, and the sides were used by chariots and horsemen those going eastward keeping to one side, and those going westward to the other. You see the people in Damascus rather turned things upside down. We put our carriages in the middle of our streets, and our foot-passengers at the sides.

I wonder why the people of Damascus made their road quite straight. Perhaps they thought it was the quickest way of getting from one side of the city to the other, and if they did, I think they were very sensible. You know how annoying it is, if you are in a hurry, to have to go twice the distance you need, just because the road winds in and out, and turns corners.

Now, I think life is rather like a city traversed by many roads. We enter by the East Gate and we have to reach the West Gate, and we choose our own path. The best road to choose is the straight road of uprightness, and honor, and duty; and I am going to tell you why I think it is the best.

First of all, the straight road is the best because it is the quickest. Those who walk in a crooked path waste a lot of time, often lose their way, and generally miss the goal which they are trying to reach. There are many crooked bypaths leading off the straight road, and we are sometimes tempted to walk in them because the straight road is monotonous, and because they seem easier, but we always find they are longest and weariest in the end.

And secondly, the straight road is the best road because it is the safest. We can see the dangers ahead. The crooked bypaths which look so interesting lead us into quagmires and thickets, but the straight road leads safely to the goal.

Once upon a time there was a Sultan who wished to choose an honest man to collect his taxes, but he did not know how he was to secure him, so he called a wise counselor and asked his advice. The wise man told the Sultan to publish abroad his need, and then to invite all the applicants to his palace on a certain date, and ask them to dance. The counselor said that he would then point out the honest man.

In due course the applicants arrived at the palace, and were told to approach the Sultan, one at a time, through a dark empty corridor. When they were all assembled before the throne the Sultan said, “Gentlemen, I should very much like to see you dance. Please dance.” The men turned very red, and looked extremely uncomfortable, and all except one refused. The one man danced with great good will. Then the wise counselor said, “That is the honest man; choose him.”

How do you think he knew? He had placed sacks of money in the corridor, and all the dishonest men had filled their pockets from them. They were afraid to dance, because, if they had done so, their pockets would have sounded like money-boxes. So you see these men lost a good position because they took a bypath to become rich. The straight road is the safest and the surest in the end.

And again the straight road is the best because it is the road heroes have trod. Yes, it takes a hero to walk the straight road. It takes a hero to keep right on, turning neither to right or left, withstanding the temptations of the bypaths, bearing the weariness of the way.

I like that story of the slave boy who was put up for sale in the slave-market of one of the Southern States of America. A kind man passing pitied him, and fearing lest he should fall into the hands of a cruel master, resolved to purchase him. He asked the boy, “If I buy you, will you be honest?” And the answer came “I will be honest whether you buy me or not.” That boy had a fine pride the pride of those who walk in the straight road.

And, lastly, the straight road is the best because it is the road Christ trod. He trod it bravely and patiently although for Him it was a path strewn with thorns, and at the end of the way stood a Cross. And because Jesus has trod that path He has made it possible for us all to tread it, He has made it possible for those of us who have wandered from it to come back to it, and to make a new beginning. And, if across the path there sometimes lies the shadow of a cross, we know that beyond the cross there is a crown.