What happens to a person when he or she is connected to the Christian faith? There is a multiplicity of answers to that question. Some persons tell us that they came to believe in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior after they heard a sermon or a testimony. Others say they believed after they were rescued from some danger or delivered from some illness. And often, persons who have such conversion experiences can tell the exact date on which they came to Christ.
Indeed, some evangelicals have made such conversion experiences necessary for true faith. But for those people raised in a Christian home, faith in Christ Jesus has come gradually as they have matured in the life of the church. Or often, persons from Christian families will say, “I cannot remember a time when I did not believe in Jesus,” and of course that too is valid faith. Sadly, for others in the church who profess to be Christians, their claim bears no relation to the actual commitment of their hearts and makes no change in the way they live their lives.
Certainly for the Apostle Paul, his conversion totally altered his actions and made him a new and different person. It even changed his name. Originally, Paul was known as Saul of Tarsus and grew up in a Jewish family. He was a Pharisee, one of those upright, learned, and careful students of the Jewish law who insisted on strict obedience to it. After the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, when Jesus’ followers began spreading the good news of the resurrection, Saul became enraged. Based on his understanding of the law, Saul was sure that anyone who hung on a tree was cursed by God.
So Saul, along with other Jews, began persecuting those who claim the name of Christ as Christian. Our text, for the day tells us that Saul asked the high priest of the synagogues, so that he might arrest Christians and deliver them to Jerusalem to be jailed (vv. 1-2). Paul fiercely opposed the Christian movement and persecuted its adherents.
As he was traveling to Damascus, however, Saul the Pharisee and persecutor met his Lord, and that confrontation changed his life forever. Our text from Acts tells us that a light from heaven flashed about him, Saul fell to the ground, and both Saul and his travel companions heard a voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
In terror, Saul asked, “Who are you, Lord?” for surely it was a divine voice speaking to him. And the Lord replied, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Let me make a footnote here. Jesus did not say, “Why are you persecuting my followers?” or “Why are you persecuting those Christians?” No. The voice from heaven said, “Why are you persecuting me? I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” Simply put, those who persecute Christ’s followers persecute Christ himself. When we follow Jesus, what happens to us matters to God and He makes all things, including persecution, work together for good for those who love Him (cf. Rom. 8:28).
In the meantime, a man named Ananias was directed by God to go to the house of one Judas on a street called the Straight. There Ananias laid his hands on Saul and told him that he had been met by the Lord. With that laying on of hands, Saul received the Holy Spirit, “and immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized” as a Christian, and was given the Christian name Paul.
How are we to interpret this conversion of one the greatest missionaries in the first century? There are several accounts of his conversion, besides this one in Acts 9 and one from Paul himself in Galatians 1:11-16. In two passages, Paul tells us that on the road of Damascus, he actually saw the risen Lord with his own eyes (1 Corinthians 9:1; 15:8-9), a fact which Acts omits. Paul believes that is what made him an apostle. His sinful eyes saw the glory of the risen Christ and that vision healed his spiritual blindness, changed his life, his name, and his calling.
What Paul came to realize with his conversion was that he had been wrong, that the one who had been crucified and condemned under the law had been raised to forgive sin. Christ had been raised to forgive the sins of those who were righteous and those who were unrighteous (cf. Mark 2:17 and parallels) – those who never followed the law, those who were not Jews but Gentiles like you and I. The good news of Christ’s salvation for all people, spread like wild fire then as it continues to spread in our world today.
That’s good news for us too here this evening. It is good news for us Gentiles, for us unworthy, for us unrighteous who have gone our own way far from God. The Apostle Paul was confronted by the risen Christ on the road of Damascus and that transformed his life from being a persecutor of Christ to become a follower of Christ. After Paul met the risen Christ, his life took a 180 degree change. He used to tear down the Christ’s church, once he met Jesus he became church builder. St. Paul built so many of them in the 1st century.
God’s amazing grace changed Paul back then, and God’s grace is still at work today transforming countless lives. And that good news gives us hope in the midst of a confusing world. Jesus accepts us as we are, despite our sinfulness, weaknesses, and imperfections. Yet, he does not leave us there but transforms us to become what he intended us to be, “forgiven, transformed, given new life, and empowered by the Spirit to be witnesses of his love. God’s transforming grace is on-going until we die in Christ’s hands. In Jesus, God’s grace will lead us home. Amen!
First Lutheran, April 17/18, 2010
Pastor Jean Rabary