Conversion of St. Paul, Conversion of the World
Saul was a devout Jew who knew God and followed God and thought he was doing the right thing when he went about the land killing those rabble-rousers, those Christians. Paul knew the rules.
He followed every Jewish feast and fast impeccably. He was known as a Pharisee of Pharisees.
Paul knew that this Jesus, this renegade, was pulling jews away from God . . . or so he thought.
Paul felt it was his duty to find any Christ-follower, man or woman, and hand them over to the authorities.
Perhaps they would be killed.
He did not care.
Paul thought he was earning his right to be in the kingdom eternally.
Little did Paul know that God knew exactly what He was doing when He blinded Paul with His light.
God knew that Paul would need a dynamic ‘epiphany’ to see “Light from Light” piercing the darkness of his heart.
Paul needed a powerful moment to see the Truth, to know the Truth and to live the truth.
Paul was blind in his heart so God blinded him with His Presence.
When Paul fell to his knees, helpless, spinning in wonder at what had happened to him, God had Paul in the palm of His hand.
Paul’s conversion was dramatic.
He made a 180 degree turn and saw God in totally different light.
His energy and enthusiasm for God never changed.
It just changed direction. Paul saw and heard and knew.
He understood the Truth, whom he was totally against, was totally for him.
Paul finally understood that ‘doing’ for God would not be his salvation.
God came to Paul and drew Paul to Himself for no other reason than God so loved Paul that he gave his only begotten son.
As soon as Paul believed that Jesus was the son of God, and better understood God’s gift to us for eternal life, Paul could not wait to tell the world.
Yet, Paul had to step back, re-group, examine his life, his focus, his purpose, now that he was Christ’s own forever. God saw Paul’s enthusiasm, his incredible zest for doing the ‘right’ thing for God.
God saw Paul’s perseverance, his energy to press into the crowd and scatter those who were not following the ‘rules’ according to what Paul thought the rules to be.
Yet, that enthusiasm needed to be reigned in, re-worked, re-focused, re-purposed for the spreading of the Gospel, the good news, of Jesus Christ.
It was good that Paul was hidden from view for a few years. Word spread that Saul, the hater of Christians, was renamed Paul, a beloved child of God.
Any good pharisee must have spun around in disbelief. Here was Saul, a learned pharisee, taught by the rabbi of rabbis, Gamaliel, well versed in Torah and Talmud, a man of incredible stature.
The Saul they knew had changed so drastically.
How could this man, Jesus, have such a powerful impact on Paul?
Was Paul actually becoming a rabble-rouser himself?
How dare he.
How dare Paul go against the correct way to earn eternal life, the correct way to worship, the correct way to stand on the corner for all to see in the full regalia of a pharisee?
How dare Paul drag the image of ‘pharisee’ into the mud like this . . . groveling before God, telling an unbelievable story that only those other rabble-rousers believed.
And yet, when Paul boldly stood before King Agrippa and councils and those ready to kill him, he told these people about God, the Father, sending God’s Son to humanity to walk with them and talk with them and die for them and shed blood on the Cross for them.
For the rest of his life Paul lived on the edge of being acceptable and being killed.
He did not waver in is belief in God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
He died for the faith long after he openly shared his testimony to all who would hear,
24-7-365.
Every possible catastrophe on his missionary journeys did not stop Paul.
He was bold.
He was secure.
He was totally focused on his mission as he listened to God for direction.
Paul was determined to speak the message of Jesus Christ for the conversion of the whole world.
What would we do if people regaled against our belief in Christ Jesus?
Could we wish to be as bold as Paul in telling our story to others?
Could we stand firm in our belief in God’s only Son, Jesus Christ, even if it meant being killed?
Do we feel secure in our walk with Christ?
Do we have the same holy boldness as Paul when given the opportunity to share our own salvation story?
Perhaps we can take this opportunity to think about our journey in Christ.
Think about our turning points.
Think about our challenges that helped us come face to face with our Lord and bow before Him and acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord of lords and King of kings.
Could we pray for holy boldness?
Could we walk into the fray of chaos around us and share our conversion story?
Some of us may have always known Christ but when was the turning point when we came face to face with God and knew, deep in our soul, that our entire purpose for living is to do as Paul did . . . share our story . . . share the story of our salvation . . . the saving grace given to us freely, at no cost.
All we have to do is “speak with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead and we will be saved.”
Speak our story.
Live our story.
Let “God with us,” Jesus Christ, expand our story as we walk our walk, totally focused on Him.
Let us all pray that we may be like Paul, willing to tell our salvation story with the same passion as Paul to convert the world.
Amen
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