“The Transcendent Power of the Risen Christ”

The Conversion of St. Paul – January 25, AD 2009

Acts IX: 1-22

         Not long ago there was a news item in the paper about three men in Iran who were sentenced to be stoned to death for adultery. They were put into a hole up to their waists. Women facing this punishment in Iran are put into a hole up to their necks. In this case, two out of the three men were stoned to death. Miraculously, one of the men managed to wiggle out of the hole before being stoned insensible. It seems if a defendant manages to free himself from the hole he is put in, then he is allowed to live. This one man thereby escaped death and lived. Stoning is an incredibly brutal form of capital punishment. Not quite as bad as crucifixion but close enough. It is hard to imagine that someone could willingly participate in such a thing and not have one’s very heart and humanity become like a stone itself. Such a person is the one whose conversion to the way of Christ we celebrate today – Saul of Tarsus, who became St. Paul and apostle to the Gentiles.

         You remember who was stoned to death while Saul watched approvingly? St. Stephen, right? As we read in Acts 6:8: “Now Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.” But Stephen runs into trouble with his fellow Jews for doing great things in the name of Jesus. He is hauled before the Sanhedrin where false witnesses testified against him. Stephen is not cowed but rather in Acts 7 delivers an impassioned indictment of how the Hebrew people have consistently resisted God’s word and his prophets throughout their history. He calls his Jewish listeners a “stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears. You always resist the Holy Spirit,” he tells them. They are furious with him but when he tells them “I see the heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God,” that prompts the Jews to drag Stephen out of the city and stone him without any pretense of a fair trial. While being stoned to death, Stephen manages to forgive his murderers. “Lord, do not hold this sin against them,” he prays before dying. “And Saul was there, giving approval to his death,” as the first verse of Acts 8 records. Do you think Saul could’ve had some twinge of guilt or conscience emerge from this event that could have precipitated his later conversion? We have no scriptural evidence of it. Instead, Saul continued to vigorously seek to destroy the church in Jerusalem. “Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison,” [Acts 8:3b] No, the conversion that Saul experiences in our scripture lesson is something completely and utterly unexpected and out of character for Saul. The nature of this experience is that of a theophany or visible appearance of God in which God speaks, like the burning bush to Abraham, or Ezekiel’s vision of God, or Jesus’ baptism.

         In this account, Saul is on his way to Damascus with murderous intent, authorized by the high priest at Jerusalem to round up any followers of Jesus. As he approaches Damascus, a blinding light from heaven knocks Saul to the ground and a voice says to him, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” And who is that “me”? “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest,” says the Lord. Whenever the Body of Christ, the Church, is attacked from without or from within, it is Jesus who is pained the most. The others with Saul hear a voice but it is Saul that God is after. Rising from the ground, Saul is unable to see. Three days he is in this condition, not eating or drinking. Do you catch the rich resonance of the “three days” with the passion and resurrection of Jesus Christ? But the Lord doesn’t leave Saul in his blindness. The Lord, as He so often does, acts through His Church, giving a vision to a disciple called Ananias to seek after Saul of Tarsus in the street called Straight. At first Ananias is hesitant, and who wouldn’t be given Saul’s reputation as persecutor of the Church. But being told that Saul is a “chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: for I will shew him how great things he must suffer for may name’s sake,” Ananias obediently goes to Saul, puts his hands on him and calls him Brother. Through this action, Ananias serves as a conduit for the power of the Holy Ghost to effect a miracle. Immediately, Saul receives his sight back and then is baptized. After spending time with the disciples in Damascus, Saul preaches in the synagogues that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, amazing everyone and increasing in strength.

         There is much we could say about this account of God’s mighty power that transcends all human understanding, and how He can overcome evil and death with resurrection and life in seemingly hopeless cases. But the question I wrestle with today is how can we, individually and collectively as the Church, act as Ananias did to obediently serve our Lord and be a vehicle for the conversion of those who act in ways harmful to the Body of Christ? I ask this question in the context of our recent history, and the historic events that took place in our nation’s capital this past week. The Church and its moral and ethical teachings clearly are under attack today in our culture. There are many avenues that Satan is using to try to throw those laboring in Christ’s vineyard into disarray and retreat. Principalities and powers of darkness are sowing confusion and ignorance, even among believers who should know better, regarding fundamental Christian standards of sexual behavior. Principalities and powers of darkness are encouraging avoidance of the social justice dimensions of loving one’s neighbor, especially if they are poor or a stranger. Principalities and powers of darkness are promoting the outright flaunting of the commandments to have no other gods but the Lord thy God, to keep the Sabbath holy, to not covet, and to not commit murder. Let’s just look at one of these, for example. Murder. As barbarous as stoning and crucifixion are, these aren’t every day occurrences anymore. Instead, we have abortion. We reserve that form of “justice” for those who have no access to high priced legal teams – the innocent unborn. You may have seen something in the media, if you were lucky, about the Right to Life march that was held in Washington, DC this past Thursday. Amidst the 200,000 to 300,000 Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestants of every stripe and color, were some traditional Anglo-Catholics. Don Walters and I, along with Fr. Al Starr of Washington, DC, were there. Despite chilly winds blowing down from Capital Hill and ink the color of blood poised to drip from the executive pen of the President, the huge crowd was determined to press on with vigor and hope.

         How do we press on? First, humbly repent and pray that God forgives us of our own sins, as we forgive others who have sinned against us. Then keep on praying. Pray with feet and voice and ballot that the sanctity of life becomes a higher priority in our national consciousness. Pray that God will forgive the abortionists and heal the emotional scars of those who obtain abortions. Pray that the power of the risen Christ will radically transform those who do not really experience or fully know Jesus, or who seek to harm His Body in any way. Miraculous displays of God’s power and purpose for humanity didn’t stop with Saul. Countless others through history have been converted and saved by belief in the risen Christ, despite all outward signs that such a thing wouldn’t be possible. And Christ uses us, His foot soldiers in the faith, to be like Ananias and go boldly outside our comfort zones and bring the God of love and righteousness even to our perceived enemies. And once our feet are marching in the right direction, our Lord Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Ghost can help keep us on that narrow way, despite whatever we may suffer, as St. Paul did, if we feed on Him with faith and thanksgiving. For He only is the true vine and bread of life. Come taste and see.

And now unto God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, be ascribed all might, majesty, honor, and dominion, as is most justly due this day, both now and forever, Amen.