The other day I read a statement attributed to a Roman Catholic elementary student who was talking about St. Paul .  The little boy said, “ St. Paul cavorted to Christianity.  He preached holy acrimony, which is another name for marriage.”   Well, Paul didn’t exactly cavort to the Christian faith, and I’ll leave “holy acrimony” alone, but St. Paul ’s conversion was wonderful, for sure.

Today’s lessons continue the theme of Resurrection and the invitation for us to know the risen Jesus.  This morning I’d ask us to look at the reading from Acts, the story of St. Paul ’s conversion. 

As background, remember that the first time we read about Paul, or Saul as he was first   called, is a couple chapters earlier in the story about Stephen.   Stephen, one of the first deacons in the Church, was seized and brought before the council and high priest.  There he spoke boldly about Jesus, and at the end of his speech the people stoned Stephen to death, and we read: “…. Saul approved of their killing him.” 

In today’s lesson, Paul has letters in hand from the high priest and is on his way from Jerusalem to Damascus .  After Stephen’s death, followers of Jesus scattered and Paul was on a mission to extradite any who had escaped to that city.  I’ve read that Paul’s trip to Damascus was about 140 miles.  It would be made on foot and would take about a week. 

Paul’s only companions were officers of the Sanhedrin, a kind of police force.  Because he was a Pharisee, he could have nothing to do with them, so he walked alone.  I wonder what Paul was thinking as he went along.  Did he remember Stephen’s last words, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. ….Lord do not hold this sin against them.”   Perhaps God was working on Paul’s heart as he walked day by day.                                                                                                 

William Barclay’s commentary on this lesson does some imagining on the scene as Paul got nearer to Damascus .

He writes, “The way went through Galilee , and Galilee brought Jesus even more vividly to Paul’s mind.  The tension in his inner being tightened.  So he came near Damascus , one of the oldest cities in the world.  Just before Damascus the road climbed Mount Hermon and below lay Damascus , a lovely white city in a green plain, ‘a handful of pearls in a goblet of emerald.’ That region had this characteristic phenomenon that when the hot air of the plain met the cold air of the mountain range, violent electrical storms resulted.  Just at that moment came such a lightning storm and out of the storm Christ spoke to Paul.  In that moment the long battle was over and Paul surrendered to Christ.”

Barclay continues, “So into Damascus he went a changed man….  There is all of Christianity in what the Risen Christ said to Paul, ‘Go into the city, and you will be told what to do.’  From this time forward he would be told what to do.  The Christian is one who has ceased to do what he wants to do and who has begun to do what Christ wants him to do.”

Once Paul got to Damascus he met Ananias.  Ananias was a convert to the faith who must have lived close to God.  Remember when Jesus first spoke to Ananias he immediately said, “Here I am, Lord.”   He knew Jesus’ voice in his heart. 

Jesus’ words were not easy to accept.  Ananias knew of Saul and was afraid, and pretty much told Jesus so.  But never-the-less he obeyed.   Ananias probably didn’t feel like searching out Saul – he must have been anxious about it.  But he did it anyway.  It’s good for you and me to know that we don’t have to have everything perfectly sorted out feeling-wise before we step out and do what we’re called to do.  If our lives had to be in perfect order before we helped others, I expect little would get done by any of us.

So, Ananaias went to a street called Straight to the house where Saul was.  If you wonder why the street was called “ Straight Street ”, it’s because … well, the street was actually straight.  Most streets were narrow and crooked, but this one was 100 feet wide with a walk along each side.  On these two side-walks merchants sat in their booths and plied their trade as pedestrians milled around.  You can image the hustle and bustle of this busy street - quite a setting for the event about to happen.

And what happens next is a moment of grace.  Ananias doesn’t appear to hesitate or be suspicious when he enters the house. Instead, he goes right up to this notorious man named Saul and, of all things, calls him “Brother!”  “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me to you so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

As with Ananias helping Paul, it’s not always “comfortable” for you and me to reach out and help people.  Sometimes those who need help the most are, because of their attitude, life circumstances, history, or whatever reason, the most difficult to love.  Yet we’re called to see all people through the eyes of Christ.  We’re called to see others as sister, friend, or, as Ananias saw Paul, a brother.                                                                                                                 

Paul had a dramatic experience, that’s very clear.  Paul was transformed in Christ; he started his journey to Damascus one way and ended his trip as someone new, someone transformed.  Yet this wasn’t really the end of Paul’s journey; it was a new beginning, and the road ahead was to be a hard one.

Later St. Paul would write to the church in Corinth and mention his sufferings as an Apostle.  In Paul’s words, “Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.  Three times I was beaten with rods.  Once I received a stoning.  Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from the Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness; danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked.  And besides other things, I am under daily pressure because of my anxiety for all the churches” (2 Cor. 24-28).  

St. Paul ’s ministry was full of hardships, but his dedication to Jesus was most important to Paul and he would write of the unsurpassed joy of knowing Jesus Christ.                                                                                                            

Paul’s journey certainly extends in many ways to your journey and mine.  He encountered the risen Christ and the direction of his life changed.  You and I encounter Jesus too, in many ways; through the Holy Spirit, through Scripture, through prayer, through other people.    Jesus works in our lives as he worked in Paul’s if we allow him to do so.  As Paul’s life changed our lives can change too.  God used Paul, and he wants to use you and me.

Are you and I called to follow exactly in St. Paul ’s steps?  Well, few of us will journey to the ends of the known world and convert thousands to Christ, as Paul did.  But all of us by virtue of our baptism are ministers and are called to serve Jesus as he leads us.  St. Paul probably has us all beat in terms of his intense, dramatic conversion experience, but perhaps intensity and drama don’t matter all that much in the Kingdom of God .                                                                                                    

I read an article by Heidi Peterson published in The Christian Century some time ago.  In it she wrote: “…the lasting mark of conversion is not one date circled in red on a calendar, but the whole story of one’s life.  In the end, Saul’s dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus is worth telling only because of what he did afterwards.”

Faithfulness is what matters.  The direction we chose matters.  How we act to help those who are hurting, the sick, the hungry, the lonely … that matters.

Remember, as Christians you and I are Resurrection people.  Jesus is alive, he loves us and he calls us to follow him.  In the power of the risen Jesus may you and I live in hope, and share the love and grace of God with a world that needs it so badly.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.