Easter 3 Year C
April 22, 2007
The Rev. Mark Eccles

Our readings today, in one way or another, talk about recognizing Jesus and following him.  This being the Easter season, it’s a good time to reflect that you and I are Easter people, called by baptism to see the risen Jesus in our lives and in the lives of others, and respond as God may lead us.  We are, in effect, called to constantly experience conversion, that is, allow our lives to be changed in accordance with God’s will and purpose for us, whatever that may mean for us individually and as a community of faith.

I light of this I’d ask us to look at our first reading, the story of St. Paul’s conversion.  As we begin we find Paul, or Saul as he was still called, nearing the end of a tiring, almost 140-mile journey on foot from Jerusalem to Damascus.  He’d been on the road close to a week.  His goal was to capture followers of “The Way”, one of the earliest names for Christianity, and bring them back to Jerusalem.  He was a driven man, determined to stamp out any who claimed allegiance to this new religion. 

And the story goes on.  To recap the events, Jesus appears to Saul and Saul is blinded.  He follows Jesus’ direction on to Damascus, where God uses Ananias to restore his sight.  He ends up being baptized and meets with the disciples there for several days.  And the next thing we see is that he appears to be a new person, changed in mind and heart.  He ends up in the synagogue proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God. 

Paul would later reflect on his life before and after his conversion.  In his letter to the Philippians he looked back on what he saw then as accomplishments and successes as an important religious leader.  But he concludes by saying, “…. whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ.  More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord.”

Paul’s conversion is famous and maybe inspiring.  But his experience involves more than effort on his part, in fact there seems to be little he actually did to contribute to this other than put himself at the mercy of God and those God chose to help him.  Let’s look at this a little closer.

As the story opens, Paul seems to be an unlikely candidate to one day spread the Good News of Christ throughout the known world.  We might ask how Jesus could have been interested in this man who was so sure of himself, locked into his strict religious view, who, with the authority of the Roman government, was hunting down the followers of Jesus. 

So, how did Jesus regard this man Saul?  It seems that Jesus saw past who Saul was at the moment, and saw the person he could become.  He seems not interested in looking at Saul’s past, but at his future.

Doesn’t Jesus see you and me that way too?   No matter what our situation in life, Jesus sees us as we are, and accepts us and loves us.  But he also calls us to who we can become: more forgiving and more loving people, more willing to reach out to the lonely, the troubled, the sick, more at peace with ourselves and others.  We don’t have to change to be loved by God; but we can change because we are loved by God, and he will help us.

The more open we are to the process of conversion in our lives, perhaps the more we come to realize what the Letter to the Galatians says about living in Christ.  There we read that, “…. the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self control” (Gal. 5:22-23).  These are traits I expect most of us wish we had in greater measure.  It’s good to know that as we are open to the Spirit in our hearts we can grow this way and come closer to being the kind of people we would like to be.

The lesson also shows us something of what it means to be available to God and to others.  Think about Ananias. When Jesus called to him, his answer was simply, “Here I am Lord.”  These words bring up memory of others in history who when called by God said, “Here am I.”  In the Old Testament I think of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and Samuel.  From Luke’s Gospel we remember Mary’s words, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord” (Luke 1:38).

Perhaps being present or available to God in this way isn’t always easy.  The pace of our lives sometimes keeps us running from one task to another without a lot of time to simply be still and present.  Yet the plug-in to Gods love comes with a long extension cord so we can always stay connected.  The Spirit of God is always in our hearts so that in any circumstance we can turn to Jesus and say, “Here am I.”

In Ananias’s case, his obedience caused him to stretch his comfort zone a bit.  He had heard about Saul and the persecution he had brought to persons like himself.  I expect he was a bit afraid, but when God called him to get up and go, he got up and went.  It isn’t always easy for you and me to “get up and go” where we might be needed.  We may feel inadequate to the task, we may be inadequate to the task; but God isn’t.  As we’ve heard before, God doesn’t call us to be successful, just faithful.  Sometimes I think that 90% of ministry is just showing up, being present.

The ministry of presence, of listening, is a valuable gift we can offer one another.  It’s not easy to be a good listener, to be fully present with someone.  Sometime’s it’s not easy to find a good listener.  But to be able to share your story with someone who really listens and cares is a blessing.  Something we can all work on, I expect.

Back to Paul again, another part of his conversion seems to involve being made a part of a community. We’re told that Paul met with the disciples in Damascus for several days.  For the last week he had, in effect, been walking alone because as a Pharisee his religion would forbid him from having anything to do with the Sanhedrin, a sort of police force, who were accompanying him.  His only company was his anger and passion against Jesus and his followers.  And now, here he was, being welcomed into a community of love and concern provided by those he set out to destroy.

We all need a faith community to be a part of.  We need people with whom to share our stories, our hopes, and our dreams.  We need a safe place where we are loved for who we are, each of us part of the body of Christ.  This is important for new people coming into the faith, and for those of us who have been Christians for a long time.  Worshiping together, learning together, struggling together and supporting one another contribute to a conversion process that never ends for any of us.

Is there a perfect faith community, a church or parish, a perfect place to be?  I really doubt it.  Actually, if there was such a place it might be rather boring.  If we follow St. Paul and the rest of his life in Scripture we see that as he planted churches and led the faithful he faced squabbles, hurt feelings, false teachings, discipline problems and on and on.  But the thread that tied things together then and ties things together now is underlying love for one another in Christ.  The love of Christ overshadows and under-girds the church, and is the Rock on which we can all safely stand, not separately, but together.

This morning we’re going to be part of another conversion.  Our grandson Chase is going to be baptized.  He will become a child of God, a member of the household of faith, part of the body of Christ.  Chase will receive the Spirit of God and will from this day forward carry this blessing with him, always.

Of course, this morning Chase won’t understand what all that is going on. His story and journey of faith so far has been limited; he’s only six months old.  But with the help of his family and others he will grow into his faith and one day appropriate for him self the promises made on his behalf today.  And along the way he, with all of us, can walk in the promise shared by St. Paul years after his conversion, that “nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

Today we give thanks for the grace and love of God given to Chase and all who respond to the call of Jesus.  And may we together continue to grow in faith and love for one another.  In Jesus name we ask this.  Amen.