Positive Faith in Scripture: Paul’s Conversion

“He set off. When he got to the outskirts of Damascus, he was suddenly dazed by a blinding flash of light. As he fell to the ground, he heard a voice: “Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?”

He said, “Who are you, Master?”

“I am Jesus, the One you’re hunting down. I want you to get up and enter the city. In the city you’ll be told what to do next.”

Acts 9:3-6, Message

If God were a God of shame, who only expects people to grow when they are confronted with their shortcomings, then the story of Saul’s (later, Paul) conversion is a rather weird story indeed.

Let’s be clear- there would be plenty for God to shame Paul over. He harassed and persecuted God’s faithful followers with vigor (it’s often said he committed murder, but this isn’t actually mentioned in scripture). If we’re thinking about this in terms of our stereotypes of faith, it’s not hard to imagine God demanding all kinds of acts of remorse or repentance and even making Paul prove himself before he’s tasked with his new calling.

But, he didn’t do that. He was quite matter-of-fact. My paraphrase goes like this: “I’m the one you’re trying to destroy. Stop that and go to work for me- instructions to follow.”

It’s sort of like an annoyingly brief and curt email from your boss that tells you that you’ve been working on the entirely wrong project for entirely too long and it’s time to start all over.

Paul is then led from place to place in order to prepare him for his ministry all under God’s guidance and protection and with no particular sense of retribution or punishment (on God’s part). He’s given a new mission without having to prove his worthiness in any way.

Under the circumstances, this seems to me to be beyond positive. Sure, God doesn’t tell Paul how great he is and why he’s the best choice for the job, but he does quickly move beyond Paul’s past and equips him for the future. I’m quite sure this instills confidence in Paul in his ability to do the job.

What do you see when you read this story?

Over the coming days we’ll go over a few more examples of God subverting our expectations and demonstrating that faith, and being called into God’s family, can be a very positive experience (and not just a shaming and deflating one).

Evidence

"Each time we love again after having our love rejected, we share in the power of the resurrection. Each time we hope again after having our hope smashed to pieces, we share in the power of the resurrection. Each time we pick up the pieces, wipe our tears, face the sun and start again, we share in the power of the resurrection." East Indian Jesuit Pratap Naik

In the meantime, we do not know what it'll mean, we just have evidence that it is so. And this evidence inspires us to respond to the breath of God on our dry, dead bones. Reviving us after tragic loss. Renewing our hope. Giving us a vision for how to carry on after destruction and death and ruin. On May 2nd our community will begin opening up again after over a year of pandemic zooming. We have no idea what it will look like, all the different feelings that this change will bring up for each of us. There will be all sorts of different reactions. But what we must do, we who want to be faithful, is learn to trust God's resurrection strength. In any form it arises.

"Let us rise up and build"

Nehemiah 2:18.

A Re-Cap of Pre-Easter Events…

On Palm Sunday, the week before Easter, Jesus enters Jerusalem to shouting and praise. "This is Jesus, the Prophet from Nazareth in Galilee." (Matthew 21:11) But the party did not last long, soon the religious leaders were questioning his authority - not because they doubted he was God's son but because in fact THEY KNEW he was who he claimed to be. Jesus was on his game - teaching and answering questions, confounding and comforting the listeners. When he was finished, two days before Passover, he predicted his crucifixion - and Judas agrees to betray Jesus. Some people say it was for money - 30 pieces of silver. Others speculate that Judas was pushing Jesus to reveal himself, believing that Jesus would ultimately rise victorious. But it did not go as the pundits predicted and Judas died by suicide having returned the 30 pieces of silver to those who bribed him for information about Jesus' whereabouts. Now - we know that Jesus does rise again, but first, there was this:

Jesus was arrested, charged, abandoned by religious leaders, followers, political leaders and the common man. To be fair, Pilate did not want to crucify him. His wife sent him a note and told him in no uncertain terms to NOT let this happen. He tried to wriggle out of it, but the crowd was charged up and they cried for his crucifixion. This year, when I reread this story, I read it with more fear. That must have been truly terrifying for everyone. A whipped up crowd with bad intel and a political leader trying to maintain control of this city under Roman domination. Pilate had Jesus flogged and then absented himself from the crowd - washing his hands of the deed. Then the crucifixion. Insults hurled. Mocked and ridiculed.

And then, after hours of his torture, he cries out, "It is finished." Man, it was scary, the temple curtain tore from the top down, an earthquake shook rattled and rolled the land. The land went dark. He was laid in a tomb. But it wasn't enough for the authorities, who knew the scriptures. They remembered that Jesus had said, "After three days I will rise again." You see, Jesus did not get crucified because authority figures believed he was lying about who he was - they had him crucified because they believed. They believed that he was the Son of God. So they ordered for the tomb to be made secure so that his body would not be stolen.

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary show up at the tomb in total grief. They cannot find the body to anoint. An angel, doing what angels do, told the two Mary's to not be afraid; Jesus has risen. Go tell the disciples. Along the way, Jesus appears. In the gospel of John, a grieving Mary hears her name called as Jesus says, "Mary." And at that moment, she knows. She recognizes him. She goes to tell the disciples and they don't believe her. (Luke 24)

And so it goes. This group of Jesus followers just cannot figure out what is going on! And yet...God finds a way to work with them. They are, according to Jesus in the gospel of Luke, "dull minded". And so are we. We miss seeing Jesus, and we miss seeing ourselves as God sees us too. If we were to accept that God works with whatever we give him and in the end, God's plan will be fulfilled, then what would you do differently with your day? What would that belief change in you?

Day 8: Rejoicing From a Place of Reality...

For tonight’s prayer, here is the second antiphon:

O Adonai and leader of Israel, You appeared to Moses in a burning bush and You gave him the law on Sinai.

O come and save us with Your mighty power.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might, who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s hight, in ancient times didst give the law in cloud, and majesty and awe:

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

I long to have the wisdom to know, deep in my bones, that it is God who fills and holds the universe together in a strong and gentle manner. To know these things surely would change my own attitude about what strong means and how to exercise power. Surely it would change where I place my hope for change.

I long to remember rightly. That long before there was a pandemic (a mere blip in the course of history) God appeared in a burning bush and dispensed laws for living and loving well as a community. Surely this would change my focus of attention. My eyes would turn inward; my problems would be more about how I live and love than how others are living.

I long to rejoice. Rejoice from a place of reality. Rejoice in the midst of suffering. Accept suffering as part of life even as I seek to alleviate the suffering of others.

Day 8: Rejoicing From a Place of Reality...

For tonight’s prayer, here is the second antiphon:

O Adonai and leader of Israel, You appeared to Moses in a burning bush and You gave him the law on Sinai.

O come and save us with Your mighty power.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might, who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s hight, in ancient times didst give the law in cloud, and majesty and awe:

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

I long to have the wisdom to know, deep in my bones, that it is God who fills and holds the universe together in a strong and gentle manner. To know these things surely would change my own attitude about what strong means and how to exercise power. Surely it would change where I place my hope for change.

I long to remember rightly. That long before there was a pandemic (a mere blip in the course of history) God appeared in a burning bush and dispensed laws for living and loving well as a community. Surely this would change my focus of attention. My eyes would turn inward; my problems would be more about how I live and love than how others are living.

I long to rejoice. Rejoice from a place of reality. Rejoice in the midst of suffering. Accept suffering as part of life even as I seek to alleviate the suffering of others.