Sermon for the feast of the Conversion of St Paul
There are those
who read the bible
looking for any excuse
to find contradictions.
The story of St Paul's conversion
is mentioned three times
in the book of Acts
but they are not all the same.
The conversion is related
by St Luke as part of the narrative
in chapter 9
and then twice more
in chapters 22 and 26
as St Paul tells the story to others.
People tend to focus on
the fact that these accounts differ.
There is some inconsistency
about whether everyone ses the light
or hears the voice,
or whether everyone falls down.
If you read these accounts
for yourselves,
you might come away
not really knowing
how those travelling with St Paul
bear witness to what happened.
But does something happen,
or is it all in St Paul's head
- a result of a seizure,
or a stroke,
or an hallucination?
[PAUSE]
First,
we can be sure that
something is happening.
Before Damascus,
Saul is breathing out
fire and threatenings
against Christians.
In Damascus,
Saul becomes Paul
and seeks to serve
the One whom he persecutes.
In many ways,
the evidence of St Paul's ministry
speaks for itself.
You know his letters.
They are reasoned,
passionate,
compassionate,
intelligent,
spiritual
and full of the praise of God.
That's evidence enough
that something is happening
on the Road to Damascus.
Second,
those around St Paul,
are affected.
St Paul himself may not be
fully aware of what others are seeing
but then, he is rather more concerned
with the Voice calling him out
for persecuting the King of Heaven.
In the confusion,
some of the others may see the light
some may hear the voice,
some may understand the voice,
some may have fallen down.
It depends who you ask!
And in the confusion
not all may experience
exactly the same thing.
What matters
is that the event is about
one man's conversion,
one man's redemptiom
and one man's shame being turned
to his praise.
This is his experience
and that experience
can be supported
by those who were there
and by those who owe
their coming to faith
by the persecutor
turned apostle.
[PAUSE]
And the conversion
still has an affect on us,
twenty centuries later.
We have to reconcile
the persecutor with the apostle.
We have to reconcile the man
rejoicing in the death
of St Stephen
with the man rejoicing
in the strength of the Church
as the executioner
ends his life.
They are the same man.
And it shows why
we must love those
who persecute us.
We can't hate Saul,
because then we hate Paul.
How can we hate Paul
even when he is Saul?
To see him
before his conversion
is to see ourselves
before ours.
We have to start
somewhere.
The Christians that Saul kills
are those Christians
who welcome him into heaven
with cries of joy
and warmth and love.
That's how we need to be:
loving our enemies,
accepting persecution with joy!
This attitude makes us
contradictions in this world
but perfect sense in heaven.
This attitude
helps Sauls become Pauls
and allows Heaven to ring with joy
over each repentant sinner.
And if Sauls become Pauls
then the Christian faith
is enriched upon the earth
allowing
for more conversions
from contradictions.
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