LENTEN READINGS AND REFLECTIONS

DAY 23

Reading: Acts 17:1-22:30

I forget sometimes just how much God accomplished through Paul.

I generally read the bible by chapter. Every morning I read two chapters in the Old Testament, one from one of the four gospels, and one from the other parts of the New Testament. This is a good way to get a grasp of the interplay between the two testaments, but you can sometimes overlook the continuity within the different books. It is has been a long time since I have read 4 or 5 chapters in a row from any given book.

This morning's section, read in one sitting, captures the truly breathtaking sacrifices and tireless evangelical vigor of St. Paul .

Paul's given name was Saul. Saul is a common Jewish name but, as we shall see, our Saul was quite uncommon. Before his conversion to Christianity, Saul was on the fast-track to success and power in the Jewish world.

He was a Pharisee who had trained under the famous Gameliel, one of the ancient world's greatest Rabbi's. His learning, his grasp of the Law, and his religious zeal set him apart from his contemporaries. At a relatively young age, he had attained standing and respect in the highest circles, being licensed and commissioned by the Sanhedrin to judge and punish those who had departed from Jewish legal traditions. He was a man of standing, power, and, likely, wealth.

When Jesus appeared to him, Saul was on his way to find, judge, and punish Christians in Damascus . Christians were considered lawbreakers. First, they proclaimed Jesus (himself a lawbreaker...or, rather, "tradition" breaker) Messiah despite the fact that he had been judged guilty of blashemy by the Sanhedrin and second (and this was later) because, as we saw yesterday, they believed themselves free of the dietary/purity laws of the Old Testament and did not require circumcision for new converts. This was in keeping with God's revelation to Peter that Jesus had fulfilled these laws on the cross. Jesus circumcises believer's hearts and washes all believers clean by his blood. Christians claim that Jesus is the new living Temple. In Christ, God gives Gentiles and Jews alike an opportunity to repent and receive eternal life.

Saul did not believe any of this until he saw the risen Jesus face to face.

According to purely human reasoning, there is no reason Jesus would call someone like Saul. He was a persecutor of the Church and enemy of the cross.

And yet he did.

Not only did he call him, God used him to spread his gospel across the known world.

Saul's conversion shows us that God calls, takes, and accepts whoever calls on Jesus' name whoever they are and wherever they are.

But Saul also shows us that while God accepts you just as you are, he does not leave you there. From the moment of his conversion, Saul's life was radically changed.

Saul was chosen to be Christ's ambassador and herald to the Gentiles. This meant that he would need to change his name from the Jewish sounding “Saul” to the more Gentile sounding “Paul”

But it would involve far more than that. To accept God's call Paul had to sacrifice his home, his status, his power, popularity, and wealth. He had to bear falling from grace in Jerusalem , going from something of a golden-boy, loved and fawned over, to being hated almost overnight. We are told in Acts 9 that very soon after word got back to Jewish officials that Paul had converted and was preaching Christ in the synagogues they sent men to Damascus to kill him.

He presented himself to the other disciples, spent three years in Arabia learning and thinking through the ramifications of Christ's death and resurrection, and then began his mission to the Gentile lands.

That mission lasted the rest of his life. He traveled throughout Asia Minor (modern Turkey ), Macedonia , Cyprus , Crete , Greece , and Rome . Some traditions suggest he even made it to Spain .

His new life was far more difficult than his old one. He was not met with adulation and praise. He was beaten, stoned, insulted, imprisoned, mocked, maligned, and falsely accused. He set up very small church groups (some made up of no more than 12 people) in each town he visited. Few of them thrived during his lifetime. Most of them barely hung on in the face of great trials which included persecutions and the infiltration of false teachers.

Paul, like a mother with her children, was anxious about his churches. His surviving letters to Rome , Corinth , Thessalonica , Galatia , Philippi, Collosae and Ephesus testify to his love, concern and worry for them.

But by God's grace they did survive and ultimately they thrived. They formed the backbone, the foundation, of the Church.

It is because God chose, called, and equipped Paul and because Paul was willing to surrender and give himself wholly to Christ, that we, as Gentiles, know and love Jesus today. He was the apostle God sent to our forefathers.

Think about your own call. Did you know that there are literally no limits to what God can do through you?

Well, I take that back. There is one limit. You are the limit.

God will only work with what you give him. If you give him one hour of your life once a week then that is precisely what you will get. Don't expect to do much or to be of much service to the Lord.

But if you give God your whole self; if you say to the Lord, “Use me as you will make of me what you like” and then place yourself between the Lord's hammer and anvil, there are no limits.

This is quite radical and quite dangerous. You can be assured that God will take you up on your offer. But it is more than worth it.

I never thought I would be where I am doing what I am doing, but I gave my life to Jesus Christ and he took it. Thank God that he did. If I died today I would die thankful that God has used me to change some lives and do some good. I could not say that 10 years ago.

What about you? I don't care how long you've been a believer, have you ever laid down your whole life before God like Saul and said, "use me as you will"?

Imagine what God would do, how many lives God might change, if just a handful of us would be utterly and wholly willing to follow where he leads and go where he commands.

Home  Sermons Contact Us  Links  Last Week's Article