“I was not disobedient”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Wednesday, January 25, 2023
Acts 26:9-21 (Forward, p. 88) CEV p. 1168
I have often speculated on what a radical upheaval of their lives the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary and Joseph must have been. Here they were probably planning a secure, uneventful, peaceful life together, and now God has thrown a proverbial ‘monkey wrench’ into their plans.
Now, if this was true for Mary and Joseph, how much more is it true for Paul of Tarsus. By his own admission he was brought up and educated as a Pharisee, the strictest of a Jewish group at this time. And, he was particularly zealous about the Jewish faith, so much so that he feared the effect this new Christian sect might have among his people. And so, he was determined to do all that he could to stamp it out before it could establish much of a root. Accordingly, he hunted down its original converts and had them jailed, and on occasion, even put to death. And, after starting with this in Jerusalem, even got the permission and authority of the chief priests to extend this pogrom to other cities as well.
But here’s where God forced him into a total about-face. Paul was on route to Damascus when God met him and gave him a change of plans. Not only was he to serve God—a radical about-face if there ever was one, given his prior convictions, but he was also to take his mission to the Gentiles. This in itself was a radical departure, for many orthodox Jews considered Gentiles to be the scum of the earth, fit only for the fires of hell.
And what is doubly remarkable, at least from Paul’s testimony to King Agrippa, as here recorded, is that there was nothing in Paul’s new job description to say that the Gentile converts first had to become Jews, along with all its rules and regulations and requirements:
“I want you to open their eyes, so that they will turn form darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God. Then their sins will be forgiven, and by faith in me they will become part of God’s holy people” (verse 18).
This is radical stuff, unexpected stuff, and a complete about-face for this hardened, right-wing Pharisee. And yet, he was not disobedient to ‘the heavenly vision.’ And, because of his obedience to God’s call, he was mightily used by God, and the entire church—and world—was the better for it. I pray that we, you and I, might likewise be obedient to God’s call and direction—yes, even when they turn out to be a bit disconcerting and disruptive of our well-laid plans and ideas. Amen.
Forward notes: “I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’” (verse 15a)
Commemoration: The Conversion of Saint Paul
“Saint Peter is famously asked by our Lord, ‘Who do you say that I am?’ In today’s reading, it is Saint Paul who recognizes and asks Jesus, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ On his way to Damascus, Paul is stopped in his tracks by a light brighter than the sun. Sometimes, our encounters with God are like this: a clear voice calls us by name, and the experience changes our life forever.
“Today, who do you say that Jesus is? And when you ask, in turn, ‘Who are you, Jesus?’, what have you heard or experienced in response? Whatever the answer, Peter and Paul teach us that Jesus also yearns for a response from us. Both men knew fear and doubt, but each stepped out in faith. Peter became the first bishop of the church, and Paul proclaimed the gospel to the Gentiles. May we follow in their example, letting ourselves be changed by the answer to the question: Who is Jesus?”
Moving Forward: “In your journal or on a scrap of paper, jot down some answers to the question: Who are you, Lord?”