“A dramatic about-face”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Tuesday, January 25, 2022
Acts 26:9-21 (Forward, p. 88) CEV p. 1168
Years ago, during the hippy era, there was a comic book that attempted to tell the story of St. Paul in more contemporary terms. It depicted Paul as a devoted Nazi, a fanatic adherent of their pure Arian race theory, a man who had given over his entire life to hunting out all Jews and ending that race once and for all. In the comic book, Paul is shown as suddenly making an about face and showing up in a local hiding place for Jews, claiming to have changed his ways and now wanting to be one with them. You can imagine what kind of a shock that might have been for those Jews, and how difficult it would have been for them to believe that it was really true and wasn’t just a ploy to win their trust and confidence and send even more of them to the concentration camps and to their deaths.
I must say that this comic book made rather riveting and shocking reading at the time. In this day of ‘political correctness’ and heightened ethnic and racial sensitivities I’m not sure whether it would still be published, but it did make a point. Paul’s conversion from Judaism to Christianity was radical and totally unexpected, and somewhat ‘iffy’ in terms of widespread acceptance. It was only natural that many people were wary and sceptical, at least initially.
Today’s account, part of Paul’s testimony before King Agrippa, tells something of Paul’s dramatic about-face. Prior to his encounter with the risen Christ on the Damascus Road he was hell-bent for exterminating every last Christian from the face of the earth. And yet, God intervened, and everything changed for Paul. In fact, it is quite evident that Paul really had very little to do with it, other than to submit and do as he was told. He began right away to preach Jesus, firstly in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and the rest of Judea and finally out into the Gentile world. All I can say, is that the sovereign hand of God is very much in evidence through this entire story. God had a plan, and that plan involved a very talented and capable, but totally unlikely, candidate, Paul of Tarsus. Here was a man with impeccable credentials but one that no one would have ever given even a moment’s notice in terms of the Christian mission. And yet, God, in His incredible wisdom, chose him and brought about this amazing about face. The good news that I take from this is that God can chose anyone, even those that we’d consider to be totally unlikely, and turn them around, and use them mightily, use them for His glory. That, I must say, includes you and me. Amen.
Forward notes: “I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The Lord answered, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you’” (verse 15-16).
Commemoration: The Conversion of Saint Paul
“What deeply moves me about this verse is that Jesus does not pull the ‘gotcha’ card on Paul as Paul is persecuting Jesus. Jesus humanizes Paul by telling him to stand on his feet. Even when we, like Paul, question or curse Jesus for all that goes wrong in our lives and in the world, Jesus humanizes us. He looks us in the eyes and tells us that our testimony and our servitude are essential to knowing him.
“We are witness to his appearance, and we hold a purpose that must be fulfilled as required by God. Thank goodness Jesus is there to illuminate the way for us as we walk in unknown territory toward a greater knowing.”
Moving Forward: “Have you cursed Jesus lately or wondered where God is? Reread this chapter of Acts and reflect on the words: ‘I have appeared to you for this purpose.’”
