The Conversion of St. Paul

January 25, 2004

The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel

Saint Luke’s Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Lessons:  Acts 9:1-22;  Galatians 1:11-24;  St. Luke 21:10-19

This man, Saul, that we hear about in our first lesson, was, as we might say, at the top of his game!  He was a Pharisee,  a respected leader in Judaism, mostly, because he was making great headway in finding, arresting, and prosecuting these blasphemers, these so-called, Christians.  He was such a dedicated Jew, that he was unwilling to tolerate Christians, who thought of themselves as Jews, but worshiped Jesus, as the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.  From Saul's perspective, these Christians were like a cancer--if left unchecked, they would, with their zeal, infect all of Israel, lead people astray, by getting even more faithful Jews, to follow this, pretender, Jesus.  That was Saul's opinion, and why he was so fervently rounding up Christians.  It's interesting, that the gospel lesson for the day commemorating Saul's conversion, to Paul, is Luke 21:10-19, because what we hear, there, is, really what Saul was doing, before he became Paul.  Jesus said to the disciples, "they will arrest you, and persecute you, they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name…you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death.  You will be hated by all because of my name."  Yeah, that's exactly what was happening to those first Christians, and a lot of it was happening because of Saul!  And, he was good at persecuting Christians.  As I said, he was at the top of his game.  He had already had a hand in the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr.  And now, Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged  to the Way--those following the way of Christ, whether men or women, he might bring them, bound, to Jerusalem--where they would be tried, and probably, put to death.  There seemed to be no stopping Saul!  He got his letters from the high priest, and now, he could go into any synagogue, accuse the Christians, and put them on the fast track to a speedy execution.  Saul had been given free reign, to do whatever he wanted, wherever he wanted, to stop the spread of Christianity.  He says himself, that he was foremost among the persecutors of Christians.  And he was on the road to Damascus, to continue his pogrom against Christianity.  If he'd been allowed to continue, who knows what negative effect Saul might have had, against Christianity?  Could Saul have stopped the growth of Christianity?  Could Saul really have slowed the spread of faith in Jesus?  God only knows.  Evidently, God knew, because, God put a stop to Saul's persecutions, by effecting a miraculous conversion--by converting Saul, to Paul;  by turning Saul, who persecuted Christians--into a Christian, himself! 

     There are great ironies, evident in the conversion of Paul.  It is a great irony, that he, who said of himself in our second lesson from Galatians, "I was violently persecuting the church of God and trying to destroy it", actually became one of the greatest missionaries the Church has ever known.  There is irony in the fact that he, Saul, who once handed people over to synagogues and prisons, brought them before kings and governors to be put to death, was himself, handed over to the authorities, was brought before governors and emperor, and finally, died a martyr's death--being beheaded outside of Rome, on June 29th, 67 A.D.  But, maybe the greatest irony of all, is found in the fact that Saul, who thought he saw so clearly, what was true, and what was false--that Saul, who thought he had this Christianity all figured out, seeing clearly that Jesus was not the Messiah--was struck blind by a light from heaven--and only heard the voice of Jesus, asking, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"  And then Jesus said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.  But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do."  And there, is perhaps, the greatest irony of all.  That Saul, who had run rampant over these Christians;  that Saul, who held the fate of so many Christians in the palm of his hand--now, is struck blind, and has to be led into the city, where he would wait in darkness, for three days, neither eating or drinking--just waiting to be told what to do.  You can bet, Saul was not accustomed to sitting, waiting to be told what to do.  He told others what to do!  He ordered that Christians be arrested, bound up, and carried off!  He dragged believers in Christ before governors and kings, to have them condemned, and executed.  Saul was a mover and a shaker--and now, he sat, blind, in darkness, for three days, waiting to be TOLD what to do.  It was surely, a radical conversion.  It effected a change of heart, and mind and behavior, for Saul.  And if nothing else, the conversion of St. Paul, aims to show us just how radical a conversion, we must experience.  How not just once, but time and time again, Jesus must come to us, and humble us, and force us to wait until we are told what he wants us to do.  Oh, the conversion of St. Paul shows us other things.  There are other interesting, and informative aspects to Saul's transformation, into Paul.  But truly, it all revolves around, the conversion, of Paul.  Saul's conversion, to Paul, is what this day points us to, and lifts up for us--so that we hear about his conversion experience, of course, but then, so that we are challenged to consider our own, conversion experiences. 

     And most of us, would respond by saying, "My own conversion experience? What in the world do you mean by that?"  Most of us think of conversion experiences as being something more, well, Baptist, or Pentecostal.  But would you be surprised to hear that our Lutheran Confessions, talk a lot, about conversion?  Would it shock you to find out that conversion--radical, life-changing, life-transforming conversion, is an essential Lutheran teaching, as well?  And not just conversion for those who are not believers, who are becoming Christian--but conversion, for you and me, as well? 

    The fact is, our Lutheran confessional documents teach throughout, that just as St. Paul was converted, you and I are to be converted, not once, but time and time again.  Why time and time again?  Because even after we become Christians--even after we are baptized, we sin, we disobey God, and need to be converted, again.  In the Formula of Concord, it says, "if those who have been baptized act contrary to their conscience and permit sin to rule in themselves, thus grieving the Holy Spirit within them… they dare not be baptized again, though they must certainly be converted again--and it is self-evident, that in true conversion there must be a change;  there must be new activities and emotions in the intellect, will, and heart, so that the heart learns to know sin, again, to fear the wrath of God, to turn from sin, to understand and accept the promise of grace in Christ, to have good spiritual thoughts, Christian intentions and diligence, and to fight again, against the flesh."  Lutheranism teaches that yes, for most of us, even and especially for we who are already Christians, there is the need for ongoing conversion;  what the Apology of the Augsburg Confession calls "mortifying and quickening".  Luther's colleague, Phillip Melancthon writes, "Wherever Paul describes conversion or renewal, he almost always names these two parts, mortifying and quickening.  Colossians 2:11 says, 'In him, in Jesus, you…put off the body of the sins of the flesh', and 'you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God.'  There are two parts here," Melancthon wrote, "The one is putting off the body of sins, the other is being raised through faith."  In other words, conversion, is a dying to the old, and a rising to new life.  It is significant, and shouldn't be overlooked, that St. Paul really experienced a death; a death to his old, hateful self; a death that lasted, not coincidentally, three days.  Who else do we know about who was dead for three days?  Then, after his spiritual death--after three days in a tomb of darkness, where he neither ate nor drank, like a corpse, Saul was resurrected, given a new life, symbolized by a new name, Paul, in Jesus Christ!  And our conversions are to be no less, a dying and a rising.  Martin Luther writes in the Large Catechism that a Christian life is nothing else than a daily Baptism, once begun and ever continued.  For we must keep at it incessantly, always purging out what pertains to the old Adam, so that what belongs to the new man may come forth.  What is repentance/conversion, but an earnest attack on the old man in you, and a desire to enter into a new life?" 

     We see today, that Saul was driven to repent; driven to a 180 degree reversal in life, so that after his conversion experience, he was truly, going in a new, different direction.  The old man Saul had been put to death--and the new man, Paul raised to life--indeed, then, Paul was baptized, and then, he took some food, to restore his strength.  And that is what is to happen to us, daily, if need be.  We are to repent, we are to be converted, we are to turn around, and go in a new, different direction, day after day, if need be, being drowned, daily, in the hope and promise of baptism, so that the old sinful Adam and Eve in us be put to death, and the new being, in Christ, come to life.  Luther says we must put to death, whatever is irascible, spiteful, envious, unchaste, greedy, lazy, proud, yes, unbelieving, in us, so that what increases in us, is gentleness, patience, meekness;  yes, belief, faith, love and good works--Christ's life, in us.  We saw how that happened to Paul, but now we ask, how is that to happen, in us?

     Well, in the just the same way.  Paul's radical conversion was the result of his experience of the Risen Jesus Christ.  And our conversions take place, as the result of the same experience.  Repentance, conversion, a change of direction in life, happens in our lives, through our experience of the Risen Jesus Christ.  And we experience Jesus, risen, and present in our midst, whenever and wherever His Word is read and proclaimed, and whenever and wherever His Supper is consecrated and shared.  For Jesus Christ is Risen, and now, present by the power of the Holy Spirit, as the Incarnate Word, the Word that kills and makes alive.  Jesus Christ is Risen, and now, is present in the Word, enfleshed in bread and wine, that become His very body and blood.  So that in these, means of grace, Jesus is present, truly present, working to bring about in us--in you and me, conversion--mortification and quickening--dying and rising;  putting an end to that in us that needs to die, to bring to life in us, that which needs to live.

     Jesus is present, for you, today, to convert you, even as he converted Saul, to Paul.  He is present, in Word and Sacrament, to put to death, in you, whatever is contrary to God and God's purposes for your life;  to put to death in you, whatever is working against God, in your life…to effect in you, a change in direction;  to cause you, after experiencing Jesus' risen presence, in His Word and His Body and His Blood, to do something different, in your life, as you leave worship today--so that more and more, you will be the new person God is creating you to be.  Only you, and God, know what it is in your life, that God wants to die, so that something new, different, better, can begin.  But you know, as well as I know, that in your hearing, right now, about the conversion of Paul, God is working in you, to bring about a conversion.  And I simply pray:  that you be open, as St. Paul was open, to the powerful, life-changing presence of Jesus Christ, right here, right now--that you too, may have new life, in Him.

     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.