Paul: Conversion and All

The event of Paul’s life that is best known is, without a doubt, the Conversion story found in chapter 9 of the Book of Acts.  This story is so critical to the book of Acts that it will be repeated twice more:  with Paul telling it to a Roman office in Jerusalem in Chapter 22, and near the finale of Acts when Paul tells it to the Jewish King, Agrippa the Second, in Chapter 26.  In the “as it happened” form we just heard, Paul called Saul is blinded by a light from heaven on his way to Damascus, He hears a voice:  “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?  Saul asks, “Who are you, Lord?”  and the reply comes “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”  Note that Saul not only loses his sight, but chooses not to even eat or drink as he waits to be told what to do.

Meanwhile, the disciple Ananias receives a vision from the Lord, with instruction to go restore Saul’s sight.  A brave Ananias mentions that he knows of Saul’s persecutions of the followers of Jesus, a gentle questioning of course, to which The Lord famously replies:

“Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”  

This dramatic conversion was the catalyst for Paul becoming Christianity’s first and most prolific writer, and at times we can clearly see this foundational vision driving his insights.  We collectively hear more of Paul’s writings in church than from any other source.  It is no wonder that there is at least one St. Paul’s Church in every Episcopal Diocese.  Even here with our small number of churches in The Diocese of Utah, we share the name with St. Paul’s Vernal.

In my observations most Episcopalians group Paul’s words heard in church into three categories.  

There are the “greatest hits”:  “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”  (1 Cor 13:7)

There are the passages that make you wince that have been used to beat good people up through the centuries. 

And then, finally, there are the benign passages that likely sound at worst a bit wordy, but ultimately produce little impact on us. 

Most of what we hear from Paul in church is part of this third group.  Not particularly inspirational, and little actual joy that would reflect God and Jesus’ love for the world.  As we hear these excerpts of his letters, many of us our bound to wonder why Paul is considered so important to Christianity.  People must think, “How can this devoted man be so far from Jesus’ message?  Why should we really care about his writings that, unlike Jesus’ words and actions, seem for the most part so out of touch with life today?”

In reality, much in Paul’s letters does not excerpt well, and doing so often causes more harm than good.  No one should ever be using Paul’s letters to defend slavery, economic injustice, the subjection of women, or to condemn consensual loving relationships.  The broader look of Paul’s letters clearly suggests a move towards equity and justice in Christ Jesus, and any details that may suggest otherwise are likely contextual to the societal norms of the first century, which we know to be patriarchal in nature, and dominated by the temporal power of the Romans.   

So our first step with Paul is to consider the context of these letters. 

There were young Christian communities forming, attempting to live together “in Christ Jesus.”  They were set within and surrounded by the early Jesus movement, set within the context of Judaism, and set in the context of the Roman Empire. Communal living is not easy:  especially in times of persecution, newness, and uncertainty. There are lots of things that caused great strife and tension, sometimes even trivial things.  Division threatened not just the way of life, but also invited the ruling Roman authority to clamp down.  

These young communities looked to Paul:  a dynamic, compelling personally that spoke with passion and authority concerning Jesus the Christ.  They wrote letters or sent messengers to Paul, sharing what what going on in the hope that Paul would be able to give counsel and guidance that would be acceptable to the community as a whole.

Paul’s background is critically important.  He had used his formation in Judaism to justify persecution of those who followed Jesus.  Please note that any religion can be used in this abusive way:  persecuting those outside the assumed right way.   In pursuit of this falsehood of God’s work, Paul had a transformative epiphany that moved him to devotion to Jesus.  Now this point is really important.  Paul didn’t simply change teams:  persecuting for Jesus instead of against him.  Paul didn’t say, “I’m gunning for Jesus now.”  For one thing, Paul retained his foundational Judaism and his self identity as a Jew.  But the biggest reality was that persecution was no longer his thing.  

His conversion was TRANSFORMATIVE of HEART, MIND and SOUL.   In Jesus, Paul chose to live differently.  Perhaps more than anything, he was now motivated by love.  Paul becomes committed to loving as Jesus has loved.  Doing so exposes him to suffering that he had, before, closed himself off from.  This isn’t punishment.  Instead, this gives him a way forward:  a way to live in love.

Paul was active in all of the communities he wrote to except for Rome (which makes it an unique letter to be discussed at another time).  In all these other communities he visited them and stayed at length.  He knew them.  He addressed their problems.

All of Paul’s letters are responses to what was currently happening in each community:  one side of a correspondence.  What we have are Paul’s attempts to help a particular, likely fragile group of people stay united in trying times.  

The theologian Gray Temple gives us an example.  Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, includes a moment of response to some suggestion from within the community that women should be veiled and hushed in church.  

We do not know if Paul is responding to a direct question, if he was addressing a point of contention in a specific power struggle, or was attempting to diffuse an out of control situation that had consumed the community.  We hear something like this, and perhaps think, “How in the world could this be important enough to be addressed by the Bible,” without considering the difference in culture, or the parallels that may be reflected in our own society.

Feasting on the Word, Year C, Vol. 4, David Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors, 2010, p. 40)

And yet, what we get as a whole from Paul’s letters are thoughtful responses to the challenges of first century Christian living.  In Paul’s responses, there are great insights, there are moments of brilliance, and truth be told, there are accounts of petty fights, compromises, and disappointments.  

If we are to gain anything from our experience of reading the Epistles, we must attempt to discern the “so what” of the letters.  What is the point, why might this matter, how much does it matter, and what does it mean to the communal relationship?

Doing so reveals that the verse that is so often pulled out and used to defend the status quo, in context, is actually a call for growth and healing towards God in both individuals and communities.

Additionally, Paul weaves his foundational understandings into his letters, shining when he talks about Christ Jesus.  Sometimes its with gems like: “There is no longer Jew and Greek, there is no longer slave of free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”   But also in broadly thematic ways exploring ideas like “Jesus Christ is Lord”, “Christ Crucified”,  and “Life together in Christ”.  Because when he does so, what really shines in Paul IS Christ Jesus.  Ultimately, Paul wants everyone to shine in the same, loving way.

What this means for us, Saint Paul’s namesake, is perhaps summed up by Paul Marshall’s claim that Christ’s followers are to be bound by the highest standards of individual and corporate morality.  Christ’s mission is the ongoing reconciliation of all humanity to God:  something that both happened with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and something that still needs to happen in the infinite opportunities for humility, gentleness, and patient forbearance that we have with others.  

Consider Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan’s observation in their book “The First Paul,” written over 15 years ago, that points to this vision of hope for the world:

"Roman imperial theology says there will be peace on earth when all is quiet and orderly.  The desire is for a manageable, compliant people who’s anger is easily focused on those who disrupt the calm with difference or calls for equity and justice."

"Pauline Christian theology says that there will be peace on earth when all is fair and just.  It is the call for life transformed to God’s dreams for the world, and it is never silent when it comes for love and justice for all of God’s creation."

Thanks be to God, and Amen.