People don’t change – until they do.

Today the Church remembers the Conversion of St. Paul, perhaps one of the most vividly described events in the Book of Acts. In Chapter 9, we meet Saul, “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.” (9:1)  This is the Saul that held the coats of those that stoned Stephen to death.  He did everything he could to crush the fledgling religious movement of the Way, but it still kept growing.  No one meeting Saul would have ever thought he would become Jesus’ greatest advocate.

But he did.

The Risen Christ literally stopped Saul in his tracks on his way to Damascus and asked, “Why do you persecute me?”  Saul was struck blind and must be helped to bed in the aftermath of this dramatic encounter.  Only when Ananias – a faithful disciple yet still full of trepidation to meet the sworn enemy of the Jews – lays hands on Saul and prays for him to be filled with the Holy Spirit does Saul transform into Paul, a fierce defender of Christ.

It is hard for me to imagine such a dramatic change in life.  I can only liken it to those who have left cults or recognized an addiction and entered recovery.  It is a complete change in how one approaches and lives life. Even when the transformation is positive and healthy, it is still challenging.  What is important to recognize is that real change can happen, but usually only with the presence and power of God in the midst of it.

We respond to our Baptismal Covenant vows with, “I will, with God’s help” and not simply, “I will.”  There is a recognition that what we are being asked to do is not easy and it will not be accomplished without the help and invoked presence of God in our lives. We need the Spirit to guide us, teach us, and even surprise us.  Those words cannot just be rote if we truly want to be transformed like Paul.

Imagine what God could accomplish if we all offered ourselves in service with the passion of Paul. I actually find it hard to imagine, perhaps because of the single-minded nature of his ministry.  We are all so busy with so many parts of our lives that our faith seems to recede on our “To-Do List.”  But if we change our thinking into seeing that all we do, we do for God, then our faith in not relegated to a specific time on a specific day – it is all the time.  Every encounter, meeting, class, car ride offers us the opportunity to be open to the Spirit working through us, inviting us into proclaiming the Realm of God. 

To do this with integrity, we need to start by claiming our own conversion story.  How did you become a Christian?  When did you decide to live by Christ’s example? How do you see God at work in your life?  The answers will probably not be as dramatic as Paul’s conversion, but they are our own, and from which we can share God’s presence in our lives, which might help someone else begin a conversion of their own. That is how we bring about the Realm of God.

If this seems a bit daunting, come to the Lenten series “Set Our Hearts on Fire,” to learn more about how God is calling out to us in big and small ways.  We can be open to what the Spirit is up to in this world, we just need practice at doing it!

Paul’s story has much to teach us, not the least of which is that we cannot give up on people because God doesn’t.  That doesn’t mean we enable bad behavior, but we can pray for the Holy Spirit to come inspire them to want to be transformed.  In fact, that is my prayer for all of us.

In Christ,

Rev. Valerie+

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