Paul's Epiphany

St. Paul’s Church in Bergen, Jersey City NJ

January 26, 2014

The Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul

Acts 26:9-21

Psalm 67

Galatians 1:11-24

Matthew 10:16-22

Paul’s Epiphany

            For the past couple of weeks now we’ve been in the season of Epiphany. So, each Sunday we’ve been hearing stories of epiphanies – stories of God’s power and love manifested in and through Jesus – stories of God’s power and love manifested in and through Jesus’ followers – stories that call us to reflect on how God’s power and love are manifested in and through us, right here and now.

            Two Sundays ago we remembered the story of Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist. At Jesus’ baptism God announces to the world – including maybe Jesus himself – who Jesus is:

            “This is my Son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

             And then last Sunday we remembered the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. People like the brothers Andrew and Peter begin to have epiphanies about Jesus.

            Andrew tells his brother, “We have found the messiah.”

            But, now, today we are not hearing the readings scheduled for the Third Sunday after Epiphany.

            Instead, here at St. Paul’s, we are celebrating the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul – a feast that was yesterday but, since St. Paul is our patron saint, we are allowed to move the feast to today.

            It’s a day to celebrate our wonderful church and it’s a day to remember that Paul had a life-transforming encounter with the Risen Christ.

            In fact, Paul experienced one of the most powerful epiphanies of all time.

            We know about Paul from the letters he wrote and that later became part of the New Testament. And we know about Paul from the Acts of the Apostles, which was written later by the same person who wrote the Gospel of Luke.

            From those sources, we know that Paul was Jewish. In fact, Paul was a Pharisee – part of the group that in the gospels clashes with Jesus all the time.

            And those clashes didn’t end with Jesus’ death and resurrection. For the next decades there was heated debate and sometimes violence between Jews who believed and proclaimed Jesus to be the long-awaited messiah and Jews who did not believe Jesus was God’s anointed one.

            Early on, Paul was firmly on the side of those who rejected Jesus.

            In the Letter to the Galatians – our second reading today – Paul admits that he had persecuted followers of Jesus. Paul writes,

            “I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it.”

            But then Paul had a life-transforming encounter with the Risen Christ.

            But then Paul experienced one of the most powerful epiphanies of all time.

            In his Letter to the Galatians, Paul doesn’t go into much detail about his epiphany. He writes simply that God revealed his Son to him – and that revelation transforms Paul, sending him off in a totally different direction.

            We get more details in the Acts of the Apostles.

            In fact, the story of Paul’s epiphany is so important that we hear it three times in the Acts of the Apostles.

            In the passage we heard today, Paul testifies that he violently persecuted Jesus’ followers.

            Then, we’re told, one day Paul was on his way to Damascus – on his way to get more Christians. And there on the road to Damascus, Paul (or Saul as he was called then) was surrounded by a bright light and heard the voice of Jesus ask, “Why are you persecuting me?”

            That day on the road to Damascus, the Risen Christ tells Paul to stop kicking the goads – which means stop resisting God’s call.

            On the road to Damascus, Paul received his vocation.

            On the road to Damascus, Paul became God’s co-worker.

            On the road to Damascus, Paul found his life’s work – his life’s work to bring the Good News of Jesus to the non-Jews, to the Gentles.

            On the road to Damascus, Paul had a life-transforming encounter with the Risen Christ.

            On the road to Damascus, Paul experienced one of the most powerful epiphanies of all time.

            Now, instead of persecuting Christians, Paul devoted the rest of his life to sharing the Good News of Christ with as many people as he could. He traveled around the Mediterranean world spending time in towns in cities, telling both Jews and Gentiles alike about Jesus – about God offering love and salvation not just to Jews but to everybody.

            Paul set up little Christian communities and then moved on to the next place. He kept up with his far-flung churches through letters, some of which – like the Letter to the Galatians - have survived as part of the New Testament.

            It was hard and often discouraging work.

            And it was dangerous. Paul suffered a lot and, ultimately, according to tradition, he was executed in the mid-60s in Rome during the reign of Emperor Nero.

            There were also some factors working against Paul. Like all of us, he was an imperfect human being. Apparently he wasn’t the most eloquent speaker and he wasn’t physically attractive. Paul had a temper. Sometimes he got defensive. He didn’t always get along with other disciples.

            Yet, at least some people were attracted to the gospel proclaimed by Paul.

            And when we read his letters it’s easy to see why.

            Paul writes to the Corinthians: “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”

            And to the Philippians: “I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now.”

            And to the Galatians, the passage that probably best sums up what Paul believed and taught: “…for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”

            On the road to Damascus, Paul had a life-transforming encounter with the Risen Christ.

            On the road to Damascus, Paul experienced one of the most powerful epiphanies of all time.

            Paul was overjoyed by the realization that God’s love and salvation is offered to everyone – and he gave away his life sharing that joy with as many people as he could.

            So, what about us?

            Most people don’t have epiphanies like Paul’s – the blinding light – the voice from heaven.

            But, we’re offered plenty of epiphanies – we’re given plenty of opportunities to see and hear and feel God’s love and power.

            If we pay attention, we can discover epiphanies in our daily lives.

            And we are certainly offered epiphanies  - in our prayers, in our music, in our fellowship, in the bread and the wine - each Sunday here at St. Paul’s.

            And, occasionally, we’re offered epiphanies in the water of baptism.

            In a few moments, little Ava will have a life-transforming encounter in the water of baptism – and we will all experience an epiphany of God’s love – a manifestation of God’s power as this child dies and rises with Christ.

            Like St. Paul, may she and we all be transformed by our epiphanies.

            Like St. Paul, may we all give away our lives, overjoyed by God’s love and salvation offered to absolutely everybody.

            Amen.