Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul

JANUARY 25TH, 2009
BECAUSE THIS IS THE YEAR OF ST. PAUL, THE CHURCH GIVES US AN OPTION THIS SUNDAY; WE CAN EITHER CELEBRATE THE THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, OR WE CAN CELEBRATE THE FEAST OF THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. IN A REGULAR YEAR THE SUNDAY WOULD TRUMP THE FEAST.
I'M SURE YOU REMEMBER THE STORY. ST. PAUL HAS BEEN GIVEN A MISSION BY THE JEWISH LEADERS IN JERUSALEM – GO TO DAMASCUS AND ROUND UP ALL THOSE CHRISTIANS AND BRING THEM BACK SO THAT THEY CAN BE PUNISHED. AND THEN PAUL SEES A BRILLIANT LIGHT THAT BLINDS HIM, AND AS HE IS LAYING THERE IN THE DUST, HE HEARS THE WORDS, “SAUL, WHY DO YOU PERSECUTE ME?” HE IS THEN LED TO A CHRISTIAN NAMED ANANIAS WHO PRAYS OVER HIM AND “SOMETHING LIKE SCALES” FALL FROM HIS EYES. AND EVENTUALLY PAUL RETURNS TO JERUSALEM, CONVINCES THE APOSTLES THAT HE IS THE REAL THING, AND RECEIVES THE COMMISSION FROM PETER TO GO TO THE GENTILES. AND AT LEAST PARTLY BECAUSE OF PAUL, THE CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT EVENTUALLY LEFT ITS JEWISH ROOTS AND SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
BUT PAUL HIMSELF DOES NOT MENTION THE LIGHT OR THE BLINDNESS OR ANY OF THESE DRAMATIC EVENTS WHEN HE IS WRITING ABOUT HIS CONVERSION, AND HIS WRITING IS MUCH EARLIER IS THAN THE STORY IN LUKE. BUT HE DOES MENTION THAT HE RECEIVED A DIRECT REVELATION FROM JESUS CHRIST, THAT HE BECAME CONVINCED OF THE RESURRECTION. BUT DID PAUL REALLY CONVERT? WAS THERE A MOMENT WHEN HE TURNED HIS BACK ON JUDAISM AND BECAME A CHRISTIAN? WE SEE IT THAT WAY, BUT PAUL DIDN'T. DURING PAUL'S LIFETIME, THE CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT WAS A BRANCH OF JUDAISM, JUST LIKE THE PHARISEES, THE ESSENES, THE SADDUCEES – AND MANY OTHER SECTS. IN FACT, IN HIS EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS, ONE OF HIS LAST WRITINGS, HE IS WRITING TO JEWISH CHRISTIANS IN ROME, AND INSISTS THAT HIS GOSPEL IS NOT A DEPARTURE FROM JUDAISM, AND THAT HE CONSIDERS HIMSELF A JEW IN GOOD STANDING. SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT PAUL'S CONVERSION, WE ARE READING SOMETHING INTO THAT EVENT THAT PROBABLY WASN'T REALLY THERE.
BUT SOMETHING HAPPENED TO PAUL. SOMETHING MADE HIM CHANGE HIS WHOLE LIFE, PUT HIMSELF IN DANGER OVER AND OVER AGAIN, FIGHT WITH PAGANS AND PHARISEES AND EVEN FELLOW CHRISTIANS OVER THE MESSAGE THAT JESUS BROUGHT INTO THE WORLD. AND WHAT HAPPENED CAN'T REALLY BE KNOWN; PAUL REFERS TO HIS CONVERSION ONLY BRIEFLY, AND WITHOUT SPECIFICS; AND THE STORY IN LUKE IS PROBABLY MORE THEOLOGY THAN HISTORY.
WHAT WOULD MAKE YOU AND I CHANGE INTO ANOTHER PAUL? WHAT KIND OF EVENT WOULD MAKE US CHANGE OUR LIVES FOREVER? I DON'T THINK BEING TEMPORARILY BLINDED WOULD DO IT. I'M NOT SURE HEARING A VOICE FROM THE HEAVENS WOULD DO IT. THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE AROUND WHO HAVE HAD NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES AND GONE BACK TO THEIR SAME OLD LIVES; THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD PROFOUND RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES AND THEY NEVER TOOK. JESUS HIMSELF TALKS ABOUT THE SEED THAT FALLS AMONG THORNS, THE SEED THAT FALLS ON THE ROAD – SEED THAT MAY GERMINATE FOR A TIME, BUT NEVER BEARS FRUIT. NO, ITS HARD TO IMAGINE THAT A SINGLE EVENT WOULD CHANGE PAUL, OR ANYONE, SO MUCH. AFTER ALL, THE APOSTLES SPENT THREE YEARS IN THE PRESENCE OF JESUS HIMSELF, AND STILL DESERTED HIM AT THE CRUCIFIXION. AND REMEMBER JUDAS – WITNESS TO ALL THE MIRACLES, SOMEONE WHO HEARD EVERY SERMON JESUS PREACHED – AND STILL HE BETRAYED HIM AT THE END.
MAYBE THERE IS ANOTHER WAY TO UNDERSTAND THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. WHEN LUKE TELLS US THAT PAUL WAS GIVEN A MISSION BY THE JEWISH LEADERS TO GO INTO ANOTHER COUNTRY AND DRAG BACK CHRISTIANS, THIS IS A LITTLE HARD TO BELIEVE, NOT TO MENTION THAT IT PROBABLY VIOLATED ALL KINDS OF ROMAN LAWS. BUT IF HIS MISSION HAD BEEN TO GO TO DAMASCUS AND TRY TO PERSUADE THOSE WHO FOLLOWED JESUS THAT THEY SHOULD LEAVE THEIR HERESY AND COME BACK TO THE TRUE FAITH, THAT'S MORE BELIEVABLE. AFTER ALL, PAUL WAS A PHARISEE, AND IN THOSE DAYS, PHARISEES OFTEN WENT ON MISSIONS TO BRING OTHERS INTO THE “TRUE FAITH” AS THEY SAW IT. IN THE GOSPEL, JESUS MENTIONS HOW THE PHARISEES WOULD CROSS AN OCEAN TO MAKE A CONVERT. SO PAUL GETS TO DAMASCUS, AND THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY WELCOMES HIM, SEES THAT HE IS TAKEN CARE OF, AND PAUL, WHO KNOWS THE BIBLE BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS, DISCOVERS THAT THEY ARE LIVING THE WAY PEOPLE WERE SUPPOSED TO LIVE AT THE END OF TIME; JEWS AND GENTILES TOGETHER; MEN AND WOMEN, SLAVE AND FREE – THERE WERE NO DISTINCTIONS. AND THE COMMUNITY WAS FOUNDED ON LOVE, EVERYONE LOOKED OUT FOR EACH OTHER, AND EVERYONE PUT UP WITH EACH OTHER'S FAULTS, AND EVERYONE PRACTICING WHAT THEY PREACHED. AND AS PAUL WENT AROUND TO OTHER COMMUNITIES, HE SAW THE SAME THING; THESE PEOPLE WERE LIVING THE WAY THE PROPHETS SAID THE WORLD WOULD BE AT THE END OF TIME. AND PAUL RECOGNIZED THAT THE RISEN CHRIST WAS LIVING AMONG THESE PEOPLE; THAT THE MESSIAH HAD COME, AND THAT THE WORLD WAS FOREVER CHANGED.
WE SOMETIMES THINK THAT PAUL WAS THE REAL FOUNDER OF CHRISTIANITY, BUT THERE WERE CHRISTIANS IN MANY PLACES EVEN BEFORE PAUL WAS CONVERTED. MAYBE THE REASON FOR THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL WAS HIS EXPERIENCE WITH THOSE ANONYMOUS FIRST CHRISTIANS WHO CONVINCED HIM BY THEIR LIVES AND THEIR LOVE FOR EACH OTHER THAT THE MESSIAH OF THE JEWS HAD INDEED COME INTO THE WORLD, AND CONTINUED TO LIVE, RESURRECTED, AMONG HIS PEOPLE.
SO ON THIS FEAST OF THE CONVERSION OF ST PAUL, LET US ASK OURSELVES, ARE WE THE KIND OF COMMUNITY THAT WOULD PROVE TO A MODERN DAY PAUL THAT THE MESSIAH HAD COME, THAT JESUS CHRIST LIVES FOREVER AMONG HIS PEOPLE?