"Saul-soon-to-be-Paul"
A sermon by Sid Burgess for Edgewood PC,
Third Sunday of Easter, April 25, 2004, Earth Sunday and
Confirmation Sunday
Text: Acts 9:1-20
The conversion of St. Paul is one of those Bible stories that is so familiar it is hard for good church folks to hear it. I mean, we've heard it so often: Paul on the road to Damascus. "Got it; next story, please."
But studying this text a bit more closely this week I am struck by what a mean fellow Saul must have been. "Meanwhile, Saul, still breathing threats and murder," says our text. You gotta be one mean beast to be threatening death to somebody. Even if you think you've got the law on your side, which apparently Saul thinks he does . . . . Still, to organize a posse and go out of your way--Damascus is 60 miles distant with no interstate-- just to catch a bunch of renegade members of the local synagogue, you gotta be pretty hard-nosed.
"Meanwhile, Saul, still breathing threats and murder." See the angry face, see the clinched fist, hear the heavy breathing . . . .
Running in our domesticated circles of work and school and shopping we don't see this often--but every now and again, you'll see someone all hot and bothered about something--face red as a beet, spitting threats and spewing ugly words. If we--and they--are lucky, someone or something will intervene to calm them down. If not, well, the results can be deadly. Today we call it, "Going postal"--an unstable persons gets angry at the boss or co-workers, grabs a gun, and "breathing threats and murder . . . ."
Thank goodness, for us, these are isolated situations. Elsewhere in the world, "people breathing threats and murder" control governments, run police agencies, and command armies. The world gets rid of one--Hitler, for example, and two more pop up--Stalin and Mao. In our own time Saddam Hussein gets top billing, but before him there was Milosevic in Bosnia, and before him, Pinochet, in Argentina.
Well, maybe Saul-before-he-became-Paul was not as bad as these guys. After all, his "rap sheet" in Acts is pretty short. We've got him holding some coats while some other mean guys stone Stephen to death (7:58) Then, while poor Stephen is being buried, Saul is reportedly dragging Christians out of their homes, and throwing them into prison (8:3) That's it so far. But still, anytime someone is "breathing threats and murder," we've learned to take them seriously. Need I mention Columbine?
Right about now, I am hoping someone in the congregation, is beginning to wonder, maybe even to ask, 'What’s all this about Saul-soon-to-be-Paul got to do with Earth Sunday?' Well, I'm glad you asked that question because for a while this week I wondered the same thing. But then I realized that were we some small creature crawling on the ground, with our natural habitat about to be paved over . . . . Or, some fish of sea or stream, our home beneath wave and ripple invaded by tons of garbage. Looking up from these perspectives, seeing waste being scattered indiscriminately all over God's good creation, we might see the whole human race as "breathing threats and murder."
Looking up from the perspective of an endangered species--giant pandas or snow leopards, sea turtles or blue whales, for example--you might rightly wonder what ever happened to that divine mandate given by God to humankind at creation
to have dominion over (that is to say, to take care of)
the fish of the sea, and . . . the birds of the air, and . . . the
cattle . . .
and all the wild animals of the earth, and . . .
every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. (Gen 1:26)
Looking up from the perspective of an oppressed people; looking through the eyes of victims of violence; looking up from the perspective of endangered species, seeing all of these human beings "breathing threats and murder" surely someone is bound to ask,
'Where is God when you need God?'
Listen, and you will hear. . . . You will hear the very same voice the hard-charging Saul hears on the Damascus Road: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" With the soon-to-be ex-persecutor we ask: "Who are you, Lord?" And reverberating down through the ages comes the answer: "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting."
Where is God when you need God? You just heard God's own voice. And there is more. "But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do" (v.6).
Now who, pray tell, is going to tell us what to do? Who is going to tell this generation how to put an end to the oppression, put a stop to the violence, and how to clean up and protect God's good creation?
Once again, I'm glad you asked the question. Because here we are, nearing the end of the sermon, and the preacher has yet to mention the confirmation class. What of these young people, about to be received into full membership in the church? Enough about Saul-soon-to-be Paul. Enough about Earth Sabbath. Speak to us eager, young believers! What about our children?
Like I said, glad you asked the question. Notice here in our story
from the Acts of the Apostles that when Saul-soon-to-be Paul is
struck down by the blinding light, he is led by the hand to a
disciple in Damascus named Ananias. Ananias doesn't get much play in
church tradition, no saints day for him, no churches named for him.
Still, he is a pivotal character in our story. God speaks to him in
a vision. Ananias listens, then responds: "Here I am, Lord,”" the
very words of the great prophet Isaiah, himself. And because he is
listening, Ananias gets clear instructions from God. He follows
those instructions, though not without some fear and trepidation.
Ananias follows God’s instructions, and he is there when the scales
fall from Paul eyes.
In other words, Ananias is there when Saul becomes Paul!
Now, my friends, here is the connection. Watch and listen as this small group of confirmands comes to the baptismal font, saying with Isaiah, saying with Ananias, "Here I am, Lord." Listen, and then let us consider that these young people may be, may just be our Ananias. They may just be the ones to help us see the light. They may just be the ones whom God will use to lead us--the Church--in a dramatically new direction. They, and their generation, may just be the ones God will use to put an end to violence against both nature and humanity. In Sunday school and worship, at summer camps and in youth retreats, our young people are learning that it is our Christian responsibility to protect the sacred gifts of creation given by God, and to heal a world torn by brokenness and human strife.
The ancient prophet Jeremiah once wrote:
Stand at the crossroads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way lies; and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls. (6:16)
In bringing the natural habitat God created for us near to the breaking point, we have stepped away from the ancient paths Jeremiah describes. And we are at a critical crossroads. Perhaps a whole new generation of believers, represented here today by six members of our youth group, will help us see the error of our over-consuming ways, repent of our sins, and look more seriously at our responsibility to care for all "creatures of our God and King." Then shall we find the good way of Jeremiah--the way of healing, wholeness, and reconciliation. And through this good way, we may also find clean air for our lungs, clean water to replenish the earth, a place of rest for our souls.
Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor
and power and might
be to our God forever and ever. Amen.