Sunday 05/01/22 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “From Saul to Paul!”
Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 30
New Testament Scripture: Acts 9:1-20
Gospel Lesson: John 21:1-19
From the earliest days of the Methodist
Movement, we have always emphasized the power and the importance of having a
personal conversion experience with Jesus Christ. What is like to feel the love
and the grace of God in Jesus Christ? What is it like to feel the Holy Spirit
moving in and through you? What is like to truly have that moment that you know
that God loves you, that Jesus died for you, that your sins are forgiven, and
that you are eternally loved?
When we become Christians there are
often things that we believe, such as the Trinity, who Jesus was and is, etc.
Have we ever felt God’s presence inside of us though? Have we had a conversion
experience? Some people call this being “Born Again,” or “Saved,” but it is the
idea that we know, feel, and believe in Jesus. Our sins are forgiven, we feel
God’s love, and we know that Jesus died for us and rose again. It is a powerful
thing to have a conversion experience. I had one and have many more lesser ones
since my first one.
The founder of the Methodist Movement,
John Wesley attended a prayer meeting on Aldersgate Street in London, England
on May 24, 1738. While at this prayer meeting John Wesley wrote in his journal
that he felt his heart “strangely warmed.” Methodists call this John Wesley’s “Aldersgate
Experience,” and in having this experience, what John Wesley had known and
believed in his head, became something alive in his heart and his soul. He felt
God’s presence, he believed Jesus was his savior, and from that day forward the
Methodist Movement grew like wildfire
(https://www.umc.org/en/content/holy-spirit-moments-learning-from-wesley-at-aldersgate).
When we are opened up to God, to the
love of Jesus Christ, and to the power of Holy Spirit, we begin to see the
world differently. Hopefully, we begin to see the power of the mission of the
church, of bringing people to Christ and equipping them to transform the world.
In this way, part of what I like to do
as a pastor, is to offer various opportunities for people to pursue the mission
of the church. Today is Native American Ministries Sunday, and as such, today
is an opportunity to pray for and financially support Native American Ministries
and create programs and seminary scholarships for United Methodist Native
Americans. So, this is just an option. It is like a missional buffet at a restaurant,
and I want to make sure that I am offering various opportunities for us to
fulfill the mission of the church.
For this reason, we are having our
first ever Compassion International Sunday today. Through Compassion
International you, your family, or a few friends chipping in together, can
sponsor a child from up to twenty-nine different countries in the world. These
countries are among the poorest and the most poverty stricken on the planet.
Through giving thirty-eight dollars a month, the money is balled together for
many children for better purchasing power. This allows a child to be fed,
clothed, receive an education, and be taught the Christian faith.
Melissa and I have sponsored two
children now, and they are both from the country of Bolivia in South America.
We have been sponsoring kids from I think about 2008 or 2009. Our first sponsor
child, Guadalupe graduated from high school, and aged out of the program. She
was the first woman in her family to graduate from high school. Then in
December, 2017 Melissa and I started to sponsor Arianne, also from Bolivia. Arianne
is now 14 years old, and her birthday is February 28th. We get
letters from her, she draws us pictures, and I have the pictures of her that I showed
the kids this morning. I have to admit that Melissa and I have not been too
good as of lately in writing letters to Arianne. We have to get better with
that, but we are so happy that for thirty-eight dollars a month we able to give
Arianne a better life. So, this is another opportunity to pursue the mission of
the church, and feel free to check out our Compassion International table in
the church narthex after church. There are little pictures of kids from all different
countries, and you can sponsor one of these kids if you want. It is an option,
another thing on the mission buffet, but I thought it would be a good thing for
us to consider. It shows us how to live our faith, and how to love like Christ.
So, as I said, a conversion experience
can be powerful. Coming to Christ can be a powerful thing, and it cannot only
transform us, but it can also show us what is possible in fulfilling the
mission of the church. This could include giving, praying, serving, helping, and
maybe sponsoring a child in a country where people have very little.
In talking about the power of
conversion and how it opens us to the mission of the church, this morning we
have the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Well, just who is Saul of Tarsus? This
is the Jewish Rabbi or priest that converts to Christianity. We now know this
person as the Apostle Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament of our bible. Without
a doubt the Apostle Paul is the most traveled Apostle in the Apostolic Era, or
the Era of the first twelve disciples. Further that conversion experience that
Saul had, that John Wesley had, that I have had, and that hopefully you have
had, is the start of our walk with Christ. It gives us salvation and eternal life,
but we are called to keep going deeper daily.
As we get closer to Christ, may we
proclaim as the Psalmist proclaimed this morning in Psalm 30:12:
“so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever” (Ps. 30:12, NRSV).
In looking at the conversion of Saul of Tarsus to the Apostle
Paul, we have our reading from the Book of Acts 9:1-20 for this morning, once again.
Remember Saul of Tarsus, a Jewish religious leader hated the Christians. He persecuted
them, arrested them, mistreated them, and wanted them to be destroyed. Saul of
Tarsus could have very well have been the next high priest in Jerusalem. He was
a young whip, and he got things done. He likely had a lot of wealth, education,
social status, and power. He nothing to gain from becoming a Christian. Yet,
when we have a conversion experience, it changes us, and we become more like
Christ.
Our reading from the Book of Acts for this morning, once again
starts in 9:1 saying:
9 Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats
and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for
letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to
the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem (Acts 9:1-2, NRSV).
Saul
of Tarsus, as we can see, once again, is not happy with the first Christians,
who were called the Way, as they were not yet a separate religion from the Jews.
Saul is headed to Damascus, which is in modern day Syria, to crush the
Christian movement.
As Saul of Tarsus was approaching Damascus,
starting once again in Acts 9:3 this happened:
3 Now as he was going along and approaching
Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the
ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 He asked, “Who are
you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But get up and
enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do” (Acts 9:3-6, NRSV).
So,
Saul of the Tarsus, the rich, educated, Jewish religious leader, and young
whip, encounters the living Christ on the road to Damascus. This conversion
experience changes him forever. At this point in the scripture, Saul, who will
soon be Paul, is temporarily blinded. The men who were traveling with Saul led
him by the hand into the city of Damascus. For three days Saul could not see, nor
did he eat or drink.
In
a vision from God, God told Saul the name “Ananias.” God tells Saul to get up
and go to a specific place. When Saul arrived, Ananias laid hands Paul. Ananias
then says to God, why should I help this man who has done so much evil to the
followers of Jesus Christ? God tells Ananias however, that he has chosen Paul
to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, kings, and the people of Israel.
God also says that Saul will suffer for his faith.
After
Ananias hears all of this from God, he enters back into his house where Saul
was, and laid hands on him. Ananias speaks the power of Christ, and the scales
fall from Saul’s eye, as he regains his sight. Saul is filled with the Holy
Spirit, is baptized, spent many days with the disciples in Damascus, and began
preaching the gospel (Acts 9:7-20, NRSV). He will soon be known not as Saul or
Tarsus, the Jewish religious leader, but the Apostle Paul, the Christian leader.
The Christian leader that we today call the Apostle to the Gentiles.
Quite
a powerful conversion indeed that Saul had this morning to become Paul. Have you
ever had a conversion experience, a spiritual encounter with Christ? Would we
like to have one? If we have had one, how did it change us? How has it made us
see the world differently, and how it has made us want to pursue the mission of
the church, to bring people into relationship with Jesus Christ, for the transformation
of the world. This transformation can be sought through giving, serving, praying,
and many other things. On this Compassion International Sunday and this our UMC
Native American Ministries Sunday, I am but offering a couple of options to
pursue the mission of the church.
It
is also important to note that after we come to Christ, after we are converted,
“Born Again,” “Saved,” or whatever term you call it, we will still have
struggles. Just because we are forgiven of our sins and offered eternal life
with Christ, this does not mean that we will not still struggle with brokenness.
It does not mean that we will not still struggle with temptation, or sin, or the
hardships of this earth. Becoming more like Christ and living more like Christ
is our pursuit and our goal after conversion. Even though life will be hard at
times, Christ is with us. This is also why we are starting an 8-week book study
this Tuesday called “The Wesleyan Journey”. This book is about continuing to
pursue and live like Jesus Christ from conversion until we go to heaven.
This
idea of continuing to grow in faith is proven through our gospel of John
21:1-19 reading for this morning. The disciples were with Jesus for three
years. They pledged to love and follow him, yet on Good Friday almost all of
them, except John and Jesus’ women followers fell away. Jesus appears to them
and many others after his resurrection to further convince, encourage, and let
them know that he is risen, that his gospel is true, and that he is Lord. This
morning Jesus appears to the disciples for this very thing. Jesus will also ask
Peter three times is he loves him, to counter the three times that he denied
Jesus on Good Friday.
In our gospel for this morning, once
again, Jesus appears to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, or the Sea of
Galilee. This was similar to the first time that Jesus appeared to call the
disciples by the Season Galilee. Like his first visit, the disciples were out
fishing. They were having no luck catching anything, so Jesus told them to cast
their nets on the right side of the boat. The net then had so many fish they
the disciples could not haul it in. John then notices that is in fact Jesus on
the shore.
When they arrived, Jesus had prepared
a charcoal fire for them, Jesus asked them to bring him some of their catch. Peter
then hauled the net ashore, with one-hundred and fifty-three large fish. Jesus
then has breakfast with the disciples, as this was the third time, he had
appeared to them after his resurrection.
After the breakfast, Jesus then asks
Peter three times if he loves him, as Peter denied him three times. Jesus
commands Peter to spiritually feed and care for the followers of Christ, or his
sheep or lambs. Jesus lastly tells Peter that for preaching this gospel and
taking it forward he will die when he is older for this faith (Jn. 21:1-19,
NRSV).
Having a conversion, coming to Christ,
“Being Saved,” “Being Born Again” are all great things, as Saul had a
conversion this morning. Beyond this though, we must keep seeking Christ, keep growing
closer to Christ, and becoming more like Christ. We will make mistakes, we will
fail sometimes, but Jesus will still pursue us.
Given this, how do we live out our
faith? Do we give? Do we serve? Do we sponsor a Compassion International Child?
How do we continue to live out our faith in the risen Christ? Even though Saul
of Tarsus becomes the Apostle Paul this morning, he will continue to walk daily
with Christ, as we are invited to, as well. One of the ways that Melissa and I
live this out is by sponsoring a Compassion International Child, to give them a
better life. This calling for us all started with something similar to conversion
“From Saul to Paul.” May we continue to be brought closer to Christ today and
always. Amen.
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