There are two stories in the Book of Acts that most of us know. We know the story of Pentecost. And we know the story of Saul's conversion. Both these stories have become touchstones for the way we talk about our faith and the way we come to faith. Both stories are about the actions of the Holy Spirit, blowing where it wills and moving us in the directions that God intends.
Today we read the story of Saul's conversion along the road to Damascus. He's on his way to persecute the Church in that city. Suddenly he sees a great light and falls off his horse. He has a vision of Jesus and hears Jesus ask him why he is doing what he is doing. His traveling companions don't see the vision, but they hear the voice. And Paul is blinded for three days.
At the end of the three days Ananias, a man with the same name as the priest who presided over the trial of Jesus, and the same name as the man struck dead for lying to God, appears because Jesus has sent him. Ananias lays his hands on Saul (who will later be given the name Paul - in a manner similar to how Simon becomes Peter) and Saul's sight is restored. Saul is then baptized and eats some food to regain his strength. The three days of blindness reminds us of the three days of the Triduum (Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter). New converts to the faith were traditionally baptized just before sunrise on Easter, the third day, and then shared in the Eucharistic feast that immediately followed. Saul's baptism and meal after his experience of Jesus shows us that he has become a disciple, part of the Church, like the rest of us.
It's how he becomes a disciple that is so interesting. He has a dramatic encounter with Jesus. He sees the light. He is struck down and blinded by the revelation of the truth. And he dramatically changes the course of his life. He has been shown that his is on the wrong path and now, as a result of this experience, his whole life is reoriented in a new way. Does any of this sound familiar? Do you remember the story of The Rev. John Newton, who began his working life as a slaver and ended as a priest? (He's the author of the hymn "Amazing Grace".) Saul's dramatic conversion and 180 degree reorientation is sort of a template for Newton's - though Newton's conversion didn't happen all at once. This parallel isn't unique of course. Many of us have had a conversion experience or experiences that brought us to God and changed the course of our lives. And more often than not, when you listen to people tell the stories of their conversions, you hear parallels to Saul's experience on the Damascus road.
Did you have a conversion experience that brought you to God? Is that, in part, why you worship in the Episcopal Church today? You're not alone. There are many people sitting in the pews who had the same sorts of experience. Have you ever told your story to others - given testimony? We don't typically do that in the Episcopal Church, but it happens and, when it does, it can be a very powerful experience for the people to whom you tell your story.
Did you not have such an experience? There are many other people in the Episcopal Church who didn't either. There are people who were raised in the Church, nurtured in the faith, who simply and without much notice grew into a mature faith in Jesus. I've never heard any one tell me what percentage of Episcopalians came to faith by conversion and what percentage by nurture, so I'm just hazarding a guess when I suppose it's about half one and half the other. I'm pretty certain though that however you arrived at the place you are now, God has the same expectations either way. We are to share the story of what we have seen and heard, whether it is the story of a life or the dramatic story of a moment.
That's what Saul does after he is restored. He proclaims that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. That's what we are to do as well - with words, with deeds, or with the story of our own lives.
How did you come to faith? Was there a moment of conversion? Was it a process of conversion? Or was it by being slowly and gently nurtured by the Church? How have you responded to what God has done in your life? How are you declaring that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah who has come?
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