From the Daily Lectionary for Friday/Saturday October 3-4, 2020, Proper 21
Acts 21:37 – 22:16
Just as Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, “May I say something to you?” The tribune replied, “Do you know Greek? Then you are not the Egyptian who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand assassins out into the wilderness?” Paul replied, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city; I beg you, let me speak to the people.” When he had given him permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the people for silence; and when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying: “Brothers and fathers, listen to the defense that I now make before you.” When they heard him addressing them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet. Then he said: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated strictly according to our ancestral law, being zealous for God, just as all of you are today. I persecuted this Way up to the point of death by binding both men and women and putting them in prison, as the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. From them I also received letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I went there in order to bind those who were there and to bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment.
“While I was on my way and approaching Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone about me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Then he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.’ Now those who were with me saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. I asked, ‘What am I to do, Lord?’ The Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go to Damascus; there you will be told everything that has been assigned to you to do.’ Since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, those who were with me took my hand and led me to Damascus. “A certain Ananias, who was a devout man according to the law and well spoken of by all the Jews living there, came to me; and standing beside me, he said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight!’ In that very hour I regained my sight and saw him. Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear his own voice; for you will be his witness to all the world of what you have seen and heard. And now why do you delay? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his name.’”
“The Encounter”
Acts is the second volume of Luke’s two-volume work, the first being the Gospel. It provides a historical sketch of the spread of Christianity by Jesus’ apostles and especially Paul, who is the newcomer to the group but proves to be the most significant. It is a beautiful story about the early development of the church and particularly of Paul’s taking the Gospel on his missionary trips to the Gentiles around the Mediterranean Sea. For this reflection today it is important to remember who and what Paul was prior to his conversion. He was known by his Aramaic name Saul, and as he makes clear in the first half of today’s reading, he was a zealot Jew who saw it his duty to track down and imprison and otherwise persecute the followers of Jesus, of The Way. He had stood by and watched, “approving and keeping the coats of those
who killed him,” as Stephen, the first martyr, was stoned to death. But something happened to Paul as he was making his way to Damascus to further carry out his duty to rid the Jewish faith of these new “Christians.” He had a direct encounter with Christ. This encounter on the road to Damascus is actually described three times in Acts (see chapters 9 and 26), and by Paul himself in both Galatians (1.13-17) and 1 Corinthians (15.8). Saul the persecutor has become Paul the prophet-like-Jesus. He has been rescued out of the world of the non-believers, and at the same time commissioned by God to spread his newfound belief and commitment to Christ throughout the world. It is a hugely important encounter for the early development of Christianity and its subsequent spread throughout the world.
There are numerous stories in scripture about direct encounters with God. Jacob encounters and wrestles with God (Gen. 32:22-32), and says “for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved” (Gen: 32.30). The Samaritan woman at the well has a direct encounter with Jesus, testifies to her community, and many proclaim “we know that this is truly the savior of the world” (John 4:42). Cleopas and his companion on the road to Emmaus following the crucifixion of Jesus have a direct encounter with him, their eyes being opened in the breaking of the bread (Luke 24:35). These direct encounters reveal that Christ is alive and not dead, and typically lead to transformation and new life. Certainly that was the case with Paul, who upon seeing the resurrected Jesus, realized that he was the Messiah who his Jewish faith and scripture had long proclaimed would come.
One question I have heard about encounters and conversion experiences like those depicted in scripture is “Why don’t things like that happen anymore? I’ve never had an experience like that.” Think about it. Can you imagine being knocked to the ground by a blinding light out of which came a voice saying “why are you persecuting me?”, and then answering your question “Who are you?” with “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting”? Seems outrageous, doesn’t it? My answer is that we really don’t know the details about such encounters with God in scripture, details such as blinding light and spoken words that we read about with Paul on the road to Damascus. The important thing is not the “verifiable truth” about them, but rather the underlying truth that they reveal. I believe we all have encounters with God, and while they may not be as dramatic as those we read about in scripture, they are real and powerful nonetheless. The Christian conversion experience does not necessarily result in a radical personal transformation like happened to Paul. Faith in Christ can also grow gradually, as in those who cannot remember a time when they were not believers. There need not be one “born again” experience. God’s gift of encounter is often subtle and can easily be missed. It may be in one of many outdoor experiences, like listening to the wind moving through the trees on a fall afternoon, or watching the sky turn orange as the sun sets beneath a layer of clouds above the horizon over the water. Robert Hamma writes about such sacred encounters in nature in his book Earth’s Echo, in which he uses a modified lectio divina method for experiencing God in creation. Other contemplative prayer forms such as centering prayer and the Ignatian prayer of entering the scene of scripture are also ways to encounter God. We may encounter God in our relationships with other people, for example in the words or eyes of a child. It may be in the sacrament of the bread and wine. In Celtic spirituality these encounters are called “thin places”, where the veil that separates us from the divine becomes thin or transparent, and we have a sense that we are in the presence of God. While these may be subtle, they are real and they can be transforming. One thing that seems important to me is that regardless of the type of experience, our faith in the living Christ needs a community that affirms and nurtures it. Paul needed the support and action of his community of believers to take the Gospel to the people. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles reminds us that being a disciple of Christ is too demanding for any individual. It is only within a caring community that we can find the relationships and the strength to maintain and build our faith.
Rev. Bob Donnell
Prayer (“For Presence” in To Bless the Space Between Us by John O’Donohue)
Awaken to the mystery of being here
and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.
Have joy and peace in the temple of your senses.
Receive encouragement when new frontiers beckon.
Respond to the call of your gift and the courage to follow its path.
Let the flame of anger free you of all falsity.
May warmth of heart keep your presence aflame.
May anxiety never linger about you.
May your outer dignity mirror an inner dignity of soul.
Take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention.
Be consoled in the secret symmetry of your soul.
May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.
Amen
