Matthew 10:16-22
Jesus said to the twelve, "See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved."
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On this Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, I want to begin by pointing out the difference in the two accounts of Paul's experience on the road to Damascus we heard this morning. In the account we heard in the first lesson from Acts, the account given by Luke, Paul sees a light from heaven, brighter than the sun. Paul and his companions fall to the ground and Paul, blinded by the light, hears Jesus' voice telling him that he is being sent to open the eyes of his people and the Gentiles, so that they may turn from darkness to light.
Paul himself, writing in the letter to the Galatians, offers a far less dramatic depiction of this conversion experience, saying, "But ... God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles..." Paul doesn't say anything about blindness, but instead emphasizes sight - the sight that he has received through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Now I am knowingly going to make the mistake that every homiletics professor cautions against - linking together all three passages of scripture from today's lessons. But look at today's Psalm: "Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide all the nations upon earth." This psalm emphasizes the universality of God's abundance - God's blessings extending to all nations and all ends of the earth. It is a vision of the future in which the light of God, God's ways become know upon all the earth, "your saving health among all nations". It is a vision of justice and peace for everyone, not just the nation of Israel.
It is difficult for us to imagine today, in a church divided over far different issues, but the central controversy within the emerging churches was the issue of male circumcision. Was it possible for Gentiles to become Christians without undergoing the Jewish rite of circumcision? Paul believed that it was because such a requirement would have seemed to contradict the mandate he had received from God during his Damascus experience. And a requirement that Gentiles be circumcised also ran counter to the Jewish tradition that envisioned a day in the future when the evil, injustice, and violence that were destroying God's world and oppressing God's people would end - would end for all peoples, not just the Jews. It was an apocalyptic vision of the Great Final Banquet, where all God's people would have a seat at the table.
If I had more time today, I could recount the visions found in Micah and Isaiah of swords beaten into plowshares, and of peace and justice, and of many nations coming together. However, it is possible to read of this conception of God revealing God's self to the Gentiles and not imagine that, beyond hope, prayer, and living a life of holiness, that they were supposed to do anything about it. There is no clear mandate to the people that they are to participate with God in going out and bringing in the Gentiles.
With Paul, this idea was turned on its head. Paul's road to Damascus experience was not so much about a conversion from Pharisaic Judaism (the Judaism of the Pharisees) to a Christian Judaism. Nor was it so much about Paul's conversion from being a persecutor to an apostle. It was something far more radical. It was a call from God for all to participate in the coming of the kingdom. The kingdom that is now and the kingdom that is to come. It was a call to Paul, and a call to us, to live faithfully and participate actively in a process over human time through which peace and justice are available to all God's creation. Paul's conversion did nothing less than usher in a time in which cooperation was required between the human and the Divine.