At the Mayor’s Prayer breakfast this week people from 40 local faith communities gathered to learn about what is happening with our youth and community. Abi Camarillo told about being bullied for three years as a youth and then finding a safe space at Food What. Food What is a local non-profit grounded in love and rooted in justice seeking to empower youths through gardening. Abi was able to find her voice and is pursuing her dream to become a teacher. Interspersed with the speakers were prayers offered by local Imam, Rabbi, and pastor. Several speakers mentioned the horrific rise in violence against houses of worship, uniting us in both pain and solidarity. The mass shooting in the Synagogue outside San Diego last week which echoed the massacre in the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburg. The Christ’s Church massacre of 50 people in two mosques in New Zealand. And the string of church shooting in the US including in Sutherland Springs, Texas and the historic Baptist church in Charleston. Radicalized and sick people have taken to persecuting faith communities through devastating gun violence. It feels like this is all part of a larger failure of our society and culture where bullying, anger, bigotry and hate seem to be spreading. Even our democracy feels like it is under attack. I am appalled by all the vitriol that is flung at churches and people of faith, the vicious acts of violence committed in houses of worship, which are to be safe places honoring God. Tragically and responsively the Presbytery now has a training for active shooters on church campuses. Our prayers and compassion are with every person who has been terrorized by these acts.
As horrific as all of this is, we are not the first to endure persecution. Early Christians were persecuted mercilessly. Saul of Tarsus was chief among those persecuting believers following the Way, the disciples of Jesus.
Who was Saul: We know from scripture Saul was a Roman citizen, a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin, a well-educated Pharisee, and a persecutor of the church (Phil. 3:5-6).
Saul approved of the stoning of Stephen (Acts 8:1)
Saul is persecuting Jesus. Listen now for God’s word to you. Acts 9.
Persecutor to proclaimer- Saul spent his life rounding up Jesus followers and through this encounter with Jesus is now declaring him to be the “Son of God.” He was struck blind, he did not eat or drink for three days, and finally he came to see Jesus as Lord. What a conversion.
It is important to note that Jesus has already ascended by the time Saul sees Jesus. Jesus had appeared the disciples for 40 days, on the road to Emmaus, the disciples in the locked room where they touched his hands and side, even at the Sea of Tiberias while fishing we heard this morning. But Saul was not around for Jesus during his earthly ministry or is resurrected appearances. Saul was chosen for a purpose and Jesus came to him personally.
Some Christians worry they are not true Christians because they did not have a profound conversion experience, like Saul. But Saul was the exception not the rule. Whether you had a conversion experience or if you gradually came to faith, God was actively working in both. The one thing we can all agree on is that faith is believing in a power beyond ourselves that intervenes.
Saul was persecuting Jesus’ followers when Jesus intervenes to turn the tide, the course of history, transforming Saul from the strongest persecutor into the most profound proclaimer of Jesus.
This week I discovered a nuance in Saul’s story. I had often associated Saul’s conversion with his name being changed to Paul. I connected it to the history of Abram being called Abraham (Gen. 17:5) or Jacob becoming Israel (Gen 32:28). Both happening at significant faith journey moments. But I would be wrong. Saul is of course a Hebrew name, taking after King Saul. But people often had Greek or Latin names as well, which would be Paul. The name change was not so much because of his conversion as it was a reflection of his change in community. Saul began to proclaim Jesus to the Gentile, a Greek community, and took the name that would be the most useful there. Very much like how people with foreign names would choose an American name here. His name Paul was an affirmation of his faith in Jesus, and his call to the Gentile community.
By the same token, Saul was a name of a persecutor. Remember, Ananias had heard about Saul of Tarsus. Persecution is denial- Saul denied who Jesus was.
Today, violence against houses of worship is a denial of God.
Violence against churches is a denial of Christ. But we get to affirm our faith in our risen Lord because of all the ways he has touched our lives. We get to trust in the power greater than ourselves to intervene in our broken world, healing the violence and hatred. When we do, we will be like Paul who ultimately affirms Jesus when he teaches in the synagogue, “He is the Son of God.”
Our gospel gives us another example of denial to affirmation. As you recall, Peter denies Jesus three times on the night of his betrayal and arrest. Today we heard his three affirmations. Peter affirmed Jesus, his love for his Lord for every time he denied him on that fateful night. Our risen Lord asks three times, “Peter do you love me?” Each time Peter has the privilege of affirming, declaring, proclaiming his faith, his love of Jesus! As we come to table Jesus asks us, “Do you love me?” We get to affirm our faith in the one who intervenes, in the one who is risen, in the one we call Savior and friend. Saul’s conversion experience with Jesus transformed him from a denier and a persecutor, to an affirming and faithful servant of Jesus.
We might have ways we deny Jesus too. We fail to tell our friend we are going to church or invite them along. We gloss over our reason for living and focus on things other than our faith. We hold back parts of our lives from God denying Jesus’ claim on who we are. So I ask you, “Do you love Jesus?” Is he your Lord and Savior? Affirm your faith now with a resounding yes!
We are now in the Eastertide season when we consider and reflect on what it means to worship a risen Lord? How are our lives are shaped by the fact that Jesus was not only a powerful teacher and sinless human being, but Jesus was raised from the dead so that we will join with Jesus in eternal life. We are Easter people who live in the light of the resurrection.
We cannot deny that Jesus is raised!
We proudly affirm that Jesus is not only risen, but also eternally present. We affirm that we like Paul, have a power beyond ourselves that intervenes in our lives.
We affirm that fact every time we come to worship, every time we praise Jesus’ name, every time we share in the sacred meal of our risen Lord.
The pastor who closed the prayer breakfast talked about sequoias, the giant redwood trees we are so fortunate to have in Santa Cruz County. Did you know that sequoias have a hard time standing alone? They will grow in clumps and there is a very important reason why. They share the root system needed to grow as tall and strong as they are. If one tree has something the other trees in the pod, it is shared. The trees support each other to be their tallest and best selves. That is what I think it is like when we all stand and come forward for communion. We are supporting each other to affirm the reality of the risen Lord,
to say yes to Jesus Christ, and we are spiritually fed as we do. We might not have a flashing light experience like Saul/Paul, but we can bear witness to Jesus in our lives today. Amen.
