"Paul: Week 2 - Calling"
Jacqueline KroekerMay 10/11, 2008
Last week Todd introduced us to the Apostle Paul. Paul was a very interesting man, with a very unique background. He was brilliantly educated in philosophy and politics. Some even believe that by the time he was 13 he was well on his way to becoming a lawyer. He was a Pharisee, meaning an accomplished Jewish religious leader. As a Pharisee he was considered an impeccable moral being, righteous in his own standing. And he had an insatiable zeal for God.
However, he had boxed God up in his mind. He had a certain understanding of God and how he worked and who he was and anyone who thought any differently was not tolerated. And that’s why he sets out to punish the follower’s of Jesus. He could not possibly understand how anyone would look at Jesus as the Son of God. That’s not what he had been taught or what he believed. And he became hungry to destroy and so he began to persecute the people who chose to believe and follow God’s Son…Jesus.
Paul, in his yearning to be seen by God as righteous in his zeal to defend and protect the ways of God, unbeknowingly placed himself in a situation that put him at odds with his own values and beliefs and he became what I'm sure, he never thought of becoming…an enemy of God.
My husband Dwight loves working on cars…that's his hobby...loves it. I stopped counting how many cars he had bought, driven, sold and parked either in our side yard or back yard or garage into our third year of marriage. Up until that point there had been 77 cars that had made their way into our lives. Yep, he loves them. Now I have to say that there are certain things about his hobby that I have found to be, I'm not sure the word is fascinating, maybe a better word would be crazy…and that the way he tends to go about finding these cars…he can spend hours upon hours at SGI looking through the worst smashed up, ugly-looking, beaten up, good for nothing cars, then he bids on one of them, often purchases it, and then hauls it off to our yard which is now starting to look like an auto-wrecker compound. He then proceeds to take his prized possession into his shop where he begins a long dismantling process. There is a serious relationship that builds between Dwight and his car. It's quite tender actually to see what evolves in this relationship.
I know I'm being a little harsh with my tone, but in reality I admire his skills and abilities. He takes such special care and caution to ensure that the project becomes exactly what he needs it to become. He spends energy, money, time into his project. Now, I have to admit that initially, when he shows me his project I can never get it. I have the tendency to look at his initial purchase as damaged goods, with no potential, no purpose, no need for any kind of investment…but Dwight he thinks differently.
It happens every time, I don't get it until I see the finished product. But I often forget that there is a long-staking process that has to happen before the finished project is unveiled but once it is unveiled it's truly remarkable. I marvel at his patience and perseverance and the fun that he has getting all greasy and dirty.
So let’s go back to Paul again. On his way to the city of Damascus, determined to get rid of all the Jesus Followers, he miraculously has an encounter with God. God reveals himself to him. As we read the story we cannot deny or ignore that it is God who pursues Saul, God takes the initiative and Paul is shaken up by this experience in every imaginable way.
Can you imagine what must have gone through Paul's mind when he was able to take some time to reflect on where he was going and what had just happened? Can you imagine the thoughts that must have crossed his mind when the eyes of his heart and mind were able to see the events of what had just taken place?
I'm certain there were moments when he loathed himself, brief seconds where the memories of Stephen's death (the first Christian martyr, the man who Paul had stood watching and approving of his stoning) I’m sure that memory haunted him. I wonder if he ever had nightmares…and I wonder if in those first few days after his encounter with God he saw himself as damaged good, with no potential, no purpose, good for nothing, unable to accomplish anything worthy for God.
Have any of you ever had an experience where you thought you were doing the right thing, thinking the right thing, acting upon a right thing, only later to think back and recognize that perhaps you were wrong…For those of us who have experienced that we know how awful that it. Imagine what it would have been like for Paul.
I'm sure there were moments, especially at the very beginning of his conversion where he wondered it he could ever get his life back on track. Wouldn't you be terrified of God’s wrath? And if not from God certainly from the people you set out to kill?
How do you come to terms with yourself when you've been so wrong? Where do you get the courage to come face to face with your depravity, your hypocrisy? I know myself and if I'd been Paul, self-pity would have invaded the very core of my being. I wonder it that’s why he didn't eat or drink for 3 days after his encounter with God. He was a mess. And to top it all off, once he regained his sight, after being blinded by the bright light that shown over him in his encounter with God, he was really at the mercy of those who he had at one time been doing everything he could to destroy…now how's that for vulnerability. He had to have felt very little at times...and yet, and this is what I find simply astounding…Despite all the horrible thoughts and feelings he was having….Paul makes a choice to leave himself completely open, completely naked to whatever this new God would have in store for him.
Let me take you back again to Dwight and his cars. One very particular thing I've noticed as I've watched Dwight work on his vehicles or lately his motorcyle is that in order for an authentic kind of transformation to happen the object, that is, whatever he is working on is required to voluntarily submit itself to the working of it's master, in this case Dwight. Other wise it just doesn't work. The work is done completely by the one working on the transformation, but there is a requirement, it's the voluntary submission and therefore cooperation of the object of transformation.
There needs to be a willingness to be transformed, to have the old stripped away, sanded off, pounded out, to have the new added on. I know that there have been plenty of times when I've heard Dwight struggling through this process because things go wrong. Something in the vehicle is not cooperating and then he often has to pull everything apart to find the problem…the motor, the transmission, the carburator…everything is inspected with a meticulous fine tooth comb and through the nitty gritty of this inspection there are often times when the car or bike seems to be deliberately not cooperating, and there’s Dwight tirelessly still searching and working through the mechanics of that car…sometimes of course muttering under his breath a few selected words here and there…
Back to Paul…what happens to him after his encounter with God? When you read Acts it seems as though Paul would have his encounter with God and then bang, next thing you know he's out there preaching the word of God. But that's not precisely how it all happened. In fact, Paul had to take some time to figure things out, to find out…what next? Actually, in the book of Galatians Paul tells his story and in it he states that immediately following his encounter and receiving his sight, he went to Arabia…Scholars believe that he went there to devote himself to studying. Remember he had been trained as a Pharisee, so he had to unlearn, relearn and learn new things about God that he had never expected.
And in order for this to happen it would require that Paul subject himself to a transformation...he had to be prepared by his Master. And once he'd gone through the necessary transformation, notice I didn't say complete because in this life that process is on-going, but once he'd gone through the necessary transformation he'd be ready to go forward with what he had been purposed for. Transformation, Preparation for a Purpose. And what was that specific purpose he had been called to? Again in Galatians, Paul writes that “God had revealed Jesus to him SO THAT he could proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles”…the people outside of the Jewish culture. He could have never been able to do that with his previous understanding of God. That needed to change.
So…this stubborn, bull-headed man (exactly the kind of man God needed for this venture) had been given the specific responsibility to go into the world of people who most likely in his life before his encounter with God he would have never associated with, had a conversation with or engaged with.
In other words it was not this man's core wiring that God was transforming but it was his prejudices, his ill-perceptions, his tainted conceptions that needed to be changed. And so he goes to Arabia and he spends about 3 years there.
I believe that being in Arabia created for Paul a holy space for intentional submission that transformed this man's history and history as we know it. It is in Arabia that the process of God slowly and meticulously buffeting, polishing, prepping, this man's life for the purpose of having him enter into unknown lands to deliver the Good news of Jesus begins.
It’s been estimated that Paul's preparation time, from when he perhaps considered himself to be "damaged goods" to a transformed apostle embarking on his first missionary journey took anywhere between 12-14 years. Notice the time of preparation that was required…preparation that resulted in a new way of thinking and maturing. It was intentional. Remember his task was to speak the good news of Jesus to people outside of the Jewish tradition, outside the Jewish faith, the Jewish social, political and ethnic background. He was to cross all kinds of boundaries to obey a calling from God that would eventually reach us here today. Fascinating!
So Paul begins his first journey at Antioch of Syria. At this time, this city had become the hub of Christian activity. It was in this city that the first believers were identified with the term Christian. And it was this city that became the launching point for formally taking the Good News of Jesus to the rest of the world. In Acts 1:8 we find that Jesus tells his disciples…”you will tell people about me everywhere, in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria and to the ends of the earth”. The Good News at this point had been spoken in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria it was time for it to be taken to the ends of the earth.
It is here in Antioch that Paul along with Barnabas, a seasoned follower of Jesus who supervised the work at Antioch are called and set apart by the Spirit of God for a specific task. Again we need to be reminded that Paul was not transformed, as are none of us, for the mere sake of transformation. There is a purpose for transformation. Just like my husband transforms his cars for a purpose...for Paul he writes that purpose out in II Corinthians 5:18 All this newness of life is from God who brought us back to himself through what Christ did. And God has given us the task of reconciling people to him”. That's the purpose of transformation for Paul and for each one of us...Paul’s purpose and our purpose is to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in reconciling people to God. It's not for our sake alone, so that we can be better people, so that life would be better for us, so that we can have a great family, a great job, an awesome career…these things may happen by God’s grace but the purpose for our transformation is so that we can cooperate with the Holy Spirit to reconcile people to God.
And for this very reason Paul goes on his first missionary journey. This was a great era in the history of the church. Because it is through this first journey that we see the disciples begin to actually carry out Jesus' words given to them in Matthew 28:16-20…the Great Commission "Go and make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them all that you have learned."
With this very clear purpose and calling and having allowed himself to be transformed through years of intentional learning, Paul sets out on his first missionary journey. And Paul witnesses God's work within him in amazing ways...He performs miracles, he has optimum opportunities to share the Good News of Jesus and he has first hand opportunity to watch as God turns the hearts of men and women towards himself.
For me the story of Paul’s first journey is fascinating because I believe he got what his purpose was and what was needed for that purpose to be accomplished. He knew that the preparation time he had to undergo was essential to become what God had in store for him. He knew very well that this life was no longer about him but about what he was called and purposed for…joining God in a ministry of reconciliation.
You know, that calling…that purpose is no different for any of us who have chosen to follow Christ Jesus. We too like Paul are purposed for the same thing. We too are needing to learn and understand that this life is not for us or about us but about the people that God puts along our way…so as we go to school, as we work, as we enter into business opportunities, as we marry, as we have children, as we work on our cars, or scrapbook, or dance salsa or travel. Whatever we do, wherever we go we have a purpose to join God in a ministry of reconciliation…being used by God to reconcile people to himself and that is done in such a variety of ways.
I have a few questions I’d like to leave you with…questions only you can answer.
We are called by God to join him in the ministry of reconciliation as his follower’s, this allows us to live life to it’s fullest, What does joining Him in this ministry of reconciliation look like or for you and for us as a church?
Are we willing to enter into a time of transformation with intentional preparation so that like Paul we can tangibly fulfill God’s calling?
When Dwight is done transforming his cars…it’s really awesome! He usually calls me to his shop and shows me his work. The car is usually waxed, polished, vaccumed…it looks so good. He sticks the key in the ignition and starts it up. It sounds amazing. After all the work, all the hours, all the frustration he’s gone through to transform that car it would be so unlikely for Dwight to keep the car in the garage to simply look nice…the reason he works so hard on the cars is to prep them up for what they were originally intended for…to ride!
