Easter 3C
April 10, 2016
Acts 9:1-20
One of the many things I’m grateful
for in this life is that I got my mom’s eyesight, and not my dad’s. My mom didn’t
wear glasses until she was in her 40s; my dad wore thick glasses when he was
just 11 years old. He talks about the first time he put those glasses on. His
whole life, he had just dealt with his blurry vision, not knowing any
different. He sat in the front of class so he could see. It finally became
clear that he couldn’t see when he couldn’t read a giant sign, and his
parents brought him in to the doctor. The first time he put on those glasses,
he says, it was this amazing moment in which suddenly, the world became clear
and beautiful. What a thrill that must of have been! To suddenly see the world,
the only world he had ever known, with a completely new and unexpected clarity.
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| Because who can resist a Dachshund wearing glasses? |
Though I have never had that moment
of suddenly clarity with my eyes and the way I physically see the world, I have
had similar moments in my life in which suddenly everything becomes clear. I’m
sure you have as well. Sometimes they come easily and joyfully, as simple as
putting on a pair of glasses. But often they come with more difficulty, because
often a new realization requires you to admit your old vision or perspective
was lacking in some way, if not downright wrong. It is not easy to admit to
mistakes or blindness on something. Often when we are confronted with a
mistake, our first inclination is to justify it. “I only said that because…” “I
wouldn’t have done that if you
hadn’t…” We point the finger at other people or circumstances to get ourselves
off the hook, being hesitant or unwilling just to say, “I didn’t know any
better. I wasn’t in a good place. I was defensive and said things that were
unfair or disrespectful. I have learned some things since then, and now I know
better.” Admitting there was a time of weakness, a time when we might have been
wrong, especially if that time was in recent history (maybe even just this
morning, in an argument with your spouse!), is not something we much like to
do.
But when that recognition and
admittance finally happens, it usually leads to new life. In church-talk, we
call this moment a “conversion of the heart.” We talk a lot about conversion of
the heart during Lent (repentance is another word meaning the same thing), but
it’s so important and continuous in the Christian life that here now in Easter,
we are still hearing about it – now in the dramatic story of Saul’s conversion
on the road to Damascus. From Saul “breathing murderous threats” against Jesus’
disciples, to his order to bind and deliver anyone he finds following “the
Way,” to his dramatic encounter on the road with the disembodied voice of Jesus
and being blinded by a bright light, to that famous moment when he hears the
Word of God from Ananias and “something like scales” fall from his eyes, and
suddenly everything becomes clear. Now called “Paul,” he is baptized and spends
the rest of his days traveling and corresponding with the known world about the
love of Jesus, and writing what has become a good chunk of what we know as the
New Testament. What a conversion story!
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| "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" |
I don’t have a conversion story quite
like that. Like many of you, I am a cradle Christian, which also has its perks,
but I always wanted this dramatic come-to-Jesus moment like Paul’s encounter on
the road to Damascus. But while I lack a story with quite so much drama, I am
certainly not without a conversion experience – in fact, several conversion
experiences – and I think you might have some, too.
Perhaps that surprises you. After
all, I just said I am a cradle Christian – isn’t a conversion when you change
from one faith (or no faith) to another? Certainly that is one sort, and I do
know some people who have experiences of that, some more dramatic, some more
intentional and thoughtful. In some pockets of Christianity, such a conversion
experience might lead to being “born again,” and so-called “born-again
Christians” are some of the most outwardly passionate of Christians.
But this is not the only way we are
converted, and not the only way to be born again. In fact, Lutheran theologian
Martin Marty talks about how we are not just born again, they are born again
and again and again. Every day, we
are born anew. Martin Luther says in the Small Catechism, “daily a new person
is to come forth and rise up to live before God in righteousness and purity
forever.” Daily! In other words, we are born again, born anew, every single day
of our baptized lives! Every day we live the Easter promise that we die to sin
and rise into new life with Christ. Every day, we are converted, our hearts
turned toward walking a life of faithfulness with Christ.
“Daily conversion”…“Born anew” –
they’re sort of strange ways of talking, right? Not phrases we use in our
everyday language. So what does that actually look like in day-to-day life? Well,
a conversion is any experience you have where your heart is turned away from
judgment, envy, anger, pride… and instead toward compassion, love, joy,
humility… In short, an experience where your heart is turned away from sin and toward
Christ. It’s any time you have an “aha” moment in which you realize your
previous behavior needed to change; though it may have been the best you could
do at the time, you now have recognized that Christ is calling you toward a
different way of living, acting, talking, being. This sort of thing can be as
mundane as my experience the other day at an intersection where I routinely get
annoyed that people don’t use their blinkers when they’re turning left – and
then lo and behold one Sunday on my way to church I was distracted and forgot
to use MY blinker! I immediately realized how judgmental I have been of other
drivers, and how easy it is simply to forget something like that. Since then, I
have tried to be more patient and understanding.
Or maybe your conversion is more
dramatic or public than that. Recently, Speaker for the House Paul Ryan made a
public apology for the way he has in the past talked about poor people in this
country. He said, “There was a time that I would talk about a difference
between ‘makers’ and ‘takers’ in our country, referring to people who accepted
government benefits. But as I spent more time listening, and really learning
the root causes of poverty, I realized something. I realized that I was wrong.
‘Takers’ wasn’t how to refer to a single mom stuck in a poverty trap, trying to
take care of her family. Most people don’t want to be dependent. And to label a
whole group of Americans that way was wrong. I shouldn’t castigate a large
group of Americans just to make a point.” I have no idea if that realization
was rooted in or driven by his faith, but it was certainly a conversion moment,
a come-to-Jesus moment, in which a very powerful political figure admitted his
previous blindness around a situation and turned toward the love and compassion
that Jesus models and teaches. It takes guts to make such a public apology, to
convert to openly!
What about you? What conversion
stories do you have? Mundane (like tempering road rage),
or dramatic (like a
light and disembodied voice knocking you to the ground and blinding you), or
somewhere in between, what are those moments in life where you experienced
“something like scales” falling from your eyes, in which you suddenly realized
that your vision had been clouded by sin, judgment, resentment, baggage from
your past… but now, you see more clearly?
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| Detail from Caravaggio's "Conversion of St. Paul" |
Perhaps the more important question
to ask is, what scales are currently blocking your vision, and keeping you from
seeing the world through the compassionate eyes of Christ? What blindness do
you currently endure, and how might God be calling you toward conversion?
God had a very important job for
Saul, to share the good news of Christ with the world. This dramatic conversion
experience was the first step toward Saul – Paul – fulfilling that task. Our
first step toward sharing Christ’ love with the world was in our baptism, when
God claimed us as His own, and empowered us with the Holy Spirit to fulfill the
work of ministry. As we continue on the journey begun in baptism, we continue
to be attentive to what may block our vision, trusting that Christ will always
lead us toward him, toward his ways, and finally, toward eternal life.
Let us pray… God of new life, we are often blinded by our prejudice, our judgments,
our sins, and our past hurts. As you did for Saul, make the scales fall from
our eyes so that we would see your love and your glory, and be empowered to
turn toward you and love and serve the world in your name. In the name of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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