The Cost of Paul’s Decision to Follow Christ

My church is in a sermon series called Canceled and we are examining the lessons that might be learned from things that get canceled in our lives. We have all experienced so much being canceled as a result of the pandemic–weddings, graduations, funerals, vacations, sports, family gatherings. 

This Sunday, I talked about Paul. The Scripture passage was Acts 9:1-8, but you would want to read through at least verse 31 to get a good feel for his story. If you would like to listen to my sermon, you can find it on the Anniston First UMC YouTube page. It begins around 20:43 into the service. 

Paul, or Saul as he was known before, was a prominent and respected Jewish man. We know that he was born in Tarsus to Roman citizen parents (Acts 22:27-28). He was educated by Gamaliel (Acts 22:3), one of the greatest and most revered Pharisaical teachers of Judaism in all of the faith’s history. Paul gives us more of his pedigree in Philippians 3:4-6: “ If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.” Here’s what I think this statement indicates. Paul’s family might not have resided in and around Jerusalem, but they were faithful and observant Jews, circumcising him and bringing him into the covenant as instructed by God. He was from the tribe of Benjamin. Not everyone, in that post-exilic time, could trace their ancestry back to the specific tribe. Israel’s first king, Saul, was from the tribe of Benjamin, and his may very well have been named after King Saul. Paul was a Pharisee, the most important of three factions which arose under Hasmonean rule (between our Old Testament and New Testament–you can look them up; they’re not our focus). We often speak disparagingly of the Pharisees, but we cannot dismiss their fervor. They were passionate about keeping the law of God and applying it well. When he calls himself a “Hebrew of Hebrews,” he might mean that his family line has never intermarried with foreigners who were not God-followers or he might mean that he spoke Hebrew, which every Jews was not able to do at this time in history. Greek was the common language. He was passionate about following God faithfully and encouraging others to do so, even to the point of persecuting the newly forming sect being called The Way, claiming to follow Jesus of Nazareth, who claimed to be the Messiah. 

Paul was sincere in his desire to follow God, and sincerely believe he was doing as God asked of him. Yet, Paul was sincerely wrong. Jesus grabs his attention dramatically while on his way from Jerusalem to Damascus. The experience radically transforms Paul’s life, and it cost him everything. Before the ninth chapter of Acts ends, his former friends and spiritual companions are trying to kill him. He loses his faith, his friends, his reputation. To add insult to injury, the fellow followers of Jesus (of which he now considers himself one) do not want anything to do with him. They don’t trust him–and with good reason! They are suspicious that his change is not real. 

So here are the questions I would urge you to consider: 

1. Where might you be sincere in the position you hold as a Christian, but be sincerely wrong? Are you prepared to abandon ANY position that you discover does not align with Jesus? Are you open to hearing the voice of God say such a thing to you? 
2. Paul’s experience with Jesus totally transforms who he is. How has your experience of Jesus transformed you? 
3. Are we individually and as groups Christians open to the transformation of others? 

I will post some of my own answers to these questions in future posts, but we will be discussing them together in the Poring Over Scripture with Tammy Jackson group on Facebook. Join us there for discussion.