Jesus Calls Paul 

Reading 

“Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered. The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.” - Acts 9:1-19

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Reflection 

Saul, who was renamed Paul, grew up in Tarsus and he grew up under one of the best Jewish rabbis at the time, whose name was Gamelel. And so he had an amazing education, he had an amazing rabbi that he could follow. He also grew up in a port city and would have seen many things about how the world worked as they traded and as he saw different cultures intermingling

In the port city.

But Paul was trying to drive towards his own agenda. He had a way of seeing that God met him in a dramatic moment and reshaped the way he saw the world.

And that can often be our stories too. But in our whole life, God has been preparing us through our experiences and our story and the gifts and capacities that we have. And God is just waiting for us to change the way we see the world, for the scales to fall off of our own eyes, in order for Him to take everything that we had and had been gifted and turn it into something good.

That can go and transform the world around us.

And so it doesn't matter what your past has been or that you haven't had a way of seeing that aligns with Jesus' way of seeing, God wants to be able to use all of that for his good.

So let's pray.

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Jesus, it is not my plans or agenda or studying or preparedness that makes me ready to accompany those I love. Help me live with abandon. Wherever I'm blind, help me see. Wherever I'm off the path, point me back.

Give me the wisdom to see how my whole life can be shaped towards your glory, and give me courage to walk that path that's less travelled.

Give me the strength to love as you love. In your name I pray. Amen.