A Cycle –5^th Sunday of Ordinary Time 26

1 Cor.2:1-5

Saul of Tarsus had it all figured out, Jesus was not the Messiah and His followers were blasphemers. They had to renounce their belief in Jesus or face the consequences dictated by the law.  He was a Pharisee, trained by one of the most respected, most knowledgeable, and most influential Pharisee.  We all know Saul’s story and how he was on the road to Damascus to arrest those so called “Christians.” He was almost there when Jesus appears to him and poses a simple question to him – why. 

Saul, with all your education and with your knowledge of the scripture, why do you disbelieve? Why do you refuse to acknowledge who I am? We know Saul was blinded during that encounter with Jesus. We know he was prayed with by Ananias. We know the Holy Spirit came upon him and opened his mind to understand and how he embraces Jesus as the Son of God. We know the story of his conversion was not received well by the disciples.  We also know they ultimately believed his testimony was true and with the approval of the disciples he and Barnabas were sent to proclaim the kingdom to the gentiles.  What we ignore is how his story is how his story is our story.  We are educated in our faith. We have been taught by dedicated, believing teachers of our faith.  But what we have failed to appropriate is the gift of salvation. Like Saul, we have been blinded to why Christ came and how to appropriate the gift of His sacrifice as a gift of freedom that has made us sons and daughters of the living God.  

Saul the Pharisee became Paul the apostle who began a new phase of education and training guided by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit opened his mind and heart to understand and simplify the words of God through the prophets.  his past knowledge was enhanced by the interaction of the Spiritt.  His newfound belief in Jesus helped him articulate things that are necessary for all of us to embrace to become disciples.  Like Saul, since our childhood, we have learned to belief our religious practices and our obedience to the law was sufficient to please God.  We have become todays’ Pharisees.  We are reluctant to new insights and are uncomfortable with anything that challenges our rigid beliefs.  We should ask ourselves the same question Christ posed to Saul – why.  The scriptures are clear; our faith is clear there is no way to the Father except through Jesus Christ.    

Paul the apostle, was changed and became dependent on the “guidance of the Spirit and he learned how to tap into the power of the Spirit.” He had to admit his education was an obstacle blinding him to the reality of Christ mission.  But the Spirit’s action within him gave him a powerful voice, the power of an undeniable faith in God and the ability to reveal Jesus to the unbelieving gentiles.  His arrogance was gone. His blind adherence to rituals and rules was replaced by a blind obedience to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. He became a new creation in Christ, and his mission was for his voice to guide us today so we can become new creations in Christ. 

We too must embrace what God desires to do within us so we too can become effective witnesses to God’s love and forgiveness.  We too can help others open their hearts to God’s healing power and His desire to flood our hearts with His love. We are todays’ generation of disciples who are expected to proclaim the Kingdom of God is at hand.   But we are also called to do more than proclaim the kingdom, we are called to live our lives in a manner that declares our faith is in God without ever speaking a word. 

That is how we can be effective witnesses and draw seekers to question how we can be so sure.  How our ability to remain confident when everything around us is sending another message. What people fail to understand is how our strength to endure comes from another source than ourselves.  We can learn a lot from Paul about endurance, maintaining faith in the face of persecution, rejection, and outright hostility.  If we must remain as confident as Paul in God’s promises to us and refuse to compromise it just to get along.  We know we will be rejected as he was, isolated as he was but Paul we can rejoice for God is with us.  We must be vocal in our belief that in Christ we find all we seek. Why living a life following Christ is better than following the whims of the world.  We will become that light that draws other to Christ. 

So let you light shine and today say a prayer where you say to Jesus to use you, inspire you and gift you with that some power of the Spirit.