“A Man With Two Names”
Third Sunday of Easter
Thomas B. Cundiff
Jeremiah 1: 4-10
Now the word of the LORD came to
me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were
born I consecrated you; I appointed you
a prophet to the nations.” Then I said,
“Ah, Lord GOD! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” But the
LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only
a boy’; for you shall go to all to whom
I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you
to deliver you, says the LORD.” Then the
LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me, “Now I
have put my words in your mouth. See,
today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull
down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
Acts 9: 1-6 (7-20)
1Meanwhile Saul, still breathing
threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest
2and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus Jerusalem Damascus
7The men who were traveling with
him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. 8Saul got up
from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they
led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus Damascus Tarsus Jerusalem Israel Damascus Damascus
I.
It wasn’t too long ago I shared from this pulpit a sermon
from Genesis about God’s changing the name of ABRAM to ABRAHAM and SARIA to
SARAH. Interesting the things that God
does! Never—never in my experience have
I hard of anyone feeling called through the voice of God to change his or her
name!
This of course reminds me of something I have shared
with you before. When I was born my name
was supposed to be John. John’s a good
name. I could have lived with
that! Birth announcements were ready to
go out with the name JOHN. Story is
told that my mother took one look at me and said this isn’t a John, it’s a
Tom. She went to her grave never telling
me any more about why I was named Thomas!
If God changed my name, I wasn’t told why!J
Tom and Thomas are good names. I
think our children would agree, Emily and Ken who recently gave our first
grandchild the name Kenneth Thomas Moore….he is named after his two
grandfathers. What a honor. They are calling him Thomas. By now most of you have seen the pictures
Nancy and I are more than glad to share with you! He is now three months old!
II. Conversion Overview
Scripture today is the story of Saul who becomes
Paul. Saul as a young man in his
thirties went through this unusual experience.
Scholars tell us this wasn’t all that unusual. In fact, prophets often changed their names
when leaving one profession to become a prophet. While Jeremiah in our Old Testament scripture
didn’t go through a name change, it is powerful scripture in what it means to
be called a prophet.
Saul prior to his conversion was in the legal
profession, a prosecutor. He suddenly
goes through a vocation change. Instead
of trying to prosecute Jesus he becomes an apostle of Jesus. With this change in vocation his name was also
changed. And all of this took place when
Saul was on a journey on the road between Jerusalem Damascus
This experience was described buy one scholar as an
“emotional, electric transformation” (Eugene
LaVerdiere, SSS )[1]
that ended with a new name and a new identity.
Saul takes on a new name, Paul;
along with a new identity of becoming one of the most flamboyant,
dedicated voices for Jesus the world would ever know. He was a man, Saul, who would have probably
never been mentioned in history books.
Paul, on the other hand, is known just about as much as Jesus for his
work in building the Christian church.
Just where you understand where Paul fits into the
biblical stories: The post-resurrection letters
that Paul wrote to various communities were written BEFORE the four gospels
were written. Let me say this
again: chronologically, Paul lived and
did ministry and wrote his letters before Matthew and Mark and Luke and John
were written. NONE OF THE GOSPELS OR
LETTERS WERE WRITTEN WHILE JESUS WAS STILL ALIVE. In fact, there are some scholars who actually
believe the bible should begin with Paul’s letters and not the four
gospels.
In simplest terms, Paul was a man who heard the
voice of his lord and turned his life around.
Which leaves the question for us today: Are we open to hearing the Lord – Jesus – now
several weeks after we have heard again about his resurrection – in letting him
into our lives to help us turn things around and toward God in our lives
around? Another serious
question: Have you ever thought about a
total transformation in your life? Is
this something you may need?
More details about Saul/Paul may help answer these
personal questions.
Some more history before Saul’s conversion on the
Road to Damascus Tarsus
While Saul was also a rather frail and sickly man,
he also wore his heritage like a suit of armor.
He was a proud Roman. And because
of his background and pride in who he was, he was naturally against this new
movement that was fast evolving now called “The
Way” which would eventually known simply as “Christianity”. For Saul
prior to his conversion, Christianity was “pure heresy”.
Saul was not at all passive in his antagonism toward
the followers of Jesus. He overtly
worked to help in the movement in persecuting Christians. In fact the original intent of Saul (remember
he was a Roman Prosecutor) in going to Damascus Jerusalem Jerusalem
IV. Post-Saul (Paul) History
Scripture, once again, needs to speak for itself,
about Saul’s conversion on the road to Damascus
When Saul got to the outskirts of Damascus
He said, “Who are you Master?”
“I am Jesus”, the One you are hunting down. I want you to get up and enter the city. In the city you’ll be told what to do
next.”
His companions stood there dumbstruck—they could hear the sound, but
couldn’t see anyone—while Saul, picking himself up off the ground , found himself stone-blind. They had to take him by the hand and lead him
into Damascus
Saul comes to the decision after his conversion to be baptized. His sight being restored....his new name was
Paul....and he became the greatest
activist for Jesus and the Christian Church that the world would ever know.
So again the critical question for us: What changes does God work in our lives? This third Sunday of Easter, what transformations
are possible for us? What will we open our hearts to happen on the various
roads we travel through life?
When did you first make the decision to take on the
name CHRISTIAN? During a confirmation class? Did something happen to you independent of
your experience in the church that brought you to Christ? Was it the influence of your family or a
close friend that brought you to believe in Jesus Christ?
Scripture doesn’t tell us much of what happened
except that a dramatic vision turned Saul’s life around. The witnesses heard the voice in the vision
but didn’t see anything. Whatever happened
to Saul on that Road to Damascus
And an even more important question for those of us
who have professed faith in Jesus for many years: What keeps us faithful? What sustains us as followers or disciples of
Jesus?
What is your personal story? What do you believe? Beyond the words “I believe Jesus is my Lord and Savior”, what is your experience of
Jesus? What is your profession of faith?
V. Paul’s work is our work
My challenge for each of us in our daily, weekly
journeys through life…..consider what happened to Saul on the road between
Jerusalem and Damascus? What changes
does God call you to make in the name of the living Christ? In what ways can your life impact the lives
of others….like Paul influenced the lives of those he visited? Are you doing the best you can be doing,
being the best you can be in serving your Lord?
Finally, Paul’s business is our business. His call is our call. Paul’s Vocation is our Vocation. His work is our work. Paul’s ministry is our ministry. His trip to Damascus
This third week in the season of Easter…..in what
ways is the risen Christ going to enter your lives today….tomorrow….and through
this coming week. In what ways will
Christ shine through you for others to see?
May God bless us on the roads we travel, with the
people we encounter, with Christ walking with us each and every day….
[1] Eugene
LaVerdierre was one of my New Testament Professors during Seminary. He taught at the Jesuit
School Chicago
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