by Fr Gabriel-Allan Boyd
Christ is risen! Truly He is Risen!
We’ve all heard those great Hollywood-worthy true stories, where (for instance) a former Ku Klux Klan leader ends up becoming good friends with a black adversary and repents of his past. History is teeming with these wonderful kinds of transformational stories, but few are as profound a transformation as what we see in the life of Saint Paul the Apostle. In today’s Epistle Reading (Acts 26:1, 12-20), Saint Paul tells the local Roman ruler—King Agrippa—about the truly marvelous day when God converted him to Christianity. Paul’s original name was, Saul, and he was likely the most devout and fanatical Jewish leader of his day—a topmost expert in the Law of Moses. The thing that’s so miraculous about Saul the Pharisee’s conversion, is how far-sweeping the divergence is…from where he began…to what he became. This is the story of how Saul the Pharisee became Paul the Apostle, a resolute follower and messenger of Jesus Christ…willing to endure any hardship—and even death—for the sake of offering our Lord’s Good News to folks.
When Saul was at the peak of his vocation, the Jews admired him as a Pharisee’s Pharisee…but Christians knew him only as a terrorist. He uncompromisingly busied himself with plotting to capture, disgrace, beat, imprison and publicly murder every Christian he could possibly find. With all of his heart, Saul the Pharisee sincerely believed that his holy mission in life was to eradicate all Christians, because they were spreading their malignant cancer of Christianity to the unsuspecting children of Israel. Too many Jews were converting to Christianity and Saul couldn’t abide with the persistence of that reality. But all of that entirely changed one day, when Saul had a personal, living, and awesome encounter with the very One who was central to everything he was trying to eradicate—the risen Jesus Christ, Himself.
This conversion story is so remarkable, that Saint Luke—the writer of the book of Acts—gives us 3 different accounts of it: Acts 9; Acts 22; and today’s Epistle Reading in Acts 26. The setting for our Epistle Reading today, is that two years earlier, Jewish leaders had rioted over Paul’s missionary presence in Jerusalem. So, in order to keep the peace, the local Roman authorities arrested Paul and held him “under their protection.” He’s been in their custody for the entire two years since. During that time, Paul had become a political football between the local Roman government and the Jewish authorities, who continually debated about him, but never altered his status as a prisoner. It seems that everyone involved in this debate, Romans and Jewish leaders alike, believed it was better if Paul the Apostle simply remain in custody—unable to cause any more public unrest. Nevertheless, since Saint Paul was born a Roman citizen, it meant that he was afforded certain rights. So, he now stands before the local Roman King Agrippa. While Saint Paul’s bigger strategy is to be sent to make his case before the higher court of Caesar in Rome (and to teach the Good News of Jesus Christ there), he’s making the most of this particular opportunity to give a convincing witness to King Agrippa, and to all others who happen to be present within his royal entourage that day.
So, Saint Paul takes the floor and tells the story of his conversion, which I’ll paraphrase here: “One day, O king, I was traveling with a group of men to Damascus. We had obtained the authority and directive of the chief priests to punish all Christians. Suddenly, I was struck by a supernatural, heavenly light—brighter than the noon-day sun—shining all around me and around everyone else who was with me. In shock, we all fell to the ground. That’s when I heard a voice saying to me in Hebrew, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Why do you keep hurting yourself by kicking against the goads?’ And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I’m Jesus…the very One you’re persecuting. So, get up onto your feet; because I’ve come to appoint you today as My servant, bearing witness about what you’ve seen of Me in the things around you…and witness of other things I’ll show you. I’ll deliver you from all this and also from the non-Jewish people to whom I’ll be sending you. You’ll open their eyes, from darkness to light…and deliver them from Satan’s control…toward God. This way, they can also receive God’s forgiveness, and release from their sins, and an inheritance among those who have set themselves apart to Me in faith. Of course, King Agrippa, I couldn’t be disobedient to that heavenly vision I saw. So, I chose to openly proclaim His message, first to those at Damascus, then at Jerusalem and throughout the entire region of Judea, and even to the non-Jews, so that they might change their old ways of thinking…and turn their lives toward God, engaging in deeds that are consistent with a transformed heart.”
There’s an interesting phrase that Saint Paul says our Lord used with him, “kicking against the goads.” What does that mean? What is a goad…and how could Saint Paul be hurting himself by kicking against it? The word translated into English as “goad” is from the Greek, kentra (κέντρα), meaning a pointed pole. In the farming culture of Paul’s day, it was a long stick, with sharp piece of iron on the end. Farmers would use this goad to prod and guide their animals. Today, we might refer to it as a “cattle prod.” We get the picture here that God had been trying to guide Saul for some time, goading/prodding him toward faith in Jesus as the Messiah. Of course, some farm animals are more stubborn than others. They want their way, no matter what, receiving the prodding of the farmer as an affront against their will. So, they kick against that pointed prod, and in doing so they bring injury to themselves, driving the pointed end of that rod into their foot, or deeper into their leg. God is trying to get Saul the Pharisee to understand that he’s merely hurting himself by continuing to kick against the Lord’s guidance. The more Saul resists, the more he suffers.
Throughout the scriptural history of God’s relationship with His people, there have been many along the way who resisted God’s prodding and chose rather to go their own way, but this resistance always worked to their own disadvantage. For instance, most people are familiar with the Old Testament prophet Jonah’s refusal to preach God’s message of repentance to the people of Nineveh. Jonah had a bigoted disgust for Ninevites, so he headed in the opposite direction. However, he soon found himself inside the belly of a giant fish, and he stayed there for three days, until he finally repented. And that’s when that fish spit him up onto the shore of the very place he didn’t want to go, Nineveh. By God’s grace, he soon brought those people to faith in God and repentance. Throughout the scriptures, there are many other instances, as well, where people refused the goading of God in a certain direction and they suffered the consequences of their own stubborn will.
So, it stands to reason that, like Saul, we also may be so wrapped up in accomplishing our own will, not perceiving the spiritual and emotional harm we’re bringing upon ourselves (and others around us) by kicking against God’s prodding of us. Is there a part of God’s will for your life that you simply don’t like? Has God been trying to get your attention and guide your life in another direction, but you’ve resisted? Is there a part of Christ’s teaching that you’re ignoring because it makes you uncomfortable?
When Saul finally had a palpable encounter with the risen Jesus Christ, nothing could stop him from his new path. He poured out his life to bring the Good News of our Lord to anyone who would listen, and no earthly obstacles would deter him. By God’s grace, Saint Paul ran his course and was able to say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). Will God be able to say the same thing about each of us?