Sermon, The Conversion of St. Paul, 25 January 2026
Readings: Acts 9.1-22; Galatians 1.11-16a; Matthew 19.27-30
Theme: The Conversion of St. Paul
It is sometimes believed by Christians that Paul starts a new religion when he undergoes his conversation. Nothing could be further from the truth. For Paul, Jesus is the fulfilment of the longings of the Jewish people for a Messiah. This, at least following his conversion on the road to Damascus, is Paul’s new understanding of Judaism and the followers of Jesus. The Jewish followers of Jesus, have understood that this Messiah is the Son of God, and the voice of Jesus on the road to Damascus puts this beyond any doubt for Paul as well. So, rather than found a new religion, Paul is the one who reimagines Judaism as now understood through the death and resurrection of Jesus. In other words, profound change is possible! That is the good news of this feast, which marks the conversion of St. Paul.
We celebrate this feast during the season of Epiphany, and it gets to the heart of what this season is all about. The manifestation of Jesus to us during the period of Christmas is continued in this season. Epiphany unfolds the revelation of the meaning of the mystery of the God who is shown to us in the birth of the child, Jesus, and the conversion of Paul is another manifestation of this same Jesus. It is a moment when this manifestation changes the one who had been persecuting the fledgling church into one of its most effective preachers. Now Paul will work to convince both the Jews and the Gentiles that this Jesus is their God and that all are now addressed by his message of salvation.
The incident, of the conversion of Paul is, to say the least, an unusual one. Paul had been persecuting the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem and now, with the permission of the high priest in Jerusalem, he is on his way to do the same in Damascus, so that they can be returned to Jerusalem for punishment. Yet, on the road to Damascus, a light from heaven blinds Paul, or Saul as he was then called, and the voice of Jesus asks him, why he has been persecuting him. Dazed and confused, Saul goes, with his travelling companions, to recover in Straight Street, at the house of Judas.
The Lord tells one of the followers of Jesus in Damascus, Ananias, to lay hands on Saul, so that he might see again. Saul himself knew that this would happen from a vision he had received during prayer and so following the laying on of hands by Ananias, he baptizes him. Brother Saul, as he is called by those early followers of Jesus, is then filled with the Holy Spirit and begins to proclaim that Jesus is Lord in the synagogues to the amazement of all who had formerly known him as the great persecutor of the followers of Jesus.
The conversion of Paul is an amazing story. It reveals that when God manifests Godself to us there is no doubt about this. The power and the force of this epiphany imposes itself on us and makes it clear who it is that is addressing us. This is why in the second reading from Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, Paul makes it clear that his authority to preach the good news does not depend on any human testimony or knowledge. Paul’s insight into Jesus came directly from Jesus. He had no doubt who it was who was addressing him on that road to Damascus. However, what this would mean for his Jewish faith took time for Paul to work out and the unfolding story of the scriptures indicates that Paul is working out just what this means for the traditions of Judaism and for those Gentiles who wanted to share in this message of the death and resurrection of Christ. Such an ongoing working out of these implications for Judaism will divide the early church and indicate that change takes time and needs careful consideration from all different groups so that the best way forward can be discerned.
So, change is possible, though it may take some time and it may take listening to many different voices to get clearer the best path forward for us. If such a dramatic change happened to Saul it can happen to us too because, though no doubt less dramatic, we can be certain that God is manifesting Godself to us here and now.
This is why during this year of renewal in the chaplaincy, we are taking Paul as our dialogue partner. In studying his life and biblical teachings, we are asking the same Holy Spirit to come down upon us and to move us in the direction that the Lord Jesus calls us to. It is good to allow time to consider important decisions regarding change because, like Paul, the impact of major events may well blind us for a time. It took Paul three days for his sight to return after the laying on of hands from Ananias, and it is not unreasonable for us to assume that any major changes we feel called to make will take us time to come to a considered judgement about. But the message of the conversion of Paul is clear. When God appears to us things change. We can no longer live as we did before and the world really does appear differently than before such an epiphany. May this feast of the conversion of St. Paul inspire us to believe afresh that the Lord is risen and because of that no change is impossible to bring about for God.
So, let us be patient with ourselves. As we seek to follow the risen Christ ever more closely on our journey into the future, the same risen Christ who appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus, is calling us to make our own journey on the road to Damascus.