Conversion

Peter and Paul are arguably the two greatest heroes of and had the most impact upon the early Christian Community.  I believe we can use the word great in reference to them, but they were not always great and they were not always heroes.  They became as such only after they had an  encounter with the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

Encounter with the risen Lord brought about a conversion for each one, and by conversion I mean an "about-face."   That's literally what conversion means - to do an "about face." After their personal encounter with the risen Christ, Saul and Peter were changed persons. They began to live in a whole new way; with a whole new purpose; with a completely different attitude. They were changed so dramatically that neither one ever returned to their old way of living. In fact, as they more and more left the old way behind, more and more something new began to emerge.

SAUL

Saul was confronted by the risen Christ on the road to Damascus in the brilliant light and mysterious voice.  It knocked him to the ground and struck him temporarily blind!  But that's exactly what needed to happen to Saul.

Before Saul could be changed and transformed he needed to be knocked down and struck blind! After all, Saul so full of himself, so proud, so sure, was a chief persecutor of the Christians. Commissioned by the authorities in Jerusalem, he was making a career out of hunting Christians down and bringing them to trial in Jerusalem. In fact, when Stephen, a young Christian preacher, had been stoned to death not long before this, Saul was on the scene. Saul didn't actually throw any stones, but it was Saul who held the coats of the hatchet men who did the dirty deed! It was Saul who cheered them on and gained a perverse delight as each stone crushed the life out of Stephen.

Saul needed to be knocked down and slowed down. However, it wasn't an act of violence on the part of Christ. It was ultimately an act of love. Sitting blind in the grimy dirt of the road, gave Saul a new perspective. In his humility and blindness he began to see things like never before. His state of sudden helplessness and dependence on others gave Saul time to reflect and think about whom he was, what he was doing, where he was going.   It gave him time to contemplate the voice that he heard and the haunting question the voice asked, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" In that voice he heard the invitation of the risen Christ, and from that time forward, Saul gave his life to the very one whose followers he had been trying to exterminate.   The change was so dramatic he even took a new name, the Greek form of Saul and became known, not as Saul the great persecutor of Christ, but as Paul, the great advocate for Christ. Paul, in his own words, described the change in his life this way when he said in 1 Corinthians,

"If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; everything has become new!" (1 Cor. 5:17)

Standing behind those words was his own personal experience of conversion that began on the road to Damascus.

PETER

For Peter it was very different thing. Peter didn't need to be knocked down like Saul. Peter needed to be picked up!  Peter was already down and, for that matter, almost out. Peter had done it to himself! Remember the story?  Peter denied his Lord and best friend Jesus at his most desperate hour when Jesus was on trial for his life. Overcome by fear, Peter denied he even knew Jesus, not just once, but three times!   Three times he denied their friendship when just hours before he had so confidently declared to Jesus he would be willing to die for him. Down-and-almost out Peter was wallowing in the mire of his guilt and shame, trying to find a way to live with himself.  He was as low as one could get. He didn't need Jesus to knock him down. He needed someone to pick him up!

The risen  Christ comes to Peter in a most engaging and sincere way. He had breakfast with the disciples on the beach. Peter tried to avoid Jesus for as long as possible. But finally, after breakfast, Jesus took the initiative, broke the silence and asked him the vital question, "Peter, do you love me?"   Three times he asked him that question - three times - I suppose one for each denial, not to rub it in, but rather to assure Peter in a way that he would never forget that he was truly forgiven.  Peter was forgiven! Jesus lifted Peter out of his despair and put him on a new road. "Feed my sheep!" he told him. He would never travel the old road again. He spent the rest of his life feeding the Good News of Jesus Christ to a world of human sheep that were spiritually starving.

Peter, in his own words, describes the new life and new hope he received from the risen Christ this way,

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." (1 Peter 1:3)

In those words you can feel how the risen Jesus lifted the despair of guilt off Peter's shoulders and set him on a new, more hopeful path.

YOU AND ME

Both Paul and Peter were touched by the risen Christ at different, yet needy places in their souls. When you encounter the risen Christ you risk conversion!  If you allow Jesus Christ to embrace you at a needy or broken place in your being you risk nothing less than new life; new hope, new purpose, a new center, an "about-face."   These two stories declare that Christ comes to each of us in a unique and individual way. It depends who we are; where we are; where we've been; what we're doing, what we've done, what we've done to ourselves, what others have done to us.

For most of us conversion is not an all-at-once experience. It's something that happens over and over  again; sometimes piece by piece, and bit by bit. For Martin Luther, the great Christian reformer, that's exactly the way it was. Luther said that conversion needed to be a daily experience; a process of death and resurrection that occurs inside our being every day on life's journey.

As I look back on my life, I can see how the risen Christ has interacted with me and has graciously worked the miracle of little conversions time and time again. For me, Good Friday and Easter; crucifixion and resurrection, death and new life are a repeating rhythm in my life.

-Some times, like Saul, I've needed to be knocked down before I could be lifted up to something new. Many times something has had to die in me, before something new could ever come to life.

- Perhaps it was an attitude of arrogance or superiority that I was projecting towards others. You know, the need to always be right!

- Maybe it was a prejudice or bias towards another I was carrying around.

- Maybe it was an unhealthy degree of self-reliance that enabled me to keep others and God at a safe distance and me in control.

- Maybe it was a grudge or suppressed anger that I fostered.

There have been all kinds of things. But it seems like almost every time, something or someone has come along and sometimes knocked me down, or slowed me down; or caused me to pause and reflect long enough to realize that I needed to let go of it; it needed to die. And every time, without exception, the risen Christ has raised up something new in me: a new attitude; a new perspective; a new way of living; a new way of loving; a new opportunity; another chance; a braver heart; a stronger resolve.

But there have been the other times like with Peter, when I'm already down mired in the pit of grief, or guilt, or anger, or sin. At those times the risen Jesus has come and lifted me up with loving and gentle arms of grace and love, and restored me and put me on a road of a new opportunity. Sometimes it took awhile for me to see him, to hear his voice and trust that he was really there. Sometimes, like Peter, I tried to avoid looking him in the eye - but he finally caught up with me.

What's it like for you? What's your status with the risen Jesus Christ? Do you need to be knocked down or gently lifted up - or a little of both?  How is the risen Christ trying to get through to you and embrace you, but perhaps you have been fighting him off, keeping him at bay, and avoiding him?  How is the risen Christ been trying to put his arms around you and lift you up, enable you to do an about face, but you are so consumed by your circumstance you don't see him or even hear him.  What Christ desires is nothing less than conversion, an "about face"  because that's the business God is in and the power that God has. 

For Paul and Peter, God put them on a new road of witnessing to the world about the amazing, transforming love of Jesus Christ. He desires to do no less with you and me!