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Life is full of conversion experiences. 

Conversion: A Radical New Vision - Acts 9: 1-9; Genesis 32: 24-30 - October 10, 2010 - Cicero
United Methodist Church - Everett J. Bassett

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            Life is full of conversion experiences. This is an amazing thing considering how much we tend to resist change. Change is hard. And people in general, and religious people in particular, are often rightly accused of settling in with the status quo -- holding on to the past, and not being open to new things.

            A case in point might be the story I heard about a remark shared with a pastor after one of
his sermons. It was a comical sermon, entitled "Taters in the Church." He held up three
potatoes and said that he didn't want anyone in his church to be like these three Taters. The
first he labeled the 'Imi-tater.' The second he labeled the 'Dic-tater.' And the third he labeled
the 'Agi-tater.' "Don't be like one of these taters," he said. "Instead, God wants you to be like
this one," and he held up a 'Sweet-tater.' So he went home pleased with himself, because he
had found a humorous way to make the point that some changes needed to be made. But then
he got somewhat deflated by an e-mail he got that said, "Sorry, Pastor. I yam what I yam."

            People get set in their ways. And religious people can be especially set, and entertain the
illusion that we yam what we yam. And it is an illusion. Things never stay the same - the only
thing, some say, that is guaranteed in life is that everything will change. I don't totally agree
with that; I think that faith gives us a few other guarantees. But the point is well made that
change is inevitable. And I would say not just little, tinkering-around-the-edges change. Life is
full of conversion experiences - experiences that change something basic about who you are,
how you act, and how you view the world.

            And conversion experiences come in different shapes and sizes. For example, some of them are gradual. Most of us can not point out a moment when we became dependent on
computers, but the fact is, we have been converted -- our world has been revolutionized by
Internet, e-mail, and so on. Some conversions are more sudden - our lives were changed
dramatically and profoundly by what happened on 9-11-01. Some conversions are negative-
like the bitter heart someone can end up with after a sudden tragedy. Some are very positive -
like the sense of direction and purpose a person can have after the birth of a child.

            For my next few sermons, I want to talk about the most positive conversion that can take
place, and that is the genuine transformation of a person's life that takes place when he or she
encounters the miraculous love of God through Jesus Christ. What brings me to focus on that
topic is my continuing preaching journey through the Book of Acts in the New Testament of the
Bible. When you get to Acts 9 you encounter probably the most famous conversion experience
of all time - the conversion of Saul into Paul.

            First of all, we need to talk about his name. One of the ways to signify that a person is
changed forever, is to change his or her name. In the Old Testament story, we read about
Jacob wrestling through his conversion experience, and in the process receiving a new name,
Israel. To cite a more modern instance, many of us were around when the young boxer Cassius
Clay took on his new name Muhammed AIi, which signified his dramatic conversion. At the beginning of Acts 9, the name of our main character is Saul- a Jewish name, name of the first
king of Judah. But after his conversion he is given the Latin name Paul- signifying that he is no
longer primarily a devout Jew, but is now a missionary for the nations.

            But, of course, much more changed than just his name. His whole nature was converted.

Coming into Acts 9, Saul was, quite simply, a murderer. We read a few weeks back that when
Stephen, the first Christian martyr was stoned to death, Saul not only consented to Stephen's
murder, but he watched everyone's coats so they could kill more easily. Acts 9:1 tells us that
Saul was 'breathing threats' against Christians. He was heading to Damascus with an order he
sought out from the high priest to arrest any Christian he could. His reputation was
widespread, and it was one of deadly zeal against Christians.

            So how did that murderous person turn into the greatest Christian apostle, the
representative of Christ to the wider world, and the writer of the 'love chapter' that gets read
at so many weddings? Acts 9 is an attempt to tell how that happened. I think there are at least
four crucial components of Christian conversion in this chapter, and I want to talk about them
in the weeks ahead.

            The first is probably the most obvious in the story - it is a radical, extraordinary experience of grace. For Saul, it is described in Acts 9: 3: " ... now as he journeyed he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him. And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?'" Rationalists have asserted that perhaps Saul was struck by lightning - which certainly could blind and disorient a person, totally transform a life, and cause him or her to talk to God. But any kind of natural or supernatural explanation for the event is beside the point. Whatever caused it, Saul had a personal encounter with the Risen Christ, and was called to task for how he was living his life.
Was that bush really burning in front of Moses? Did angels really fill the Temple in front of
Isaiah? What does it matter? The real miracle is that people have an experience of God and his
grace that changes their identity. Moses became a courageous leader of the Hebrews; Isaiah
became the great prophet and teacher of the One True God; and Paul became the Great
Defender of Faith who carried the Good News of Jesus Christ throughout the known world.

            Suddenly in the course of our lives there come moments when God breaks through and gets our attention. If it's like Saul's moment, it is sudden -- a radical change from a life of darkness to a life of light. Or it may be more like John Wesley's, the founder of Methodism, who was far from an enemy of faith - he had been steeped in faith all his life. But he knew something was missing, until a famous moment when God 'warmed' Wesley's heart. For him, it was while he was listening to a teaching about scripture. And there are as many kinds of conversion
experiences, where God speaks to a person's heart, as there are people in this world.

            Here is one testimony, from the 20th century spiritual teacher Bede Griffiths, of a life-
changing moment for him: One day during my last term at school I walked out alone in the
evening and heard the birds singing in that full chorus of song, which can only be heard at that
time of the year at dawn or at sunset. I remember now the shock of surprise with which the sound broke on my ears. It seemed to me that I had never heard the birds singing before and I
wondered whether they sang like this all year round and I had never noticed it. As I walked I
came upon some hawthorn trees in full bloom and again I felt that I had never seen such a sight
or experienced such sweetness before. If I had been brought suddenly among the trees of the
Garden of Paradise and heard a choir of angels singing I could not have been more surprised.
(Bede then goes on to describe the sunset, and the stillness, that followed. Then he concludes):

I remember now the feeling of awe that came over me. I felt inclined to kneel on the ground,
as though I had been standing in the presence of an angel; and I hardly dared to look on the
face of the sky, because it seemed as though it was but a veil before the face of God.

            There is nothing miraculous in that story. Bede was describing the beauty that is around us all the time - things he had heard and seen hundreds of time. Yet this time was different. I am
a child of the '60s, when if someone described an experience like that, we asked what he was
smoking. But this is something different - this is an affirmation that there is a level of joy and
awareness in life that is beyond any drug. It's about grace; it's about blessing; it's about a God
who chooses moments to break through and change life into something wonderful. Once you
stand on the mountaintop with God, and you encounter the saving love of God through Jesus
Christ, your life is different. Your eyes are open to new visions; your heart is filled with
overflowing love; your greatest desire is to please the Lord who has blessed you so deeply. Life
is transformed from just biding time on earth, to having an eternal purpose and destiny that
makes every day an extraordinary new possibility. It's as if you have been born again.

            And if it's true that life is full of conversion experiences then isn't it Wonderful News that the very best of them are moments when God surprises us with grace, and re-orients our lives
toward love and hope? Isn't that the conversion experience you would long for?

            However, there are three cautions - things that we sometimes get wrong. The first is that
ultimately faith is not just the sum of those Big Conversion moments. Ultimately faith is about
how we live our day-to-day lives. We don't live on the mountaintops; we live in the real world,
inspired and sustained by what happened on the mountaintops. That's an important
distinction. Jesus took Peter and John up the mountain, and they had an amazing, beautiful
vision there. And Peter said, "Let's build houses and live right here." And Jesus would have
nothing of it - he led them back down where people were struggling and hurting through
everyday challenges of life. Our faith, including those mountaintop experiences, is not intended
to lift us out of the business of life, but to give us strength and hope to live life better.

            And the second caution is this - we don't order our faith experiences from a catalog; we
don't predict them; we don't design them; despite what some churches have claimed, there are
no particular prayers you must say, or rituals you must follow. This is the work of the Holy
Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is unpredictable by definition. Saving souls, changing hearts,
transforming lives with love -that's God's work, not ours. And God is very good at it. What we
can do is what Jack talked about in last Sunday's sermon - take the first step. Turn toward God.
Take an open hand stance in life. Pray and trust. And in God's time - at just the right time-
wonderful grace will dawn upon us. God's grace is amazing.

             And then the third caution is to remember that the Big Moment of faith is not the whole
conversion experience. People say that Saul was converted to Christian faith on the road to
Damascus - but really that was just the first step. We'll discuss the other steps for Saul in the
weeks to come - finding a good mentor; letting go of the past; and finding a faith community.
Those were just as important as the dramatic first step when Saul was knocked over by God.

            I would like to propose that the reading of Saul's conversion be an occasion when each of us re-examines the faith journey of our lives. Perhaps some of you can identify with Saul, having
had a dramatic turn-around in your life away from sin, and toward Christ. Others may have
experienced a more subtle, gradual onset of faith. Either way, it is just the beginning. God has
much more in mind for you, and now is the time to pray for a new understanding, a rebirth. I
have come to believe that God is doing something new in my own life, and in the life of this
church. We have come close to achieving some goals we have been working on for several
years. But that doesn't mean God is going to rest. God has other great visions to place before
us. I know I am spending many nighttime hours pacing around the parsonage, praying about
what the next great steps will be. It will be amazing; it will be transforming; it will be a
conversion experience. I ask you to spend time in prayer for your church, and that God will
break through to each of us with a powerful new revival of faith.

            Someone said that human beings do not change by willpower, but by new sight. Open our
eyes, Lord - we want to see Jesus.