Jan 28, 2024 |
St. Paul’s Top Five
| The Rev. Gabriel Lawrence
St. Paul’s Top Five
On this day, we mark the feast of our patron, St. Paul. On
the Church’s calendar, our patronal feast falls on the 25th of January, but the
prayer book allows for a patronal feast of a parish to be moved to a Sunday so
that it can be celebrated in a more robust way. We are doing that today in this
combined service, and I am so happy to see the nave so full. What a way to
celebrate St. Paul and this parish named for him that we love so much and are
blessed to be a part of!
After Jesus, Paul might just be the most well-known person in Scripture. Indeed, Paul claims more writings in the New Testament than any other author. We would be hard-pressed to find someone who had as much of an influence on the spread of our faith as Paul did. So, I thought it might be good- if you’ll indulge me- to mark this feast of our patron St. Paul by going through a top five of his most well-known words.
Our first stop on this top five list of comes from his second letter to the Church in Corinth. Paul writes that “we walk by faith, and not by sight.” I find this phrase an interesting one, for it was in Paul’s own conversion experience that he actually lost his eyesight. In today’s text from Acts, we hear Paul’s call story, but with a few details left out. In a more full account of the call story in the ninth chapter of Acts, we learn that Paul was without sight for the first three days after God stopped him in his tracks and called him to preach and teach the good news of Christ. Paul learned in all of his trials, on days when things did not make sense, on days when he could not see any further than to take just one step forward, Paul knew to see with his spiritual eyes, to trust in God’s grace and love to get him through. And we know that, too. On the dark days, in the dark nights of our souls when it may be hard to see or feel God’s presence, to see God with us and in us through the eyes of faith.
The second well-known verse I want us to look at is in the first letter to the Thessalonians, fifth chapter. “Give thanks in all circumstances, for it is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” And this wasn’t the only time Paul encouraged us to give thanks. Paul admonishes the early Church to give thanks, to live in a state of gratitude, more than 35 times. Paul knew the power of gratitude. Paul lived a hard life and was even imprisoned at times for preaching the Gospel, but he knew the power of offering thanks to break chains - literally break his own chains while imprisoned - and set him free from his circumstances. And we as St. Paul’s Church follow our patron’s call to gratitude by gathering here, week in and week out, to offer thanks to God as a community for God’s work in our midst, on the good days and the bad days. And that gratitude changes us. It makes us able to do God’s work in the world.
Our next stop on our journey through Pauline wisdom is in the fifth chapter of Romans. Paul says here that “Hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. If Paul had a firm grasp on gratitude, he had an even firmer grasp on hope. Paul mentions the word hope over fifty times. And hope was central to the message of Jesus, too. Though it’s not mentioned by word in today’s Gospel reading, the overall theme is indeed hope. Jesus is telling his disciples that accepting to follow him is sometimes going to be tough. He says he is sending them out like sheep into the midst of wolves. I love how Jesus does not mince words here. He cuts straight to the chase and says that this work is going to be hard. You will be judged, and perhaps even imprisoned. BUT. When you worry about what to say, what to do, don’t worry. Don’t fear. Your hope is in God, who will give you the words to say, give you the strength to carry on. Your hope is in God, and that can’t be taken away from you.
Our fourth stop on our journey is found in Paul’s letter to the Church in Galatia. Paul writes, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” In this well-known passage, Paul is pointing to perhaps the best news in the Good News of Jesus: that we are all one. In Christ, all division cease, walls that divide us are torn down. We participate in this reality every week in this space when we come to this altar, to receive from one bread and one cup. In that one bread, in that one cup, we are all made one in Christ Jesus. We don’t always get it right. We do fail. And that is precisely why we return week after week to be fed and reminded again and again that in Christ, we are all one.
Finally, in this list of Paul’s greatest writings, his greatest must be, without a doubt, his treatment of love. In his first letter to the Church in Corinth, he writes, “[Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” Love endures all things. At the end of the world, love is what will be left standing. In all our own trials, love is what will get us through. When we are confused and tired and don’t know which way is up, love will point the way. In grief and loss and hardship, love is there to comfort and bless. In the depths of the worst that life can give us, love whispers hope. Even in the grave, love gives us voice to make our song alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. At the end of the age, love wins.
Now, I know Paul can be controversial. Paul lived in a time and place very different from our own, and some of his writings reflect that. And we are also lucky to be named for this saint who wrote and taught about seeing through the eyes of faith, offering thanks to God in all things, clinging to hope, seeing all as our equal, and loving above all else.
A patronal feast can be a time for a parish to take stock of what has been in the last year and plan for what is to come. I encourage us to do that work today: to ground all we do in this new year in faith, gratitude, hope, equality, and love. Thanks be to God for the witness of St. Paul, and thanks be to God for all of you in this place. Amen.
After Jesus, Paul might just be the most well-known person in Scripture. Indeed, Paul claims more writings in the New Testament than any other author. We would be hard-pressed to find someone who had as much of an influence on the spread of our faith as Paul did. So, I thought it might be good- if you’ll indulge me- to mark this feast of our patron St. Paul by going through a top five of his most well-known words.
Our first stop on this top five list of comes from his second letter to the Church in Corinth. Paul writes that “we walk by faith, and not by sight.” I find this phrase an interesting one, for it was in Paul’s own conversion experience that he actually lost his eyesight. In today’s text from Acts, we hear Paul’s call story, but with a few details left out. In a more full account of the call story in the ninth chapter of Acts, we learn that Paul was without sight for the first three days after God stopped him in his tracks and called him to preach and teach the good news of Christ. Paul learned in all of his trials, on days when things did not make sense, on days when he could not see any further than to take just one step forward, Paul knew to see with his spiritual eyes, to trust in God’s grace and love to get him through. And we know that, too. On the dark days, in the dark nights of our souls when it may be hard to see or feel God’s presence, to see God with us and in us through the eyes of faith.
The second well-known verse I want us to look at is in the first letter to the Thessalonians, fifth chapter. “Give thanks in all circumstances, for it is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” And this wasn’t the only time Paul encouraged us to give thanks. Paul admonishes the early Church to give thanks, to live in a state of gratitude, more than 35 times. Paul knew the power of gratitude. Paul lived a hard life and was even imprisoned at times for preaching the Gospel, but he knew the power of offering thanks to break chains - literally break his own chains while imprisoned - and set him free from his circumstances. And we as St. Paul’s Church follow our patron’s call to gratitude by gathering here, week in and week out, to offer thanks to God as a community for God’s work in our midst, on the good days and the bad days. And that gratitude changes us. It makes us able to do God’s work in the world.
Our next stop on our journey through Pauline wisdom is in the fifth chapter of Romans. Paul says here that “Hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. If Paul had a firm grasp on gratitude, he had an even firmer grasp on hope. Paul mentions the word hope over fifty times. And hope was central to the message of Jesus, too. Though it’s not mentioned by word in today’s Gospel reading, the overall theme is indeed hope. Jesus is telling his disciples that accepting to follow him is sometimes going to be tough. He says he is sending them out like sheep into the midst of wolves. I love how Jesus does not mince words here. He cuts straight to the chase and says that this work is going to be hard. You will be judged, and perhaps even imprisoned. BUT. When you worry about what to say, what to do, don’t worry. Don’t fear. Your hope is in God, who will give you the words to say, give you the strength to carry on. Your hope is in God, and that can’t be taken away from you.
Our fourth stop on our journey is found in Paul’s letter to the Church in Galatia. Paul writes, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” In this well-known passage, Paul is pointing to perhaps the best news in the Good News of Jesus: that we are all one. In Christ, all division cease, walls that divide us are torn down. We participate in this reality every week in this space when we come to this altar, to receive from one bread and one cup. In that one bread, in that one cup, we are all made one in Christ Jesus. We don’t always get it right. We do fail. And that is precisely why we return week after week to be fed and reminded again and again that in Christ, we are all one.
Finally, in this list of Paul’s greatest writings, his greatest must be, without a doubt, his treatment of love. In his first letter to the Church in Corinth, he writes, “[Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” Love endures all things. At the end of the world, love is what will be left standing. In all our own trials, love is what will get us through. When we are confused and tired and don’t know which way is up, love will point the way. In grief and loss and hardship, love is there to comfort and bless. In the depths of the worst that life can give us, love whispers hope. Even in the grave, love gives us voice to make our song alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. At the end of the age, love wins.
Now, I know Paul can be controversial. Paul lived in a time and place very different from our own, and some of his writings reflect that. And we are also lucky to be named for this saint who wrote and taught about seeing through the eyes of faith, offering thanks to God in all things, clinging to hope, seeing all as our equal, and loving above all else.
A patronal feast can be a time for a parish to take stock of what has been in the last year and plan for what is to come. I encourage us to do that work today: to ground all we do in this new year in faith, gratitude, hope, equality, and love. Thanks be to God for the witness of St. Paul, and thanks be to God for all of you in this place. Amen.
