January 25, 2004: The Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle
Readings: Acts 26:9-21; Galatians 1:11-24; Matthew 10:16-22; Psalm 67.

The Rev. Dr. Hilary B. Smith

Engaging the Culture

The conversion of St. Paul is the story of being called and being sent. The story of St. Paul’s on-the-Hill is about being called and being sent. God calls us and God sends us. Just as God called Paul to follow Jesus, God calls us to the great adventure of being a Christian. God comes close to us; and God sends us out.

From the life of St. Paul, we learn some important things about God and mission. First, God transforms lives. Paul, then called Saul, had been one of the most determined enemies of Jesus and his disciples. He sought to kill Christians. God changed his life and sent him out to the gentiles.

With God the unexpected happens. The least likely person to be a Christian, Paul, is sent to the least likely people to follow God, the gentiles. The gentiles were far from monotheism; they had no reason to believe Paul. And, yet, that is how the church grew. That is how the church continues to grow.

How did Paul go about his mission? Paul did not expect people to come to him. He did not expect people to give up their idol worship easily. Using what he knew about Jesus, Paul went out into the culture. He engaged people by explaining his message as it related to, or differed from, their experience of life.

In Acts chapter 17, we find a wonderful example of engaging the culture for Christ. While Paul was waiting in Athens, we hear that "he was deeply distressed to see that the city was full of idols." Rather than discounting the people as misguide, he went and looked at the idols and found a way into the culture’s discussion of what matters.

Paul said to the Athenians: "I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with an inscription, ‘To an unknown god’. What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you."

Paul could see that these people cared about religious matters and that they were interested in spirituality. He finds a way into the culture’s discussion of what matters, and then he explains that the fullness of life is known through having a relationship with God through Christ. Paul explains that this relationship is a gift that is given freely in love.

"When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed, but others said, ‘We will hear you again about this’. At that point Paul left them. But some of them joined him and became believers." Paul is called; Paul is sent; Paul engages people where they are, and some join him. We, like Paul, are sent out to engage people. We are sent out as a gift to our world. We are a gift to our world when we as individuals and as a community make known God’s love for all. On this our patronal feast day, it is right to consider who we are as "St. Paul’s on-the-Hill." The name of our church says a lot. We are St. Paul’s church, which implies that we are missionary in attitude. We are "on-the-Hill," which implies that we want to be seen by those around us.

While we are "on the hill," we are also "set back off the street." Many people pass right by without seeing us. It is up to us to go out into our culture with the confidence that we have something worth talking about and sharing. Many of us get nervous when we think about sharing our faith. Episcopalians don’t tend to do that much. We don’t want to offend anyone.

We know that we are called. But how are we sent? How are we Episcopalians and members of St. Paul’s on-the-Hill supposed to go about evangelism? How do we reach out to those who do not know about the faith?

Paul is a great model for us. He does not discount the culture around him. He spends time learning about the culture and about the spirituality of the people. He expresses respect for their desire to encounter the divine. Then he introduces what he knows about God through his relationship with Jesus. We have a great opportunity to do evangelism in the best way based on our gifts as Episcopalians. We are open minded and interested in the things of our culture—not all denominations are. We can connect with the culture’s discussion of what matters in a way that is respectful.

There are many ways that we could engage our culture. We could have a vacation Bible school that uses themes from the Harry Potter books. A curriculum has been developed to do such a thing. While not explicitly Christian, much of what people like about the books can be shown to be Christian in nature. This is one way that we can enter into our culture’s discussion of what matters and explain how Christianity is similar or different.

In working with youth, we can provide a safe place for young people to express themselves and grow into adulthood with the support of a caring community. Parents want the best for their children. We can show the teens and their parents that St. Paul’s is the best for them by having a dynamic youth group.

There are many possible ways for us to be sent to the world. In February, we will be having visioning meetings to talk about our mission. What is your vision for our life and ministry together in 2004? How do you think that relates to God’s call to us?

God brings us close, and then God sends us out. We come to know the love of God and then we want to share that love. We come to know the grace of God manifest in the faith community, and we want to let others know that there is a place where they will be welcomed without question. May God, who has begun this good work in us, bring it to completion.

Amen.