Got Zeal? Sermon

Acts 9

“Got Zeal?”

                        Shortly after the time of Jesus, a man named Saul “Got God.”  Saul was a Pharisee and he understood the scriptures and he understood the law.  He knew God, he loved God, and he was going to do anything and everything he could to stop this movement of people that were proclaiming Jesus as the Christ, as the Messiah.  Saul was zealous, he was passionate, he was committed to his religion and his tradition.  He was so strong in his beliefs, he did not question at all that his understanding of God could be anything but the right understanding.  Besides, there was too much conflict in the land already.  There was pressure from the Romans and now, this movement of people were creating more problems. 

            Saul did not need to question his understanding of God, it had been passed along to him for generations.  It was tried and true.  He understood God through his history, through his scriptures, through his tradition, and through the law.  Without a doubt, Saul was a man of God, a man with a passion to his understanding of God, and a man that would go to any extremes to make sure others also stayed firm to the religious institution.  Saul had God and he had Zeal. 

            All we have to do today is turn on the news and we can see how history repeats itself over and over and over again.  What is happening in Iraq, and what is happening in other parts of the world reflects what happens when people – shall we say – Got God.  When people have such a firm understanding of who God is and there is no room for allowing others to understand God in any other way but the way they want us to.  Does God, in any faith tradition, call us to kill innocent children?   Does God, in any faith tradition, call us to force people to convert to the religious structure of a particular people?  I am pretty sure, those of us sitting here would, without a doubt cry out, “No!”  But what is happening in Iraq is no different than what happened back in the day and age of Saul. 

Saul had zeal and there was conflict and there was change and life was not feeling so secure and so something had to be done.  And so the early Christians had to be the ones to blame and they had to be the ones stopped.  Iraq is also under a lot of stress, a lot of change, a lot of instability and so people dig in deep to their convictions and attack “the other.”  It does not make it right, but history will continue to repeat itself over and over again as long as we continue to live in a world where there is instability and deep zeal for understanding God in a way that is not open to how others might also understand God.  We, as a people, also need to know and understand the difference between zealous groups and the mainstream people within a faith tradition.  Unfortunately, hate begets hate and people latch onto these small extremist groups and stereotype the greater faith group based on the actions of these extremists.  We saw this after 9-11, local Muslim business owners had their property vandalized and in some cases destroyed as people re-acted to the tragedy right here in our own country. 

Saul was an extremist, he had such zeal that he led him to extremes such as the stoning of Stephen.  He would do what it took, including murder, to stop these followers of Jesus.  And then something happened.  Was it the power of prayer of the early Christians crying out to God to stop the persecution?  Was it God intervening?  Or did Saul have some sort of seizure?  Whatever it was, Saul’s life was drastically changed on the road to Damascus.  He was knocked down, he heard the voice of Jesus, and he was struck blind.  Through this experience Saul went from a great enemy to one of the greatest missionaries for the movement of bringing the teachings of Jesus to the greater world. 

For Saul, who became Paul, this conversion story was the foundation of his entire life from this point on.  It’s no wonder that he was knocked down to the ground, can you imagine, everything that you believe in, everything that you know and understand about God, suddenly being redefined?  I think it would knock us down.  I think it would take us a little while to get our bearings and refocus ourselves.  The key word here is redefined.  Paul’s roots, his history, his scriptures are still important.  His knowledge is instrumental in how he moves forward.  God does not erase everything Paul knew about God, but rather calls him forward to take his history and allow it to unfold into a new future. 

This is what peacemaking groups are trying to do all around the world as people fight each other over one way of life against another.  Embrace your history but seek to find a way to not dig in your heals to stay the same but rather find ways to grow into a healthier and more vital future. 

Tomorrow morning, I leave to attend a conference about church growth and creating new worshipping communities.  There is a change going on in our culture and people are no longer connecting to traditional churches.  Our denomination is seeking new ways to continue to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people, to continue to share the love of God with the greater world but to do so in a new and refreshing way.  It does not want to throw out our past, but rather embrace our history, our calling to be reformed and always reforming, and continue to find a way to share the scriptures with God’s people. 

I know the question is asked – why are we declining when other churches are thriving.  Many of you have shared with me about churches that your children or grandchildren attend in other places that have young adults and families.  But it means allowing space for change.  Allowing space to not throw it all away, but to open ourselves to knowing and loving God in such a way that we want to make sure that we share that love with the next generation.  Not share our understanding of who God is, but creating fertile soil for the next generation to connect to God in their own way.  That is my hope of this sermon series, to illustrate that throughout the scriptures, each person that has been a leader of the faith has come to God in different ways.  Our scriptures are a story of change, a story of God’s love, a story of people learning about faith, learning about God, and growing into a people of God.  Always changing, always growing, never stagnant, but vital, viable, and open to learning and exploring the faith journey in new and exciting ways.