Getting to Know Paul...

SERMON

Epiphany 2016

Christ Church, St. Michaels Parish

In the early spring of 2011 I was lucky enough to be part of a pilgrimage traveling to Greece and Turkey with members of St. Paul’s, Delray Beach. We were a group of 25 led by the now Bishop of New Jersey, Chip Stokes. Our intent for this pilgrimage was to follow the footsteps of Paul through Greece and Turkey as he traveled not once, not twice, but four times from Jerusalem to sites as far-reaching as Rome 2000 years ago.

Back then I really did not know an awful lot about Paul. In fact, as I think back I can truthfully say that I knew nothing about Paul apart from the fragmented Lectionary readings that we hear each Sunday morning.

 And, I have to admit that I did not go on this pilgrimage with the intent of learning about Paul specifically.  Rather, I was intrigued by returning to Greece, a country I had not visited for quite a few years, and visiting Turkey, a country filled, in my mind at least, with intrigue and romance, for a first time.

I was also eager to experience a “Chip led” pilgrimage. Chip was a kind of celebrity in SE Florida – known for his impressive knowledge of biblical history and his passionate teaching style.

Finally, several of the other pilgrims were friends – good friends – and I was looking forward to embarking on this adventure with them.

The first couple of days were spent orienting ourselves to Athens and Corinth. They were, of course, interesting days but really, for me at least, no more than regular touristy touring. I still had no real comprehension of the significance of what I was looking at – especially in Corinth, which was absolutely vast. However, I must admit that after walking for five hours through the ruins of Corinth and periodically stopping to listen to the fascinating information imparted by our tour guide Sabrina – something happened.

We grouped around what Sabrina indicated had been the preaching site for Paul in the incredibly large Corinth agora, or marketplace. Chip said, “This is a perfect place for our daily Eucharistic meal. Chip’s wife Susan, who I believe is really a saint, whipped out bread and wine, communion vessels, prayer books and Chip’s stole- I was carrying my own stole in a tote that had just about everything I held dear in life at that moment in it – basically my passport and my cash.

It was then, at the site where the Apostle Paul preached in Corinth and our little group had its day-two Eucharistic meal with readings from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, that something began to click.

Two days later we were approaching Philippi and decided to stop at the stream where Lydia was baptized by Paul. As you will recall from Acts, Lydia was most likely an agent for a purple-dye firm in Thyatira, a city outside of Philippi. Lydia was converted during Paul’s visit and insisted on opening her home to Paul and his companions after they had been cast out of Philippi. After baptizing Lydia, Paul and his companions stayed with her until their departure for Thessalonica.

That day, we celebrated the Eucharist at the stream where Lydia was baptized. In fact Chip and I had to walk across the stream to serve the bread and the wine to our fellow pilgrims. It was a very thrilling moment, for all of us. That day the “click” was a little more substantial.

The following afternoon we arrived at our hotel in Thessalonica and were given the directive to break into small groups and to read Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. I ended up with my roommate Patti and two other group members. We found a small table in the hotel bar area and settled in. We read the letter aloud in its entirety and then went back to re-read the letter one chapter at a time and then discuss it before going on to the next chapter.

By the end of that afternoon the something that began to click in Corinth and the something that had clicked even louder in Thyatira reached its crescendo – a crescendo that resounded throughout my entire body, mind and spirit. To put is rather mundanely, it was a complete “wow” moment.

All of a sudden it dawned on me that I was not traveling through Greece and Turkey to view ruins and the wonders of the modern archeological resurrection of buildings that had collapsed in earthquakes thousands of years earlier – not at all. I was on this journey to get to know Paul – to see and to hear him as so many years ago he traveled more than 10,000 incredibly difficult miles in his ministry to spread the Good News – the Gospel of Jesus. In that final “wow” moment I was re-directed from a journey of visiting ruins to a journey of being one  with Paul as he taught and preached the Good News of Jesus.

At that moment, sitting in the hotel bar in Thessalonica, I realized that our work as pilgrims on a journey to follow Paul’s footsteps through Greece and Turkey called us to experience the burning passion that must have coursed through every vein in Paul’s body as he bravely trekked through miles and miles of wilderness, crossed and re-crossed multiple bodies of water, entered cities that were ruthlessly ruled by the Roman Empire, and stood before crowds of non-believers who went to all lengths to dispel him from their communities. Wow…that was all I could say.

My “Wow” moment was, of course, an epiphany. Suddenly Paul was “revealed” to me. The incredible journey of this brave evangelist became so real to me that I could see it, feel it, and taste it. It was as if Paul was there with me – and, as if I was there with him – both of us very present to each other. And, somehow I knew in a way that words cannot describe, that Jesus was there as well.

Of course, Paul had experienced his own epiphany on the road to Damascus. In Acts 9 there a third person report of this epiphany:

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.

— Acts 9:3–9, NIV

Apparently, there was a moment in Paul’s life – there on the road to Damascus - when he experienced Jesus as present in the most powerful way imaginable. And, that incredibly powerful presence shed a blinding light into the heart, mind and soul of Paul. This epiphany – this revealing of Jesus - redirected Paul – and sent him on a most astounding journey of evangelism through the known world – a journey that would in large part be the foundation of the Christian religion as we know it today.

And, in today’s gospel reading from Matthew we learn of yet another epiphany – the epiphany, or revealing of Jesus – to the three Wise Men who have somehow learned that a Messiah, a Savior has been born. They set off to find him, and on their journey they visited King Herod to ask if he knew where the child might be. Herod, threatened by the possibility of being overthrown by this messiah, directed the kings to find the child and to then return and inform him of the child’s exact location.

The three kings continued on their journey, and when they eventually found Jesus they were stunned. They were overwhelmed with joy. They fell on their knees. They knelt down and paid him homage and offered him gifts. During that moment of joy, awe and homage, Jesus was revealed to them. The reality of Jesus – the presence of Jesus and the promise of light shining out of a darkened and troubled world filled their hearts and their minds and their souls. And, rather than returning to report his whereabouts to Herod, for they knew that his intent was to murder this holy child, they were re-directed - they left for their own country by another road, presumably to spread the good news with great joy.

I believe that we all have “wow” moments – epiphanies - when the light of Christ somehow and very mysteriously shines so very brightly in our hearts and minds. A moment when the presence of Jesus, with us now and always, is so very real. These are mystical moments. They come upon us without warning, there are no words to describe them, and they leave us – most often – very quickly. They come and they go. We cannot describe them. But they have the power to re-direct our lives. They are moments of light shining out of the darkness – Jesus with us – moments that point us in new directions of faith and hope.

Today we are celebrating Epiphany, the Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ. Today, we each begin anew our journey with Jesus as he goes from the manger to the cross.

At some point in your 2016 journey in the footsteps of Jesus will you have a “wow” moment – an Epiphany? Will you experience the presence of Jesus in your heart, your mind and your soul in a way that re-directs your life? With the eyes and ears of your heart will you know the hope to which Jesus has called you? Will you experience the immeasurable greatness of his power that shines a guiding light on the way to love, the way to transform this world from the nightmare it often is into the dream that God intends for us all?

The words of our Collect of the Day so aptly describe our desires to love and to serve the world by following in the footsteps of Jesus.

O God, who so wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life with him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. AMEN