Without Paul who knows what we’d actually know of Jesus, because Paul’s role in evangelising and spreading the Gospel, through teaching, preaching and of course letter-writing, was central to getting the message out into the wider Roman Empire – which God knew would be the case, and eventually that message reached these isles, some 2000 miles away from these events.
The narrative of what led to Paul finding his true calling – the purpose which God had for his life, followed that amazing reading from Jeremiah which also talks about call – and there’s a thread of calling, change, and purpose through all our readings today.
Each passage shows God interrupting everyday life, changing its direction, and inviting people into something so much bigger than themselves. And that feels rather timely as we look ahead to our church planning day on the 14th of February. We’ll be asking big questions about who we are, what we’re called to do, and how God might be reshaping us for the future. And each and every one of you are invited to join us for that day.
Jeremiah’s story shows him protesting:
“sorry God! I can’t do this, I’m too young for all of this”. He feels he’s too young, too inexperienced, and too small for what God is calling him towards. God’s response isn’t stern, he doesn’t chastise Jeremiah, but reframes his protests
“Don’t say ‘I am only…’ how can you be ‘only’ anything with me beside you? I’ll give you the words you need, I’ll send you where you need to go”. Jeremiah’s calling isn’t based on his own ability but on God knowing he’ll be right beside him in that calling.
I think many Churches can fall into this “only” language:
We’re only a small congregation.
We’re only volunteers.
We only have so much time or resources.
But God says: Don’t say “only.”
God’s call begins not with our capacity, but with God’s, which is limitless.
As we anticipate our planning day, Jeremiah’s story invites us to leave behind the narrative of limitation and ask instead:
What might God be planting in us, collectively and as individuals, that we haven’t yet recognised or named?
Saul is a man on a mission, he has his purpose and his calling, and that means bad news for any Christians he encounters.
Yet when Saul encounters Jesus, he’s not punished, as you might have expected if we were in the Old Testament, but Saul experiences the disruption Jesus can bring into our lives when he enters in with generous, unending and undeserved love. For Saul this disruption comes as a light, a voice and a question:
“why do you persecute me?”
This question, directly from God, dismantles Saul’s worldview. It forces him to see that those people he’s hurt or harmed are, in fact, all part of God’s kingdom.
Paul’s conversion isn’t just about a change in belief but it’s also about recognition. He recognises that God is present in the very people he’d excluded.
For Paul this is both costly and liberating as his old life falls away and he allows himself to be changed by love, the love that God shows him.
Contemplating how changed Paul is by this experience invites us to open ourselves to what might be possible – what or who might God be asking us to see differently? What question might God be asking of us? How could God be calling us to be changed?
To go back to the purpose of our planning day, it’s an opportunity to allow God to interrupt us, to ask us uncomfortable questions, and to widen our imagination about who we’re called to be.
Peter’s question in the gospel reading is so very real, it’s probably what the others have been thinking but, of course, Peter is the one to open his mouth “We’ve left everything to follow you. What’s in it for us?”
They’ve sacrificed so much, and Peter wants to know it’s going to be worth it.
Jesus’ response could have been anything, we know he can be quick to chide or rebuke the disciples when they show self-interest, be here he offers a vision of renewal—a world made whole.
Building the kingdom isn’t about personal reward, it’s about making all things whole in God.
As we think about our future as a church - our mission, our priorities, our resources – we shouldn’t ask what’s in it for us, but rather: through the work of this community
Who can be lifted up?
Who can be welcomed?
Who can find healing, dignity, and belonging because we exist?
What do we need to do to join in God’s renewal of all things?
It can sometimes be a struggle to see how all our set readings fit together on any given Sunday, but it’s always good to remember that they always do –
a lot of thinking from clever theologians went into planning the 3-year cycles of readings. These three readings today are one story, and it’s also our story.
Through Jeremiah we see God calls us even when we feel inadequate.
Paul’s conversion demonstrates God transforms us, usually in ways we don’t expect.
And Jesus reminds us we’re being sent into a world that’s being renewed.
So, we invite you to be part of something next month where together we can imagine:
what’s possible for us with God alongside us?
What can be transformed in us?
where does change need to happen?
And what part might you have to play in all of this – where are we being called communally, but also where is the Spirit leading you?
It’s good to remember that whilst the conversion of Paul is big and dramatic, most transformation is much, much quieter. It happens in our conversations, in happens in our prayers, and in happens in our planning days, in moments of honesty and courage. It happens when we ask:
Where is God at work - and how can we join in?
Amen,
Readings:
Jeremiah 1:4-10 Jeremiah’s Call and Commission
4 Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,
5 ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’
6 Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.’ 7 But the Lord said to me,
‘Do not say, “I am only a boy”;
for you shall go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you.
8 Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
says the Lord.’
9 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me,
‘Now I have put my words in your mouth.
10 See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.’
Acts 9:1-22 The Conversion of Saul
9 Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ 5 He asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The reply came, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.’ 7 The men who were travelling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. 8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, ‘Ananias.’ He answered, ‘Here I am, Lord.’ 11 The Lord said to him, ‘Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.’ 13 But Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.’ 15 But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; 16 I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.’ 17 So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
Saul Preaches in Damascus
For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, 20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’ 21 All who heard him were amazed and said, ‘Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem among those who invoked this name? And has he not come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?’ 22 Saul became increasingly more powerful and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Messiah.
Matthew 19:27-30
27 Then Peter said in reply, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?’ 28 Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife[a] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
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