Thoughts going in, Sunday June 9th

Gal 1:11 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 I did not receive it from any human source, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus. 18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 I saw none of the other apostles--only James, the Lord's brother. 20 I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie. 21 Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. 22 I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy." 24 And they praised God because of me.

            A question that doesn’t seem to be asked very often but that comes to my mind is… if Paul could’ve received a special revelation about the Gospel… and then go off and do his own thing, what makes Mohammed, or Joseph Smith (founder of the Mormons), or Charles Taze Russell (founder of Jehovah’s Witnesses) any different? Is not Paul basically teaching/preaching a theology of personal experience over received tradition? As one author points out…there’s even an irony involved, as Paul routinely insists that his converts ‘traditionalize’ his received personal experience!

            I mentioned Acts 15 and the Jerusalem council last week, and this is a pretty good place to mention it again. No long quotes, you can look it up for yourselves, but as much as Paul in places emphasizes the uniqueness of his call and the way he received the message, in the end there is nothing particularly unique about the essence of the Gospel he’s preaching. The 1^st generation missionary efforts to the Jews entailed the Gospel message that salvation came by grace through faith in their Messiah—Jesus of Nazareth. This is the same Gospel message that Paul preached to the Gentiles; salvation came by grace through faith in the Messiah—Jesus of Nazareth. As we seek to differentiate Paul from those who would come along later and claim special revelation, it is very important to remind ourselves that The Church (including the most respected ‘pillar apostles’ of the day) put their stamp of approval on Paul’s message and efforts. They saw complete compatibility between what they were doing among Jewish people and what he was doing among the Gentiles. The same can obviously not be said for those who came along much later.

            On to the main gist of the passage… I think we can key in on the last 2 verses: 23 They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy." 24 And they praised God because of me. There’s a real strong “Amazing grace that saved a wretch like me” thread going through this passage. It should have the impact of making us marvel at God’s choices. When Al Davis, managing general partner of the Oakland Raiders, spent a 1^st round draft pick on punter Ray Guy in the 1973 draft—to hear him tell the story—everyone thought he had flipped his lid. First round draft picks are for quarterbacks, or running backs or **maybe a great defensive lineman. You don’t waste a first round pick on somebody who spends most of the game sitting on the bench. But Davis was a true visionary, and Ray Guy was …by the standards of the day…practically from another planet. He could punt the ball 50yards! Nobody could do that. He was the ultimate defensive weapon, often pinning an opponent deep in their own territory, and allowing Oakland to get the ball back. A strange choice turned out to be shear genius.

            Something like that could also be said about God’s choice in Paul. The greatest enemy the infant church had became its greatest friend; the infant church’s greatest source of persecution became its first and greatest theologian. No one saw it coming. No one could’ve predicted it.

            And God still works in ways like that. People we think are utterly hopeless are not so in God’s eyes. When we’re ready to write someone off, let’s remember the strange choice of God in calling Paul to be an apostle. His grace really is THAT AMAZING.

Cheers,

TM