Dr. Jon Burnham preached this sermon from Galatians 1:11-24 at Batesville Presbyterian Church on June 10, 2007
"Since my baby left me, I found a new place to dwell ... It's down at the end of Lonely Street, that Heartbreak Hotel ... I get so lonely baby, I get so lonely, I get so lonely I could cry." Elvis sang many gospel songs but this was not one of them. Yet, the theme of broken relationship is a valid Biblical theme. For Christianity is a relationship between God and people. Conversion is the key to both starting and continuing our relationship to God. So, I suppose we could say that the church is a conversion community.
Conversion is a word we don't hear too much about in the Presbyterian Church. We tend to think of conversion as a word that belongs in other churches who cajole people in the pews to walk down the aisle and profess their faith in Christ at the conclusion of a worship service. Although we do not ask people to respond to Christ by walking to the front of the sanctuary we do provide other opportunities to demonstrate our conversion to Christ. For instance, after the sermon we stand and confess our faith by saying the Apostle's Creed. Then we respond to Christ by giving our tithes and offerings to Christ's mission through the church when the ushers walk the aisles passing the plate. When we confess our faith and when we give our offerings, we are demonstrating our conversion to Christ every time we gather for worship. The very nature of our liturgy suggests that conversion is something more than a one time event. Conversion is a continuous part of our Christian journey.
Our understanding of conversion hinges on our interpretation of the conversion of the Apostle Paul as described in our text this morning and in other New Testament texts. Let's reconsider the story of Paul's experience on the road to Damascus. Paul, a Pharisee, was an activist for the Jewish faith to such an extent that he persecuted and tried to destroy the fragile Christian church of his day. But one day, as he was riding the road to Damascus, Paul was confronted by the risen Christ. Paul, whose name at this time was Saul, heard a voice from heaven saying, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"
"Who are you?" Saul cried.
"I am Christ, whom you are persecuting," replied the unseen voice.
The voice from heaven was accompanied by a glaring light that left Saul blind for some days. This dramatic event led to such a significant change that Saul's name was changed to Paul to signify the new mission he had been given by the risen Christ. Paul would take the good news about Christ to the non-Jewish world. Paul would be the apostle to the Gentiles.
The event that we ordinarily think of as the conversion of Paul was more accurately God's calling of Paul to be an apostle to the Gentiles. Friends, Christ called Paul in a way that Christ does not call us. We all have a calling from Christ. Some of us are called to work with our minds and some of us are called to work with our hands but none of us are called to be an apostle to the Gentiles such as Paul. Paul's calling to be an apostle to the Gentiles was unique to Paul himself. So let's not confuse the Paul's calling with Paul's conversion.
It's hard to make a distinction between Paul's calling and Paul's conversion because they happened at the same time. Christian churches who emphasize walking forward at the conclusion of the worship service as a sign of your conversion tend to interpret the story of Paul's conversion as God's plan for us all. These churches tend to emphasize a one time emotional experience with Christ as a sign of true conversion. But I believe we can make a distinction between Paul's call and his conversion. That may come as a relief for us Presbyterians, for not many of us have undergone such a dramatic conversion experience as Paul had on the road to Damascus. Our conversion stories are more mundane. Some of us speak of having a mother or father who brought us to church when we were babies and had us baptized when we were too young to know it. Then at some point when we were older children or teenagers, we confirmed our faith in Christ. Our church provides for conversion by baptizing babies and confirming teen agers. The confirmation class gives us an opportunity to come out of the closet and publicly confess our faith in Jesus Christ. Ordinarily, that is how we Presbyterians express our conversion. Our way is not enough for some people but it works well enough for us. Some of us were reared in other faith traditions and professed our faith in Christ and were baptized when were older children or even adults. However we came to be in Christ's church, we are glad to be here now. As the song says, "Different strokes for different folks."
When we limit our conversion experience to baptism and confirmation, we tend to think of conversion in the past tense, as something we have already done. We have already been baptized. We have already been confirmed. Or, if we have joined this church as an adult, we have already reaffirmed our faith in Christ. All of these conversion experiences are in the past and we do not think of conversion in the present tense.
Yet conversion, as understood by Jesus, was always in the present tense. Now is the acceptable time of salvation. The Greek verb tenses that describe salvation or conversion in the New Testament are in the present tense. Jesus used the phrase "Kingdom of Heaven" interchangeably with the term "Kingdom of God." That phrase, kingdom of heaven, projects us into future tense because we think of heaven as a destination after we die. In reality, "Kingdom of Heaven" is a technical term Jesus employs to refer to a conversion experience that leads to a new way of being in the world. This conversion is available now. This moment and every moment we are to be converted to Christ.
Conversion is our choice and responsibility in every moment we live. Conversion is not a one time experience. Conversion means to change the direction in which we are seeking our happiness. We may be converted to Christ millions of time within our lifespan for each second is an opportunity to seek our happiness in God through Christ.
Conversion implies a change of perspective. This is clear in our text from Galatians. Note the stark contrast that occurs in verse 15. Verses 13–14 have Paul as their subject: "I was violently persecuting . . . I advanced . . . I was far more zealous . . ." Verses 15–16, by sharp contrast,
begin with the action of God: God "who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me. . . ." When God reveals Jesus Christ to Paul (Gal. 1:16), God does so, not to glorify Paul or allow Paul to wallow in that exalted experience, but to lay before Paul a commission. Paul is called to be an apostle to the Gentiles.
Based on his conversion experience, Paul understands transformation as vital for the Christian community. All Christians must be part of an evolving, transforming, redeeming community. So consider your church a conversion community. If your church is not converting you, perhaps you should examine your relationship to your church. The purpose of the church is to continually convert us to Christ. This is a scary way to think about the church because we fear change. Yet, change for the good or for the bad is inevitable. As Bob Dylan put it: "He who is not busy being born is busy dying." Conversion is a process of being busy being born. Conversion is a process of changing the direction in which we seek happiness. Conversion means turning away from our programs for self glorification. We exhaust ourselves seeking happiness in the false security that wealth provides, or wear ourselves out, as the song says: "Looking for love in all the wrong places." Christ invites us to take a break from running ourselves crazy looking for love in all the wrong places. Conversion means resting in Christ even while we are in motion. Christ invites us to be converted in every moment by turning away from our false selves and tuning in to our true selves.
I hope your church challenges you to change the direction in which you are searching for happiness for each church is called by God to act as a conversion community. If your church is not converting you, something may be wrong with the church or with you. If no one in your church feels they are being converted by your church, then the problem may lie with the church. If one or more people feel they are being converted by your church, but you feel you are not being converted by your church, perhaps the problem lays with you. Consider this question in thoughtful prayer and see how God may lead you and your church to become a more effective conversion community.
As the song says, "You better stop, listen, what's that sound? Everybody look what's goin' down." Evaluate the role of your church as a conversion community. Then ask yourself whether you are open to being continually converted by Christ. Each moment is another opportunity for conversion to Christ. To quote the Beatles famous song, "The long and winding road that leads to your door ..." And another Beatles song goes, "Somebody's knockin' at the door, somebody's ringing a bell; Somebody's knockin' on the door, somebody's ringing the bell, do me a favor, open the door and let them in." Let's do ourselves a favor. Even if we've been renting a cheap room in the Heartbreak Hotel, let's open the door to our heart and let Christ in.
