Psalm 19; Philippians 3.4b-16
I’ve always loved the Apostle Paul.
A man who believes with ferocity … intent, purpose, clarity and focus … no one’s fool … no one gets anything by him … he knows his stuff … he’s well-trained in theology and tradition; he knows his Bible frontwards and backwards … he knows how to put his thoughts together … how to argue and debate, to make a case for the faith.
On the Damascus Road, he was on his way to root out any talk about Jesus as the Messiah … for Paul, also known as Saul, this messianic notion was pure nonsense, and dangerous to the welfare and future of his people …
On the Damascus Road …
Let there be light!
And a voice:
Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?
“I’m not persecuting you, LORD … I’m defending you … I’m doing what’s right, what’s needed, what’s necessary … I’m one of your staunchest believers … I’d die for you LORD … you know that - you know me through and through … I’m on my way to Damascus to root out the lies, the falsehoods, the deceptions … I’m on my way to Damascus to tell the truth.”
Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?
Saul is puzzled.
Who are you, LORD?
Saul uses the term LORD … the LORD, God Almighty, the LORD of heaven and earth … the LORD God of Israel … the Holy One …
LORD, who are you?
On the Damascus Road, fateful words that changed Saul’s world … words that would change much of the world in the next 2000 years …
I am Jesus!
From this moment on … Jesus becomes the LORD God Almighty … everything about the LORD is now focused in Jesus …
Jesus, the Anointed One, the Christ, the Savior,
Son of God, Son of Man, Son of David, born of Mary,
the LORD of life and death …
in whom we live and move and have our being.
As for Paul, Saul is his Hebrew name … Paul is his Roman name -
Paul was born and reared in Tarsus, a Roman city, in what is now modern-day Turkey … Roman Citizen buy birth/Hebrew by faith … Paul is of two worlds … the world of his Jewish Faith, and the world to which Christ called him, the Roman World, the world of Gentiles … and so it was, that Paul, this man of two worlds, now came to be known by his Roman name - Paul, the Apostle of Jesus, the Apostle to the Gentiles, Apostle to the world.
In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he makes a point: the fundamental, radical, equality, of everyone before the Throne of God.
1700 years later, we find the same idea in our Declaration of Independence, We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Our nation has squabbled about this from the beginning … there were plenty of folks who believed inequality to be the bedrock of life …
Senator James Henry Hammond declared to the Senate, March 4, 1858:
In all social systems there must be a class to do the menial duties, to perform the drudgery of life. That is, a class requiring but a low order of intellect and but little skill. Its requisites are vigor, docility, fidelity. Such a class you must have, or you would not have that other class which leads progress, civilization, and refinement.
Hammond denounced Thomas Jefferson and declared:
… ‘slavery is the corner-stone of our republican edifice;' … I repudiate, as ridiculously absurd, that … dogma of Mr. Jefferson that 'all men are born equal.'
Hammond goes on:
"I firmly believe that American slavery is not only not a sin, but especially commanded by God through Moses, and approved by Christ through his apostles.”
We fought a civil war, on the very question: are all people created equal, by God? … or has God, in fact, created lesser beings, to serve the greater beings?
Paul the Apostle confronted this in the great city of Corinth, where status was everything … Paul fought against it, tooth and nail … no, no, no, shouts Paul - in Christ, we’re all equal … we’re all one before the throne of God.
Paul coined the metaphor of the body:
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” …. … God has so arranged the body … that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.
Paul wrote to the Christians in Galatia:
As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
Paul knew whereof he spoke … Paul knew all about prestige, privilege, and status …
his birth, his ancestry, his education …
his poise and conviction, his zeal for the cause …
when it came to bragging rights, Paul won every contest.
But life is not a contest …
On that Damascus Road, Paul learned how to handle all of his achievements, all of his abilities, all of his status …
Paul learned how to give thanks for all it … because it’s all a gift, every bit of it, a gift … his family, his training, his energy, his faith - none of it achieved, all of it received.
Paul now recognizes how deformed was his soul, how misshapen, twisted, and broken he was - he measured himself against others, and found others to be inferior to him … he found himself to be superior … on top of the heap … better than most, and maybe even better than all.
And that, says Paul, is pure rubbish … nonsense, silliness, foolishness, and worse - rubbish.
Do you wanna know what Paul really says?
Cover your ears … I’ll try to be polite - he says, “It’s all excrement” “dung” - the Greek word is skubala - we had fun with that in seminary! … skubala - sounds dirty, doesn’t it?
We might use other slang words … but whatever the point, the point is clear:
His attitude of superiority was just so much skubala.
Everything is a gift …
Not to set him apart from others, but to equip him to serve the world, the common good, the needs of humanity …
where there is loss, Paul speaks of gain …
where there is death, Paul points to life …
where there is hate, Paul affirms love …
where there is fear, Paul welcomes grace,
where there is division, ill-will and dissension, Paul celebrates the love of God …
Paul moves his work and purpose into the singular, great truth of life: all are created equal, endowed with the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Is this not faith, hope, and love?
Is this not grace, mercy, and peace?
Is this not truth, beauty, and goodness?
Is this not life, liberty, and salvation?
All of this has wide-reaching implications for the world … our Democracies, our nation, and the life we live.
When we’re tempted, because of race, creed, color, or ethnicity, or station in life, to claim superiority … when we hear such things said by preachers, politicians and pundits - remember Paul the Apostle, and don’t hesitate to say, skubala!
Amen and Amen!
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