Reading
Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began to defend himself: “I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, because you are especially familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews; therefore, I beg of you to listen to me patiently. “All the Jews know my way of life from my youth, a life spent from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem. They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I have belonged to the strictest sect of our religion and lived as a Pharisee. And now I stand here on trial on account of my hope in the promise made by God to our ancestors, a promise that our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship day and night. It is for this hope, your Excellency, that I am accused by Jews! Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead? “Indeed, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is what I did in Jerusalem; with authority received from the chief priests, I not only locked up many of the saints in prison, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death. By punishing them often in all the synagogues I tried to force them to blaspheme; and since I was so furiously enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities. “With this in mind, I was traveling to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, when at midday along the road, your Excellency, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions. When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.’ I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The Lord answered, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you. I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ (Acts 26: 1-18) Reflection When I led a worship service when I was in seminary, I took our passage today and wrote it in the style of Dr. Seuss. Here is for you to enjoy. --Chad Hershberger Walking down the road midday To Damascus, on the way The man Saul saw a bright light Falling down, knowing not his plight A voice cried out, “Why are you hurting me?” “Who are you, Lord, I cannot see!” “I am Jesus, get on your feet Go tell all that we did meet.” It was part of God’s good plan God wanted badly to change the man Turn him from his old dark ways To a life of better days And the Gentiles, God wanted them seeing That they, too, could be new beings! Live a life of faith and love If they’d turn to God above Paul’s conversion can be a lesson For with God, there is no messin’ Set our sights and set our minds Pray and trust- it’s love that binds Change you can, it’s not too late There’s no need to set a date Start today, be a new you Change your name to Sue or Drew! Jump aboard the “new-me” train Or fly on the “fresh start” plane Drive the “new beginning” truck With determination- you need no luck If your life seems down and out And you always seem to pout Think of Paul and his new start God helped him to change his heart Make your move- it’s yours to make And there is a lot at stake You can make things better, bright And your life will be out of sight So, get started- now’s your chance Collect your cans and not your can’ts!!! Prayer God of Change- as you changed Saul’s heart and helped him to turn from his old ways, help us to be agents of change in our own lives. Help us to make new starts and set our sights on better days. Our devotions are based on this Sunday’s Revised Common Lectionary (RCL). The RCL is a three-year cycle of readings telling the story of our Christian faith and corresponding to the season church calendar. On any given Sunday, we are hearing and praying and examining the same Scripture with millions of Christians around the world. In our current Year C, the Old Testament readings progress through the Prophets and have the theme of the day that it is connected to the Gospel reading. The Psalm, a song the congregation sings in response to the Old Testament reading, most often corresponds to the theme of the Hebrew Lessons and/or that of the Gospel Lesson. The lesson from the Epistles or from Acts typifies the church’s focus on the meaning of Christ for today. The Gospel lesson is connected to the season of the Church Year. This year, our gospel readings are from Luke, who writes that Jesus is the universal Savior and the perfect Son of Man. In the current season of Pentecost, all the lessons tell us “God’s will be done.”
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