25 January 2010

Peter and Paul – models for diversity and unity

The Conversion of Saint Paul ... a modern icon

Patrick Comerford

25 January 2010, The Conversion of Saint Paul: Jeremiah 1: 4-10; Psalm 67; Acts 9: 1-22; Matthew 19: 27-30,

Collect:


O God,
who, through the preaching of the blessed apostle Saint Paul,
hast caused the light of the Gospel
to shine throughout the world;
Grant, we beseech thee,
that we, having his wonderful conversion in remembrance,
may shew forth our thankfulness unto thee for the same,
by following the holy doctrine which he taught;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

May I speak to you in the name of + the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

The Apostle Paul’s entire life is explained in terms of one experience – his meeting with Christ on the road to Damascus. Although he had a zealot’s hatred for Christ, who was just a few years older than him, Paul probably never saw Jesus before the Ascension. Yet he was determined in chasing down the followers of Christ: “entering house after house and dragging out men and women, he handed them over for imprisonment” (Acts 8: 3b).

But on the road to Damascus, Christ enters Paul’s own inner home, seizes possession of him, takes command of all his energy, and harnesses it so that Paul becomes a slave of Christ in the ministry of reconciliation as a consequence of that one simple sentence: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9: 5b).

The Conversion of Saint Paul ... a window in Saint Mary’s Church, Melton Mowbray

Paul, who was blind in his prejudice, is blinded so that he can have a new vision. He is imprisoned so that he can bring his great message to the world. And the magnitude of his sins, including his attempts to wipe out Christianity completely, show us clearly that no matter how terrible the sin may be any sinner may be forgiven.

In the same way, Peter’s denial of Christ – three times during his Passion – did not put him beyond the forgiveness and love of Christ. Peter too, in an effort to save his own skin, denied he knew the prisoner, but became a prisoner himself and a martyr for Christ.

No matter what our failings and our weaknesses, no matter where our blind spots may be, Christ calls us – not once but constantly – to turn around, to turn towards him, to turn our lives around, to turn them over to him.

Instead of his persecution, Paul is remembered as the first and greatest missionary.

Instead of his three denials, Peter is remembered for his confession of faith, his acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah or the Christ, recorded in the three synoptic Gospels (Matthew 16: 13-20; Mark 8: 13-20; Luke 9: 18-20). That Confession of Saint Peter was marked in the Church Calendar on 18 January.

Today, the Conversion of Saint Paul is celebrated throughout the church – in the Anglican, Roman Catholic, Lutheran and Orthodox traditions – on this day, which also marks the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The week, or rather, the Octave of Christian Unity, from 18 to 25 January, linking those two feasts, was first suggested in 1908 by an American Episcopalian or Anglican monk, Father Paul Wattson, who was the superior of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, and who reintroduced Franciscan life to the Anglican Communion.

The Apostles Peter and Paul ... an icon of Church Unity

Appropriately, the icon of Christian Unity in the Eastern Orthodox tradition shows Peter and Paul embracing – almost wrestling – arms around each other, beards so close they are almost inter-twining. Every time I see this icon, I think of Psalm 133:

How very good and pleasant it is
when [brothers] live together in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down upon the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down over the collar of his robes.
It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion.
For there the Lord ordained his blessing,
life for evermore.


So, despite many readings of the New Testament, especially the Acts of the Apostles, that see Peter and Paul in conflict with each other rather than complementing each other, they can be models for Church Unity.

Without that unity in the Early Church, its mission would have been hamstrung and hampered. For without unity there can be no effective mission, as the great Edinburgh Missionary Conference realised 100 years ago in 1910. And so the modern ecumenical movement has real roots in the mission of the Church.

As we come to the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, I pray that you may rejoice in the fact that differences can complement each other, and that you will see the diversity and unity that Peter and Paul wrestled with but eventually rejoiced in as models for your own unity in the coming years in ministry and in mission.

Amen

Post Communion Prayer:

Gracious God,
you filled your apostle Paul with love for all the churches.
May this sacrament which we have received
foster love and unity among your people.
This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Canon Patrick Comerford is Director of Spiritual Formation, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, and a canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. This sermon was preached at the early morning Eucharist on the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, 25 January 2010.

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