CONVERSION STORY - This is the story of Paul’s conversion from hater to proclaimer. The story is repeated three times in Acts and Paul will draw upon this experience to help him proclaim the gospel, to help make the gospel about Jesus personal. He will also refer to this event in his letters to the churches he cares deeply about. That is to say, we have in Paul’s conversion story, a primary evangelism tool, a model of transformation, and a story that invites discussion about our own and subsequent conversions.

THEOLOGY OF CONVERSION - Hugh Kerr, a theologian who taught at Princeton Theological Seminary, described conversion as "deep emotional earthquakes [that] erupt out of the past, shatter the present, and make way for a new tomorrow." Conversion, however we define it, involves a complete change from one lifestyle to another . . ." To be converted is like making a u-turn. It’s starting at square one again, or going back to the drawing board. [1]

CONVERSION IN BIBLICAL HISTORY - In the Hebrew Scriptures-especially in the Psalms . . . "The longing for conversion grows out of a deep sense of sin, suffering, and frustration; [it is] . . . the stab of conscience, the shame of inward uncleanness, the remorse for sin, and the sensation of being lost and alone-all these agonies of soul are coupled with prayers for mercy, forgiveness, an a new chance to begin all over again."

Given the two examples of conversion in chapters 8 and 9 (that of the Ethiopian courtesan’s conversion in 8 and Saul’s conversion in 9), which of the two most closely reflect your own coming to faith?

• How did this story about Saul’s experience function in the early church? In our own times? As a ___story about the transforming power of the gospel; ___ a Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Story about how the greatest enemy became Christianity’s greatest advocate; ___story about how the Holy Spirit continued to work through the prayers of the Church; ___story about how God’s Spirit works in our world from bottom up and from outside of ourselves?

 

See the homily posted for this week.  I also would encourage preachers to get a copy of Conversions by Hugh Kerr; I believe it is out of print, but most libraries should still have a copy available. Anyway, the book relates the "conversion" stories of notable people throughout history-some of the conversions are almost indistinguishable bleeps on the sonar screen; others bellow out like whales-and create whale-sized waves as well. You could follow the rhetorical structure of story and experience through these-including your own-stories.

You could also draw interesting comparisons between conversion in chapter 8 with that of the more famous conversion of chapter 9.

_______________________________________________________
[1] The New Interpreter’s Bible IV (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996), page 797.