Could Paul go to Heaven?It’s quite a flippant question and deliberately so. If you were to join a group of the earliest Christians, shortly after the death and resurrection of Christ and asked them, I expect they would find that much harder to answer.How would they react to the idea that someone like Paul could be forgiven? Because I don’t imagine that many of them would have been particularly pleased.If you look at the book of Acts Paul is described as “ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women”, he is “breathing threats and murder against the disciples” and he is involved with the execution of Saint Stephen. Our early introduction to Paul does not present him as a nice man. Hardly the sort of person you would expect to find making such a vast contribution to the church, yet the fact that he does demonstrates just how big a change was coming.Paul’s contribution to Christianity is vast. He is undoubtedly the author of seven books of the New Testament with a further six up for debate. Even if those six were not by him, such was his importance that their authors did their best to emulate him. Saint Paul’s writings even give us the earliest reference to Christians remembering the Last Supper.But Paul comes to us from the position of being an oppressor of those who believed in Christ. It’s important then that we recognise that God in Christ saw something in Paul that the earliest Christians would have struggled to. God saw to the future, beyond all our possible imaginings.It all seems to have been a challenge for Ananias, who questions the Lord when he is sent to go and heal Paul. It must have been an incredibly difficult time for Ananias. He was a disciple of Jesus from Damascus, a city that was now seeing early Christian refugees from Jerusalem. He knew of Paul’s actions; he probably, personally, knew some of those who were persecuted by Paul.Yet he did as he was asked, greeted Paul as ‘brother’ and healed him. A remarkable demonstration of forgiveness, love and faith. A remarkable acceptance of the coming of change.This is what I find particularly interesting about Ananias. He takes this action after being told God planned to use Paul to bring the Good News “before Gentiles, kings and before the people of Israel”. In other words, things were going to change, and Paul was going to be spearheading it. Christ’s love was to be spread to all people, even those who had no cultural, religious or familial links to the faiths of Abraham and Moses. It must have given Ananias a feeling that mixed both excitement and fear.The change comes. And it’s big. Paul’s letters demonstrate just how widely and how quickly Christianity spread across the empire. Everything was opened up to all people in ways that hadn’t been seen before. Let’s take a small example, which is a description of Christianity by the governor of Bithynia and Pontus in the reign of Emperor Trajan. He describes Christians gathering on a fixed day to chant verses in honour of Christ. To bind themselves by oath to refrain from sins and share food “of an ordinary, harmless kind”.There is even the description of the torture of two slave women “whom they call deaconesses”.Let that sink in for a moment. The early Christian Church wasn’t just opening itself up to the Gentiles: those who were slaves were on an equal footing with the Roman citizens. Women could even serve as clergy, a thing unheard of in the rigid and tradition-based structure of Temple Judaism (something that the church seemed later to forget in a somewhat pointless and protracted act of patriarchal oppression and self-harm).This is the radical faith that Saint Paul would help bring to people. A church that can and would change to ensure that the love of and worship of God was open to all. Change that aims to bring in and include everyone. It is a process that is never finished and is always ongoing.That process of change might be painful, confusing or hard to bear. It would have been at the time, and Paul’s letters are full of examples where he was trying to sooth relations between different groups.It is still difficult even today. We still have churches who will not allow women’s ministry. We still have churches who try to block anyone celebrating the love between LGBT couples. We still have churches who exclude disabled people, the elderly and children.Yes, change can be painful, but change is what the Church must always be capable of doing to fulfil its mission and purpose.To share God’s love with as many as possible. To be open and inclusive, just as that early Church with the slave women serving as deaconesses was. Just as Ananias was in obeying the call of God to baptise and heal Paul.Just as Paul was in opening himself to being transformed by God into a champion of the same church he had worked so hard to oppress.Paul’s story of conversion and transformation is an example of Peter’s declaration in today’s Gospel of leaving everything to follow Christ. And he reminds us of Jesus’s response: that our focus should be not on the things of this life but on the forthcoming Kingdom of Heaven and the love God has for all.The Revd Iain Grant
God of our days and years, we set this time apart for you.Form us in the likeness of Christ so that our lives may glorify you. Amen.May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. (Psalm 67:1-4)Hymn: O Thou who camest from above...Acts 9:1-22; Galatians 1: 11-16aLet us confess our sins:Most merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we confess that we have sinned in thought, word and deed. We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. In your mercy forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be; that we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you, our God. Amen.May the God of love bring us back to himself, forgive us our sins, and assure us of his eternal love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Prayer for the day: Almighty God, who caused the light of the gospel to shine throughout the world through the preaching of your servant Saint Paul: grant that we who celebrate his wonderful conversion may follow him in bearing witness to your truth; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,one God, now and for ever. Amen.Matthew 19: 27-30 Please see the Message from the Minister.Let us join in prayer, asking for the light of the Lord to be known to everyone:We pray for the Church throughout the world, that this season will bring joy to all;We pray for our planet, that the Earth and all of its creatures will thrive, in peace;We pray for our friends, families and neighbours - may we all share the love of Christ;We pray for people who are sick or suffering, that they will know God’s healing presence;We pray for the departed, remembering all who mourn.Let us pray for the coming of God’s kingdom in the prayer that Jesus taught us: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.Hymn: King of glory, King of peace...May the Peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord: and may the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord, in the name of Christ. Amen.
In modern day life the Bible continues to make an essential contribution to our thinking. The Christian culture of this country and across most of the World is driven and under-pinned by the basic moral and ethical thought of the Jewish and Christian tradition found in the Bible.This morning we hear from three writers:- Isaiah, who expressed community relationships in terms of a marriage with God.- St Paul, who expressed personal relationships in terms of gifts of life shared by God’s Spirit.- St John, who expressed the process of coming to faith in the risen Christ in terms of a marriage feast.These days marriage is understood to be a relationship between equal partners. But this is not what Isaiah had in mind when he expressed the relationship with God as a marriage. In Isaiah’s day, in a marriage the lady became the property of the gentleman; as can be understood from the tenth commandment, where the lady is counted amongst a list of possessions which includes: wife, slave, ox, and donkey. In this understanding, being married to God means an acceptance that, man or woman, we belong to God. Living in a marriage with God presents us with a real challenge to our behaviour patterns.St Paul builds on this idea as he considers the practicalities for living a life of faith, where we are bound to God by a marriage contract, and where our God given gifts equip us for faithful living. Such a life of faith requires us to tread carefully; recognising what we are good at, being aware of our limitations, and valuing the contribution made by the people around us; people who may have different but complimentary life skills. This insight from St Paul provides an essential guide as we seek to share and contribute fully in community, living the new life of the risen Christ.St John envisages that as we seek to fulfil our marriage vows to God the ensuing feast is one of great generosity.Most of us will have experienced a wedding feast, if not as a bride or groom, then certainly as a guest.Looking back at my own wedding it was not so much a feast as a buffet. But God has been generous to us, and there have been many feasts of life to enjoy over the past 54 years. And this is the point St John emphasis as he depicts the resurrection story in terms of a wedding feast. The clue is in the introduction, with the words “On the third day…” It was on the third day that Jesus was raised to new life by God. Without these words – On the third day – the story of the wedding at Cana in Gallilee is about a magician who turned 30 gallons of water into 30 gallons of wine. With those words – on the third day – the message is one of a Saviour who is Christ the Lord, where our wedding vows to God are renewed, where generously our failures are forgiven, and where there is a promise that the quality of our ordinary mundane life will be transformed, in the same way as water was transformed into wine.In Christ’s resurrection we are wedded to God, for better or worse. In Christ’s resurrection we have access to the gifts of God’s Spirit. In Christ’s resurrection our life is transformed as we make the attempt to live a life of faith.The Revd Malcolm France
God of our days and years, we set this time apart for you.Form us in the likeness of Christ so that our lives may glorify you. Amen.Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. (Psalm 36:5)Hymn: God is love: let heaven adore him... Isaiah 62: 1-5; 1 Corinthians 12: 1-11Let us confess our sins:Lord of grace and truth, we confess our unworthiness to stand in your presence as your children. The Virgin Mary accepted your call to be the mother of Jesus.Forgive our disobedience to your will. We have sinned: forgive and heal us.Your Son our Saviour was born in poverty in a manger.Forgive our greed and rejection of your ways. We have sinned: forgive and heal us.The shepherds left their flocks to go to Bethlehem.Forgive our self-interest and lack of vision. We have sinned: forgive and heal us.The wise men followed the star to find Jesus the King.Forgive our reluctance to seek you. We have sinned: forgive and heal us.May Almighty God, who sent his Son into the world to save sinners, bring us his pardon and peace, now and for ever. Amen.Prayer for the day: Eternal Lord, our beginning and our end: bring us with the whole creation to your glory, hidden through past ages and made known in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.John 2:1-11Please see the Message from the Minister.Let us join in prayer, asking for the light of the Lord to be known to everyone:We pray for the Church throughout the world, that this season will bring joy to all;We pray for our planet, that the Earth and all of its creatures will thrive, in peace;We pray for our friends, families and neighbours - may we all share the love of Christ; We pray for people who are sick or suffering, that they will know God’s healing presence; We pray for the departed, remembering all who mourn.Let us pray for the coming of God’s kingdom in the prayer that Jesus taught Peter and all of us: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.Hymn: God is love: his the care...May the Peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord: and may the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord, in the name of Christ. Amen.
