The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for Sunday, May 10th: Acts 9:26-31; 1 John 3:18-24; John 15:1-8)

JESUS CAN TRANSFORM THE WORST SINNERS

In this week’s first reading, we see Saul (later called Paul) just after his remarkable Damascus Road conversion. Saul/Paul arrives in Jerusalem and wants to join Jesus’ disciples, but as the reading explains, “They were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.”

Paul’s reputation as a violent arch-enemy of Christianity was well known throughout the region. Just a small list: He was an accomplice in the murder of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr (Acts 8:1). He “began to destroy the church….(and) dragged off men and women and put them in prison” (Acts 8:3). He was “breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples” (Acts 9:1). Paul was known as “the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on [Jesus’] name” (Acts 9:21).

Paul himself acknowledged that he was a real creep before his conversion. In one of the epistles he wrote years later, he described his pre-Christian years: “I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man” (1 Timothy 1:13) and “the worst of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:16).

You can’t blame the disciples for being afraid of Paul. They had been friends with Stephen before he was murdered, and they probably knew many of the people rotting in prison because of Paul. But the disciples, more than anyone else, also knew of the amazing power of Jesus to transform peoples’ lives. They had experienced it themselves; they had seen it in countless others; and they were present when Jesus gave His famous “I am the vine, you are the branches” teaching, which is found in this week’s gospel reading.

Jesus’ audience was very familiar with vineyards. They immediately understood His analogy of vines and branches. They knew grapes could not grow on a branch unless the branch was securely connected to the vine, through which it received sustenance. Jesus said, “Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.” He went on to say, “Because without me you can do nothing.”

This isn’t just a matter of acknowledging Jesus’ identity as the Son of God. It’s not simply following some of His teachings. Jesus is describing here the miraculous state-of-being which occurs when we allow Him to enter into our hearts and souls and guide our lives. (Would you like me to give you the scientific explanation of how this merging of His Spirit and our spirit takes place? Sorry, it’s a mystery, an article of faith.)

The disciples knew if Jesus truly dwelled in a person’s heart, even murderers could be transformed. As soon as they realized Paul’s conversion was genuine, as soon as they knew Paul was a branch being fed by Jesus’ vine, they embraced him as a brother in the faith.

This kind of transformation was not limited to first century, biblical characters. It occurs today. Through the power of Jesus dwelling in their hearts, drunks become sober, thieves become honest, and philanderers become faithful husbands.

Charles Colson knows a little something about this. Formerly one of Nixon’s ruthless hatchet men, who spent time in prison for his role in the Watergate scandal, Colson’s transformation after becoming a Christian is nothing short of remarkable. The founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries, he has labored tirelessly for over three decades to bring the Gospel to people behind bars and knows firsthand how lives can be miraculously changed for the better.

In a recent article Colson described his visit to a prison in Newton, Iowa:

“It was on a gray December day two years ago that I first visited Newton for the dedication of our second InnerChange Freedom Initiative prison. I must confess I wasn’t expecting much. The participants had only been together for a couple of months—not enough time, I thought, for them to bond into a group.

“But was I ever wrong! When the gates to the compound swung open, excited men swarmed around me. During lunch I must have signed a hundred Bibles and listened to dozens of testimonies.

“How could this have happened in two months? At least half of these men were unbelievers when they arrived, and yet within a short time, the whole prison culture had been transformed.

“The staff explained that when the Christian inmates arrived, they began meeting for prayer regularly. As new inmates arrived, the Christians witnessed to them and invited them into Bible studies.”

Colson also is unable to give a scientific explanation of how the merging of Jesus’ spirit and a person’s spirit can totally transform his life. But Colson can offer scientific statistical evidence: the recidivism rate of convicts who take part in Christian prison ministries is far less than that of convicts who do not.

Jesus has the power to change lives for the better. The disciples knew it. Paul knew it. Those ex-convicts who abandon a life of crime (and especially their surprised and grateful families) know it.

Christianity is not merely an intellectual exercise. It is a life-changing, life-saving relationship with the divine Savior of all the world.

©2009