"Pastor, I just have a terrible time reading the Bible. This is especially true of the Old Testament. Every time I try to read it, I read about all these people who are chosen by God committing all sorts of terrible sins. I mean we see people like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob committing adultery, polygamy and a whole lot of other sins." Have you ever wondered why God would include these things in the Bible? It is true, the Bible does not present the patriarchs as supermen who are able to resist the temptations of this world any more than we can. In fact, the Scriptures present all of the Patriarchs of the Church with their sins fully evident. We see Abraham, the Father of all believers, as he lies about Sarah being his wife to save his own life instead of telling the truth and trusting in God. We see the great King David who fell and committed the sins of adultery and murder. In the New Testament, we see the great Peter deny his Lord three times when he thought his life might be endangered if he stood firm and proudly proclaimed that indeed he was a follower of Jesus. Yet, all these men have one thing in common. Despite their sinfulness, they all were brought to faith in their Savior through the grace of God. And that indeed is the point. One very important, in fact the most important, reason God included the stories of these mens’ lives is to show His great mercy when it comes to dealing with a human race that is dead in sin. Even though we are all born spiritually dead, unable to come to God and obey him, God shows us through the lives of these great men that it is He who first comes to us and calls us to himself. But not only does he call us, He also by grace, enables us through faith to answer that call. By creating faith in our hearts, through the Gospel in Word and Sacrament Jesus calls us and brings us to himself forgiving all our sins and crediting us with His righteousness.

But, Jesus does not stop there. After he calls us to faith, He calls us to to take the good news of salvation and go to others. Again, we see this exemplified in the lives of the saints. Abraham consistently taught his family, his servants, and all those with whom he came in contact about the merciful and loving God who promised to send the Savior of the world through his descendants. David, through his life, and through the many psalms which he wrote also witnessed the amazing grace of God. And both Peter and Paul would become two of the greatest ministers of the Gospel in the New Testament church.

So, In our lesson for today, Paul sets before us an example of a miserable sinner who by all rights deserved nothing but God’s wrath, but who instead was called to faith by Jesus Christ and who also was enabled by the power of the Holy Spirit through the means of the Law and Gospel to answer that call. And not only was this miserable sinner called to faith in Christ, He was also sent out to others, that the Holy Spirit might work through his preaching of the Law and Gospel to also call others. Who was this miserable sinner of which Paul speaks? It was Paul himself. And why does he set himself before us as such an example? Because as he said to the Corinthians, "I urge you to imitate me." Paul shows us through his life how Jesus works in the lives of all who are brought to faith in Him as Savior. Jesus Calls and Enables us to come to him. And He also calls and enables us to go to others. Go to others and tell them about the wonderful grace of God which is available to all people.

To Come to Him

Paul describes himself in the beginning with some very unflattering terms. He calls himself a blasphemer, a persecutor and a violent man. Is this Paul’s flair for the dramatic or is this an accurate appraisal. When we look back to the early part of the book of Acts we can see that Paul’s appraisal of himself was indeed an accurate one. In his zeal for the Jewish traditions Paul consistently denied that Jesus was the Messiah. In fact, he reacted violently to anyone who said otherwise. It was Paul who held the mens’ coats, watching approvingly, as they stoned Stephen. It was Paul who got permission from the Sanhedrin to track down believers in Christ and bring them back to Jerusalem to be tried and persecuted for their faith. Indeed the picture we see of Paul is one of a blasphemous, violent, persecutor of the Church of Jesus Christ.

But what changed this man. By what means was Paul converted from this type of man to one of the greatest missionaries of the Christian Church. The means through which Paul was converted to the faith are the same means through which the Holy Spirit still works to create faith in all of us. Paul was converted through the preaching of the Law and the Gospel. "What!" you say. I thought Paul was converted on the road to Damascus, when he saw Jesus face to face. But was that really the case? Not according to the Scriptures. The experience on the road to Damascus only played a part in Paul’s conversion. If we look closely at the account of Paul’s meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus we do not see Jesus at anytime preaching the Gospel to Paul. Not once does Jesus speak of the forgiveness of sins won for Paul through His own death. Instead we hear Jesus say words like, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" What we see in Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus is a solid preaching of the Law by Jesus himself. Jesus had to appear personally to Paul, because it was necessary that Paul witness Jesus Christ alive in order to be an apostle. However, Paul did not come away from this experience a Christian. Indeed he came away, confused, and in despair, not only because he was blind, but because Christ had forced him to face his sin. Paul knew that Jesus was indeed God. And because Jesus was God, as he said he was, then Paul knew that he was now guilty of blasphemy and murder.

But this is only half the story. Paul also says that the grace of our Lord was poured out abundantly with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. After Jesus had preached the Law to Paul, He sent him into Damascus and sent to him a man named Ananias. The Holy Spirit reached out to Paul through the preaching of the Gospel by Ananias. Ananias preached the gospel by telling Paul that Jesus had sent him. Ananias preached the gospel to Paul through words he spoke as he baptized Paul. So we see that Paul, by using himself as an example, once again shows us that Jesus Christ calls all sinners to faith by use of the same means. We are shown our sins and our need for the Savior by being forced to face that ugly image we see through the mirror of the Law.And we are brought to faith by being shown the abundant grace of our Lord which is poured out abundantly.

Many today, want to ignore the preaching the Law. They want to preach only the gospel. It is easier to preach, "Jesus loves you" than to preach, "You are sinner and deserve only the wrath of God." People do not want to hear the preaching of the Law. It makes them uncomfortable. It is harmful to their "self esteem." Why just ask any psychologist or psychiatrist. They will readily tell you that guilt is a harmful emotion. In fact they might even suggest psychotherapy or psychotropic drugs to help you "deal with that guilt you are feeling." But do they really help you deal with guilt? Or do they just help you suppress it? People do not want to hear about their sins. They do not want to look into that mirror of the Law. So they will go to those who do not confront them. They will go to those who make them feel good about themselves. That is why, in the name of evangelism, many churches have stopped preaching the Law. And the result is that people get a feel good sermon. They hear a lot of "Jesus loves you" and they walk away comforted that they can live their lives as they see fit and not have anything to fear from this God who is perfect love and will not punish them for their sins because he loves them too much. But, this is not the examples that Scripture sets before us. In fact, the Scriptures set before us the opposite example. Right here in our lesson, we see a man, in Paul, who was forced to look into that mirror. Who was taken to the brink of despair over his sins. Who felt the crushing weight of guilt over his sins. Paul was not spared this agony. Neither were any of the other great saints. Why? Because it is only when we are forced to see ourselves as we really are, only when we are forced to stare into that ugly reflection, that is seen when we face that mirror of God’s Law, that we see our need and become receptive to the good news of the Gospel. We can see throughout the Scriptures the same thing happening in the lives of all the saints. We see saints confronted with their sins. Then we see the Holy Spirit issue a call to faith which is more than just a call. It is a call that also empowers them to come.

But Jesus also issues to all who believe in Him another call. And just like with the first call, he also empowers us to respond. The second call Jesus issues, Paul calls, "placing me into service." The Greek word Paul uses here is diakonivan. It is the word we translate as service or ministry. No doubt, Paul’s "ministry" was unique. He was called to a position that was held by very few in the Christian church, that of an apostle. So there is no way Paul was using himself as an example to say that all who are brought to faith must become an apostle or even enter the public ministry. But, he is saying that all are called to serve. We are all called to fulfill the Great Commission, "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." We are to take the example of Paul and all the saints which as Paul said "proves the complete patience of Jesus Christ for those who have faith in him for eternal life." This is the essence of the Gospel. We are called to be a kingdom of priests. All who believe are called to be a part of the priesthood of Jesus Christ. As such we are all called to go to others. But, exactly how do we fulfill this. Again, Paul offers his life as example for us. And while we can’t all be missionaries as Paul was, we can look at his life and see some practical principles that we would do well to imitate.

The first thing we see Paul do after his conversion is to spend some time learning the Word of God. But, you say he knew the Scriptures. After all he was a Pharisee and a very well respected Pharisee at that. This is all very true. But, his recent conversion meant that he now had to go back and take a fresh look at all those Scriptures he had learned. He now had to reevaluate them through a different point of view. He had to go back and review all those Scriptures that he had studied so intensely as a young man, But this time, he had to do so as they relate to Jesus Christ as Savior. We too need to spend time studying God’s Word. We need to continually learn and have our faith strengthened through the study of Scripture. And as our faith grows, we discover that there is always more to be learned from the Scripture so that we can never exhaust the ability of God’s Word to speak to us. We need to take advantage of every opportunity to study God’s Word. Most of us attend church regularly. But we need to take advantage of every opportunity to study God’s Word. As adults we need to be in adult Bible study while our children are attending Sunday School. We need to see to it that our children are in Sunday School regardless of whether they attend a Christian day school or not. At home, we need to set aside time for both personal and family devotions. We should desire to make this a life long habit for we will never be able to exhaust the ability of God’s Word to speak to us. As our faith grows, we will jealously cling to that time that we spend with God in His Word.

Another, example that Paul gives us in his ministry that we can use. Paul, always went first to the synagogues to preach when he entered a town. He went to the people he knew. We too can start our efforts to share the gospel by doing so with those we know. Start with family members. Then proceed to friends and coworkers. Then to everyone else.

As Paul did also preach the message of Christ crucified. This is the message that save. Preach the Law and the Gospel. This may not make you the most popular person in the world but we are not here to win a popularity contest. Do not cheat those to whom you witness by leaving out a part of the story. Yes, the Law hurts. It cuts each and everyone of us to the core of our existence. But that cut opens us up to the wonderful balm of the Gospel.

And finally, like Paul try to live your life as an example for those around you. When others see the peace, and joy, and comfort you have in Jesus Christ, they will want what you have. This may give you the opening you need to begin to witness to them. It will also give credibility to your witness.

Jesus calls us to himself. And through the means of grace the Holy Spirit empowers us to come to Him through faith. Jesus also calls us to go to others. And through those same means of grace the Holy Spirit empowers us to go. May we rise each day with a new zeal to answer the call of our Lord.