St Paul: When the hunter becomes the hunted

It is difficult to think of Christianity in its present without St Paul. Apart from authoring almost half of the New Testament, Paul was more accepting of the non-Jews who became the core of his focus for evangelisation.

Saul, as he was known before his conversion belonged to the elite class and was a renowned scholar who had been taught by the equally well-known scholar known as Gameo. As a Pharisee, he was zealous about his beliefs and would do anything to defend them against any attacks by the Johnny-come-lately likes of Jesus.

We first see Saul in action during the martyr of St Stephen; not only was he a witness but we are told that guarded the cloaks of the men who stoned the teenager to death. After the first martyrdom, Paul’s appetite for the destruction of the Nazarene heretics seemed to have been whetted for, he seeks letters from his local synagogue to go to Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem the disciples who had fled there. I can imagine Paul with his party on their horses telling themselves that once they hit Damascus, the Christians will not know what hit them. Alas, this was never to be because in the spirit of that common scripture that God works in mysterious ways his wonders to perform; Paul meets the risen Lord in a vision and so much changes.

He changes his name from Saul to Paul and he never looks back until he is martyred in Rome a few years later where he gives us that most quoted scripture at funerals; “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—...,” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

Role of St Paul

The role of St Paul in the church is enormous for it seems to have fallen on his shoulders as the intellectual to formulate the strategy and vision of the church. That is, to preach the gospel of the crucified and yet risen Lord to the whole world not just the Jews to whom Jesus Christ was born but to the ends of the earth. So, in a way, St Paul globalises Jesus Christ’s message as he says in Romans that there no Jews or Gentiles, no slave or free for all are one in Jesus Christ. He fights tooth and nail to make Christ message universal and for this he suffers the most.  For the Jews who first accepted Jesus as the promised messiah cannot get around idea that gentiles are also God’s people and I can feel for them.

 If you have been the pampered only child of the Almighty God it is can be quite challenging to think of your oppressors such as the Romans as worthy of God’s love without making any serious reparations for your sins. But, Paul sticks to his message that everyone whether Jew or gentile is saved by the grace of God and not by works.

All  have  sinned

And that superficial practices such as circumcision, tithing, offering and fasting are all unnecessary for all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.

“And God that we tear our hearts not our clothes because to obey is more precious than any offering and Mercy  is what he requires not sacrifices,” he says adding what I consider to be the most beautiful scripture in the Bible.

“I may do anything humanly considered pious but if I have no love, I am a noisy gong and clanging bell.”

Paul unable to convince his fellow Jews of these beliefs and with increasing hostility and threat to his life, he finds acceptance from Gentiles even though he was a Jew. His message in the various Gentile churches stresses that every human being is a child of God not by birth but by faith through Jesus Christ.

Even among the Gentiles, St Paul also has to constantly address issues of disunity, idolatry, holy communion, women’s role in the church and marriage. It seems that Paul lived on his knees in constant prayer, so that his work is not in vain.

He also demonstrates for Christian faith in the face of adversity for he suffers so much physically but he never deviates from his mission. His is clearly a case of of to whom much is given a lot is also required as endures shipwrecks, stoning, imprisonment, hunger and destitution. However, from all this, he affirms to us his belief that nothing can separate us from the love of God.

And in 2 Corithians12, he mentions the thorn in his side which he is unable to dislodge because God’s grace is sufficient when he is weak.

St Paul is also responsible for evangelising both Asia Minor and Europe.  For when he was sent to appear before the emperor as a Roman citizen, he starts a church in his house. And, since our Africa was evangelised by Europeans, it means probably even Ugandans benefited directly from St Paul’s work.

Through it all, it is amazing to see how God can use the worst among us to accomplish His purposes. Adversity should not be an excuse to abandon our faith but it should propel us further into a deeper knowledge of Him who spared not His son but gave him as ransom for all to be saved.

The bible

says...

St Paul is also responsible for evangelising both Asia Minor and Europe.  For when he was sent to appear before the emperor as a Roman citizen, he starts a church in his house. And, since our Part of Africa was evangelised by Europeans, it means probably even Ugandans benefited directly from St Paul’s work.