The God who chased me

I've just been looking at Paul's conversion. It's moved me immensely.

Right at the beginning of the church, the disciples have been dispersed by persecution. In Acts, a villain gets introduced: Paul approved of Stephen's execution - Paul was ravaging the church, dragging Christians off to prison. (8:1-3).

But the villain is conquered by the appearance of the Lord Jesus. Jesus doesn't invite him to believe; he overwhelms and conquers Paul to bring him to faith, to command his allegiance. Three things moved me in particular about all this.

Firstly the sheer grace of it all. In 1 Cor 15:8, Paul calls himself a "miscarriage" (ektroma), because he is not worthy to be called an apostle, having persecuted the church. It's a terrible picture. Apparently that was a sort of insult. I guess Paul's saying "actually this shouldn't have happened - this sort of thing doesn't happen - I shouldn't even be alive. But Jesus called me. God chased me and gave me a glorious task." With this world of insult applied to himself, something of the Paul's conviction shines through. He stares you straight in the face and says: "My past is horrific - I'm not going to hide it. But Jesus met me." Sheer grace.

A second element in the story is the first contact Paul has with the church after his experience on the Damascus road. God speaks in a dream to a Christian called Ananias in Damascus and tells him to go and pray for the restoration of Paul's sight. Ananias hesistates because he knows Paul's reputation. But God tells Ananias that Paul is God's chosen instrument to take the gospel to the Gentiles. What moves me here is the first words which Ananias speaks to Paul. Paul has been sanctioning the killing of Christians and throwing men and women into jail. But Ananias enters the room, lays his hands on Paul to pray for him and speaks: "Brother Paul, the Lord Jesus has sent me..." Brother! That means: We are family. I love you as my own. You belong to us. The person who resists and fights and argues against everything Christian is turned around and enthralled by Jesus - taken over by Jesus. It's sheer grace, and God's family welcomes him.

This story of Paul's conversion becomes renowned among the churches. They heard, "He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy." And they praised God because of it. (Gal 1:23f). The whole thing leads to praise and encouragement. And what an encouragement: God has purposes and he works wonders.

Sure, Emperor Nero didn't become a Christian, and the persecutions raged. It's not like a happy ending. Indeed, part of Ananias message to Paul is "how much he must suffer" in his task of carrying the gospel out. (Acts 9,16). God's ways remain inscrutable. But he has his purposes, and every now and then he gives us a glimpse of his work. He is chasing people. And that's why the story moves me. God is the God who chased me.