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Morning Devotion for the Season of Epiphany

January 25, 2023

The Conversion of the Apostle Paul

The Invitatory

The Lord has shown forth his glory. Come let us adore him.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Reading: Philippians 3:3-11

For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh—even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh.

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones

Today the Church commemorates the Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle, who was Tarsus, formerly an enemy and persecutor of the early Christian Church. Paul was led by God's grace to become one of its chief spokesmen.

Interestingly, if we think of repentance as an act or turning (or, perhaps, being turned), then Paul’s letter certainly bears testimony to that. Paul was a Roman citizen. The benefits of being a Roman citizen were many and important, including: the right to vote and stand for election; the right to make a contract, to contract a legal marriage; to travel freely and to be safe from the death penalty. Being a Roman citizen was no small matter, especially in a time when  there were no universal human rights. More than a matter of class or income, citizenship was a matter of security and identity.

Now Paul pictures himself as a man in the middle, a man who has literally changed his pursuits almost in mid-stride, and is jubilant! Paul tells his own story in passionate terms.

The eagerness with which he had embraced his heritage and his position was transformed to become the eagerness with which he embraced Christ. Paul writes like a man in love, desperately desiring to have the joy of a full union with Christ. It comes so alive in his writing.

 He has deep desires: to be found “in him” to such an extent that he shares Christ’s very trust in God; to “know” the power of the resurrection; to have commonality by sharing Christ’s death and sufferings. He wants to become “like him” in death so that he might share his resurrection life. His conversion renders the past unimportant, easily discarded. He is open to embracing a new life and calling. Both hold for him greater joy and love that overflows with knowledge and insight.

It allows us to see what it looks like to share the mind of Christ. There are two energetic impulses at work: disregard for the measures of value of the past and a deep longing for what lies ahead. There are always for us great challenges and temptations that the modern world poses for us. What the world values in terms of power, money, and prestige are of no account in giving one’s life over as Paul does to Christ. But that opens us to the realization that must have occurred to Paul, that is, the undying love that characterizes the relationship he now embraces in Christ. It is evident that such love has taken Paul away from his past life and gives assurance of immeasurable benefits of the life to come.

The realization of how much we are loved, of how much God continues to long for and invite our growth in love, is not something that most of us take time to experience. Our lives are grown up, mature, responsible. Our experiences are demanding, scientifically grounded, and often not fruitful. Even our dearest relationships can be fraught with difficulties that wear us out rather than buoy us up. This passage gives us a wonderful opportunity to reflect anew on God’s love for us and reconsider how we take up the call of God anew.



The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

     hallowed be thy Name,

     thy kingdom come,

     thy will be done,

         on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

     as we forgive those

         who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

     but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

     and the power, and the glory,

     for ever and ever. Amen.