Midweek Lent-Day 1 Wednesday, February 24, 2021 @ 6:30 Worship and Confirmation Introduction: Pastor Jacob: Welcome to another dramatic series as we explore another area of the Bible. Some of you may have been with us this past Advent as we explored the Prophets whose combined works fill approximately a quarter of the Old Testament. As we move into this season of Lent, we make a shift to the works that cover approximately a quarter of the New Testament: the letters written by or attributed to the Apostle Paul. Over the next five weeks we will explore who this person is, and then move onto important theological themes that continue to be vital for our church today—despite the fact that there is nearly a two-thousand-year difference between our lives today and that of Paul. Today we begin this exploration by focusing on the historical person of Paul. The Liturgy—Part 1: Pastor Jacob: Jesus Christ is the light of the world, Congregation: the light no darkness can overcome. Pastor Jacob: Stay with us, Lord, for it is evening, Congregation: and the day is almost over. Pastor Jacob: Let your light scatter the darkness Congregation: and illumine your church. 1 OPENING HYMN: “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” (ELW 807) 2 CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS: Pastor Jacob: Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and one another. A moment of silence is kept. Holy and gracious God, Congregation: I confess that I have sinned against you this day. Some of my sin I know— the thoughts and words and deeds of which I am ashamed—but some is known only to you. In the name of Jesus Christ I ask forgiveness. Deliver and restore me, that I may rest in peace. Pastor Jacob: By the mercy of God we are united with Jesus Christ, in whom we are forgiven. We rest now in the peace of Christ and rise in the morning to serve. Paul—Day 1: Introduction to Paul SCRIPTURE READINGS: The following Scripture readings will be used in this service. They will be interspersed in the dialogue with Pastor Jacob and Reader/Characters. • Acts 9:1-31; • Acts 11:19-26; and, • Galatians 1:13-24. Pastor Jacob: In order to help with this exploration of the historical person of Paul, I should introduce those who are going to help me with these dramas. This week, I will first introduce a character that some of you many recognize, Herodotus, who has joined us several times before as the author of the books that we know of as the Gospel of Luke and Acts; Herodotus will only be here one week. Herodotus will be joined this week by a couple of new voices who will follow us through the whole five weeks: Quite obviously Paul, and then another voice who I will introduce as Epaphroditus, an associate of Paul, who will function as my associate through this process. Epaphroditus: Hi, my name is Epaphroditus. As Pastor Jacob said, I’m going to be serving as the co-host for these services. I claim myself to be a fairly minor character in the Biblical story; I appear only briefly, bringing aid to Paul from the congregation that he had founded in Philippi. But this story is not ultimately about me. We’re here to learn about that great figure in the early church, Paul. So, let’s get onto what our first goal is for this series: getting a handle on who this person Paul is. There are two primary sources that we turn for this: The book of Acts and the writings of Paul himself. Herodotus: We first encounter this individual that you have come to know as Paul in my work, the book of Acts. Epaphroditus: You have to acknowledge that the reason for that is because the people who put together the Bible placed the book of Acts, because of its connection to your gospel, before the letters of Paul—not because of any “firsts.” 3 Pastor Jacob: Indeed, Paul wrote his letters starting in about 50 CE until near his death in the mid 60’s. The book of Acts was written approximately 20 years after this. Herodotus: I will acknowledge that I come after Paul’s own writings, but you have to admit that I tell a lot more about what Paul did. Paul: Yes, you did talk a lot more about me than I did. That’s because I had more important things to talk about; we’ll get into that a lot more as we move into the next couple of weeks. Herodotus: That means that today is mostly me. Yeah! Epaphroditus: Yes, but we aren’t going to forget Paul. Pastor Jacob: No, we’re not. But, let’s go ahead and start with Herodotus’ tale of Paul’s entry onto the scene. Herodotus: Thanks. I’ll now report from my story. “When [the Jewish council] heard these things [that Stephen said], they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen. But filled with the Holy Spirit, [Stephen] gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!’ But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the [false] witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he died. And Saul approved of their killing him.” Epaphroditus: Wait a minute. I thought his name was “Paul,” not “Saul.” Why are we starting with a story about a person named “Saul”? Pastor Jacob: It’s true that we are confronted by a different name. One can interpret it as a change of name similar to what one encounters with Jacob becoming Israel or Simon becoming Peter—where the name-change represents a change in one’s relationship with God. Paul: I don’t think of it that way. And I’m the one you really should be asking. Epaphroditus: How, then, do you consider it? Paul: While there is a change in my relationship with God—we’ll get to that a little later—I like solving the Saul/Paul conundrum by thinking of “Saul” as my Hebrew name (you know, like the first king), and “Paul” as the Greek version of my name. Though, never in my letters do I use the name “Saul” for myself. Herodotus: Frankly, I don’t care what you call him. Unlike the story where Jacob becomes Israel, I don’t make a big deal about the name-change. I will simply note “Saul, also known as Paul”—and then just keep on with the story, thereafter calling him Paul. What’s important is how he comes on the scene: as a persecutor of the church. Not only did he participate in the murder of the deacon Stephen, he continued persecuting after that event. See; here’s the next phase of the story: “Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that 4 if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” Epaphroditus: I should interject that “the Way” refers to those Jews—for they were all Jews at that time—who followed the way of Jesus. Paul: I won’t agree with everything you say about me, but my history as a persecutor of the church is something that I do acknowledge. I write thusly to my congregation in Galatia— primarily to show that I also have made a change: “You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.” Epaphroditus: Of course, we don’t remember Paul primarily as persecutor of the church. We would never want to remember such a thing. Pastor Jacob: Well, maybe we’d do better if we had heard the story of more persecutors; it might have helped us from repeating many of the same mistakes. But, you are right; Paul would not be as lauded as he is if we only remembered him as a persecutor of the church. Epaphroditus: Why then do we remember him and laude him so much? Paul: Because of the transformation that I made away from being a persecutor of the church into one who not only supported the church, but expanded the church into the broader Greek world. Again, as I wrote to the church in Galatia: “But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any human being, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus.” Herodotus: My gosh, you just don’t know how to tell a story, do you? Paul: My intent is not to “tell a story.” But to claim my authority to spread the good news to the Gentiles.