Gravity is not really a force in the classic sense. According to physicists like Einstein, it’s actually the result of the curvature of space-time around matter.  As abstract as this description may sound, the effect of gravity upon most anything meeting a significant amount of matter, is undeniable.

A Meeting of Consequence
Perhaps you’ve met someone of such significance that the meeting altered you forever, undeniably. They have left an indelible impression on your soul. A meeting can be a milestone event that changes the course of a life, or changes history. Encounters that exert the most profound change in our lives, however, involve those who somehow cause us to look at ourselves differently, deeply, and give us new insight on who we really are.

Sunday’s sermon focused on a brief comment made in a letter by someone who had experienced such a meeting. From the Apostle Paul’s letter to his protege Timothy we read “Christ Jesus came into the word to save sinners — of whom I am the worst.” (1 Timothy 2:15*). While Paul’s self-deprecating statement about being the worst isn’t meant to read as an absolute measurement of his soul versus the rest of humanity’s, it does reflect the unique perspective that Paul had on the state of his own heart. You’ve heard the quip that “You are unique, just like everyone else.” I believe that may apply here. Each and everyone of us shares that unique, solitary view into our own soul and conscience. What we might want to consider is whether that view we have is clouded, or clear. Do we cling tightly to an image of ourselves that makes us comfortable, or do we open ourselves up to what God wants to show us? Paul’s self-image had been turned on its head in a meeting he experienced with God that changed his life.

Paul was traveling one day to a city called Damascus, where he was planning to round up some converts to a subversive new Jewish cult that soon came to be known as Christianity. You can read about it amidst the eye-witness stories of the early church found in the New Testament book of Acts. Paul (a.k.a. Saul) is introduced at the end of Acts chapter 7 as the guy who stood by and watched the valuables of the men who brutally committed the first murder of a professed Christian by throwing rocks at him until he died. By Acts chapter 9, Paul is leading the effort to wipe out the Christian sect entirely.

Acts 9:1-31 tells the story of Paul’s unexpected meeting with the risen Jesus. This encounter began a change of course in Paul’s life that would lead to his developing a profoundly different view of God, of himself, and of his life’s purpose. Where Paul once thought of himself as “faultless” (as he describes in Philippians 3:6), he now understood that he was the one who was “shown mercy” and received God’s “unlimited patience” (1 Timothy 1:13, 16).

Seeing Others as We Are Seen
When Paul met God on the road to Damascus, he heard the spirit of Jesus and it changed him forever. As we seek God in the Bible, in prayer, or in worship with the community of believers, He will meet with us as well. Though He may also choose to meet us unexpectedly, as we are taking our own road to somewhere. The meeting will change us. As God reveals Himself to us, He will also give us eyes into our own soul. We will undoubtedly see things about ourselves we don’t like, but we will also learn what extreme value God places upon us, and upon those around us.

Seeing ourselves more clearly through the Gospel enables us to see others with grace, and with the patience we learn God has been showing toward us all along. The story of Paul, transformed by God from an enemy of the church to one who gave up his life for the Gospel, reminds us that God can meet and change the people we dread or dislike most in our lives — people who may be even as flawed as we are. Maybe someone like that in our lives is the person God next intends to meet on the road.

Questions to explore:

> Who can you start praying for that is difficult for you to love?
> Paul’s view of himself affected how he saw others. How do you think the way you view yourself influences the way you see others?
> Compare Paul’s statements about himself in Philippians 3:4-11 to his self-image as expressed in 1 Timothy 2:12-16. How do they relate to each other?

###


We’d love to hear from you. Please share with us below your thoughts and insight. We would love to see Take it Further be a place where as a community we dialog, and together we all take the conversation further.

*Note: If you wish, you can look up this and other Bible passages online at youversion.com
Copyright © 2010 Blair Israel