Acts 22:1-5: a reflection

1“Brothers and fathers, listen to the defense which I now make to you.” 2When they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they were even more quiet. He said, 3“I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strict tradition of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, even as you all are today. 4I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, 5as also the high priest and all the council of the elders testify, from whom also I received letters to the brothers, and traveled to Damascus to bring them also who were there to Jerusalem in bonds to be punished.

Standing before a hostile crowd, Paul begins his defense by telling his own story, and he does not hide his past. I persecuted this Way to the death, he says, binding and imprisoning both men and women; I received letters to arrest believers and bring them back for punishment. Paul, now an apostle of Christ, freely acknowledges that he had once been a violent persecutor of the very faith he now preached. His transformation was itself a testimony to God's grace.

Notice that Paul openly owned his past as a persecutor. He did not hide or minimize what he had been; he told it plainly, for it magnified the grace that had changed him. The man who had violently opposed the church, imprisoning and hunting down believers, had been transformed by God's grace into the church's foremost apostle. If God's grace could reach and transform Paul, the fierce persecutor, it could reach anyone.

That is a testimony of hope. We can think of certain people as beyond the reach of God's grace, too hardened, too opposed, too far gone; and we can think of ourselves that way too, our past too dark to be redeemed. But Paul was a violent persecutor, and God's grace transformed him into an apostle. No one is beyond the reach of that grace. Do not despair of anyone, however hardened or opposed to God they seem; the God who transformed Paul can transform them. And do not despair of yourself, however dark your past; God's grace reached Paul, and it can reach and transform you. Let Paul's story be your hope: that grace can transform even the fiercest opponent of God into his devoted servant, and that no past is too dark for God to redeem.

Lord, standing before a hostile crowd, Paul openly told his past as a violent persecutor of the church, not hiding it, for his transformation magnified your grace; the man who had hunted down believers had been changed by grace into your foremost apostle. Give me the hope in that testimony. I can think of certain people as beyond the reach of your grace, too hardened, too opposed, too far gone; and I can think of myself that way too, my past too dark to be redeemed. But Paul was a violent persecutor, and your grace transformed him into an apostle. No one is beyond the reach of that grace. Keep me from despairing of anyone, however hardened or opposed to you they seem; you who transformed Paul can transform them. And keep me from despairing of myself, however dark my past; your grace reached Paul, and it can reach and transform me. Let Paul's story be my hope: that grace can transform even the fiercest opponent into your devoted servant, and that no past is too dark for you to redeem. Thank you for so great a grace.