by Ginny Prince
“I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.
“My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee. And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king! Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?
“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
“In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
“Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus,then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent andturn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”
Some of us have really clear moments of meeting the Trinity for the first time, others of us may not be so sure. All followers of Christ have a trajectory of moments where we encounter the risen Lord and make choices to move towards God or away from God’s character and work. And all of us have some reflective work to do.
Agrippa ruled in Palestine for the Romans yet was sympathetic to the Jewish people and had a Greek education so he was the right man to hear Paul’s case. Paul knows his background and uses everything in his power to his defense -- from using Jewish language around theophany (a moment of revelation from God) in verses 13-14 (falling down, hearing the voice of God in Aramaic, etc.), referring back to the "calling" stories of the prophets (Jeremiah 1, Isaiah 42) to the Greek saying about “kicking against the goads” in verse 14. His overall goal is to convince Agrippa that both the faith Paul represents and his story are consistent with the Jewish faith which was tolerated by the Romans (verse 23). Paul has really thought through how to tell his story to men like Agrippa and Festus.
Paul is certain of Jesus’ work in him, giving him a new identity: as one who was clearly seen by Jesus himself (verse 15); as a servant (verse 16); as a witness of God’s work past and future (verse 16); as one to be sent to a new people group (verse 17); as one who endures suffering but with a promise of protection from God (verse 17).
What are the new identity labels God is inviting me to use in reference to myself? How am I being changed by past and current or future encounters with the risen Lord? Where are Father, Son, and Holy Spirit sending me to and for what Godly purpose? And how do I articulate these things to people who may or may not understand my cultural context?
This loaded image of the icon Synaspismos is what I hope we can become as we reflect on what God’s call to us is, how to articulate calling to many, and live out this call in Oakland. The icon depicts the Apostles/Saints Paul and Peter in an embrace. Peter, a Jewish man called to bring the Gospel to the Jews, and Paul, a persecutor of the Jews called to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles. It is an image of the joining and clashing of two calling stories played out. As Andy Crouch says in his book Playing God: “So the Synaspismos icon has become for me a picture of fellowship, partnership and community, and also of difference, distance and difficulty. Ultimately they are all part of the same thing. It is perhaps the best portrayal I have seen of the reality that love is as much an act of the will as an impulse of the heart. In the Synaspismos we witness two strong leaders willing to submit to one another -– to embrace the gifts the other brings and to join together, shields overlapping, in a shared mission.”
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