We don’t often celebrate, by way of worship, the many holy days that we have on our church calendar, but this week as I was looking at my schedule for the week and noticed that today is the day, we celebrate the conversion of the Apostle Paul.
Saul turned Paul was an interesting man who changed the face of the world by helping spread the good news of Jesus Christ to mainly the gentile world.  Most of the letters of the New Testament are ascribed to having been written (or dictated) by Paul to the many churches that he helped to found in his missionary work.  On top of writing so many of the letters of the New Testament he is also widely talked about in the book of the Acts of the Apostles which is where we learn about his conversion experience.
Saul was a zealot for the Jewish faith and a strong opponent of these followers of Jesus until his conversion experience on the road to Damascus.  You can read the whole story in Acts 9:1-19.  Basically, what happens is that Jesus confronts Paul, causes him to be blind.  Upon entering the city of Damascus, he meets up with a Christian by the name of Ananias who was told to lay his hands on Saul.  Ananias reluctantly does it and Paul is healed and baptized, and then becomes one of the strongest advocates for the Christian faith.
Paul endured so much for his faith.  He was stoned (multiple times), imprisoned (multiple times), shipwrecked (multiple times), and ran out of town (you guessed it; multiple times).  If he was a zealot against the Christian faith, I cannot think of the words for what he was when he became a Christian.  He did not let anything, or anyone (including Peter) get in his way when it came to telling people about the grace of God as found in Christ Jesus.
Paul was also not perfect.  He admitted many of his flaws in his own letters.  He had conflict with other people including the 12 disciples.  Paul embraced his calling, worked on his shortcomings, and never stopped spreading the good news for any reason.  If he was shipwrecked, he prayed or tried to convert those he was with; if he was in prison, he often wrote letters; if he was stoned, he would find another town or city to visit.
Paul was one of a kind, and Paul also gives us an idea of what it means to follow our passions and our gifts and how to use them for the glory of God.  Paul even used his talent of tentmaking to help him afford so much of his travels.  Today we give thanks to God for Paul the Apostle and all the work he did for the church when it was just beginning to understand life and faith post Jesus.
Also remember the words of Paul from 1 Corinthians 12: there are many different gifts by the Spirit and each one has its purpose for the glory of God.  And each of us working together with our gifts is what makes the work of the church possible. Not even Paul did it alone: he had Timothy, Silas and others to help him along the way.  So thanks be to God for Paul and all his companions and for each of us who help to share the Good News just as Paul did 2000 years ago.
Blessings,
Pastor Brian