Worship - 25 January 2026

Summary of this week's theme

Eleven years ago, Kate and I walked the 800 kilometres of the Camino de Santiago. For me, it was a journey of uncertainty. I went largely because others persuaded me to go, not knowing what might happen. What happened was grace: blessing that came because I was willing - however tentatively - to step into uncertainty.

Saul, on the road to Damascus, was on a very different kind of journey. His was a journey of certainty. He was convinced he was right, convinced that defending the purity of his faith justified violence. He was not seeking truth so much as seeking people to persecute.

The conversion of Saul confronts certainty. It should unsettle us. The context of this story is fear, hatred, and persecution. Saul was a figure of terror for the early followers of Jesus, so convinced of his righteousness that he was willing to drag people from their homes to suffer and die. Into that violent certainty comes the humbling grace of God.

Jesus’ words to Saul are devastatingly simple: in persecuting Jesus’ followers, Saul is persecuting Jesus himself. This truth should stop us short as well. When we treat others with contempt, cruelty, or indifference, that harm echoes beyond the immediate moment. As Jesus taught, ‘whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me.’ The Body of Christ is wounded whenever we wound one another.

Yet the Damascus road is also a place of hope. God calls even the most violent into obedience. That road - almost certainly a Roman road, built as an instrument of domination - becomes a place of conversion. Like the cross itself, an instrument of oppression is transformed into a sign of grace and new life.

We should not overlook Ananias. Honest about his fear, he nevertheless trusts God and goes to Saul. His greeting - ‘Brother Saul’ - marks the beginning of Saul’s resurrection into a new life in Christ. Compassion, not fear, has the final word.

Paul is not the hero of Acts; Jesus is. Paul remains human, flawed, and in need of correction. But his encounter with the risen Christ shows us something extraordinary about God: forgiveness and conversion are possible. God does not destroy Saul, but redeems his gifts for the Gospel.

As we reflect on Christian unity, we remember that despite our divisions, one confession unites us: Jesus is the Son of God. May we live as pilgrims - open to uncertainty, ready for grace, and willing to be changed along the way.