There is a silly story about a man who went to his doctor complaining about terrible neck pains, throbbing headaches and recurring dizzy spells. The doctor examined him and said, "I’m afraid I have some bad news for you. You have only six months to live."

The doomed man decided he would spend his remaining time on earth enjoying himself. He quit his job, bought a sports car, and a closet full of new suits and shoes.

Then he went to get himself a dozen tailored shirts. He went to the finest shirt shop he could find. The tailor measured him and wrote down, "size l6 neck."

"Wait a moment," the man interrupted. "I always wear a size l4 neck, and that is what I want."

"I’d be glad to do it for you, sir," the tailor replied. "However, if you wear a size l4 neck I can guarantee you that you’re going to have terrible neck pains, throbbing headaches and recurring dizzy spells."

The tailor had unknowingly unmasked this man’s real problem. Real problems require real solutions. Consider man’s basic problem. There is something wrong at the very heart of humanity. Something sick, something twisted, something perverted. The Bible calls it sin. But where is the solution? The solution is called conversion. This morning we need to deal with the nature of conversion.

Many of us are like the firstgrader who was in a Sunday School class that was quizzed by the pastor on the meaning of certain religious words like "baptized," "repentance," etc. The little boy was asked, "What is conversion?" He thought for a moment and gave the only definition that he knew. "It’s the extra point that is kicked after a touchdown," he said.

I hope that we know more about conversion than that. Conversion, in a Biblical sense, means a change of direction. In the Old Testament, it is SHUBH, meaning "to return" or "turn back." The verb form of that word appears over 1,000 times in the Old Testament. In the New Testament we have EPISTREPHO and METANOEO both of which also have to do with a change of direction. Change is what conversion is about. There need be no blinding light or visitation by angels. There must be change.

Our text from the book of Acts centers around the most famous conversion in history, the conversion of St. Paul.

The ninth chapter of Acts begins this way: "But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem." (12, RSV)

The name Saul of Tarsus struck fear into the hearts of the members of the early Christian community. Saul was fanatical in his hatred for those who served Christ.

But this man of violence was struck down by a visiona vision of Christ asking, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"

That is an important question. WHY WAS Saul persecuting Christ? Why was Saul persecuting the early Christians? What had they ever done to him? Why persecute people who simply look at life in a different way than you do?

If you think that an idle question, look at the death and destruction throughout our world today waged in the name of religion. Protestants and Roman Catholics in Northern Ireland, Jews and Moslems in the Middle East, Hindus and Moslems in India as well as hundreds of other major and minor conflicts throughout the world. Indeed, as secular states and movements begin finally to accomodate one another, one wonders if the last remaining threat to world peace may be misguided religious zeal. There is something within the sick and sinful heart of humanity that will take even that which is the purest, holiest and most loving impulse of allthe response of the human heart to Godand turn it into an excuse for anger, hatred, and even violence.

It is important that we see that Saul the persecutor became Paul the preacher of love. HERE IS THE FIRST SIGN OF AUTHENTIC CONVERSION OF A SOUL TO JESUS CHRIST. WE ARE CONVERTED FROM A LIFE OF HATE TO A LIFE OF LOVE.

How else can it be? The very nature of God is love. How can a man or woman stand before God or humanity and spew out hatred in the name of Jesus Christ? It is a contradiction in terms. Jesus spells it out even more succinctly. Notice he asks, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute ME?" That is one of the most terrifying questions in all the New Testament. It brings with it the realization that when we commit violence or any act of hatred toward another, we are persecuting Christ. "When you have done it unto the least of these, you have done it unto me," said Jesus. He was not speaking simply of acts of kindness but evil acts as well. It is clear in the conversion of St. Paul, conversion means moving from a life of hate to a life of love.

We simply cannot overstate this truth. How often in the past, religious feeling has turned into raw bigotry. There is a timehonored story about a church basketball game between the Baptists and the Methodists. Competition was stiff and heated. One spectator, however, cheered for both teams. When the Methodists made a good drive toward the basket the man cheered. He did the same thing when the Baptists executed well. At this point a Methodist nearby stood to his feet, jabbed the man in the back and shouted, "Good Lord, man! Ain’t you got any religion at all?"

We can laugh at such rivalry now but there was a time on the American frontier when a popular song expressed more intense feelings. It went something like this:

And if you will not join us, we bid you now farewell;

For we are bound for heaven, and you are bound for hell.

We can laugh at that but there was a time not very long ago when blood was shed because of differences in Biblical interpretation.

Even more importantly, the same poisonous religious pride showed all its demonic horror in Nazi Germany in the persecution of the Jews under Adolph Hitler. We dare not forget.

There is a beautiful story that comes from that tragic era. During the wave of persecutions under Hitler, many Jews sought to pass themselves off as Christians. They even joined churches. The Nazis were wise to such deceit. They required one Roman Catholic priest to read a message before the mass. "Bow your heads please, and close your eyes," requested the priest. "Will all those with Jewish fathers please leave this church." There was a slight rustling sound as some obeyed. "Now will all those with Jewish mothers please leave." There was more noise. Then the priest instructed the congregation to open its eyes. The crucifix above the altar of the church was now empty. A son of a Jewish mother had left with the others.

We cannot tolerate any kind of bigotry within the body of Christ. Religious or otherwise. We need to be reminded that a young Mahatma Gandhi visited a Christian church as a student. He was intensely drawn to the person of Jesus and the teachings of the Gospel. But an usher refused to seat him suggesting that he go worship with his own people. What a difference might have been made if this man who is revered by millions in the throughout the world had been accepted that day in the spirit of Christ. The first sign of authentic conversion is that of a life changed from hate to love.

IN THE SECOND PLACE, WE NEED TO SEE THAT THIS CHANGE FROM HATE TO LOVE IS MADE POSSIBLE BECAUSE WE ARE CONVERTED FROM A LIFE OF FEAR TO A LIFE OF FAITH. Jesus asked, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" and Saul answered, "Who are you, Lord?" Jesus answered, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting...."

Saul met Christ. And what he experienced was a conversion of his whole heart. He was converted to an entirely new personality. The man who consented to the stoning of Stephen became the man who could write in I Corinthians 13, "Love ...does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrong but rejoices in the right...." How does a man change that radically? It happens when he moves from a life dominated by fear to a life dominated by faith.

Why do we allow ourselves to hate others? Any psychologist will tell us we do it out of fear. Here is a practical truth we all need to know. The angry person is a fearful person. It is out of insecurity that we strike out. Fear of our own worth, our own adequacy, our own acceptance. Here is the key to all unrighteous anger, all bigoted hatred, all unprovoked violence. Why could Jesus accept and love all people? There was not an insecure bone in his body. He knew who he was! Thus he feared no one. We hate those whom we fear!

There is no better example of that truth than Adolph Hitler himself. His family life was almost guaranteed to breed a tyrant. As a small child he was bullied, beaten and denounced as a weakling and a worthless idler by his drunkard father. Adoph Hitler spent his entire adult life bullying others seeking to prove his own worth. Millions of lives throughout the entire world were destroyed because of Hitler’s fears that his father was right.

St. Paul met Christ and his own fears were removed. He not only discovered who Christ was, but he also discovered who he was as well. Maybe that is why he could no longer be called Saul. He really was a new man, heart, soul, and spirit. He had a new confidence and a new courage that dispelled all hatred from his heart.

Such confidence and courage are rare. In our time it was best exemplified a few years ago by a black minister in front of whose home a band of Ku Klux Klan ruffians set a burning cross. This could have been a terrifying experience for this pastor’s young children. Such fear could later have turned to blind racial hatred. What did this committed pastor do in the face of this act of hatred and cowardice? He walked into his kitchen and found some marshmallows and some roasting forks and he and his wife and two children and their neighbors roasted marshmallows on the fire the bigots had ignited.

If there is anger in your heart today or hatred or bitterness, are you ready for a Damascus Road experience? Are you ready for a heart transplant, a personality transformation? Authentic Christian conversion means a real change. From hate to love, from fear to faith in Jesus Christ.

THIS IS TO SAY THAT WHEN WE MEET CHRIST, WE ARE CONVERTED FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT. I am fascinated by verse 8: "Saul rose from the ground; and WHEN HIS EYES WERE OPENED, he could see nothing." On the surface this sentence refers to physical blindness. There had been a bright flash and now St. Paul was blind. But so often Christ used the images of darkness and light, blindess and sight, that there may be more here than a surface truth. Saul’s "eyes were opened and yet he could see nothing." Could this imagery not refer to a new beginning for Saul of Tarsus?

Saul had been given a new slate. His past had been erased. Now it was time for the Holy Spirit to write new truths upon Saul’s heart. His past may have been soiled but his future was spotless. A man named Annanias was sent by God to fill in the content. Again, we are talking about a real change. Jesus said to Nicodemus that he must be born all over again. That was the kind of experience Saul was having. His previous indoctrination was inadequate and needed to be totally swept away. After his Damascus Road experience, his eyes were opened, but he could see nothing. He needed to immerse himself in the teachings of the Apostles, he needed to feed on the fellowship of fellow believers, he needed to study and pray and grow. The goal was that he would soon see things that he had never seen before. His conversion was not an ending but a beginning.

Is your collar a little tight this morning? Has St. Paul’s experience on the Damascus Road helped you diagnose your real need? If so, are you ready to accept a transformation of your life? Are you ready to receive a new heart, a new love for God and your fellow man, a new confidence about yourself in the light of God’s love for you and an openness to a new agenda for your live? If so, you are ready for authentic Christian conversion. That which you desire, the Father grants.