The Rubber and the Road

First Lesson: Acts 9: 1-6 (7-20)
Responsive Reading: Psalm 130
Second Lesson: Revelation 5: 11-14
​Gospel Lesson: John 21: 1-19

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Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
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In 2014, I traveled down the Shore to watch Grandma’s Marathon.  I took Grandma’s in a bit different than the regular spectator. I wasn’t going to watch the one-hundred pounders without an ounce of fat cross the finish line in less than 2 ½ hours.  I was going to watch the runners at the back of the pack.  My mentor Paul Bjorklund was running the race.  Paul was sixty-eight years old when he decided that he was going to give Grandma’s a try.  Paul a few years previous couldn’t have imagined himself attempting such a task before the loss of his beloved spouse Christine.  Nothing about this made any sense!  Paul had never run more than 16 miles in his life; now he was being asked to run 26.  Paul had ended up exhausted and hospitalized during training.  Paul’s doctors told him not to “run.”  Paul’s children begged him not to “run.”   Paul admitted his diet and weight weren’t the best to get ready to go the distance.  I had dinner with Paul the night before at Lemon Wolf, and he wasn’t sure if he would go through with it.  You see Paul was slow!  Paul ran 15-minute miles during training.  Paul ran about as fast as I casually walk. 

Race days comes, and I go to cheer Paul on.  I show up to McQuaid Harbor around the three-hour mark.  I told Paul to call me at mile thirteen if he couldn’t finish, I was surprised when he said that he wasn’t stopping.  I didn’t believe that Paul’s words could be true. I had to stick around though for the end of the story.  So I drive down to Duluth, I’m walking on Superior Street down to Canal Park.  Grandma’s has a seven-hour time limit, and I was watching runners hoping to beat the clock.  I saw all sorts of unlikely competitors.  I saw people running one-hundred pounds overweight; I saw individuals who looked ready to collapse with every step.  I finally get down to Canal Park where I see Paul at the Finish Line in 6 Hours and 33 minutes.  The improbable journey was complete.  Paul would have seemed to be the definition of an unlikely marathon runner, yet he believed after everything that he endured brining him to that moment that he couldn’t not run!

Unlikely people like Pastor Paul Bjorklund are called to extraordinary things all the time.  I want to reflect this morning on a guy named Sean Swarner[1].  Sean Swarner was an 8th Grader in Ohio. Sean Swarner receives a diagnosis of advanced stage 4 Hodgkins Lymphoma.  Sean had cancer from head to toe.  Sean began immediate chemo.  Sean’s cancer appears to be remission for twenty months.  During a check-up, Sean has a tumor discovered that is spreading so aggressively that he’s told he has two weeks to live.  Sean’s tumor the very next day is removed living him with only functioning lung and the most seemingly dire of situations.  Sean miraculously survives again.  Sean concludes that his medical trials had given his life a whole new meaning after coming so close to death.  Sean then sets out to become the first cancer survivor to climb Mount Everest.  Such a task would seem to be impossible dealing with the challenges of Oxygen at 29,000 feet with one fully functioning lung.  In 2002, Swarner became the first Cancer survivor to summit Mount Everest[2].  Sean then decides to summit the highest point on all seven continents.  Sean’s last summit is to ascend the highest peak in North America in Mount McKinley.  Swarner’s first two attempts fail due to equipment failure and weather.  Swarner though would not give up in the effort to climb McKinley. Swarner believes his calling to touch the lives of those affected by cancer was such that he would never be denied on his journey. Swarner finally in 2007 reaches the summit of Mount McKinley[3].  Having been told twice that cancer would take his life, having turned around and stopping on Mckinley twice before, Swarner reaches the top of the mountain as tears stream down his face having achieved the impossible as the most unlikely of individuals[4].

Sean Swarner and Paul Bjorklund’s story leads us into our lesson for today.  Our lesson is arguably the most famous tale of dramatic conversion in the entire Christian Scriptures as Saul becomes Paul.  I should tell you a little bit about Saul’s past.  The first mention of Saul in the entire Scriptures (Acts 7:58) describes Saul holding Temple soldiers coats as they stone Stephen to death.  In Acts 8[5], Saul is described as the leading persecutor of the First Christians “Dragging off both men and women” “Throwing them behind bars”.  Acts 9 staying at home wasn’t enough for Saul, so he begins to travel to persecute God’s people[6].  Saul sets out on the Road to Damascus where he is blinded by a great light.  Saul hears a voice asking “Why are you persecuting me?[7]”  Saul was the church’s biggest bully now being called to accountability.  Saul had no idea how to respond.  Saul was unable to see.  Saul was merely told to journey into Damascus.  A man named Ananias was now being asked to take Saul into his home.  Ananias was not a happy camper.  Think of the worst possible how house guest that you could imagine. It could be a person who is inconsiderate, a person who is ungrateful, a person that smells all kinds of funky, a person who makes noise till all hours of the night or a person who is potentially dangerous and violence who had breathed murder against your friends.  Annanis could only see everything that could go wrong in this scenario of inviting Paul into his home. Ananias had heard about Resurrection but failed to grasp truly its meaning.  The thing that Annanis fails to understand in our story today is that Resurrection is unrelenting.  Resurrection can reach parts of the world previously thought to be unreachable.  Too many people look at the world like Annanis regarding “What can we see today” versus “What God can do tomorrow.”

My Mom was a middle school English teacher for some years.  One time, My Mom had a student.  This student was always getting in trouble.  The kid had a big mouth.  This student was always losing assignments and failing to get them in on time.  This student would come to class with his hair uncombed and his clothes disheveled.  My mom had no idea what might happen to this boy.  My Mom always used this boy as an example of what might happen to similar kids years down the line.  This boy currently works as the Lutheran Minister in Silver Bay. 

Another story, my best friend growing up in Lindstrom was named Josh.  Josh went to a church called “House of Prayer” half-way between Lindstrom and North Branch.  House of Prayer had a reputation for getting a little wild and unconventional.   House of Prayer looked very different then Trinity Lutheran where I grew up.  One time, House of Prayer invited a speaker.  The speaker was the toughest looking guy that I had ever seen in my life.  This guy was huge with a massive beard; he’s the last guy you would ever want to run into a dark alley.  The speaker had formerly been in a motorcycle gang “It might have been the Hell’s Angels” or some similar group.  The guy’s life had previously dealt with personal pain in every form of substance imaginable.  One night though when this gentleman’s life had descended into a gutter from which there seemed to be no escape, he turned to salvation when there seemed to be nowhere else to turn.  The guy’s life u-turned like Saul turning from one of the church’s greatest enemies to greatest advocates.  The former lights of police squad cars had now become another light shining down from heaven. 

The thing about Resurrection is that it can take people to unexpected places.  Resurrection in a matter of mere days had turned the Church’s harshest critic Saul into the church’s most vibrant preacher.  Saul’s previous way of seeing the world in terms of failure and judgment, had gone away once he encountered Jesus on the Road to Damascus. Saul’s whole view of the world from this day forward was going to be shaped by God’s mercy and hope.   Like for Saul, Resurrection changes everything, once you experience it. 

You might be hearing Saul’s story today and have a hard time connecting it to your story.  Yet perhaps your story mirrors Saul’s more then you can imagine. 
            Let me describe the ordinary course of life for many a people.
            Monday- You fail a test at school.
            Tuesday- You ask a girl out; she shoots you down.
            Wednesday- You lose your dream job.
            Thursday- Your faith is shaken to the core.
            Friday- You lose the person closer to you than anybody else in the world.
            Saturday- You die.
            But Sunday changes everything! Sunday the heavens open up, just like they did for Saul.  Sunday you are transformed.  Sunday reminds you that you are truly loved without conditions for what brought your life to that very moment. Sunday is the day when you come face to face with the power of forgiveness.   Sunday is the day when one’s failure is transformed into eternal hope.  Sunday is the day of resurrection.  Sunday is the day you encounter the Risen Lord on your Road to Damascus.

Now let’s look further at the impact of Resurrection within Saul’s life.  Waiting for Sunday for Saul certainly wasn’t easy.  Saul ended a poor man in prison.  Saul had seemingly lost everything that he had at the beginning of his journey.  Saul’s life seemed to get continually harder with every passing day.  Saul’s story though is where the Rubber hits the Road when it comes to Resurrection.  What’s Saul’s story reminds us is that Grace can come when all hope appears to be gone.  Grace comes when you believe it’s the time to give up[8].  Grace comes at moments when your spouse says it's over when your friends might say it's impossible.  Saul’s story reminds us that Resurrection extends beyond the empty tomb.  Resurrection says that I don’t care how dark the previous night has been, daylight is getting ready to break through onto the horizon.  Resurrection reminds us that God’s work is never over until the day of your rebirth.  Resurrection reminds all the Ananias’ out there that in Christ one day the whole order of creation shall be changed[9].  Saul will soon become Paul.  The dead shall become alive once again.    Amen


[1] “Cancer Survivor Sean Swarner Scales Mount Everest”. ESPN: Outside the Lines. 13.Oct.2008. Web. YouTube. Apr.7.2016. 
[2] Cancer Survivor Sean Swarner Scales Mount Everest”. ESPN: Outside the Lines.
[3] Cancer Survivor Sean Swarner Scales Mount Everest”. ESPN: Outside the Lines.
[4] Cancer Survivor Sean Swarner Scales Mount Everest”. ESPN: Outside the Lines.
[5] Acts 8:1-3
[6] Barreto, Eric. “Commentary on Acts 9:1-6 (7-20).” Working Preacher. Saint Paul. 14. Apr.2013. Web. Apr.5.2016. 
[7] Acts 9:4
[8] Lewis, Karoline. “Resurrection is Abundance.” Working Preacher. Luther Seminary. Saint Paul. 03.Apr.2016. Web. Apr.05.2016. 
[9] 2 Cor 5:17.