A One-Word Sermon: “Paul”

Following is my personal amplification of Romans 1:1aa.

To my dear brothers and sisters in Rome, this is Paul…P-a-u-l…PAUL!!! Oh how I love the sound of that name! PAUL!! Yippee-zippadeedoodah! PAUL! Now I don’t mean this in a self-centered way. Quite the contrary. It’s not that I love that name per se…but I love the One who gave me that name! Jesus gave me that name. Jesus…J-e-s-u-s…JESUS!!! Now that’s the name I love! You see, my name is IN His name…yes, Paul is IN Christ. I can live and pray in His name! And I can truly love in His name, for I have no real love of my own. That’s why I love you…and the name Paul by which I write you this letter.

You see, my name has not always been Paul. I once was Saul…but (pardon my grammar) I ain’t no more! As Saul, I was a graduate of the best seminary in the world, and I thought I could see God’s will for my life. I just knew God was so proud to have me on His team, and that I was the first one He picked. I was so proud of my name Saul. I was so busy working for God that I could not really hear anyone, including God. I couldn’t really minister to the pain and sufferings and needs of others…I was so wrapped up in doing good things. You see, I was a moral man without a heart.

So I thought I could see and I deep down didn’t care if I could hear anyone else. But grace (oh, what a phrase!)…but grace abounded for me on that dusty road to Damascus where Christ transformed my seeing and my hearing. Christ blinded me initially so I could focus on hearing His strong, yet tender voice. And He called me by my old name, Saul. Imagine that, He called me by my name…my old sin-full, selfish name. How could the spotless Lamb of God speak such a dirty word as that? How could He love unconditionally like that? That’s beyond me. That’s grace.

Yes, He called me by my name…He called me by my name…He called me by my name…I just can’t get over the truth that He called me by my self-righteous name! He met me where I was…in my self-righteousness. I am so grateful He called me even when I wasn’t willing to listen, and especially when I didn’t deserve it.

He called me by my name just as He calls each of His beloved friends by their personal names…including each of you. And He called each of us through questions that only He could answer…and each of us were drawn to the truth inside those questions…we each were drawn to Truth Himself. “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” “Peter, do you love Me?” “Philip, don’t you know I am the truth?” “Oh Thomas, don’t you believe Me through my scars?” “Martha, do you believe that whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die?”

Now, just as amazing as His calling me by my name is the miracle that I heard Him! Saul, that self-absorbed man who was deaf to the human cries in the world, how could he ever hear the divine Creator of the world? It certainly had nothing whatsoever to do with ol’ Saul’s ability to hear. It all has to do with God’s loving ability to speak. Yep…amazing grace again!

And Christ continues to speak, and I continue to hear Him. For what I am about to share with you in this letter, I did not learn from any man. I learned it from Christ who named me Paul. He took my old name Saul to the cross. He took my old name Saul to the grave. That old name…it’s gone forever and ever amen! And on Easter morning, He arose…He arose…yes, He arose and called me by a new name Paul…P-a-u-l…PAUL! A new name for a new life! Simultaneous reverent gasps from a host (millions) of angels echoed through the heavens all the way into my new heart when the risen Christ uttered the name “Paul” for the first time. Then all of the angels sang, “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Who shall glorify Your name, O Lord?” (Revelation 15:3, 4) My new heart joined the chorus, “I, Paul, will…I, Paul, will…I, Paul, will glorify Your name, O Lord!”

So, everything I am about to share with you in this letter is simply an overflow of my name Paul…an overflow of who God has made me…an overflow of God’s glory…an overflow of Christ Himself who lives in Paul…in Paul…oh how I love that name! And God forbid that I should boast in my own name apart from Christ! Because it doesn’t matter if I make a good name for myself or a bad name for myself in this world… it just doesn’t matter one itty bitty witty bit! All that matters in all the heavens and the earth is that by grace Christ has already made a name for me, and a name for you. Each of us have already been made new creations in Christ…we have been made real, yes genuine, through Christ alone (Galatians 6:14-15).

Whew! I no longer have to strive to make a name for myself. I am free to be who I really am all because of what Christ really did for me and who He really is in me. Paul. Yes, I love that name because it is permeated with the genuine, fragrant life of Christ!

Therefore, I have only one credential for writing this letter…I have only one claim for the authority with which I send this letter…I have only one reason for my joy in writing to you…I have only one hope as you read this letter: My name is Paul.

And I write this newsletter for one reason: My name is Gregg. J God bless you richly in your name, too!

©2005 Gregg Gibbons