Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor

© 2025, Dr. Tamilio

The Apostle Paul was not one of the original twelve disciples.  He comes along a bit later.  We hear a great deal about him in the Book of Acts (also referred to as the Acts of the Apostles) and the Letters he wrote, which comprise the bulk of the New Testament.  Before he was Paul, he was Saul — a Pharisee who persecuted early Christians.  Acts 7 tells us the story of Stephen and his testimony before the high priest.  That chapter ends with Stephen being stoned to death by the Sanhedrin.  The very next chapter opens with this verse: “And Saul approved of their killing him.”  He approved of it.  He was part of a contingent that saw Christianity as a heretical sect led by a revolutionary rabbi (Jesus) who was executed three to four years prior.

Just then, when Paul is so sure of himself and what he is doing, God throws the greatest curveball that he could ever imagine.  Paul is on his way to Damascus.  He had asked the high priest for the authority to do to the synagogues located there so that he could apprehend any Christians and bring them back to Jerusalem to face justice — maybe a similar fate that Stephen faced.  Suddenly, he has a vision.  The Bible tells us (as we read moments ago), “Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.”  Paul falls to the ground and hears a voice.  It is the voice of Jesus confronting him and telling him to “enter the city, and [he] will be told what [he is] to do.”

Saul is blinded by the experience for three days, at which time he also fasted.  This is one of the (if not THE) most dramatic conversion stories in all of the Bible.  A man named Ananias also receives a vision.  He is to go to Saul and heal him.  He does.  Saul is then baptized and spends several days in Damascus with the followers of Jesus.  He then goes to the synagogues — not to arrest the followers of Jesus, as originally planned, but to proclaim to those there that Jesus “is the Son of God.”  He goes from persecutor to proselytizer in just a few days!

Jesus has this ability.  In fact, Paul’s story shows how encountering the Risen Christ will spin your life around.  Whoever you were or whatever you were doing prior to the encounter changes.  Everything changes.  How could it not!

I think this is what we have to ask ourselves.  I am 110% serious here.  Have we, as a church community have we encountered the risen Christ, or haven’t we?  It really is that simple.  If we haven’t, we need to ask ourselves why we are here.  If we have, then we possess the answer to the question what will fill our pews?  Maybe we are hiding our light under a bushel basket.  We have to put it on a lampstand where it belongs.

Our new sign will help us shine our light even brighter.  Did you catch it when you drove into the parking lot today?  This was one of the projects outlined in our Capital Campaign.  It took a tremendous amount of work to make it a reality.  Not only did your generous contributions make it possible, but the hours and hours of work that Nancy and Fred Kobs put into this project to make it a reality are something of which most of us were unaware.  Not only did the right person need to be hired to make the sign, but I know Nancy had to go to the Canton Town Hall several times to get the okay for the sign specifications, because we are in the historic district.  And I know, when the people working at Canton Town Hall see Nancy Kobs coming in, they must be thinking, “Oh, not her again!”

But whatever signs we’re talking about, they all point to the center of our faith.  People often quote John 3:16, “For God so loved the world…”  This is part of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus.  However, a little over a dozen verses later, the scene has changed and we hear one of the most profound statements made by John the Baptist: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).  In other words, John, as we see depicted in the famous Isenheim Altarpiece, is pointing to Jesus on the cross, even though he was not present for the crucifixion.  Him.  He’s the one you are to follow.  It’s his way, not the Damascus highway.

And, just like the prodigal, Jesus calls us to return to the fold again and again and again — or to enter it for the first time.  Sometimes, when we hear the call, it is a dramatic experience as it was for Paul.  Oftentimes, though, it is a still, small voice calling to us, tugging at our hearts.  Like Paul, we are on a path, though not necessarily a destructive one as the Apostle-to-be was.  Still, we have calibrated our vision ourselves and we know where we are going.  Our personal GPS is set.  Our best-laid plans have been spelled out.  We’re ready to go.  We’re on our way.  But then, something happens.  God calls.  Maybe you don’t answer at first, because you’ve got it all figured out.  But God keeps calling — imploring you to answer.

That was what my call to enter the ministry was like, though that is a story I’ve already shared.  The real question is what is your story?  What is God calling you to do and be?  Paul was called to make a 180-degree turn.  You may be as well.  Again, I am not suggesting that you (like Paul) are on a destructive path.  But the point is to calibrate your compass.

Some of you know that I wrote a book on ethics — a textbook.  It’s way too expensive.  Don’t buy it.  That said, in it I speak about calibrating one’s moral compass.  We do so by remaining in dialogue with some of the greatest minds in history — philosophers who have reflected at length on how to determine right from wrong: Aristotle, Immanuel Kant, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, W. D. Ross…there is no shortage of ethical theorists.  From a theological perspective, we need to calibrate our spiritual compasses as well.  Are we headed in the right direction?  Do our thoughts, words, and deeds align with the Gospel of Jesus Christ?  If not, then we need to recalibrate that compass, too.  We may have to adjust it by 180 degrees, or maybe we just need to do some fine-tuning.  I always have to do some fine-tuning!  Someone cuts you off in traffic, someone doesn’t say thank you when you open the door for them, someone doesn’t return your phone call or respond to that very thoughtful email you sent to them…  The reaction?  Is it a hand gesture or a four-letter word?

Jesus speaks to us from the depths of our consciousness.  He says Follow me.  What he’s really saying is I want all of you — everything that comprises who you are — to follow me.  You can’t do that if you don’t if you don’t look at the map every once in a while.

And here it is!  As Dawn Wilson writes, “The Christian’s moral compass points ‘true north’ to the Truth of the Bible.  God’s Word is the foundation…”[1]  Follow where it leads, my friends.  Stay on the path.  It leads to life, love, and all good things.

Amen.

[1] Dawn Wilson, “Always Let Your Bible Be Your Guide,” from Revive Our Hearts (online), 2025.