Conversions: A Preview to Pride Month (3rd Easter C)

A sermon by the Rev. Guillermo A. Arboleda, written for and delivered at the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, Savannah, GA, on Sunday, May 4, 2025, which is the 3rd Sunday of Easter (RCL Year C).

Primary Bible Reading

(Click on May 4, 2025, to see all of the Lectionary Texts)

Acts 9:1-20 (NRSVue)

9:1 Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. 8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing;[a] so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 For three days he was without sight and neither ate nor drank.

10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision[b] a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem, 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; 16 I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 17 So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul[c] and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength. For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, 20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

Conversions: A Preview to Pride Month

By the Rev. Guillermo A. Arboleda, Program Manager for New Starts, ELCA

Thank you for welcoming me here to the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany today. It’s something like a homecoming for me. As some of you know, the Rev. Kelly Steele was the founding pastor of Epiphany in 2016, until she left to serve St. Peter’s Episcopal Church on Skidaway Island in 2018 (where she is now the Rector). I am privileged to be her husband, and I was a supporter and worshipper at Epiphany from its earliest days (while I was also the Rector of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church across town in west Savannah). Before we met amazing musicians like Eli Irvin, Ben Austin, and others, I was the primary music leader and planner. Those were some of the most exciting and fun times I have had in my pastoral ministry. Today, I work with our siblings in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Denominational Center to support new churches like this one all over the USA and Caribbean. I refer a lot to my time with Epiphany in my day-to-day work now. So Epiphany holds and always will hold a special place in my heart.

That said, I’m not here just to get all teary-eyed and nostalgic. For the first time actually, I’m here to preach. The common theme in today’s Bible readings is conversion or simply inner change. I imagine that we all have experienced some kind of conversion. It might be a change in opinion, thought, belief, or perspective. Sometimes conversions are slow and gradual. Sometimes they are big and noticeable, like for Saul (a.k.a. Paul) in the reading from Acts.

For me, I had a lot of conversions when I was in college and seminary. Some were fast and some were slow, but they all changed who I am now. I’ll share one that might be familiar for other straight folks in the room, or for others who grew up in more conservative church traditions like I did. I grew up believing that being or acting gay was a sin. And in the 90’s and 2000’s, US culture, TV, movies, and media were all pretty homophobic, even around New York City where I was raised. I got my bachelor’s degree in theology from a fairly open-minded evangelical Christian college (where many other conversions happened too). In and out of class, we would have conversations about the possibility of “homosexuality” being okay, but they were abstract and theoretical. And, of course, we always landed on the “traditional view of human sexuality”, even if we were slightly nicer about it than most.

It wasn’t until I went to seminary at Duke Divinity School (which is really not the most liberal seminary out there), that I finally met some out gay, lesbian, and trans Christians. And God would not let me ignore how thoughtful, faithful, and talented they were. They were every bit as called to church ministry as I was. What exactly was the problem? And slowly, the intellectual debates just stopped being all that important to me. I can re-hash them if I have to, but what really convinced me was friendships. 

God removed some scales from my eyes by sending me David, Antonia, Charles, Jesse and many others who just walked the walk in ways that couldn’t be denied. And like Ananias, those friends came alongside me and embraced me as a sibling and ally in spite of the hate I had carried in my heart. They embraced me in spite of all the times in grade school that I had used “gay” like a slur or said the three-letter F-word. They gave me a chance to do better. They forgave me and named me an ally. That does not mean I’m perfect now. But because I converted before, I’m ready to convert again. I’m ready to learn that I am wrong, apologize, and try again. 

In Acts 9, we meet at least two characters who go through conversions: Saul (who will become St. Paul the Apostle) and Ananias, who we never hear about again in the Bible. Conversions like Saul’s are about turning away from old ways of seeing the world and living in it. Saul used his social, religious, and political privilege to persecute and harm Christians. He would arrest them or support mob violence against them. Scales covered his eyes because he had blinded himself to God’s love for his Christian neighbors who were different from him. He was blinded by hate instead of seeing them as they really were: beloved children of God.

But here’s the crazy part: Saul was a beloved child of God too. Jesus met him when he was lost in rage and there seemed like no way back. “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:5). Then Jesus sent friends to him to care for him, rehabilitate him, and teach him the way of love. Ananias went to Saul, laid hands on him, prayed for him, baptized him, and taught him about Jesus. And eventually, Saul/Paul became a force for good, sharing the Good News of God’s love to people all over the Roman Empire. He would travel thousands of miles as a missionary pastor, founding and supporting churches, making disciples, and writing some of the most inspiring words that we now have in the Bible. 

But, none of that would have been possible without Ananias. Ananias is incredible because he showed grace to someone who had persecuted, lynched, and killed people like him. Jesus appeared to Ananias in a vision, and at Jesus’ prodding, Ananias welcomed Saul and helped him to turn his life around. But his first response was not, “Yes, Lord.” Instead, he was skeptical and afraid. He said to Jesus, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name" (Acts 9:13-14).  Ananias could have said, “Heck no! Find someone else!” He could have behaved like Jonah and ran away from God’s call to love his enemies. 

But Jesus converted Ananias too. Like my friends from seminary, Ananias accepted Saul as a brother and an ally, even though Saul used to hate people like Ananias. Ananias had to learn to love his enemies. Loving enemies like Jesus taught us (Luke 6:27-26) is so difficult that it usually requires another conversion. Ananias showed us what it is like to convert again and again and again. Because we aren’t just talking about converting as Christian or Jesus-follower one time, for the first time like Saul did. Conversion is a lifelong journey of turning away from selfishness and hate, turning toward the God who is Love and love for our neighbors. We receive God’s love and grace and we try to show grace to ourselves and one another.

Right now, it is really easy to see hatred spewing out of people. Politicians are trying to enact oppressive policies that especially harm LGBTQ people and youth. People feel like they can get away with more and more hateful language and actions both online and in real life. This is a time for followers of Jesus to be brave in the face of hate. But, it is also a time to humanize our perceived enemies. It’s a time to remember that even a murderous persecutor like Saul can change. Brave and mature people on the margins, like Ananias, can offer forgiveness in a way that makes that change permanent. Like Saul, we can admit that we have hate in our hearts, we have done hateful things, and we need help to see the humanity in the people we have hated. Like Ananias, we can see the humanity in a former oppressor and support them as they try to change. 

What is your conversion story? How had God invited you to change, maybe over and over again? If you can’t think of one, that’s okay. Maybe God is inviting you to convert like Saul or convert like Ananias today. Let’s pray for fresh eyes to see the world as Jesus sees it: filled with God’s beloved children. Amen.