Reflections on the ‘Footsteps of St Paul – Sunday 28 June 2015
Our ‘Footsteps of St Paul’ pilgrimage has finally come to an end. It was a very full two weeks together. Every day was packed with sights, sounds, history and particularly awe and inspiration. It has been one of the most enriching pilgrimages of our lives.
We followed in the footsteps of the great Christian Apostle St Paul, who started life as a Pharisee within the Jewish faith, and who had committed his early life to the persecution of those of the first generation of ‘Christ followers’ until he himself had a personal encounter with the Risen Christ when he was on his way from Jerusalem to Damascus in search of more ‘Christ followers’. As in most Christian conversions, his life and his perspectives were immediately changed dramatically. He became probably the greatest ambassador, a pioneering ambassador for the Christian faith.
He made a number of long journeys, taking the Christian Gospel to the wider world, across Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and also what is now modern Greece. We followed in his ‘Footsteps’ for his 2nd journey, only we did it in reverse! It was an inspiration to stand where he stood, to travel something of the roads on which he travelled, and to see and experience the ruins of cities and towns where he preached this new Gospel. Along the way, we took in other experiences as well, such as a visit to Gallipoli (which Paul bi-passed by boat when he crossed from Asia to Macedonia.
St Paul’s great ambition was to finally take the Gospel to Spain, which was basically the furthest reach of the known world of the time. It didn’t quite work out that way. He spent the final years of his life in a prison in Rome. This was certainly not the way he expected his life to pan out. Having taken the Gospel to Asia Minor (modern Western Turkey) and into what is now modern Greece, his vision for his life’s ministry was to culminate in another way, but it seems that God had other plans.
He was arrested on his final missionary journey, and being a Roman citizen, he appealed to Caesar and was then taken to Rome and held captive. It was under the reign of the tyrant Emperor Nero, who unleashed a cruel wave upon wave of savage persecution against followers of ‘the Way’ as the early Christians were called, that St Paul met his premature death.
From his prison cell, however, he was still active. Amongst letters that he wrote, which are contained in the New Testament, was the letter to the young Christian leader Timothy. In this letter St Paul makes a summation of the extent and purpose of his life. Despite his prison existence as the culmination of his life’s ministry for the Gospel, he could nevertheless write by way of triumphant summary “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”. He knew the end was near.
For St Paul, the Christian life was likened to a long distance race, the crown given to those who have run the race to the finish. Sitting in his cell, he likely knew the outcome that awaited him. Tradition has it that in about the year 67AD, still under Nero, St Paul was taken from his prison cell, probably bound to a Roman soldier, and led to the Appian Way outside the city of Rome where he was beheaded for his faith, and where a Basilica stands today in memory.
He was strong to the end. In his letter to Timothy, probably his final letter to any human being, he attested to the firmness of his faith despite knowing his imminent fate. He wrote to Timothy ‘So do not be ashamed…..join me in suffering for the Gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a Holy life…by His grace’.
The Great Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German Lutheran Pastor who stood up to Hitler and the Third Reich, when taken from his prison cell by the Nazis to the gallows, uttered his famous last words “Now is the end, but for me…the beginning of life!” Death could not extinguish the flame of faith that was the motivation for his manner of life.
And so it was for St Paul – from his cell he wrote to Timothy those famous final words that captured the spirit and motivation for his life – “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord….will award to me on that day, but not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7).
Our faith and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ is all the richer for the life, witness and teaching of the Apostle Paul. This two weeks in his ‘Footsteps’ has magnified our appreciation and understanding of something of the challenges he overcame to take the message of the Gospel to the known world, from where it has spread throughout the generations.
His final words – “Grace be with you”. And so it is, in unlimited measure.
KRA
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