Podcast

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, Join us this morning
Our lives are fragile
And our need for you is great

Life can change in a minute
Our security stripped
Our work arounds crumbled
Our lives at risk
Our true situation made plain

Sometimes our need for you
Fosters resistance
Fosters pride
And we step out on our own
Still, eventually,
The course of life
brings us back
to the lived reality
Of every human:
We are dependent
Creatures in this world
In need

If we are in resistance
Call us gently to you
With your great good love
Assure us of your care
And strength
And your desire to make us whole
As we navigate
And negotiate
Our lives

We thank you Lord
for meeting us in our need
As well as in our resistance
Each day
Each moment
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Brothers and sisters, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Galatians 5:26-6:2

Intro: Years ago, and in another life, I had a feisty personal assistant

Although she is genuinely compassionate, she had a favorite line: “Get over yourself”
– I think that held her together through a hard and complicated season of her life
• she said it to herself, to he friends, to people who called the church office for help,
◦ and more than once she said it to me–her boss
• but she never said it when I didn’t need to hear it
◦ Paul’s next lesson in this letter to the Galatians is, “Get over yourself”
– the chapter break here is unfortunate
• his contrast between the works of flesh and fruit of Spirit ended at chapter 5, verse 25
◦ verse 26 fits perfectly with where chapter 6
◦ now he begins to stress the importance of caring for each other
• “conceit” interferes with that personal care
◦ rather than assisting each other, conceit provokes others
◦ rather than respecting others, conceit envies others
“Get over yourself so you can be here for those who need you”

Paul sets off in this direction with an unexpected example

He begins by addressing a negative problem and how to deal with it
(compare this with places where his instruction to believers is encouraging and positive)
“Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build [them] up” (Rom. 15:2)
“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (1 Thes. 5:11)
– here he jumps right into helping someone who has taken a fall
• I suppose this happens frequently enough that everyone in the spiritual community must prepare for it
◦ in fact, that’s what this entire letter has been until now,
◦ Paul leading the Galatians back to Jesus and the true gospel
• the way Paul sees the Christian family is that everyone is affected by one person’s slip-up
◦ the goal in this instance is restoration (the same Greek word is used for mending nets, Mt. 4:21)
– his specific advice is excellent
• first, identify the agents who need to be deployed to help this person
“you who are spiritual”
◦ no doubt, these people display the “fruit of the Spirit” he had just gone over
• next, they’re to approach this person “in a spirit of gentleness”
◦ in my experience, this is a rarity
◦ often people who assume this role show no hint of “gentle,”
but go in a spirit that is judgmental, or self-righteous, or aggressive
• third, those who go must be watchful of their own issues
◦ of course, we all have our own temptations
◦ but may Paul means they may be tempted to be too harsh with the person who slipped

This is just one example of how we help others with their burdens
– there are also financial burdens, health burdens, grief burdens, mental burdens, and so on
• the nature of our burdens shift as we age
◦ and so does the kind of help we’re able to give
• when we were young, we did a lot of physical labor
◦ now we may be more with providing money, or meals, or emotional support, or spiritual counsel

I’m not sure, but here’s what I think Paul had in mind
For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load Galatians 6:3-5

Some people are unwilling to do anything for anyone else
– Paul says they think they are something “special”
• like they’re above helping someone carry a heavy object
◦ “Why should I help them when I have my own burdens?”
• perhaps Paul means, if you’re not helping, then you’re not something, you’re nothing
Dad used to say, “If you’re not good for something, you’re good for nothing”
– you can see that God swings back to conceit, which is where he started into these things
• when people think they’re something when they’re not, Paul says they are lying to themselves
• and the only ones deceived are themselves
◦ everyone else sees the truth of what they are

Paul issues a challenge to his readers
– “test” often refers to a method used to check the strength, quality, or purity of a metal, a jewel, a blood sample, etcetera
• so the challenge is to examine your own work
◦ its value, effect, quality, and quantity
• then, if you prove to be talented, gifted, brilliant, or generous
◦ you will have earned your bragging rights
◦ also, you won’t be comparing yourself to anyone else
– again, I am guessing that Paul is saying,
• we each have to deal with our own issues, carry our own load
◦ but that doesn’t mean we’re exempt from helping others
◦ here is how the these verses appear in the Message Bible:
“Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life”

We’re all responsible for what grows in our spiritual garden|
Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life
Galatians 6:6-8

Again, deception is an issue – Greek word for deceived here means “led astray”
– I find it significant, when the disciples asked Jesus,
“what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
• in his first words of warning he used this word:
“See that no one leads you astray” (Mt. 24:3-4)
• it’s as if there will be so many wrong ideas and wrong teaching
◦ that we will hardly be able to trust anyone
“And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray” (Mt. 24:11)
– Paul gives one of the clearest explanations of a spiritual principle in the entire Bible
• it is so simple, anyone can understand it
◦ what plants do we want to grow in our garden? what sort of life do we want to live?
◦ well, what thoughts are on our mind much of the time?
what desires do we hold in our hearts?
what feelings do we hang on to? (resentment? regret? impatience?)
what habits do we want to form?
(constant worry or constant prayer? getting along with our neighbors or fighting everyone?)
• think about it – this has to with everything!
– Paul has brought us back to the opposition of the flesh and the Spirit
• the contrary dynamics of works versus fruit

Years ago, a television commercial ran for a glue that formed a super powerful bond. Two pickup trucks were lined back to back and chained to each other, with glue holding the chains together. Then both truck revved their engines, trying to pull away from each other, but the glued chains held them in place. Now as I think about, it seems there was more than met the eye. But being a kid, I was more interested in how I could get one truck to defeat the other truck and drag it away. The simplest solution I could think of, was don’t put gasoline in one of the trucks, and the other would win with no problem. That’s like the advice I hear Paul giving the Galatians.

If you don’t want to grow weeds in your life’s garden, stop planting them
– this analogy makes understanding the solution very simple
• but that may give us the impression that it’s easy–it’s not!
• like any garden, it takes effort, diligence, and self-discipline

Paul delivers his application to our real-life situation
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith Galatians 6:9-10

Does it ever break your heart,
– that with all the good many wonderful Christians are doing in the world, there is still so much suffering?
• so much deadly poverty?
• so much violence and warfare?
• so many unmet needs?
• and just so much apparent insanity?
– Paul tells us specifically what we should be planting
• and not get weary of it, even if we’re working under a hot sun and our backs ache
• “doing good”–it confounds me that some Christians reject this word
◦ they assume if you’re not preaching at people, handing out tracts, converting them,
◦ but “only” feeding them, providing clean water, clothing them, and giving them soup without a sermon,
that your work is worthless
◦ that keeping people alive physically is not Christian, if at the same time we’re not saving their souls

Contemplative spirituality is learning to always be aware of God in the moment
– we are living in the moment but not for the moment – we always lean toward the future
• and so, “in due season we will reap”
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Ecc. 3:1)
• I was a silly child the first time I tried planting a peach seed
◦ I figured there would be no need to wait for my parents to go to the store if I could just go and pull a peach off of my own tree
◦ so I planted my seed and watered it every day for a week
◦ then I dug it up to see if it was growing roots, but it looked just the same
◦ so I kept watering it and kept digging it up every couple of days
◦ finally I gave up and threw it over the fence into the neighbor’s yard
• Paul assures us there will be a harvest, a reward, even if we have to wait for it

“So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone”
– I promise you, if we look, we will find an “opportunity” every day to do good for someone

Conclusion: Maybe this next week I can be a little bit better person than last week

And when I get to the end of this week,
maybe the following week I can be a little better than that

Paul has shown us a sample of what “doing good” looks like
He’s also shown us the things that tend to gets in the way
Yesterday, reading in 1 John, it struck me that we have a way to see who is a real deal Christian
and who is not
And it’s so simple!
“By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother or sister”
And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ AND love one another, just as he commanded us (1 Jn. 3:10 & 23)
Political affiliation does not determine who is a Christian,
nor does it set limits on who we love, whether Republican or Democrat,
or even whether Capitalist or Socialist!
The question is,
Are we showing love to our human siblings?
It’s as simple as that

Podcast

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, join us here today
There are days
when the choices
before us are stark
Crystal clear
Forcing us to choose
This or that
Good or evil
Life or death

Other days creep up on us
Saddling along side
And we are
Hardly noticing
the reality of
The new conditions
The new situations
The new demands

Hardly noticing
Our new,
Greater
Present
Need of you
With our weakness made bare
In fresh ways
The vulnerabilities
Of those we love
Laid bare
The power
we have relied upon
Stripped bare
Our resources no longer enough.

It was always a lie that we
Should manage on our own
An illusion that we even could
Because the security in our lives
never came from us
Or our group
Or our intelligence
Or our following the rules
Or our wallets
Or our rights

Always, always, always
Our security
Our hope
Our life
Is rooted in you
And your great love

Make this a day
Where our need for you
Is plain
And your loving care
For each and every person
Is just as crystal clear
And once again
we give ourselves
To you
wholly
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the desires of the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do Galatians 5:16-17

Intro: Paul has chased a serious concern through his entire letter

So it is not surprising that near the end, he would present an the ultimate challenge of the Christian life
– in verse 16 Paul begins last segment of his central message
• what follows in chapter 6 is his concluding remarks and directions
– what we have in verses 16-25 is this chunk of scripture that tracks one theme
• Paul makes this clear by marking where it begins and ends
•it begins in verse 16, “walk by the Spirit,” and in ends in verse 25, “live by the Spirit”
◦ in scripture, framing a passage this way is common, and is referred to as an envelope structure or closing circle
◦ anyway, the literary structure reveals the heart of the passage–it’s one key point

Before moving on, we need to know what he means by “flesh”

It sounds like Paul is referring to our physical bodies of flesh and blood
– in the past, some believers assumed that’s what he meant
• in all sorts of odd ways, they mistreated their bodies

St. Francis famously referred to his body as “Brother Ass,” and treated it like a donkey that needed training to become useful to its master, yet did not require much work as to its welfare or compassion regarding its burdens, and that the body was meant to suffer like Christ through self-denial. St. Francis, for example, subjected himself to severe fasting and slept on a stone floor rather than on a bed or mattress. However, before he died he did ask his body’s forgiveness for how he treated it.

– the human body is not naturally corrupt, sinful, or evil
• self-control isn’t denying the body’s basic needs, like food, shelter, and the family unit
◦ the body’s drives are related to our intrinsic animal nature
◦ but unlike animals, we have knowledge of good and evil
• later, God’s law given to Moses was meant to regulate our human drives
◦ but something with in us rebels against God’s law
◦ that rebellious nature or impulse is what Paul calls the flesh
“For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Ro. 8:7-8)

Paul identifies the spiritual dynamics of two opposing forces

These forces account for an internal conflict and its external manifestation
– this is the core challenge of the Christian life: flesh vs Spirit
• between the Spirit and the flesh, there can be no truce, no alliance, and no compromise
• but the point he makes, is not that we must battle the flesh
◦ that was the old struggle of trying to be right with God through law-keeping
◦ we weren’t able to win that wrestling match
– Paul turns our attention in a different direction
“Walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh”
• remember Enoch? He walked with God – so did Noah
◦ they enjoyed God’s companionship
• Paul reveals something even more intimate and profound
◦ the Spirit of God living with you, inside of you
◦ his thoughts becoming your thoughts; his ways becoming your ways

The next point Paul makes is rather simple
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law Galatians 5:18

Walking by the Spirit is God’s alternative to law-keeping
– the Spirit enables us to be what we could never be on our own
and to do what we could we could never do on our own

Our sinful nature produces “works”
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissentions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God Galatians 5:19-21

Reading in the Old Testament, what comes to my mind are the artisans and sculptures who made idols
“The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. The it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it” (Isa. 44:13-15)
• I wanted to emphasize this, because of the contrast Paul makes
• our sinful nature produces works, the Spirit produces fruit
– we won’t go over every item on the list of works
• instead, there’s a specific theme I want to highlight
◦ for me, the words that stand out are:
◦ enmity, strive, rivalries, dissensions, and divisions
• the first picture we’re shown is of a divided person
◦ someone within whom a battle is raging
◦ the Spirit against the flesh and the flesh against the Spirit
▫ but the picture we’re shown now is a divided community

In my lifetime, I’ve never seen our country more divided
– never so much open hostility, aggressiveness and abusive speech
• the heartbreaker is I’ve never seen Christians more divided
◦ the fundamentalists have always criticized the liberals,
◦ and the liberals have often ridiculed the fundamentalists
• but there has never been so much open warfare and hate expressed openly
– I wish that the message in every Christian church today was:
“Remove the barriers, build a bridge, repair the broken relationship, love one another, love those on the right and those on the left, love everyone, even your enemy”
• Paul told the Christians in Rome,
“I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the teaching you have been taught; avoid them” (Ro. 16:17)
• be safe, avoid people who harm, upset, offend, and divide
◦ however, there may be another possibility

Thursday morning I was reading in 1 Peter and came to this:
“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing” (1 Pe. 3:8-12)
– immediate my reaction was:
“How could that possibly be achieved in a Church so radically divided as it is in the U.S. right now?”
• before I finished asking the question, an answer came:
“Look for unity of mind in a realm that transcends political and theological commitments and disagreements”
• if all we attempt is to force people to agree with us, we lose the kingdom of God, that transcends every earthly empire
– look again at what Paul says about the works of the flesh:
“I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God”

Fruit is grown on the other side of the fence
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires Galatians 6:22-24

There is not just one fruit (though the English word is singular)
– this is more like a fruit bowl
• the seeds of most fruits are carried inside the fruit
◦ so the DNA of love produces more love, and DNA of joy produces more joy, and so on
• so let’s ask, “What does the fruit of peace look like in practice or in a person?”
or the fruit of patience, kindness, etcetera
◦ and what does this person who is an entire fruit bowl look like?
– I can tell you this: Worse than death is a fruitless life
• this list ends with a statement like the previous list
• crucifixion is a brutal and gruesome image
◦ but it reveals the intensity and seriousness of Paul’s concern
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20)
“But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14)

Paul closes the circle
If we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another Galatians 5:25-26

Paul tells us we do not have to live in frustration over the flesh
– we can go through our lives on another path – “live by the Spirit”
(Although I’m convinced that verse 26 actually belongs to the next chapter, there’s still something in it worth considering now)
• even at this point, we can still be sabotaged by conceit
• the Greek word suggests an empty glory
◦ maybe you take pride in winning an argument, but the cost of it is division
◦ it turns out to be a worthless victory

Conclusion: I don’t know if there’s been a more difficult time to walk in the Spirit than it is today

The entire world has become overwhelmingly materialistic
There are entire nations ruled by governments devoted to “dialectical materialism”
It would be naive to assume the Church has not been infected
But there is hope
We can go through life by a different path
It is possible to walk in the Spirit
and in the energizing power of his might
Turning to Jesus,
he never leaves us hanging out to dry
Rather, his promise is,
“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you”
And that promise is good for today

Podcast

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, join us today

It is easy to say we are yours
That we follow you
That we carry your name in honor
Sacrifice
No turning back

But so many are afraid today
Terrified
Terrorized
They are unsure of what is real
Of what is true
And fear gains a footing in them

And some wander from the path
Hoping to find safety, shelter
In power and
In the power of violence

Protect us from those who manufacture fears
Who profit from fears
Who leverage fears
Protect us from those things
That are nurtured and encouraged in fear
Like resentments
And self-justification
And revenge
And contempt
And rage
And hate

Day by day
Moment by moment
Bring us back
To learning the way of love
Our focus and our practice
Our path for living
For abundance
For healing

So our words are not empty
When we claim that we are yours
And our lives bring you honor
Full of gratitude for your love
Always
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery Galatians 5:1

Intro: I assume most of us are familiar with The Message Bible

One of the more popular versions, and easiest to understand
– Eugene Peterson did not set out to write a new translation
• beginning in early 1980’s the U.S. economy went into a slump and mortgage interest rates were rapidly climbing
◦ people in his church were feeling the pinch, and reacting in the same way as people in town
Peterson, “Paranoia infected the small talk I would overhear on street corners and in barbershops. To my dismay, all of this seeped into my congregation without encountering any resistance.”
• to turn them from worldly concerns and find freedom in Jesus, he chose to immerse them in Galatians
Peterson, “Here I was laying the groundwork for a major renewal of Spirit-torched imagination in my congregation. Galatians, Paul’s angry, passionate, fiery letter that rescued his congregation from their regression to culture slavery was on the table and nobody was getting it. . . . I tried to imagine Paul as pastor to these people who were letting their hard-won freedom in Christ slip through their fingers. . . . I just wanted them to hear it the way I heard it”
– so he began translating Galatians, giving the sense of the words, but with contemporary expressions
• it was eye-opening for his Bible study group, and they began to feel Paul’s passion
◦ they were brought into the Bible in a new way
◦ in fact, his church wanted more of his translations of scripture – other people also wanted more
• that is what eventually led to The Message Bible
◦ and it began with Paul’s “angry letter” to the Galatians

From the founding of our nation, we have cherished freedom

But Paul’s idea looms much larger than political freedom
– we can live in a “free society” yet be inwardly enslaved
• many are mastered by fear, others by greed, hate, or longing for something they’ve never had
◦ in the New Testament, there’s always the danger of slavery to sin
“Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:34)
◦ but Paul also saw the danger of a religious form of slavery
• this is one of the goals of Jesus’ work in our lives
“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (Jn. 8:31-32
◦ it makes sense that once in awhile we would ask ourselves, “Am I free?”
◦ some of the things that control us are very subtle, so it pays to ask
– religious slavery reduces a person to law-keeping — a focus on jurisprudence rather than God
• there is very little joy in that – and not much life in it either
◦ rule-keeping doesn’t make anyone a good person
◦ but it can make a person self-righteous and judgmental
• Paul tells Christians, “Protect your freedom! Stand firm”
◦ there is an illusion that if you’re not in prison, then you’re free
◦ don’t let anyone strap a yoke of slavery on you–Again!

Before moving on, I have a question for you
– Paul doesn’t say “Jesus has set us free,” but “Christ” – Why?
• name of Jesus always feels warmer to me, more personal than “the Christ”
• but in these first four verses, Paul doesn’t use name, Jesus, but refers to Christ three times
◦ he’s the same person–Jesus and Christ–and in verse 6, Paul says, “Christ Jesus”
– I think the answer is “Christ” is specific to his role as the Savior
• Christ is his title – it reveals the work God gave him to do in us
◦ the Christ (“anointed one,” Messiah) is also the One true Ruler of God’s people
“For freedom Christ has set us free”

Paul projects a picture on the screen and says, “Look”
“Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified^[a] by the law; you have fallen away from grace” Galatians 5:2-4

Paul wants us to see what happens if we capitulate to legalistic religion
– there are four consequences:
First, Christ is no longer of any profit to us
– Paul’s use of “circumcision” is symbolic
• it refers to people who attempt to make themselves right with God through obeying the laws of Moses
• this is serious!
◦ if someone talks us into a legalistic form of Christianity, we lose Jesus – even if we still use his name
Second, you’re obligated to keep the entire law
– we’re signing up for everything in it
“For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. For he who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law” (Jas. 2:10-11)
Third, we become cut-off, alienated from Christ
– we either go with Jesus and follow him, or we go on our own
Fourth, we’ve fallen out of grace – thrown ourselves overboard
– we pick up the backpack of religion and head out on our own — and God’s grace does not go with us

Here we learn what works and what doesn’t work
For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love Galatians 5:5-6

What works: first of all, the Spirit
“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as [children], by whom we cry ‘Abba! Father!’” (Ro. 8:15)
“it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, and who has put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a down-payment” (1 Cor. 1:21-22)
– the Holy Spirit holds us in God throughout our lives
• his presence sustains our hope
Secondly, what works: faith, operating through love
– we shouldn’t be surprised to find these triplets in Paul’s letters — hope, faith, and love
“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest is love” (1 Cor. 13:13)
(a strong statement is coming in verse 14)
What doesn’t work:
• neither circumcision nor uncircumcision if you make a big deal of it
• the critical factors are faith and love

Paul turns their attention again to the agitators among them
You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump Galatians 5:7-9

They were off to a good start, running well,
– so who tripped them up? Who refocused their attention
• carrying all the weight of religious legalism, they are unable to run well (if at all)
◦ they’ve veered off the track and away from “the truth”
• Paul can tell them who it was not that did this to them!
“This persuasion is not from him who calls you” – God did not put this on them!
– in some matters, even a slight turn, ruins everything
• “a little leaven leavens the whole lump”
• the significance of yeast as a symbol in the New Testament it is permeating influence

Finally we come to something positive
I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves! Galatians 5:10-12

Paul expresses his confidence in the Lord regarding the Galatians
– he’s not so certain about their stability, but absolutely certain regarding God’s faithfulness
• at the same time that he trusts God for their welfare,
◦ he trust God to deal with the troublemakers
• this can be very liberating too!
◦ it’s not up to us to take action against cults and their leaders
– apparently, some were saying Paul still endorsed rule-keeping
• but he argues if he were, they wouldn’t be persecuting him
◦ what offended them was that the cross covered everything,
◦ leaving them no room to add any religious accomplishment of their own
“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Col. 2:13-14)
– regarding the religious agitators, Paul suggests that they don’t stop with circumcision,
• instead, they should go the whole distance and castrate themselves
◦ I think this is the point Paul is making, is that if they were castrated, that if they would become infertile and incapable of producing offspring
◦ in other words, they would no longer be able to make new converts, and, therefore, no longer pose a problem

Paul closes this section by returning to freedom
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another Galatians 5:13-15

Again Paul reminds them that they have freedom,
– but here he tells them not to misuse it
• it’s freedom from religious bondage and sin,
◦ but sin isn’t irrelevant and our freedom doesn’t void the law
◦ we still adhere to its ethical and moral guidance
• we use our freedom in loving and serving others
◦ and though we are not made right with God by the law,
◦ love fulfills the law (v. 14), we cannot say this enough
– this statement isn’t scripture, but it’s true, “All you need is love”
• Paul leaves s with this warning
– we have freedom, but don’t misuse it
• it’s freedom from religious bondage and sin,
◦ but sin isn’t irrelevant and our freedom doesn’t void the law
◦ we still adhere to its ethical and moral guidance
• we use our freedom in loving and serving others
◦ and though we are not made right with God by the law,
◦ love fulfills the law (v. 14), we can’t say this enough
– it isn’t scripture, but it’s true, “All you need is love”
• Paul leaves us with this warning–choose love in the community or it becomes a dog fight
And with all the biting and devouring, someone is going to be consumed by the others

Conclusion: We constantly need to practice spiritual disciplines that help create new habits

A good habit to develop would be to train ourselves to “think love”
That would mean, making the first step in every new encounter,
whether with other people in the world or in our Christian community, would be to think love
Reminding ourselves, “God placed me here to be his love in this situation
Then, feel God’s love
Inhale his love
Become his love
THINK LOVE

Podcast

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, join us here today
Help us to step into your grace
Help us to be where you actually are
Not where we imagine you are
Or believe you ought to be
Or where someone else has said
You have been before

For this we will need to listen for you
So grant us the stillness to hear you

And we will need to be emptied
Of our expectations and theories
So grant us simplicity to receive
You as you choose to come to us

And we will need to turn toward you
So grant us a hope of a more and better
And fuller life in exchange for the life we have today

Call us Lord and
Let us come to you
Help us to swipe away
Every obstacle
And rest in your loving goodness
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? Galatians 4:21

Intro: If you ever decide to read the Bible all the way through,

At some point, you will find yourself struggling to understand it
– even if you’ve been a believer for a long time and read it before (or read a kiddie version)
• a passage will confuse you, trouble, or just seem wrong
◦ I’m fortunate to have many helpful resources
• however, when even those study aids leave me with questions
◦ then I resort to creative thought experiments; for instance, I ask, “what if”
◦ what if this were meant to frustrate? or be a puzzle? or experienced rather than studied?
– there have been occasions when these “off trail” ventures,
• have led me to surprising and edifying insights

Our reading in Galatians has me wondering if Paul used similar techniques
– I imagine Paul pouring over the story of Abraham and Sarah–again!
• we know that Abraham’s relationship with God was key to Paul’s theology
◦ God’s promise, Abraham’s faith, miracle of Isaac’s birth
• Sarah was his partner in all of this and also had an important role
◦ but her first attempt to fulfill it, misfired
◦ she offered her slave girl, Hagar, to Abraham to sire an heir through her
– as Paul reads, he suddenly catches a glimpse of something he’s never seen
• he re-reads the story, not as history, but through a dif. lens
◦ a truth comes to him in a new way
• and now, in his letter to the Galatians, it seems like the perfect way to demonstrate his point
◦ that’s what we’re heading into – Paul’s strangest use of scripture in all his writings

Paul begins with a challenge

The supposed “experts” . . .
(I apologize that I haven’t come upon the perfect title for them. The term “Judaizers” was once used, but many biblical scholars question its authenticity. Anyway, there is a wide range of legalistic Christians in the world these days, some of whom are in cults, some who think they’re experts in exposing cults, some who are doctrinarie, and some who have weird customs and rituals that make them consider themselves more advanced than other believers.)
The supposed “experts” had convinced the Galatians they were not true Christians
– that to be truly “saved,” they had to fully embrace Judaism; both the religion and culture
• they needed to practice a law oriented do-it-yourself righteousness
• so Paul asks these experts whether they had really listened to the law
◦ BTW, when Rabbis referred to law, or Torah, they included all of the first five books of the Bible
◦ so that included Genesis, where story of Abraham is found
– Paul asks if they really paid attention to what was there,
• because he intends to reveal insights they had never discovered

Paul gives a short and simple overview of the story
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. Galatians 4:22-23

What Paul makes absolutely clear, is that running through this narrative, is a binary division:
– two sons – two women – two classes (slave and free)
• and regarding the two sons, they arrived in two different ways:
Ishmael: “according to the flesh”; the normal, natural process of conception and birth
Isaac: “through promise” – God’s covenant with Abraham – a miracle baby
– so Paul has set the stage:
• he has introduced the players – the mothers and the sons
• and he has revealed their positions and roles in the storyline

This is where Paul gets creative . . .
Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written,
“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;
    break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
    than those of the one who has a husband” Galatians 4:24-27

Seriously creative! Unlike any of his other writing
– he continues to insist on the binary divisions
• two covenants – two places (Mt. Sinai and Jerusalem) – two mothers – and two sets of children
◦ and like before, two classes: those in “slavery” and those who are “free”
• but he expands the characters to represent more than the persons
– Paul adds to them specific associations
• Hagar, the slave he associates with Mt. Sinai (where the law was given)
• Sarah, the free woman and Jerusalem
◦ perhaps “free” because as God’s presence in the sanctuary was his gift to Israel
– at this point, Paul reveals the identities of these children
• the slaves were the imposters who imposed the law on the Galatians
• the free were the true believers, made right with God by faith
– he tacks on at the end a quote from Isaiah
• it doesn’t relate directly to Sarah, but her ordeal, and how it was replayed in Hannah’s story,
◦ became a set image in Israel’s poetry and prophecy
◦ it is the God’s promise to turn the barrenness of his people into abundant fertility

Paul has had to explain to the Galatians what he’s doing here

In other words, if you studied the Torah carefully all your life,
– you would have never come up with these meanings
• Paul informs us that he has used a specific method of reading the text
◦ allegory – this is an unusual category of literature
◦ a story is told in which everything has a double meaning
▫ there is the literal meaning, in which everything makes sense
▫ and there’s a hidden meaning that requires close observation (and imagination)
• this is not the usual way that we read scripture,
◦ nor is it the recommended way
◦ the majority of the Bible is to be taken at face value
(while noticing that many statements are idioms or metaphors)
– there are preachers who see the entire Old Testament as allegorical
• perhaps they have a hard time understanding the Old Testament,
◦ or making it relevant to believers today
◦ so they interpret as much of it as they are able, by treating it as a faint indication of what was to be revealed in the New Testament
• for some believers, this allegorical type of teaching sounds “deep,”
◦ as if they’re really going down into the spiritual truth of the Old Testament
◦ but the problem with allegory, as one scholar says, is that
“It is too easy to make things mean just what you want them to mean.” (William Neil)
– A friend has built almost his entire ministry on allegory,
• one time I teased him, “You ought to write a book: ‘Pastor J’s Fanciful Insights from the Word of God’”

Paul is not using allegory to prove his point, but to illustrate it
(he already proved it in the previous chapters)
– what I am noticing, is that he cannot overemphasize his concern
• the Galatians had been told they’re not good enough; that their faith in Jesu was not enough
◦ Paul says, “We were never good enough! Even with the law, Israel was never good enough”
• the Galatians were told they had to convert to Judaism
◦ Paul says, “Gentiles are only required to believe in Jesus and follow him and his teaching”
• the Galatians were told, the only way to be right with God is through the law
◦ Paul says,
“That never worked for Israel, and it will never work for you. Instead, that road will take you into a religious slavery in which you will never come to the freedom that is in Jesus Christ”
– having made these important points,
• Paul finds one more important lesson in his allegorical reading

What the Galatians have experienced is persecution
Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman” Galatians 4:28-30

Continuing to develop the allegory, Paul adds an episode
– Isaac was the miracle baby born to elderly Abraham and Sarah
• I don’t know whether parents generally celebrated a child’s weaning,
◦ but I wouldn’t doubt that Isaac was a little bit spoiled
• anyway, at the occasion of the event,
◦ Sarah caught Ishmael making fun of his half-brother (or so it appears)
◦ in Paul’s allegorical view, this behavior becomes persecution
– his message to the Galatians is that living by faith in Jesus will result in persecution
• they would face the wrath of the teachers who insisted on Gentile obedience to the law
◦ Paul was quite familiar with persecution
“Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. [I was in] danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at seas, danger from false brothers . . .” (2 Cor. 11:24-26)
◦ eventually he came to the conclusion that
“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12)
• I promise you, there are high-conflict Christians who, when they see your freedom in Christ,
will sharply criticize and condemn you for it

Paul asks what the Scriptures have to say about this, and answers,
“Cast out the slave woman and her son . . .”
– he doesn’t go on to make as strong application that to the Galatians,
• but he may imply that is what they need to do
– remove the hyper-religious, hyper-critical people from their spiritual community

Conclusion: We can finish this morning where the chapter ends
So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman Galatians 4:31

Sometimes, when our circumstances don’t make sense,
or they’ve become overwhelming and we feel lost or hopeless,
we might want to consider shifting to allegory
(or use a different lens when reading scripture)
Maybe there’s a hidden message that will emerge when use an open ended reading style
At least, remember this:
Creativity thrives in freedom and freedom thrives in creativity