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
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
Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.
I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons Galatians 4:1-5
Intro: For the last month or two, I’ve noticed a trend
– people are using a “Jesus image” in a variety of video posts
• like a famous celebrity, he’s immediately recognizable
◦ there’s the trademark long hair and beard, the robe, and sandals
◦ his image is used to promote an ideal, or to criticize, ridicule, or make fun of something
• three observations immediately come to mind:
◦ first, the image is used for propaganda purposes
◦ second, they’re all impersonators
▫ third, not one of these characters is the real Jesus
– Galatians is Paul’s attempt to rescue his readers from impersonators
• all of the communities addressed in Galatia were new churches
◦ and all the believers were new Christians
◦ so they were susceptible to people posing as experts
• their message was, to be right with God, one had to obey his law
◦ but the spiritual effect on the Galatians was arrested development
◦ the point Paul makes here: you’ve outgrown the law
In the previous chapter, Paul presented an analogy that personified the law
The law was like an ultra-strict tutor or guardian
– the law served for a time in history when Israel’s religion was still a work in progress
• the law was necessary at that time, because people needed boundaries
• but now, in Jesus, the believers had come of age
◦ they no longer needed the law as a guardian
◦ they were made right with God through their faith in him
– Paul now adds to the analogy
• we could be heirs to a fortune, but not have access to it
◦ a will could be written to specify that heir had to reach a certain age before receiving the inheritance
◦ until then, they shared the same status of a household slave
Next, Paul explains the analogy, “in the same way . . .”
– in our spiritual immaturity, we were
“enslaved to the elementary principles of the cosmos”
• for the Jews, that refers to God’s laws
• for Gentiles, it refers to whatever forces they believed ran the universe (gods, mathematics, the push and pull of love and hate, and so on)
– I want to draw attention to one word: “under” – five times in these verses
• Greek is hupo, by looks like hypo (hypodermic is a combination of two Greek words under/hypo and skin/derma)
◦ in these verses “under” is a dark place where we can easily be trapped
• it is to be under the influence and control of someone or something,
◦ it is to be subject to the will of that person or condition
◦ it’s the opposite of freedom, of choice, of the opportunity to become our true selves
When did we reach the age that the inheritance became ours?
– the “fullness of time” (v. 4) corresponds with “date set by his father” (v. 2)
• that was when God sent his Son
◦ Paul says he was born as we were, “under the law”
◦ Jesus joined us where we were – to “redeem” us – to set us free
• something unexpected happens at this point
◦ Paul doesn’t say that we have come of age in Jesus,
◦ he says we were adopted!
“And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying ‘Abba! Father!’ “So you are no longer a slave, but as son, and if a son, then an heir through God” Galatians 4:6-7
similarly he wrote in Romans
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs–heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ . . . .” (Rom. 8:14-17)
• the cry, “Abba” is the marker of our transformation
– this entire world is an orphanage
• we’re all orphans who want to be chosen
◦ we want to belong to someone
◦ we look at every visitor with hopeful eyes
• God sent his Son Jesus into this orphanage
◦ he finds us and asks, “Do you want to come home with Me?”
“In my Father’s house there are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I do to prepare a place for you? And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (Jn. 14:2-3)
Next, Paul reminds the Galatians of their past lives (verses 8-11)
That can be uncomfortable, but it’s not a bad idea–to look back
– if the concept of having “a god” means a controlling influence over a life,
• then everyone has a god – maybe supernatural or material
◦ the god of some people may be their own self
• Paul reminds them that they were slaves of their non-gods
◦ that metaphor is easy to comprehend if we’re talking about drugs or alcohol
◦ slavery is exactly the nature of addiction
– more recently, the Galatians have come to know God
• to me, this is the most wonderful expression of our faith
◦ we know God – not perfectly, not completely,
◦ but still, it is a real and personal knowing (some day we will know him fully; 1 Cor. 13:12)
• but now Paul asks in disbelief,
“how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world . . . ?”
◦ as before the elementary principles: for Jews referred to the law, for Gentiles to the forces of nature
◦ only here, Paul points out that these principles are weak and worthless
– he bases his assessment of the Galatians on their observance of annual and seasonal rituals
• their use of ceremonies, offerings, and incantations, to influence God or other gods
• they have Paul worried that his work with them was futile
In verses 12-20, Paul attempts to restore the bond they once shared
He began this pointed criticism of their wrong turn, calling them “foolish Galatians”! (Gal. 3:1)
– now he addresses them as his brothers and sisters – and,
• instead of scolding them he begs them to meet him half-way
◦ he lets them know that they have not wronged him
◦ they don’t have to apologize to him
• he also reminds them, that when he first came to them,
◦ he had a physical disorder that was difficult for them manage
◦ but, even so, they did not avoid or mistreat him, instead
you “received me as an angel [or messenger] of God, as Christ Jesus”
– he asks them, “What happened to that? Where did that blessing go?
That radical kindness and generosity?”
Then Paul refers to something that we do not know much about:
“For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me” (v. 15b)
– This is rather graphic! Did Paul have a reason for using this shocking expression?
• he could have said, “removed” or “traded an eye with me”
• but apparently that is not his point, because a surgical procedure like that was impossible anyway
– it seems that he uses this strong language to intensify the fact of their deep and sincere love for him
He wants to know if telling them the truth made him their enemy
– when he came t them, he presented the gospel of Jesus
• then the others showed up and told the Galatians Paul had misled them
◦ it seems that now he feels betrayed
• I imagine that is how the Old Testament prophets often felt (especially Jeremiah)
– all through this, Paul has had in mind the impersonators
• the troublemakers who came after Paul and contradicted him
“They treated you like you were a big deal, but with wrong motives. They wanted to lock you out of the grace I preached to you, and in such a way that you would think they were a big deal.”
Many years ago a young man approached me after a Sunday morning service. He had a letter in his hand that he showed me. It was from a famous television evangelist and faith healer. I could see that it was a form letter, but the young man did not know that. In the letter, the TV guy said, “The Lord has told me that you have a high calling.” The kid asked me, “What is a high calling?” He was sincere and truly concerned. He assumed God had some important work in mind for him, and he did not want to fail to fulfill it, only he did not know what a high calling meant. I felt very sorry for him, as I do for everyone who is taken in by religious scams like this one.
• every preacher, every lecturer, and public speaker knows,
◦ there’s a way to deliver a speech that glorifies the speaker
Paul didn’t see anything wrong in him thinking the Galatian believers were a big deal
– as long as he’s working for their sake and with a “good purpose”
• and he lets them know this is how he feels about them, always, and not only when he’s there with them
• before he finishes that thought, he adds a flourish of affection; now they are, “my little children”
– he finishes off this section with an apology
• if he were with them, he’d change his harsh tone
• but he’s treated them roughly, because they have him “perplexed”
◦ are they still with him and trusting in Jesus or are they not?
Conclusion: We’re done–except, I skipped a line in verse 19
“my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!”
When Reflexion first began to host Sunday meetings,
I found in this verse the assignment God had given me
This inner formation of Jesus within us is not theoretical, but experiential
The witness of God’s Spirit, knowing Jesus, and the working of his person into our inner self is the essence of our new life in God
To assist others through this metamorphosis is the challenge of every pastor and spiritual director
The new self is the true self
The process is ongoing
Even in this very moment
Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun
Come, Lord, join us here today
This morning we pray for children
For the innocent
Those used
Abused
Neglected
And Forgotten
Those caught up in
ideologies of power
And greed
Used as pawns
In the attempts of some men
To dominate,
Control
To establish a kingdom on earth
In the name of their god
For their own satisfaction
While children are reduced
To collateral damage
Shamelessly
Wantonly
Carelessly
For those children
who are hungry, starving
We pray they will be fed
And cared for
And restored to health
And loved
For those children
taken from their homes
We pray for safe return
And a path to recover
And that they be made whole again
And loved
For those in fear
We pray for their peace
In hope that their suffering will end
And the freedom to grow and heal
And to be abundantly,
Profoundly loved
For those children who have died
We ask for mercy
And justice
And peace
Solace for their families and friends
And your continuing love
And for those with us
Whose wounded child
Still abides within
We ask for healing
And recovery
And freedom from fear
And to be made new
And that we might
find a way to help
In some little portion
Other children
Who are suffering
Amen
Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.
“To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified” Galatians 3:15
Intro: In the first half of this chapter, Paul scolded the Galatians
You know how sometimes, as a parent,
– when you’re very worried about your child–maybe they did not arrive home on time
• when they finally show up, your worry turns to anger
◦ if ever our lectures were rougher than they needed to be,
◦ it was because we had agonized over their safety
• I think that’s a little piece of what is happening here
◦ Paul has called the Galatians “foolish” and asked “Who has bewitched you?”
◦ that is because they had him worried about the stability of their faith
– it is often the people who are most concerned with pleasing God,
• that are misled by false preachers and teachers
◦ they desire so much to be absolutely right with God that they fall victim to someone who seems knowledgeable
• anyway, Paul’ agitation rises to the surface in these short, clipped statements that barely say enough
– here in verse 15, he presents Abraham as an example of being true to a promise
Why Abraham? What is so important about him?
First, God’s covenant/s with Israel began with him
Second, Abraham predates the law by four centuries
Third, being chosen to represent God to the world,
Abraham became the spiritual “father of us all” (Ro. 4:16)
Perhaps it will be helpful for us to revisit Abram
(this was before God changed his name to Abraham)
In a vision, God told Abram, “I have a great reward for you”
Abe asked, “What reward, if I have no seed, no offspring, to inherit it?”
God answered, “Count the stars if you can. Your seed will be like that”
Again Abram disputed, “How can I know this is really going to happen?”
Instead of giving him an answer, God gave him specific instructions.
Later, that afternoon, Abram sacrificed a heifer, a goat, and a ram,
all three years old. He also prepared a turtle dove and pigeon.
He cut each animal in half, and laid the halves opposite each other in two rows,
with a path between them. – Then he waited.
As the sun set, Abram began to doze, but soon woke up in a cold sweat.
A darkness spread across the rough terrain–
an eerie dark that was more than just the absence of light,
and as it crept over Abram, it filled him with dread.
The voice of God came to him through the dark,
“Your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land; they will be slaves and mistreated for four hundred years. Then I will bring them back here, bringing great wealth with them. In the meantime, you will life to a ripe old age and die in peace.”
In the silence after God finished speaking, a light appeared,
like a fire burning in an oven or a bright torch,
and it moved along the path between the animal carcasses,
from one end to the other.
Then and there, the LORD made a covenant with Abram.
What this story describes is a formal ritual for enacting a covenant
– the sacrifice of the animals was an expensive investment
• but it’s believed that it was meant as a warning:
So may this be the punishment of one who violates the covenant
• “making a covenant” in Hebrew idiom, literally translated, is “cut a covenant”
Now we return to Galatians 3:15
When two people enter a contract agreement
– after it has been signed and notarized,
• neither one can go back and rewrite terms of their agreement
• that’s the first part of Paul’s point
– his application in verses 16-17, is that God sealed a contract with Abraham
• and from then on it could not be annulled or changed
But then Paul makes an odd observation
– when God extended the covenant to Abraham’s “seed,”
• Paul says seed is singular, and referred to one particular descendant
• I doubt that claim would be convincing today
◦ we are more technical in the way we use words
◦ but the style of rabbis followed the Hebrew Scriptures, which involve a lot of word-play
– we do not need to linger over what Paul does here
• we get what he is saying
• for Paul, that one seed refers to Jesus
The heart of Paul’s argument is that God sealed his covenant with Abraham
– and that covenant was based on a promise, “ratified” by God himself
• so the law, even though it came centuries later,
◦ could not alter or terminate that covenant of promise
• in a lengthier argument, Paul explained this to the Romans
“For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith” (Ro. 4:13)
– in verse 18, Paul says if God switched things up, if he changed the terms of the contract,
• so that now the inheritance came through the law,
◦ then it would no longer be based on his promise
• Paul insists that law and promise are two different types of covenant
So what is the point of the law? Why even bother?
The problem isn’t difficult to identify–humans are still human
– in fact, humans are still animals and the temptation is,
• to live according to our animal nature
◦ if we’re going to rise above that, we need law and order
◦ we need to know the rules and to be held accountable to obey them
• that’s the short answer to Why the law
◦ it was meant to hold our sinfulness in check until the fulfillment of the promise
– but here we find another difference between law and promise
• as the story goes, the law was given to Moses by angels (Acts 7:53)
• the promise was given by God directly to Abraham
We can see an obvious tension between the law and the promise
– so does one contradict the other? Paul says, “Certainly not!”
• IF there was a statute in the law that breathed its life into us,
◦ so that we were made righteous, then that is all we would have needed
• but that is exactly what the law does not do!
◦ it doesn’t heal or fix anything, but takes over everything (“imprisoned everything under sin”)
– the promise is the solution to the problems created by law
• it provides us a way to be right with God through Jesus
• this is what Paul means: made righteous by faith
Paul has one more point to make regarding the law
In Greek and Roman cultures, children were raised by guardians
– they provided training and discipline,
• but their main concern was to keep them out of trouble and have productive lives
• and the guardians main method of keeping children in line was severe punishment
– Paul uses the role of a guardian as an analogy for the law
• he says, in our immature youth, we didn’t know any better
◦ we needed strict discipline and that’s what the law provided
• but since Jesus has come, and brought us to maturity through faith,
◦ we no longer need the mean old nanny
◦ he says we’re all sons of God
This is inclusive of females, but Paul specifies sons, because the oldest son was a privileged role in the family
Once liberated, he became the master of his former guardians
The rite-of-passage for the Galatians, when they came of age spiritually
– was the threshold experience of their baptism
• that’s when they sloughed off the law and “put on Christ”
◦ the same way we put off the old self to put on new self
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, [they are] a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17)
– it’s as if Paul says, “Now look around you; everything has changed!”
• the law identified all sorts of distinctions and divisions of people
• but that disappears in the promise where there
is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ” Galatians 3:28-29
Conclusion: When my son Will was two years old, he was constantly singing – all the time
Songs about his toys, songs about his mom and dad, songs about cats and dogs
One day I told him, “O Will, to you everything’s a song”
He immediately sang, “Everything’s a song”
We were in a restaurant one evening, when I noticed people at other tables looking over at us
It was then I realized Will was singing loudly–I’d gotten used to it
For me, that’s what it means to be “free to be me”
Paul tells us, through his message to the Galatians,
“You are free to be you. Don’t let anyone spoil it for you”
Sing your heart out to God – in Jesus, everything’s a song
Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun
Come Lord join us here today.
Thank you for all the good in our lives
And thank you that our lives are ever changing
That people come and go
That situations arise and are resolved
That nothing is forever
Except for you.
For those among us who are tired and sick
Grant comfort
For those anxious and afraid
Grant peace
For those hurt and wounded
Grant healing
For those who are lonely
Grant companions
Lord grant us
the courage and strength
We need to follow you
Grant us
the humility and wisdom
to listen when you speak
Grant us
the patience and hunger
to wait on you
We are full of gratitude
for all you give
We look forward
for all to come
Knowing some days will be glorious
And some will be difficult
Trusting you and
Your great love
Amen
Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.
O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? Galatians 3:1-6
Intro: Do I need to mention that Paul does not try to hide his frustration with the Galatians?
To our ears, his language–“foolish” and “Who has bewitched you?” sounds offensive
– later on he will say, if they’ve truly taken this wrong path,
“You are severed from Christ . . . you have fallen away from grace” (Gal. 5:4)
• he doesn’t mince words, because he’s terrified for their sake
◦ he wants to make the strongest possible impression on them
• and this is just the beginning
– we’re going to spend some time in verse 1
• first, because the truth in it is so rich and enlightening
• second, because here Paul constructs a foundation for everything else
Paul begins laying into the Galatians with a question: “Who?”
Later in his letter he will press this question on them again
“You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?” (5:7)
– someone did this to them, cast a spell over them, was pulling their strings
• Paul isn’t demanding that they give him names
◦ he’s simply saying the Galatians did not come up with this on their own
◦ that is, others told them they were not true believers because did not follow the law
• he is alerting them to the fact that others had done this to them
◦ had influenced them, deceived and manipulated them
– when religious leaders manipulate vulnerable believers,
• it’s for one reason: that is, to control them
◦ perhaps Paul’s question could be a wake-up call for millions of American Christians
“Who did this to you? Who programmed you?”
• who caused you to become so terrified, so paranoid?
◦ of secular humanists? of New Age gurus? of Evolution?
◦ of liberated women? of immigrants? of a communist take-over?
Contrast the current worry and fear with Jesus’ instruction,
“Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul” (Mt. 10:28)
and Paul’s confidence that,
“in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Ro. 8:37)
At any rate, the answer regarding who bred these fears in believers is that it’s been going on for fifty years from Christian organizations that discovered fear is a stronger motivation than love for raising tax-free contributions
– so every newsletter they mailed us was peppered with warnings
• “Your freedom is being taken away, unless you support us”
◦ “They’ve taken prayer our of schools, and next they will take God out”
(as if such a thing were even possible)
• conspiracy theories have become profitable for the people who spin and publish them
– that is Paul’s first question, “Who has done this to you?”
Paul then reminds them of where their faith began and who it’s about
Now this is a fascinating claim that Paul makes
– the Galatians lived far from Jerusalem and most likely never been there
• yet the crucifixion of Jesus had been played out before their eyes
◦ this is a critical factor in being exposed to the Christian faith
◦ the truth is not merely information you can learn, it must be experienced
• but how can we experience something so distant in space and time as Jesus’ death and resurrection?
◦ the answer is “story”
◦ we can go anywhere in the world and time through a well-told story
– we read technical books for education, for information
• we read novels and poetry for an experience of people, places and events
◦ listen to how John introduced others to Jesus:
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life–the life was made manifest and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us–that which we have seen and heard we proclaim to you . . .” (1 Jn. 1:1-3)
• the Jesus we encounter in the story, is the one to whom we open our hearts
◦ the One we receive, follow, and to whom we remain faithful
The Galatians began their spiritual journey with Jesus
– that is what I miss most about the Jesus Movement
• Jesus was everything for this huge mass of human lives
• he was in our stories, our songs, our prayers, our every conversation — our lives
– that many allowed themselves to be drawn away from him is tragic
• Christianity is Christ–not politics, entertainment, commerce
• Paul was coaxing the Galatians to return to where they began
Paul builds an argument on logic and their own experience
His first argument: he draws a contrast between works of the law and faith in Christ
How did they receive the Spirit of God?
– was it by obeying the law of Moses that he entered their lives,
– or from hearing the message of Jesus and putting trust in him?
His second argument: he draws a contrast between the Spirit and the flesh
– here the point is, when they became Christians they were immediately mad alive in God by his Spirit
– so now, do they think they must use material means to complete the journey?
(Note: To be spiritually energized to God’s will is much more powerful than legal, moral, or ethical motivation)
His third argument: had they wasted their time following Jesus?
– apparently, they had suffered for their faith in Christ
– Paul as if now they considered their experience was “in vain”? – for nothing?
His fourth argument: God’s continued work in their community
– was it supernatural or the result of following rules and procedures?
Paul makes a sudden turn, and gives the answer to his questions (verses 9-14)
He reminds them of Abraham
– in the second half of the chapter, Paul will use Abraham as an example
• but here he summarizes what he sees as essential
• one moment in history is the exact point where Paul’s theology of our relationship with God begins
◦ it seems like a small parentheses in Abraham’s story,
◦ but for Paul, it reveals the essence of God’s love and acceptance
– God made extravagant promises to Abraham regarding his future progeny
“And he [Abraham] believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Gen. 15:6)
• here’s the point: How was Abraham made right-with-God?
◦ certainly not be the law, which had not yet been revealed
◦ but by faith and trust in God
What is God is after? What does he want from human persons?
– is there any gift we can give him? Any monument big enough?
– is there any accomplishment we can achieve?
• is he impressed by new inventions or space travel?
• can we be good enough for God?
– anything we can do for God he can do for himself (and infinitely greater)
• what he wants is what every lover wants!
◦ he wants us to choose him, to choose to love him
◦ and the way we show him our love is by placing our complete trust in him
• that’s why when Abraham believed, God said, “You’re right with me”
◦ the gift of love we present to God is our complete trust
– Paul says this is for Gentiles as well as Abraham’s descendants, because God told him,
“In you shall all the nations be blessed”
In verses 10-14, Paul sets the blessing of faith over against the curse of the law
Paul pulls out several verses from the Hebrew Scriptures to show how it fails us
1. a curse is pronounced on everyone who doesn’t obey it
• for Paul, this applies that to every single commandment
2. a prophecy of Habakkuk is proclaimed that reveals God’s will: “The righteous shall live by faith”
• Paul contrasts that with the Law, because the law is not of faith
• he supports this claim with another quote from the law: “The one who does them shall live by them”
3. another verse from the law explains how Jesus saves us from the curse (v. 13)
So, a blessing comes through Abe and a curse through the law (v. 14)
Conclusion: In the churches of my early youth, we sang a hymn, “There Shall Be Showers of Blessings”
First of all, I don’t believe it (life is often hard and our path is not always showered with blessings)
Secondly, I don’t need it
There is one necessary blessing, and that is being right with God
That is everything we need to carry us through life
It is also enough to open our hearts and minds to inspiration
We can find inspiration in all that is around us–the sky, the sea, every living thing
To feel it requires looking, and patience and a calm state of mind
And sometimes we feel the need to paint it, sing it, write its poetry
There are little imitations of inspiration (i.e., greeting cards)
But the real deal ultimately transcends expression
and can only be savored
Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun
Come Lord, join us today
Sometimes we have hard passages
And sometime our friends and family do.
Sometimes we see it in our neighbors
There are disappointments
Frustrations
Even suffering
And Suffering hasn’t gone out of fashion
Lord
It has grown
Become more abundant
in some places
Even calculated
Planned
Perpetrated
intentionally
And there are endings Lord
Losses to come
Lives that pass
And we ache for them
and for those we know
who are facing them
As we all will one day.
So we ask for compassion for those who suffer
Fill our hearts with mercy
Grant us the courage to not look away
Show us when
and how we can
Come alongside
Caring
Serving
Even sacrificing if need be
To ease the pain
Standing with others in patience
Gentleness
Kindness
Tenderly Lord
And steadfast
Unafraid
Not blinking
Like the lovers
You have made us to be.
Amen.
Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.
But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God Galatians 2:17-19
Intro: Paul has shared with the Galatians a brief autobiography
He completed it with a story about his run-in with Peter
– when Peter first came to the Gentile church in Antioch,
• he allowed the wall between Jews and Gentiles to collapse
◦ but when rigid and dogmatic believers arrived from Judea,
◦ he broke away from close contact with Gentile believers
• how sad, when a person withdraws from generous gestures,
◦ ones that represents acceptance and camaraderie,
◦ and make the break for fear of being attacked by narrow-minded zealots
– somewhere along the way, Paul left off telling his story
• it was a backdrop for the point he wanted to make;
• namely, Jesus–and not the law–works God’s righteousness into believers
These verses are a bit tricky, and I tend to get lost in the labyrinth
Biblical scholars have different opinions regarding what Paul is saying
– what I’ll share with you is my interpretation
• I hope this helps make sense of this passage
Paul can imagine an argument a Pharisee might make
“It’s a sin for you, Paul, to say Gentile Christians do not have to follow God’s law”
– in his letter to the Romans, Paul clearly stated his teaching to Gentiles regarding the law
“For by works of the law no human being will be [made righteous] in [God’s] sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” (Ro. 3:20)
• to the Pharisees, this sounded like Paul dishonored the law
◦ the Pharisee party that took a hard line on the law and considered Paul a heretic or rogue apostle
“some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses’” (Acts 15:5)
◦ in other words, they demanded that Gentiles convert to Judaism to become Christians
• what Paul hears them saying about him is something to the effect,
“You are saying that we are ‘sinners’ for trusting God to make us righteous through Jesus rather than through perfect obedience to the law”
– is this starting to make sense?
Before going on, I want to defend Paul’s respect for the law
“So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.” (And later in the same chapter, “I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my [body parts] another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my [body parts]” (Ro. 7:12 and 22-23)
– his deep respect for the law and for what it does is obvious
• namely, it separates light from darkness, good from bad, righteousness from wickedness
◦ the delineates clear boundaries, revealing what is sinful
“if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin” (Ro. 7:7)
• I’m convinced this is how people in Old Testament viewed the law; that is,
as a relief from the moral confusion evident in other cultures
◦ so Psalm 19 sings the beauty and perfection of God’s law
◦ and the entire 176 verses of Psalm 119 praise the law
“Oh how I love your law!
It is my meditation all the day” (Ps. 119:97)
– in Romans, Paul argues that faith in Jesus supports the law
“Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary we uphold the law” (Ro. 3:31)
• so here in Galatians 2:17, Paul asks this question, then answers it emphatically:
“If we’re sinning in our attempt to be made righteous in Christ, does that mean Christ is a servant of sin? Certainly not!”
• through Jesus, God does for us what the law could not do
◦ the law doesn’t change people, it doesn’t produce life
◦ it only shows us what we’re doing wrong
Next, in verse 18, Paul says that if he reverted to depending on the law,
– he would be rebuilding what he had torn down
• then he would be a sinner (transgressor)
• he would have given up on his faith in Jesus and shifted his confidence to himself
Humans do not have the capacity to be good enough
to earn or deserve the acceptance of the one true, holy God
◦ yet God loves us, so he provided a way to be right with him and others
◦ therefore Paul could not revert to a legalistic approach to righteousness
– much of Galatians seems to be a brief summary of Paul’s letter to the Romans
• for instance, verse 19 is the very conclusion he drew after the first seven chapters of Romans as he was building his argument
“if it were not for the law, I would not have known sin. . . . I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died” (Ro. 7:7-9)
◦ what the law tells us becoming righteous on our own is, “The bridge is out”
• but if the law kills us (as Paul says) that death of the old self becomes the birth of our new self
Modern Christianity has turned some of Paul’s remarkable theology into slogans
We joyfully confess that we are “saved by grace”
– we defend our freedom from the law, because we’re “justified by faith”
• we know “Christ died for our sins” and though “We’re not perfect, we’re forgiven”
◦ and so on and on, yet many believers barely understand what any of this truly means
• the theological foundation of Christian faith is profound and we may never understand its fullness,
◦ but we can still learn to appreciate its depth
Paul concludes the first big drive of his Galatian lectures
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose Galatians 2:19-20
I’m going to jump over verse 20 for now, but come back to it
– this last sentence has the effect of a crescendo
• it is a daring statement – an “all or nothing” warning
First, we learn that God’s grace can be nullified in a person’s life
– to me, that is a terrifying thought
• especially, because it seems the Galatians were moving this direction without knowing it
Second, he repeats the problem at the heart of his entire argument
– the bogus idea that a person could keep the law perfectly — it can’t be done
Third, if that were possible, then “Christ died for no purpose”
– in the context of our Christian belief and all we know about the life and ministry of Jesus–
◦ that hits us like the greatest tragedy imaginable
• Jesus came to live among us, but also and especially, to give up his life to us
I think it’s obvious that Paul intended to disturb his readers
– he uses extreme statements to reveal the danger they face
– if they had been tempted to take the path of the law,
• they need to know what they were sacrificing
Now, coming back to verse 20, I want to change my tone
There is solid theology in this verse – but also something more
– I believe it’s important to recognize that this is mystical teaching
• in verse 19, Paul said he died to the law,
◦ but how did he die? and in what sense did he die?
◦ he was obviously still alive when he wrote these words
• he died by being “crucified with Christ”
◦ we could say this was a “symbolic” death,
◦ but I think Paul would argue, “No, it was more than that”
– there is a mystical death that occurs at the core of our being (Ro. 6:3-7)
• as we mature, we develop ideas about who we are
◦ we ask questions, like, “What is my purpose?”
◦ “What am I good at?” “Who am I?”
• when we come to Jesus, we present this “fabricated self” to Jesus
◦ he tells us to take that self to the cross. daily
◦ and become our new and true self in him
When Peter was able to identify who Jesus truly was,
– Jesus, in turn, revealed to Peter his true self (Mt. 16:16-18)
• becoming his new self was a process – the cross is not easy
• in Christian mysticism there is a teaching referred to as The Dark Night Of the Soul
(in my opinion, this is at times overplayed and gets more attention than it deserves)
◦ if the dark night enters our lives at all, it isn’t everything or always
◦ it may, however, be a stage or a path, but it is not a destination
• in some way, we need to recognize the dying for what it is
– Paul had this beautiful vision of “being-in-Christ” and Christ living in him
Albert Schweitzer, in The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle, wrote,
“The concept of being-in-Christ dominates Paul’s thought in a way that he not only sees in it the source of everything connected with redemption, but describes all the experience, feeling, thought and will of the baptized as taking place in Christ. Thus the phrase ‘in Christ Jesus’ comes to be added to the most varied statements, almost as a kind of formula.” (He then lists more than twenty instances in which Paul mentions being in Christ in different contexts)
“Certainly in this it is entirely different in character from the Hellenistic mysticism, which allowed daily life to go its own way apart from the mystical experience and without relation to it.” [emphasis added]
(Sadly this is what we see that Christianity has become today for too many people in our nation)
• too few believers seek the intimate, inward, and dynamic experience of the real presence of Jesus
◦ or communion with the Spirit of God from one day to the next
Conclusion: I only have enough time left to say this:
Our ongoing relationship with God is experiential
It is not imprisoned in our mind in the form of intellectual concepts or doctrines
God’s close friends who have walked this path before us invite us into the experience of God himself
“Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good” (Psa. 34:8)
Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun
Come Lord, join us here today.
It is enough that you know our name
It is enough that you call us
Each of us
To you
It is enough that you hold us close
Walk us along
That you meet us in our loneliness
Our disappointment
Our fading hopes
Our burning anxieties
That you restore us
Make us whole
Bring us to life
It is enough that you invite us to
Work with you
Alongside
Together
In the little things
On the margins
In the world as it is
Protect us from our desires to be big
Great
Important.
From our desires to dominate
Control
Impress
From our need to be the center
The people of power
People of wealth
People of influence
It is enough to be great
As you have described greatness
To serve
To give
To sacrifice
To love
All who come into our lives
Lord it is enough that you know our name
It is enough that you call us
Each of us
To you
Because then,
we are yours.
It is enough
It is more than enough
It is everything
Amen
Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy Galatians 2:11-16
Intro: If you remember from last week, Paul is telling his story
Now, at the end of his autobiography he mentions Peter (Cephas)
– this is the only record of them ever having a personal encounter
• as Paul approaches the primary purpose of his letter
• he uses this story to illustrate his central point
– the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem recognized
the difference between his ministry and Peter’s
“they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted to the circumcised” (v. 7)
• he used those “circumcision” terms to distinguish between Gentiles and Jews, because he wanted to make a point
• they all belonged to Jesus, but Jewish believers had an obligation that did not apply to Gentiles
◦ circumcision is shorthand for all the laws of Moses
There’s a chapter from life Peter that is relevant to Paul’s theology
It’s a tale of two visions, both received in seaside cities
– the Romans had a garrison posted in Caesarea
• Cornelius was the centurion in charge of the troops there
◦ after being exposed to Judaism, he became a God-fearer (though not a proselyte)
• he was devout, generous with charity to needy people, and prayed continuously
– one afternoon an angel appeared to him in a vision
• he told Cornelius to send messengers to Joppa (a few miles south of Caesarea)
◦ they were to inquire for a man, Simon-Peter
◦ and bring him to Caesarea – that was the angel’s message, nothing more
The next day, Peter, who was staying in a home in Joppa,
– went up on the roof to pray, while a meal was being prepared in the house
• he fell into a trance, and saw a vision in which the sky opened
◦ a landscape appeared as if spread across an enormous sheet
◦ a voice told him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat”
• but instead, Peter argued that he did not anything unkosher (unclean or common)
◦ the voice answered,
“What God has made clean, do not call common”
◦ this was repeated two more times
(significant things happened for Peter in threes: his denial of Jesus, his reconciliation with Jesus, and now this)
– while Peter was trying decipher the meaning of his vision, Cornelius’ messengers came to the home,
• they asked if a man named Simon-Peter was there
◦ at that moment, the Spirit told him to go with them
“without discrimination”
Cornelius had invited all of his relatives to be there,
– and we’re given a vivid sense of what Peter felt entering his home.
• as he stepped into a room crowded with Gentiles
◦ immediately Peter began to explain and justify his presence there
“You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation”
◦ that wasn’t in the law of Moses, but for the devout believer, Jewish tradition had become law
◦ what Peter says next solves the puzzle of his vision
“but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean” (Acts 10:28)
• Peter then told them the story of Jesus
◦ and while he was still talking, the Spirit fell on all of them
“And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles” (Acts 10:45)
– afterward, Peter returned to Jerusalem and we’re told,
“the circumcision part criticized him, saying, ‘You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them’”
• so Peter had to tell them the whole story
“When they heard these things the fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, ‘Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life’” (Acts 11:18)|
• Peter witnessed with his own eyes God’s merciful acceptance of Gentile followers
Now we can catch up on what Paul tells us about Peter
First he says Peter had come to Antioch
– we’ve seen that this was the first Gentile mega-church
• in fact, we learn something important about this church
“And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians” (Acts 11:26)
◦ what is the significance of that statement?
• a new spiritual movement was collecting many people
◦ but what were they?
◦ they were none of the Roman religions and not the Jewish religion either
• so the people in Antioch labeled them by what they heard from them
◦ and what they heard from them was Jesus the Christ
◦ “Christian” became the name for members of the new Gentile church
• this was the formation of a new identity
◦ now Jesus’ church consisted of two distinct cultures
When Peter first arrived in Antioch, he mingled with Gentiles
This is what he had learned from his vision
– but visitors came from Jerusalem,
• and they happened to belong to “the circumcision party”
◦ that means they imposed the law of Moses on Gentile Christians
• if the believers in Antioch weren’t circumcised,
◦ then “religious” Jews could not have close association with them
◦ last week I read to you from Acts 15
“But some men came down [to Antioch] from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved’” (Acts 15:1)
– what happened to Peter? Paul says,
“he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party”
• perhaps afraid of their criticism or judgmental nature
◦ perhaps he assigned them too much respect
• so he separated himself from the Gentile believers
◦ an interesting side note is that the word Pharisee means “separate” (one)
◦ and, sadly, Peter’s actions influenced others
Peter had to be corrected, and it had to be in front of the community
But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
Justified by Faith
We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified Galatians 2:14-16
Paul put a label to Peter’s actions: hypocrisy
– he was acting like one kind of person around Gentiles,
• and another kind of person around the ultra-rigid believers from Jerusalem
• it was alright for the ultra-rigid to maintain their Jewish identity,
◦ but there were two problems:
they were not to force Gentiles into a Jewish identity
their strict behavior was not their salvation
– Peter’s actions are an illustration of what salvation is not
Which brings Paul to what was for him the central message of gospel
“yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Christ Jesus”
– in his letter to the Romans, he explains this in detail
• to be justified means to be made righteous
◦ this is the central requirement for finding acceptance with God
◦ we’ve seen that righteousness is not ethical, but relational
• in two verses, Paul uses word “justified” three times
◦ and his emphasis is on how it replaces “the works of the law”
◦ for both Jew and Gentile, this meant freedom!
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1)
– Paul said that Peter “drew back and separated himself”
• in other words, he knew better – he had that awesome vision
• sometimes we feel like returning a rigid religious regimen because we thought it was “safe”
◦ if we become afraid and have doubts about God’s acceptance of us,
◦ we might be tempted to draw back to a do-it-yourself salvation
◦ the benefit: it creates for us the illusion of certainty
• sometimes old people panic over all the changes in the world
◦ then they’re tempted to return to a previous rigidity that made them feel more secure
– I saw this happen in the ministry of two men I greatly respect
• during the period of Calvary Chapel’s greatest growth, the theme of my Dad’s ministry was grace
◦ but in the last period of his ministry, drew back to fundamentalism
• in John Wimber’s early ministry, mercy was his key theme
◦ that brought me much needed healing from my damaged past
◦ but later on what I heard was a persistent emphasis on repentance
and exactly the condemnation that was rife in my Pentecostal upbringing
Conclusion: There is much about Judaism that is attractive
Some people assume that Messianic Christianity is the authentic brand
But referring to Jesus as Yeshuah Messhiach doesn’t bring anyone closer to God
I can tell you from my childhood in a legalistic religious subculture,
trying to make ourselves holy, only makes us weird
Don’t go backwards – don’t doubt God’s love for you
Trust his grace and mercy – and continue to be a good person
Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun
Parable inspired by Megan McKenna:
There was a woman out shopping
Who came across a store
she had never seen before
Inside she found all sorts of lovely things.
As she looked closer she even found such rare
Items like hope
and forgiveness
and patience
on the shelves.
She desperately wanted these things
And so sought the shop keeper.
Behind the counter she found Jesus
He said, “Make a list of all you want
And give it to me.”
She made out her list with things like
“Peace on Earth and peace with my sister,”
And “To lose a few pounds and
to end starvation,”
And plenty more
Until she had run out of room
on her piece of paper
She handed the list to Jesus
Who went to the back of the shop.
In a few moments he returned
And handed her many packs of seeds
She looked confused and said,
“Don’t I get to take the things on my list with me?”
And Jesus said, “Oh, this isn’t a gift shop,
it’s a gardening center.”
Let’s pray
Come Lord and join us here today
Give us the good grace
And the good sense
To be your soil.
Break up our hardness
Clear away the rocks
Cut off the dead wood
Make us a place that
Is nutritious, fruitful.
Let us be rooted and grounded
In your love
Cultivate us
Shape us
Train us
Help us become
The good in this world
We yearn for
The gentleness
The courage
The healing
The hope
Amen
Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.
For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. Galatians 1:11-12
Intro: Last week we ventured into Paul’s letter to the Galatians
Right away we learned that he was not pleased with these Christians
– he accused them of deserting Jesus for “another gospel”
• but he hasn’t defined that other gospel specifically
• that’s what he does in the next section of the letter that we will cover today
– beginning in verse 11, Paul writes a brief autobiography
• he does this because his personal history tells a story
• as we make our way through this passage I’m going to include details supplied by the Book of Acts
◦ that will give us a fuller perspective of the problem in the region of Galatia
The preface: “I would have you know”
Paul informs us that he is about to present his next big idea
– it’s so important to Paul, he already spilled it in verse 1
• Paul had heard about Jesus–for instance, when Stephen was stoned (Acts 7)
◦ but he had not believed the testimonies about the Lord
◦ in fact, at one time he confessed,
“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts. 26:9)
• the great majority of Christians living in Jerusalem and Israel had:
◦ either been followers of Jesus
◦ or had come to know him through his apostles’ preaching
– not Paul! – for him it took a personal revelation to bring him to Jesus
• the Lord had to knock him down and appear in a blinding light
• and he had continued to receive revelations of God’s truth
“Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has become made known to all nations, according to the command of God, to bring about the obedience of faith . . . .” (Ro. 16:25-26)
Chapter 1 Early life: Before Paul became an apostle
For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. Galatians 1:13-14
Paul’s conversion was big news
– I think that Paul himself was fond of telling his experience
• you also have a story of turning to Jesus
◦ and it may be more important than you realize
◦ everyone’s story is surprising and beautiful
• Paul’s was unusual, because previously he had tried to destroy the movement
– he was a rabbinical student of the famous Pharisee, Gamaliel,
• and was making significant progress that caught the attention of others
• at that time, he was devoted to the traditions passed down by the fathers
◦ these were the very traditions Jesus ignored
“Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus . . . and said, “Why do your disciples break the traditions of the elders?” He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?” (Mt. 15:1-3)
Paul’s reference to “Judaism” is significant
– this is a specific religion that belonged to a specific ethnic race
• it was the religion of the children of Abraham,
◦ and followers of the teaching of Moses and the Prophets
• this is an important factor in Paul’s story
Chapter 2 The turning point (“But”) when Paul meets Jesus
But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Galatians 1:15-17
Paul doesn’t tell the whole story here (they’ve heard it)
– he relates only the key features:
• he met his destiny, which was determined before he was born
◦ so this applies, not just to that moment on the road, but to his entire life
• God chose to reveal his Son “in” Paul – this was his life’s mission
– again, the big idea is that Paul did not immediately run to others
• having had a divine revelation, he did not “consult with flesh and blood”–that is, any human person
• and in particular, he mentions Jerusalem and those who were apostles before him
Chapter 3 The next stage of his life, when Paul began his ministry
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas [Peter] and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” Galatians 1:18-24
What happened to Paul in Damascus became a repeated pattern
“For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’ . . . When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, but their plot became known to Saul.” (Acts 9:19-25)
– Paul would stir up trouble in a city until his friends moved him along
• after he was gone, they enjoyed a period of peace and quiet
For instance: “And when the brothers learned this, they brought him [Paul] down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up” (Acts 9:31
• in Jerusalem, Paul was introduced to Peter (Cephas) and James
◦ this James was not the brother of John, but one of the Lord’s brothers
◦ James had become a leader and main spokesperson for the apostles in Jerusalem
• from there Paul traveled north into Gentile territory
◦ meanwhile, he was not well known in Judea
◦ people knew of him by reputation, but not personally
Chapter 4 A historic visit to Jerusalem
Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery—to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. Galatians 2:1-10
Paul returned to Jerusalem with two companions
– Barnabas was already well-known with church there and its leaders (Acts 4:36-37)
• Titus was a stranger to them – and he was a Gentile (Greek)
◦ this troubled some of the believers in Jerusalem that Titus was not Jewish
• Paul had his own purpose for returning to Jerusalem
◦ he wanted to present to the leaders the message he preached to Gentiles
◦ their support was vital to his credibility in foreign countries
– something happened during that visit,
• and it brings us to the critical point of this whole autobiography
◦ none of the leaders were forcing Titus to be circumcised
◦ but there were people who weren’t pleased with that
• Paul calls them “false brothers” who crept in to spy on him and his companions
◦ what bothered them was Paul’s “freedom”
◦ and the freedom he gave to Gentile Christians
• if those people had their way,
◦ Paul and his Gentile churches would have become enslaved (v. 4)
I want to make a brief observation:
– Christians who spy on other Christians in order to find fault, have lost their way
• Paul told the Corinthians to examine themselves, not each other
◦ and he asked the Romans,
“Why do you pass judgment on your brother? . . . So then each of us will give an account of [ourselves] to God” (Ro. 14:10-13)
◦ be aware that there are people who do that, and avoid them
What we’re going to do now is probe deeper into Paul’s story
Paul mentioned his purpose for being in Jerusalem,
– but he didn’t give all the details – and they’re important
• a large church had emerged in Antioch (a large city in Syria)
◦ it was the first big church consisting of Gentiles; non-Jews
(and it was there that followers of Jesus were first called “Christians”; Acts11:26)
“But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved’” (Acts 15:1)
(note that the threat was so great that their “salvation” hinged on it)
◦ Paul and Barnabas got into a heated argument with these agitators
• the leaders in Antioch decided to sent a delegation to Jerusalem
◦ they wanted to learn the opinion of the apostles
◦ the same argument erupted there
“some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them and order them to keep the law of Moses’” (Acts 15:5)
– did you hear that? there was a “Pharisee party” within the church
• a few years later, the leaders informed Paul
“You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law” (Acts 21:20)
• previously, if a Gentile (male) wanted to convert to Judaism he had to be circumcised and keep the laws of Moses
◦ naturally, Jewish believers considered Christianity to be a branch of Judaism and therefore the same rule would apply to Gentiles who converted to the Christian faith
◦ that is what the issue with Titus was about
– those who added this requirement to Gentile converts
• were not helping people who wanted to become Christians
• but creating a deterrent
Three times Paul says Jerusalem’s Christian leaders “seemed” to be something
– “influential” (twice) and “pillars” — in which we pick up a tone of sarcasm
• they were obviously sensitive to the Pharisee party
◦ maybe also overly impressed with them and eager to please them
◦ it is possible they felt the Pharisees improved the status of Christianity in their culture
• I think Paul considered the leaders to be compromised
◦ for instance, he significantly “edited” the instructions he was to carry back to the Gentile churches
(compare Acts 15:28-29 and Galatians 2:10)
– but the point is, the teaching that the false brothers and Pharisee party were promoting was
• Christians are saved by grace plus something else!
Conclusion: The church in America today is plagued by spiritual illnesses
One of them is the implied (or asserted) claim that grace alone is not enough
We’re saved by grace, and something else
Perhaps it’s biblical inerrancy – or pro-life – or a political party
Our task is to discern the additives we’re being fed, and avoid them
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Eph. 2:8-10
And don’t make it harder for people to come to Jesus
Build bridges, not barriers
Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun
Come Lord, join us here today
Be with us
Present in our struggles
In our successes
With us in our sorrows and joy
Together, even in,
Maybe especially in,
The everyday
The commonplace
The ordinary
These unexceptional days
Most of us live
Most of the time
And join us together Lord
One body
One community
One family
Loving
Serving
And seeking you
To know you
To join in your work
To heal and repair
This world
With your love
Day by day
Step by step
Moment by moment
Amen
Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.
Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—and all the brothers who are with me,
To the churches of Galatia:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Galatians 1:1-5
Intro: I’m going to make this simple, and show you what I see in the introduction to this letter
First, there’s something different about the way it begins
– in Paul’s usual typical greetings he identifies himself, his title, and whoever else is with him
• then, he greets and blesses his readers with, “grace and peace”
• but in this letter, before he mentions his companions, he takes a detour
◦ he turns this simple greeting into a strong assertion
– humans had nothing to do with Paul becoming an apostle
it was “not from man nor through man”
– this cuts to the heart of what Paul wants to say in this letter
• he’ll spend most of the first two chapters with autobiography
◦ how he was inspired and the revelations that came to him
• but that is because Paul is very upset, as will become obvious
◦ if you’ve ever been “lectured” by a parent, a police officer, or a teacher,
◦ you will recognize how Paul is dealing with the Galatians
In the next three verses,
– Paul turns a simple greeting into a theological lesson
• when he mentions God and Jesus,
◦ he also reminds us of our relationship to both of them
◦ the Father has adopted us, and our Lord guides and trains us
• working together, they “deliver us from the present evil age”
(which means we enter instead “the kingdom of his beloved son”–Col. 1:13-14)
◦ personally, I want to hang on to this word “deliver”
◦ I can discipline myself to break many bad habits but I can’t break them all – not on my own
Jesus gets us unstuck from what holds us back or drags us down
– “to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen” is a doxology – (Greek, doxa is “glory”–praise to God)
• doxologies are often read or sung in church liturgies
◦ every doxology has a theological foundation
• isn’t it lovely how Paul slides so easily into worship
◦ it’s like a second language to him
◦ he can be wading through profound truth,
or writing a simple greeting,
or telling the story of his conversion,
and praise flows naturally from his heart
• a bit later, I want to return to what worship means to us today
Paul jumps into the thick of his message
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. Galatians 1:6-7
I think we need to feel the force of the key words in verse 6:
– “astonished,” “so quickly,” “deserting,” and “turning”
• Paul is intentionally using strong language
◦ have you ever been reading a book when you realize
you have no idea what the paragraph you just read was about because your mind was elsewhere?
◦ Paul uses a shock tactic to guarantee he has the Galatians’ attention
• these verses in the King James Version contain an odd contradiction
“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another“
◦ this is because the Greek language has two words for “another”
◦ allos means “another of the same kind” and heteros means “another of a different kind”
– the other gospel that came to Galatia wasn’t totally “new”
• it still contained elements of the life and teaching of Jesus
◦ but a twist had been added that “distorted” the gospel,
so that it was no longer the gospel Paul preached
• what did that do to the Galatians?
“but there are some who trouble you”
◦ “trouble” refers to a mental or emotional state of upset, agitation, disturbance–a kind of unhappiness
Some people had passed through Galatia preaching a gospel; supposedly the same as Paul
– but what they taught contradicted Paul’s teaching
• in my years of ministry, I’ve talked with many people who have goofy interpretations
◦ I can overlook the majority of them
◦ their relationship with God isn’t seriously threatened
• but there are other interpretations I can’t ignore or overlook because they’re patently wrong
◦ there are streams of doctrine that carry people away from Jesus
– we must take these things seriously
Listen to how Paul instructs the Galatians to respond to these people
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. Galatians 1:8-9
What the Galatians had been fed was so wrong,
– that even if it Paul came preaching it or “an angel from heaven”
• the Galatians were to pronounce a curse on those people
• in fact, that is what Paul does in verse 9 where he says, “let him be accursed”
– this other message was not like a generic medication,
• a cheaper version of the same product
• it was something so warped it was no longer Christian
◦ it did not heal or cure anything
◦ it could only make them spiritually ill, or worse
As we go on in Galatians, we’ll learn the threat was severe enough,
– that it could have torn them away from Jesus
• it could have canceled the work of God’s grace in their lives
• they would have been deceived into believing they were still Christians,
◦ when in reality they had left the path of Jesus
Paul loved the people he introduced to Jesus,
– and whose faith he had nurtured
• he felt very protective of them
◦ when he heard they were buying into a different gospel,
◦ he reacted like a concerned parent or best friend
• he had to insist that they trust in Jesus and their relationship with him
◦ that they not allow anyone to turn them a different direction
◦ or judge them, or influence them to doubt their faith
regardless of how knowledgeable those preachers seemed to be
or how clever and impressive they were,
or how powerful their presentations
– whenever people commandeer Christianity, it turns ugly
Paul asks two rhetorical questions
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. Galatians 1:10
This loops back to what he expressed in verse 1
– it was God who called him and equipped him to be an apostle
• he wasn’t worried if he angered the other preachers
◦ he wasn’t worried if they didn’t respect him
• if his life was driven by what others thought of him,
◦ God’s mission would have no longer been his priority
– today there are many people in every strata of society,
• who are scared to death to let their ideals and loyalties be known
Perhaps if all people who consider themselves believers,
– asked themselves a couple of questions, like Paul asks regarding himself
• the church could produce Christians with greater integrity and courage
– the first question might be:
“On what grounds do I consider myself to be a Christian?”
• let me give you a hint:
◦ if your answer is, “Because I was born in America,” your kite ain’t gonna fly!
Contemporary Christian worship has gone off course
(This does not apply to all churches, but more than I’d like to admit)
On Thursday I had a long conversation with a friend regarding worship
– we had similar experiences when for the first time our worship felt real
• maybe for you, the first time you experienced worship it brought tears to your eyes,
◦ was because you had found your way to your true home
◦ you had come out of the darkness and into the light
• you realized God’s mercy was setting you free
◦ and the love of Jesus was embracing you
◦ you were forgiven and God was going to make you whole
– that experience of worship was not a result of being hyped up
• it wasn’t sentimental or schmaltzy
• it was more like returning home from active duty in the army
◦ we were wounded, we had battle fatigue,
◦ we had fought for our lives and seen our companions die
– worship wasn’t entertainment then–at least not at first
• it was being rushed into the emergency room and receiving triage
• it was our first sensation of hope
◦ Jesus cam near to us and our hearts were singing to him, “You are awesome and I love You”
– but in the last twenty years, “worship music” has become a commodity;
and for the musicians and singers who take the stage, a performance
• it is loud and energetic, the lyrics have become formulaic,
◦ and instead of turning believers into worshipers, we’ve turned them into an audience
• many leaders have little experience of worship’s transcendence
◦ there is more froth than substance, more hoorah than hallelujah
and we don’t experience the closeness of Jesus in it like we once did
◦ but that’s just the tip of the iceberg of today’s troubled church
Conclusion: What Paul wanted is what we are also longing to see in our lifetime
To hang our heads for what we have been willing to swallow,
to drop out of pop-religion and just get back to Jesus
I’m hoping that going through Galatians will help us do that
Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun
Come Lord, join us here today
Lord, protect us from our
Bitterness
Rage
And resentments
Hold us safe from our
Fears and our
Desires to
Dominate others
To retaliate
To lay waste
Focus us
And refocus us on
The intrinsic worth
The unending value
Of each person we encounter
Let this community
Be a place where
We practice loving
Our brothers and sisters
In you
In all of our messy contradictions
And in all of our shame and need
And from this community
Let us be
Those known to love
Our neighbor
In all their guises
Of poverty
Of anxiety
Of illness
And of belligerence
This love from you
An endless gift
This life you have brought us to
For healing and repair
Bringing peace to ourselves
As we bring peace
into the world around us.
And our love for you
Rising like incense
Full of gratitude
We thank you
Amen
Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
“If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit . . . .” Galatians 5:16 and 25
Intro: For a few weeks we’ve been bouncing around in Scriptures
Next week we’ll settle into something more consistent,
– and I’ve chosen to hike through Paul’s letter to the Galatians
• but not today–
• my talk this morning will be another random meditation
– what I will say about this letter,
• Paul was not at all pleased with the churches in the region of Galatia
◦ he had introduced them to a life in God through Jesus
◦ but others had followed Paul with a “distorted gospel”
• so the Christian faith was represented by two different forms
◦ the distorted version emphasized a deadly legalism
◦ Paul’s version was a new life in the Spirit of God
“Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:2-3)
– I believe this letter identifies a problem that’s prevalent today
Paul keeps edging his readers toward a Spirit-infused life
We’ll learn more about what this means as we go along
– but in this chapter alone we learn that we read:
“through the Spirit” (v. 5)
“walk by the Spirit” (v. 16)
“the desires of the Spirit” (v. 17)
“led by the Spirit” (v. 18)
“the fruit of the Spirit” (v. 22)
“live by the Spirit” (v. 25)
“keep in step with the Spirit” (v. 25)
– a cliche entered our religious subculture maybe sixty years ago
• people started talking about “a Spirit-filled” life (or person)
◦ it was as if a believer could be “regular” or “spirit-filled”
• but the fact of the matter, there’s no Christian life without the Spirit
◦ the Holy Spirit is our new life in Jesus
We are dependent on the Spirit’s work in our lives
Like breathing, and eating, and movement, this is a real need
– and not only when we’re reading Bible, praying, or ministering to others
• in every situation of our daily lives
◦ whether I’m sick or in good health
◦ whether I have unpaid bills or I’m caught up on all of them
◦ whether the workload is overwhelming or I’m on vacation
◦ whether I’m walking on the beach or stuck in traffic
I wonder if we realize how busy the world keeps us
– having space for peace and quiet should not be a luxury, but the norm
• it is as important to our health as nutrition and balanced exercise
◦ our brains require a degree of tranquility to think deeply
◦ but our intrusive world won’t allow that;
◦ it’s always in our face and crowds out everything but itself
• the original purpose of cell phones was two-fold:
◦ convenience and emergency
(lots of people are conditioned to jump and answer their phone whenever it chimes)
◦ many of us think we need to be informed, minute-by-minute of every event as it develops
• or we have to be constantly entertained
◦ it’s too easy to plop down on couch, grab the remote, and get absorbed in whatever appears on screen
– so I ask myself,
“How can I become more aware of God’s presence?”
“How can his nearness be more real to me than each ‘breaking story’”?
A few years ago, a man walked into our meeting for first time
I introduced myself to him, and realized I knew who he was
– his wife had told me about him, and she was desperate to see him become a Christian
• he said,
“I’ve been practicing Eastern religions for thirty years and taken vows in a Buddhist monastery, but I’m looking for something more definite”
– I told him, “Jesus is definitely more definite!”
• you don’t get more definite than another human person
• I think “more definite” is a sincere spiritual need
◦ there will always be unsolved mysteries and wonders beyond our comprehension,
◦ but we also need solid footing for our walk of faith
– in English, the word “spirit” (if we’re not talking about “team spirit”)
• belongs in a dimension of intangibles and invisibility
◦ something insubstantial, vaporous like air or a fine mist that instantly evaporates
◦ to feel the presence of a “spirit” is spooky or frightening
• I wonder if the Spirit seemed more substantial to Paul than smoke or fog
How have you imagined the Holy Spirit?
– the biblical words for spirit are also used for breath and wind
• both the Hebrew (ruach) and Greek (pneuma) have the sense of “air in motion”
◦ it could be the air passing through your throat or stirring leaves in a tree
◦ Jesus also used the metaphor of “living water” for the Holy Spirit
• God’s Spirit is a vital force, a divine energy,
◦ present and active all the way back to when God created the heavens and the earth
– what Jesus made very clear, is that the Spirit is a person
• that “he” (personal pronoun) joins us, teaches us, and shares with us all that Jesus has for us
• how “real” is our conversation when we talk with someone on the phone?
◦ we can’t see them or touch them, but we don’t doubt their existence
◦ can it be like that with the Spirit? Can it be that real?
Something happened to me a few weeks ago
I had just set out for a walk,and turned my attention toward God
– I opened my heart and mind to God’s Spirit and presence,
• and suddenly I was aware of him–right there, in front of me
◦ he wasn’t visible, but he wasn’t ghost-like either
• the strong impression I felt from his presence is that he’s a person
◦ not a “universal mind” or impersonal “force”
– he is a rational person with whom we can interact as with other persons
• he was there and we could communicate with each other
• I felt he was there to listen to me and respond
Since then, I’ve experienced a keen awareness of his presence several more times
– but it isn’t constant – and it requires “priming” my heart and mind for his presence
• what I realize, is if encounters like this were a normal experience for me,
◦ I would find it much easier to follow Paul’s instruction to
“walk by the Spirit” and “keep in step with the Spirit”
– so here’s the question:
• How can we become more aware of the Spirit?
And more often?
Can walking in the Spirit become a normal activity?
Here is what I’m working on–so far
Close contact with the Spirit of God is something I need to feel
– I know there are people who react to this, but try to keep an open mind
• do you remember learning to ride a bike?
◦ the first time you were nervous and awkward
◦ what was it you had to learn?
You had to learn what it felt like to balance on a bicycle
• turning corners on a two-wheel bike requires leaning to the left or right
◦ it is not as much about turning the handlebars as shifting your weight
– it’s the same with skiing, swimming, tennis, etcetera, etcetera
• you have to feel your way into it;
◦ for instance the feel of swinging a bat and the feel of hitting the ball
• clumsy at first, but our brains create the necessary neural circuits to learn it
◦ and once you have learned to balance on a bike, you never lose it
Conclusion: One thing at heart of our Reflexion community,
Is cultivating a sense of God’s felt presence through silent prayer
Perhaps the most useful tool God has given us for this is our breath
We begin by taking control of it–slowing it, deepening it
We bring awareness to each breath,
allowing it to center our whole being in the here and now
Shifting our attention to the space around us,
our awareness moves from each breath to the presence of the Spirit
And since we take our breath everywhere we go, we can connect the Spirit anywhere, everywhere
Daily Meditations From the Scriptures