Thoughts going in, Sunday June 30th

Gal 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. 13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. 16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Commentators one and all point out that it is in chapter 5 that St. Paul begins the ‘ethical’ section of his letter. By ‘ethical,’ what they mean is the “so what?” part. In other words, up to this point Paul has basically been identifying a theological problem, and—in his own way—doing his best to offer correction. NOW, he is getting down to the difference it should all make at ground level.

The freedom vs slavery imagery that is used in vss 1 and 13 are images that tend not to hit us in quite the same way the first readers would have been hit. For us freedom tends to mean the ability to do whatever we want, whereas slavery is thought of as being trapped—in a job or career we loathe, or in a relationship that’s gone sour; or in a house or car that is worth less than what we owe. It’s easy for us to forget that for 90% or more of human history some people OWNED other people. The audio book I’m currently enjoying is set in early imperial Rome, the era St. Paul lived in. In the story a slave killed his master. This was horrifically bad news for all slaves in that household, for Roman law dictated that in such a case ALL of the dead master’s slaves were to be executed (crucified). The intent was to send a horribly brutal message of deterrent. A “freed” person in Paul’s era knew precisely what it meant to be enslaved, and once freed, would never contemplate returning to slavery. Paul’s point to the Galatian Christians is that freedom from religiously legalistic expectations is precisely what they’ve been given in Christ; to revert to religious legalism would be like the freed man returning to slavery.

At the practical level, however, Paul always finds himself walking a tightrope… and the tightrope is this: “If I have been so liberated,” one may say, “and if God has so much grace to freely shower upon me, then I can do anything I want!” (cue the voice of Homer Simpson: “Wu-hooooooooo!”). This would be a very apt misinterpretation of last week’s emphasis that nothing matters in the eyes of God outside of baptism.

To this ultra-libertine notion (often called ‘antinomianism) Paul offers the corrective of the above verses. One does not have to work for one’s salvation. The work has been fully accomplished by Christ. One who is saved, however, has the Spirit of God indwelling their lives… and this fact cannot help but produce a difference. I don’t often read Max Lucado, but I like what he has to say about the indwelling activity of the Spirit. He says:

“Most Christians find the cross of Christ easier to accept than the Spirit of Christ. [concerning the Spirit] we grow quickly quiet and cautious, fearing what we can’t see or explain. It helps to consider the Spirit’s work from this angle: what Jesus did in Galilee is what the Holy Spirit does in us. Jesus dwelt among the people, teaching, comforting, and convicting. The Holy Spirit dwells within us, teaching, comforting and convicting.

So, adding Lucado’s spin to what Paul is saying, the freedom the Christian has been given is the freedom of being released from a slave labor camp where the person spends his days in endless labor, to enjoy a scenario of personal relationship and fellowship with God. But when this relationship and fellowship occurs, FRUIT NATURALLY GROWS. (vss 22-23). I like how one commentator puts it, “The contrast between works and fruit is important. A machine in a factory works and turns out a product, but it could never manufacture fruit. Fruit must grow out of life, and in the case of the believer, it is the life of the Spirit.” He sums up by saying: “We must remember that this fruit [of the Spirit] is produced to be eaten, not admired and put on display. People around us are starving for love, joy, peace, and all of the other graces of the Spirit. When they find them in our lives, they know that we have something they lack. We do not bear fruit for our own consumption; we bear fruit that others might be fed and helped, and that Christ might be glorified.

Cheers,

TM

Thoughts going in, Sunday June 23

Gal 3: 23 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was put in charge of us until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. 26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Supposedly, you “can’t have your cake and eat it too.” We’ve all heard that expression before. According to wiki it’s an English bit of folk wisdom dating back to the time of Cromwell. I bring up the phrase because it seems to me in various (heavy) places of St. Paul’s writings, he is walking an extremely fine line, wanting…. in essence… to have his cake and eat it too.

Specifically, St. Paul wants to uphold the worth, validity, and sanctity of the Torah. It is, after all, God’s holy word, the 1^st 5 books of the Bible. If Torah itself were worthless, it would need to be ripped from the Bible. Paul would never think such a thing. Not only that, but Paul would never think in what would later become a distinctively Lutheran caricature of “law vs gospel” = “Old Testament = Law = bad….New Testament = Gospel = good.” I’ve actually encountered well-meaning people who mistakenly suppose that if the sermon is from the Old Testament, the pastor hasn’t preached “any gospel” to them. This is horrifically untrue. Even if ALL we had were the 1^st 5 books of the Bible, we may not know anything of Christ specifically, but we would most assuredly know of God’s grace and the gospel call to trust in his mercy for the forgiveness of sins.

Yet, while Paul wants to uphold the worth, validity, and sanctity of the Torah, he also very much wants to uphold what the Torah cannot do. In short, the Torah cannot do anything that Jesus did. According to the gospel of John, the word became flesh and dwelt among us. Building on that point, the word must become flesh. The Law cannot humble itself to be born of a virgin; the Law cannot embrace the sinful and unworthy; the Law cannot share a meal with the undeserving; and most importantly of all, the Law cannot shed its blood for the sins of the world. There are just some things the Law cannot do.

The difficulty with this passage of Galatians continues to be the same thing we’ve encountered all along, namely, what does that situation and all of Paul’s well-developed rhetoric have to do with us today? No one is maintaining that Torah observance is necessary for salvation. Nor is the caricature true… which is to say, no one is teaching that salvation is based on our good works, or based on not doing bad things.

With that in mind, I think one of the cool things that can be preached from this passage has to do with the great POWER of baptism. Barclay & other scholars have pointed out that in Paul’s day a very common Jewish prayer went as follows: (prayed by a man, of course) it thanks God that “Thou has not made me a Gentile, a slave, or a woman.” Clearly the prayer invests all of one’s standing before God in the fact that one is Jewish, free, and male. Paul’s point is that such sentiments are meaningless. One’s standing before God isn’t based on this. One’s standing before God is based solely on being clothed with Christ (v27)…a mystical, yet real reality that occurs at baptism. For those who wonder if a simple ritual accompanied by a few words can really do anything, this verse is a powerful truth!

Cheers,

TM

Thoughts going in, Sunday June 9th

Gal 1:11 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 I did not receive it from any human source, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus. 18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 I saw none of the other apostles--only James, the Lord's brother. 20 I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie. 21 Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. 22 I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy." 24 And they praised God because of me.

            A question that doesn’t seem to be asked very often but that comes to my mind is… if Paul could’ve received a special revelation about the Gospel… and then go off and do his own thing, what makes Mohammed, or Joseph Smith (founder of the Mormons), or Charles Taze Russell (founder of Jehovah’s Witnesses) any different? Is not Paul basically teaching/preaching a theology of personal experience over received tradition? As one author points out…there’s even an irony involved, as Paul routinely insists that his converts ‘traditionalize’ his received personal experience!

            I mentioned Acts 15 and the Jerusalem council last week, and this is a pretty good place to mention it again. No long quotes, you can look it up for yourselves, but as much as Paul in places emphasizes the uniqueness of his call and the way he received the message, in the end there is nothing particularly unique about the essence of the Gospel he’s preaching. The 1^st generation missionary efforts to the Jews entailed the Gospel message that salvation came by grace through faith in their Messiah—Jesus of Nazareth. This is the same Gospel message that Paul preached to the Gentiles; salvation came by grace through faith in the Messiah—Jesus of Nazareth. As we seek to differentiate Paul from those who would come along later and claim special revelation, it is very important to remind ourselves that The Church (including the most respected ‘pillar apostles’ of the day) put their stamp of approval on Paul’s message and efforts. They saw complete compatibility between what they were doing among Jewish people and what he was doing among the Gentiles. The same can obviously not be said for those who came along much later.

            On to the main gist of the passage… I think we can key in on the last 2 verses: 23 They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy." 24 And they praised God because of me. There’s a real strong “Amazing grace that saved a wretch like me” thread going through this passage. It should have the impact of making us marvel at God’s choices. When Al Davis, managing general partner of the Oakland Raiders, spent a 1^st round draft pick on punter Ray Guy in the 1973 draft—to hear him tell the story—everyone thought he had flipped his lid. First round draft picks are for quarterbacks, or running backs or **maybe a great defensive lineman. You don’t waste a first round pick on somebody who spends most of the game sitting on the bench. But Davis was a true visionary, and Ray Guy was …by the standards of the day…practically from another planet. He could punt the ball 50yards! Nobody could do that. He was the ultimate defensive weapon, often pinning an opponent deep in their own territory, and allowing Oakland to get the ball back. A strange choice turned out to be shear genius.

            Something like that could also be said about God’s choice in Paul. The greatest enemy the infant church had became its greatest friend; the infant church’s greatest source of persecution became its first and greatest theologian. No one saw it coming. No one could’ve predicted it.

            And God still works in ways like that. People we think are utterly hopeless are not so in God’s eyes. When we’re ready to write someone off, let’s remember the strange choice of God in calling Paul to be an apostle. His grace really is THAT AMAZING.

Cheers,

TM