In the weeks between Easter and Pentecost, we have been focusing on the development of the early church. As Jesus prepared to Ascend to heaven, he gave his disciples the responsibility of continuing his work on earth. The Disciples, now called Apostles, first led the Chrisitans on their own; they later appointed Deacons to help administer the food and look after the vulnerable people within the Chrisitan community. The churches and the body of Christ grew quickly….more and more people began to profess faith in Jesus and live according to his teachings. As more diverse people joined the church, there were disagreements about which Jewish practices needed to be continued by the Christians. Last week, we focused on how the Christians contended with the question of circumcision…. they decided that male Gentile converts to the faith didn’t need to be circumcised.
Despite that decision, we will read today that again and again, the question of “how Jewish” the Christians needed to be was asked repeatedly.
Let us now turn to Paul’s letter to the church of the Galatians. Paul addressed this problem in his letter. We read two portions of the letter this week: Galatians chapter one verses thirteen through seventeen and chapter two verses eleven through twenty-one. Listen now to the word of God….
The Scripture Galatians 1:13-17; 2:11-21
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 my mother’s womb 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.
11 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.
12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.
13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
15 “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles
16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.
17 “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not!
18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.
19 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Let us pray….
The Sermon Living By Faith
The Galatian converts to Christianity were Celtic people who lived in what is now Turkey. They were residents of the Roman empire and came from a polytheistic religious cultural background ... .Before they embraced Christianity, they worshiped many Gods. Their lives changed greatly when they became Christians – their religious lives, their family lives, their professional lives changed when they became Christians. Their old selves were no longer; in Christ, they were born again.
St. Paul was a profound preacher and under his leadership, many people came to Christ. He was the embodiment of a man on a mission – a mission to spread the word of God. So, after he visited the towns of Galatia and started the Christian communities there, Paul moved on to the next mission field. He made three missionary journeys through Galatia – each of those journeys were several years apart and resulted in many new people embracing Christianity as their faith.
Paul was a communicator. When he wasn’t present with the Christians in Galatia, Paul wrote them letters. In his letters, Paul consoled the Christans. He advised them about theology. He tried to settle disputes among the believers. And, he sometimes tried to correct the believers if he thought they had strayed from the true path of Christianity.
Other Christian leaders visited the new Chrsitians and churches that were founded by Christian Apostles and Evangelists like Paul. Sometimes, those other Christians disagreed with Paul. In the letter we read from this morning, Paul wrote to the churches in Galatia and told them to stop doing what some of those other Christians preached – unlike Paul, they wanted the Galatian Christians to embrace Jewish practices. Paul didn’t think they needed to do this.
Last week, we read about the Council of Jerusalem when this problem was discussed and resolved. Many scholars believe this letter from Paul was written before the Council of Jerusalem. At the Council of Jerusalem, the Apostles met and, after much discussion and debate, they decided new Christians, especially those new Christians who had formerly been Gentiles, did not have to embrace Jewish practices. They didn’t have to be circumcised. They didn’t have to avoid eating pork. They could wear clothing of mixed fibers, like a linen and cotton blend. Christians were not simultaneously Jewish and Christian. We are part of a wholly new religion and therefore do not have to practice Jewish customs or laws.
In this letter, Paul emphasized that we are saved by God’s grace. We can’t follow a bunch of rules and earn points towards our salvation. God saves us. God’s grace covers it all. And, nothing we can do is enough to earn that salvation. God saves us because God chooses to save us. God loves us because God chooses to love us. God forgives us because God chooses to forgive us. We don’t earn that love or salvation or forgiveness. It comes to us because God chooses it, not because we earn it.
Prior to Christianity, religions were much more pre-scriptive. Believers had a bunch of arbitrary rules to follow – eat this, not that – sacrifice this animal, not that animal – wash your hands following this procedure – abstain from this activity, but not that activity. It almost was like there was a behavioral chart that everyone was working on …. If you do these 5 things every day, you get a star….if you do these 5 things every day for five days in a row, you earn a piece of candy. It was like the kindergarten behavior chart but you earned points with God.
Jesus came to free us from this kind of thinking. We don’t earn points with God. God loves us, forgives us, and saves us because God wants to….because God is a loving, good God.
This doesn’t mean we should just do whatever we want. We are motivated by our appreciation of God’s love, and our desire to create healthy communities and relationships with others, to do all of those good and healthy and loving behaviors in return. Not because we are earning points, but because we believe in God’s Mission and God’s plan for the world.
So, we are motivated to do good in the world, to be kind, loving and supportive of other people because we appreciate that our God is kind, loving and supportive of us. We don’t treat others well because we are concerned God will punish us otherwise. We don’t love our God and our neighbor because we fear retribution from God. Our motivation is not punishment-based, but is love-based. God loves us and we love God and each other in return.
When Paul wrote to the Galatian Chrisitans, he wanted them to know that they didn’t have to follow Jewish laws or customs. God doesn’t judge us on a point system. But, sometimes, we still get caught up on thinking about faith as operating on a point system. God is worried about our hearts – God wants us to be inspired by our appreciation and love to live that love out in the world. We don’t need fill out a chart logging our daily good deeds or kind words — God is not keeping score. God wants us to strive to do good, to treat others with respect and love, to live out the teachings of Jesus….not because God is taking notes but because we are inspired by God’s love and grace.
Let us act with love and appreciation towards God and each other each and every day. Amen.
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