Galatians 3:23-29
Before the coming of this faith (through Jesus), we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Last week we discussed the central issue in Paul’s letter to the various Galatian communities, which is Inclusiveness vs. Exclusiveness – specifically, whether or not Gentiles could be included as followers of The Way without converting first to Judaism.
Paul made a compelling argument that the invitation is open to all, and within the context of this argument introduced themes that will be major topics, not only throughout Paul’s teachings, but the whole formation of Christianity itself. A warning, here: this is going to be a very personalized message today. Normally I try not to insert my own self into my sermons too much, but this one is going to be pretty much “me” speaking.
Justification – Law – Faith – Grace – Works. We’ve heard these words from scripture all our lives – and they are usually ‘capitalized’ when spoken or written about. They are Important Concepts, Big Thoughts – the basic blocks of Christian theology. Western Christianized thinking has shaped so much of the wider world’s thought that even non-Christians can’t escape them.
Here’s my “truth in advertising” moment – generally speaking, I find theology to be stunningly boring. Not only boring, but too often it feels like only a way to avoid looking at what Jesus told us and then actually having to do it. Things like this bit from Matthew 25:
Paul made a compelling argument that the invitation is open to all, and within the context of this argument introduced themes that will be major topics, not only throughout Paul’s teachings, but the whole formation of Christianity itself. A warning, here: this is going to be a very personalized message today. Normally I try not to insert my own self into my sermons too much, but this one is going to be pretty much “me” speaking.
Justification – Law – Faith – Grace – Works. We’ve heard these words from scripture all our lives – and they are usually ‘capitalized’ when spoken or written about. They are Important Concepts, Big Thoughts – the basic blocks of Christian theology. Western Christianized thinking has shaped so much of the wider world’s thought that even non-Christians can’t escape them.
Here’s my “truth in advertising” moment – generally speaking, I find theology to be stunningly boring. Not only boring, but too often it feels like only a way to avoid looking at what Jesus told us and then actually having to do it. Things like this bit from Matthew 25:
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.
We – all of us – have a very human tendency to focus tightly in on the how-to of Jesus’ teachings rather than the what and why of them. We can argue for days about how best to go about feeding the hungry – how much and how often -- and end up never lessening anyone’s hunger.
I’m telling you my prejudice here, not in any demand that you agree with me, but simply so you will know where I’m coming from.
The teachings we have had passed down to us through the centuries as coming from Jesus himself are never ambiguous – they don’t require a lot of unpacking. Things like “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
Things like “Blessed are the merciful – blessed are the meek – blessed are the peacemakers.” These are all pretty clear. They are hard to misinterpret.
What is hard about them is breaking through our own egos and doing them when we would much rather not. We would rather argue about what they really mean and how far we need to go with them to be within God’s approval zone. Love your neighbor as you love yourself, is a beautiful spiritual thought, and not too hard when we’re around people we like, but it can be a real zinger when it hits us that Jesus really means it – even with people we would so much rather despise.
Paul never met a theological argument he didn’t love. Neither, it would seem, did the teachers of Jewish Law from the Hebrew Scriptures. The simple Old Testament command to Keep the Sabbath Holy, over time, devolved into a veritable cottage industry of minutiae about how many steps one could work and whether something could be picked up if you dropped it and on and on – rather than simply taking a day to notice God’s blessings and give thanks for them. Remember, too, that Paul was taught as a Pharisee – the lawyers of the Jewish faith.
Most of what Paul says in this letter is perfectly true but he dresses it up in so many unnecessary words that it can get lost. Worse, the church has, through time, focused so much attention on the words that they have become idols in and of themselves. Justification – Law – Faith – Works – Grace ... we’ve given the words themselves such weight that we seem to have lost their original meaning and intention.
Jesus’ teachings are very clear, but they are often uncomfortable. We’d love to find a loophole. I do believe that Paul saw it as simply as I do but – as I said, he was a lawyer – he couldn’t allow things to be that simple and I believe that has led Christianity to some unfortunate places.
Take, for instance, that word justification. Most of modern Christianity is built around that word. At its simplest, it means that we are born flawed and we need to be saved from our sinful human nature. The whole concept of Substitutionary Atonement means that we are so awful that Jesus had to die to save us from God’s wrath – or something.
BUT – how can I be that flawed if God made me? I find all Paul’s theologizing about justification to be pointless because I don’t believe I need to be justified. I don’t believe any of you need to be justified. God brought us into being and I happen to believe God is clever enough to know what they were doing when they did so.
Oh sure, I can be a jerk at times, but I’m pretty sure God knows that and loves me anyway. I try not to be a jerk because when I do, I am damaging rather than building of God’s world here and now. I try to love others because loving is better than hating. I strive to do the things Jesus taught us. Some days I do a good job, some days – not so good– but I keep trying because God loves me and I love God. And when I mess up I say I’m sorry and God says, that’s OK – just try to do better next time.
If I believed in a God who says, because you screwed up, somebody must die to appease my wrath! I would run as far and fast as I could away from that God. I certainly wouldn’t be here worshiping that God.
Nitpicking the hows and whys of Jesus’ teachings leads to a totally nonsensical argument to my way of thinking. So very much of modern Christian faith – especially as practiced by the Evangelical right is based in a frantic scramble to do things the right way and thereby earn one’s way into heaven by not doing anything to deserve God’s wrathful punishments.
Or - what's even worse - spending one's life (and taking some unholy glee) in putting God's wrath onto others.
I find that very sad – and I pray for the day that all God’s children recognize and accept that they are loved – and that’s all the justification we need. There is always more than enough love to go around. After all, as Paul will later write so beautifully to the Jesus community in Rome: Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord -- nothing – NOTHING -- not even ourselves.
Amen.
I’m telling you my prejudice here, not in any demand that you agree with me, but simply so you will know where I’m coming from.
The teachings we have had passed down to us through the centuries as coming from Jesus himself are never ambiguous – they don’t require a lot of unpacking. Things like “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
Things like “Blessed are the merciful – blessed are the meek – blessed are the peacemakers.” These are all pretty clear. They are hard to misinterpret.
What is hard about them is breaking through our own egos and doing them when we would much rather not. We would rather argue about what they really mean and how far we need to go with them to be within God’s approval zone. Love your neighbor as you love yourself, is a beautiful spiritual thought, and not too hard when we’re around people we like, but it can be a real zinger when it hits us that Jesus really means it – even with people we would so much rather despise.
Paul never met a theological argument he didn’t love. Neither, it would seem, did the teachers of Jewish Law from the Hebrew Scriptures. The simple Old Testament command to Keep the Sabbath Holy, over time, devolved into a veritable cottage industry of minutiae about how many steps one could work and whether something could be picked up if you dropped it and on and on – rather than simply taking a day to notice God’s blessings and give thanks for them. Remember, too, that Paul was taught as a Pharisee – the lawyers of the Jewish faith.
Most of what Paul says in this letter is perfectly true but he dresses it up in so many unnecessary words that it can get lost. Worse, the church has, through time, focused so much attention on the words that they have become idols in and of themselves. Justification – Law – Faith – Works – Grace ... we’ve given the words themselves such weight that we seem to have lost their original meaning and intention.
Jesus’ teachings are very clear, but they are often uncomfortable. We’d love to find a loophole. I do believe that Paul saw it as simply as I do but – as I said, he was a lawyer – he couldn’t allow things to be that simple and I believe that has led Christianity to some unfortunate places.
Take, for instance, that word justification. Most of modern Christianity is built around that word. At its simplest, it means that we are born flawed and we need to be saved from our sinful human nature. The whole concept of Substitutionary Atonement means that we are so awful that Jesus had to die to save us from God’s wrath – or something.
BUT – how can I be that flawed if God made me? I find all Paul’s theologizing about justification to be pointless because I don’t believe I need to be justified. I don’t believe any of you need to be justified. God brought us into being and I happen to believe God is clever enough to know what they were doing when they did so.
Oh sure, I can be a jerk at times, but I’m pretty sure God knows that and loves me anyway. I try not to be a jerk because when I do, I am damaging rather than building of God’s world here and now. I try to love others because loving is better than hating. I strive to do the things Jesus taught us. Some days I do a good job, some days – not so good– but I keep trying because God loves me and I love God. And when I mess up I say I’m sorry and God says, that’s OK – just try to do better next time.
If I believed in a God who says, because you screwed up, somebody must die to appease my wrath! I would run as far and fast as I could away from that God. I certainly wouldn’t be here worshiping that God.
Nitpicking the hows and whys of Jesus’ teachings leads to a totally nonsensical argument to my way of thinking. So very much of modern Christian faith – especially as practiced by the Evangelical right is based in a frantic scramble to do things the right way and thereby earn one’s way into heaven by not doing anything to deserve God’s wrathful punishments.
Or - what's even worse - spending one's life (and taking some unholy glee) in putting God's wrath onto others.
I find that very sad – and I pray for the day that all God’s children recognize and accept that they are loved – and that’s all the justification we need. There is always more than enough love to go around. After all, as Paul will later write so beautifully to the Jesus community in Rome: Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord -- nothing – NOTHING -- not even ourselves.
Amen.
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