Standing strong

Galatians 2

This week we carry on with chapter 2 of Paul’s letter to the Galatians.

The theme is standing strong.

To stand strong,
to stand tall you need to know what your calling is.

Others will try and tell you at times what it is,
or what it is not,
but only God can tell you.

And when we receive that call,
if we choose to move into it,
then God’s Spirit will faithfully journey into it with us.

Paul had received his call,
and when people criticised him he had to stand up to people and say:
“well actually this is what I will do.”

This has been a roller coaster of a week for me,
I have been to a leadership day at Crossroads Presbyterian Church in Mangatangi,
and the Healing Rooms training that we had here yesterday.

There has been much in these two events which has been of God,
and been really good.

And as you open yourself to different things,
it is easy in the hype to get drawn into someone else’s ideas.

These have been two days which have clearly affirmed my call for me,
both to the work and vocation of being a deacon and a priest,
and my call here to Papakura Anglican.

So while I have been open,
I have also chosen to re-affirm my callings to be a priest and to be here.

One might at times think that priests like myself are un-shakable,
but you get tempted as much by others as you do.

When new ideas come your way,
or old arguments are raised,
you re-enter the process of discovery, discernment and decision-making.

And so you evaluate what is before you,
and discern is this of God,
and if it is of God, is it for me?

Because often the things that we need to consider,
aren’t necessarily right or wrong,
they are just perspectives.

And it was this that Paul was dealing with.

Circumcision that he was arguing with the Galatians over wasn’t right or wrong,
he wasn’t saying you couldn’t be circumcised,
he was simply saying that it was nolonger necessary to be part of God’s family.

Paul’s perspective was that our entry point into God’s family,
into God’s covennant was through the death and resurection of Jesus,
and accepting this is a faith moment, and an ongoing decision for us.

It is not a flesh decision,
a decision made for us by others.

Being circumcised does not admit us into God’s covenant brought in by Jesus.
And in a similar vain, not-being circumcised does not bar us from God’s covenant in Jesus.

This was a culture shock for the Galatians though.

They were used to everyone being circumcised,
as you were admitted as a baby at age 8 days of age when you were circumcised.

The problem as it turns out wasn’t over circumcision and uncircumcision,
rather it was the problem of a group of people stuck in their ways,
that had not carried out God’s call on their lives before the time of Jesus in the way God wanted them to.

The Jewish people were meant to be a light to the nations,
a light to draw all people to God.

This would naturally mean that there would be un-circumcised people coming to God through them.

But they either ignored, minimised or forgot that call.

Now in the time of Paul the problem was that they were carrying out God’s call,
and it brought all kinds of problems to their old comfortable ways and life.

All of a sudden Israel and places like it, and the Jewish people were a light to the nations of the world.

Now that people like Paul were doing what they had ALWAYS been called to, of being a light
the problems of living that covenant were surfacing.

Paul was clear that his call was to the gentiles, to the non-Jewish people,
but the pressure was coming on him and those coming to God through the ministry of Paul,
to essentially grow up,
and become people of the covenant of the flesh,
to become people of circumcision,
those who some considered to be God’s only people.

This group of vocal people were saying that to be a full member of the family of God,
you needed to be circumcised.

And it was a persuasive argument.

But Paul stood strong,
he affirmed that this was the same God, from, yesterday, today and tomorrow,
but the old rules didn’t apply to the new converts.

And the established people said, but that’s not cricket,
we can’t have these new rogues coming in and changing the rules.

Paul has integrity though,
he does not deviate from his call, he simply says: “this will not save you.”
He says: “No one can please God by simply obeying the Law.”

The argument it turns out is what will save someone?

Is it a faith decision,
or is it a physical flesh decision?

Paul says, stand strong in your faith as we did.

“We went there because of those who pretended to be followers and had sneaked in among us as spies. They had come to take away the freedom that Christ Jesus had given us, and they were trying to make us their slaves. 5 But we wanted you to have the true message. That’s why we didn’t give in to them, not even for a second.” Gal 2:4-5

And the problems Paul faced went deeper than just circumcision.

There were arguments over food,
and who could eat with each other,
who was allowed at the meal of the followers and who wasn’t.

As you explore the history you come upon a phrase called “Table fellowship” and this is a phrase,
and a struggle from those early days,
over who was allowed in and who was not.

Could you for example sit down and have a meal with those you disagreed with?

And here is the challenge,
if you can’t,
if you can’t sit down with those you disagree with and have a simple meal,
then you are not ready for God’s Kingdom.

And that was something of the argument that was playing out in today’s Gospel reading,
once again,
who is suitable to be at dinner?

Both Jesus and Paul show us
that if you can’t sit down with those you disagree with and have a simple meal,
then you are not ready for God’s Kingdom.

Because God’s Kingdom in its fullness is not going to be just me, and those I agree with,
it will be those I don’t agree with too.

Diversity

A principle to take away from today’s reading is diversity,
the table of God will have those you don’t like sitting at it,
so you better get used to it.

Paul reminds us that we are saved by the undeserved favour of God towards us,
or what we often call grace.

Just as it is grace that draws us in to God,
it is grace that keeps us at the table of God.

In that we need to extend grace to those at the table,
so they and we can stay there.

Grace

Paul is laying out for the Galatian’s that a key principle at work is that of grace.

We come back then to the principle too that we are saved through faith in Jesus,
not through our own effort or actions.

Table of grace

Our legalism,
our following of the rules will not save us,
all that will save us is a submitting to God’s call to the table of God,
and to God’s Kingdom.

This invitation comes via grace;
and we stay at the table through living grace.

We need to think then,
before we have an argument,
will this help us stay at the table together,
or will it drive a wedge between us and slowly drive us away or apart?

So before we get into an argument,
we really have to weigh up, is this critically important to who I am?

Or will it just distract from what God is calling me to?

The challenge Paul is issuing to the Galatian’s,
and to us is: “is this important?”

And when we reflect on the things we argue about,
if we sit down and honestly reflect,
we often find that it is not.

This week before you quarrel,
before you argue,
ask yourself: “Is this important?”

Summary

This week then we hear we are saved by faith not through our actions or the flesh.

We are acceptable through grace not our own effort.

In God’s Kingdom, at God’s table, we have table fellowship, with those who are different to us.

We are reminded to only argue when something is really important,
and pray about it first,
sleep on it and see if it really requires the energy you are about to put into the argument.

Revd Dion J. Blundell 2012 (Distributed under Creative Commons agreement CC [BY-SA])

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 New Zealand License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/nz/

Let us pray: God, grace and peace,
who calmed the storm.

Calm the storms of our life and our church,
that we may focus on your love, your call, and you mission in the world.

Remind us we are saved through grace and faith, not our own actions.

May you draw Papakura together, and us to you Amen.

(cc) by: Revd Dion J. Blundell 2012

Luke 7:36-8:3 (CEV)

Simon the Pharisee

A Pharisee invited Jesus to have dinner with him. So Jesus went to the Pharisee’s home and got ready to eat.[a]

When a sinful woman in that town found out that Jesus was there, she bought an expensive bottle of perfume. Then she came and stood behind Jesus. She cried and started washing his feet with her tears and drying them with her hair. The woman kissed his feet and poured the perfume on them.

The Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this and said to himself, “If this man really were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him! He would know that she is a sinner.”

Jesus said to the Pharisee, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”

“Teacher, what is it?” Simon replied.

Jesus told him, “Two people were in debt to a moneylender. One of them owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other owed him fifty. Since neither of them could pay him back, the moneylender said that they didn’t have to pay him anything. Which one of them will like him more?”

Simon answered, “I suppose it would be the one who had owed more and didn’t have to pay it back.”

“You are right,” Jesus said.

He turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Have you noticed this woman? When I came into your home, you didn’t give me any water so I could wash my feet. But she has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You didn’t even pour olive oil on my head,[b] but she has poured expensive perfume on my feet. So I tell you that all her sins are forgiven, and that is why she has shown great love. But anyone who has been forgiven for only a little will show only a little love.”

Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Some other guests started saying to one another, “Who is this who dares to forgive sins?”
But Jesus told the woman, “Because of your faith, you are now saved.[c] May God give you peace!”

Women Who Helped Jesus

Soon after this, Jesus was going through towns and villages, telling the good news about God’s kingdom. His twelve apostles were with him, and so were some women who had been healed of evil spirits and all sorts of diseases. One of the women was Mary Magdalene,[d] who once had seven demons in her. Joanna, Susanna, and many others had also used what they owned to help Jesus[e] and his disciples. Joanna’s husband Chuza was one of Herod’s officials.[f]

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Galatians 2 Fourteen years later I went to Jerusalem with Barnabas. I also took along Titus. 2 But I went there because God had told me to go, and I explained the good news that I had been preaching to the Gentiles. Then I met privately with the ones who seemed to be the most important leaders. I wanted to make sure that my work in the past and my future work would not be for nothing.

3 Titus went to Jerusalem with me. He was a Greek, but still he wasn’t forced to be circumcised. 4 We went there because of those who pretended to be followers and had sneaked in among us as spies. They had come to take away the freedom that Christ Jesus had given us, and they were trying to make us their slaves. 5 But we wanted you to have the true message. That’s why we didn’t give in to them, not even for a second.

6 Some of them were supposed to be important leaders, but I didn’t care who they were. God doesn’t have any favorites! None of these so-called special leaders added anything to my message. 7 They realized that God had sent me with the good news for Gentiles, and that he had sent Peter with the same message for Jews. 8 God, who had sent Peter on a mission to the Jews, was now using me to preach to the Gentiles.

9 James, Peter, [a] and John realized that God had given me the message about his undeserved kindness. And these men are supposed to be the backbone of the church. They even gave Barnabas and me a friendly handshake. This was to show that we would work with Gentiles and that they would work with Jews. 10 They only asked us to remember the poor, and that was something I had always been eager to do.

Paul Corrects Peter at Antioch

11 When Peter came to Antioch, I told him face to face that he was wrong. 12 He used to eat with Gentile followers of the Lord, until James sent some Jewish followers. Peter was afraid of the Jews and soon stopped eating with Gentiles. 13 He and the other Jews hid their true feelings so well that even Barnabas was fooled. 14 But when I saw that they were not really obeying the truth that is in the good news, I corrected Peter in front of everyone and said:

Peter, you are a Jew, but you live like a Gentile. So how can you force Gentiles to live like Jews?

15 We are Jews by birth and are not sinners like Gentiles. 16 But we know that God accepts only those who have faith in Jesus Christ. No one can please God by simply obeying the Law. So we put our faith in Christ Jesus, and God accepted us because of our faith.

17 When we Jews started looking for a way to please God, we discovered that we are sinners too. Does this mean that Christ is the one who makes us sinners? No, it doesn’t! 18 But if I tear down something and then build it again, I prove that I was wrong at first. 19 It was the Law itself that killed me and freed me from its power, so that I could live for God.

I have been nailed to the cross with Christ. 20 I have died, but Christ lives in me. And I now live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me. 21 I don’t turn my back on God’s undeserved kindness. If we can be acceptable to God by obeying the Law, it was useless for Christ to die.