March 3, 2025: Monday Bible Study on Paul’s letter to the Galatians 5:7-12
On this cool desert morning may our Lord Jesus Christ surround you with love and peace.
Yesterday we had a really good Gospel Music Sunday with a Spring Salad Luncheon afterward. Attendance is up, and I hope that means for you if you are not attending, you will commit to getting out to worship on Sunday mornings. This Sunday we will have Sunday School at 9AM, Worship at 10AM, and our Church Council will meet after Church. If you are not a member of the congregation, you will consider becoming a part of our community. We believe that Christ, our Savior, means for us to be an affirming and inclusive congregation. His Love is meant for you! Belonging to a congregation is a wonderful way to find the support and encouragement that we all need in our lives today. In our prayers today we need to pray for Tricia who has test results coming back this week as she deals with breast cancer. Also pray for Teri who has another surgeon's appointment on Tuesday to determine if her hip is healing in a way that will allow for further treatment so that she is able to get out of the wheelchair she has used since the last surgery. Please also continue prayers for Brandon as he continues healing in the hospital. Please pray for Gail as she prepares for a much-needed knee replacement surgery in the middle of March. Pray too for our nation and the nations of the world to come to understand the power of loving kindness in every word and deed!
Today in Galatians 5:7-12 we move to yet another means by which Paul reaches out with strength to pull the Galatians back from the brink of listening and acting on the guidance of some unnamed person in their midst who is trying to convince them all that the men of the community must be circumcised if they hope to be Christians in a top tier of the new church. Let’s just say it plainly, Paul is really angry about all of this, not so much with the new gentile Christians, but certainly with the person or people who are causing this problem over following all of the Jewish rules for living in order to be true Christians. In this part of Paul's letter, he moves quickly from point to point as his argument against this teaching impacts these new Christians.
When I sit and watch TV in the evening, I often surf the channels between the things in which I have an interest. Last night it was the new pre-history of the Lord of the Rings, the War of the Rohirrum, an NBA basketball game that the Suns were playing, the Weather Channel, and brief pops over to the Jewelry Television channel. In each of those channels my attention is caught to bounce back to them from time to time to make certain that I am not missing anything important, especially the NBA game. It seems apparent that Paul uses this kind of quick glances method of getting the gentiles in the new church to take notice of his own teaching as opposed to that other teaching that was going on. First, Paul begins with the analogy that being a Christian is like running a race. For Paul it was great to see their beginning when they were doing so well, but now it is as if someone has gotten in their way on the track preventing them from continuing the race which lies ahead, preventing the new Christians from completing and winning that race. Next Paul switches to a more legalistic approach, like a court room. At least in the most immediate time frame, the Galatians have been convinced that there is another way to achieve their goal. This agitator in their midst has, at least for the moment, convinced them of the inadequacy of their justification through the Spirit's gift of faith, and instead worked to move them off the dime of Paul's teaching. Here, Paul is clear that this persuasion is not coming from God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ's Truth and Love. It is instead working to get them away from their initial way of seeing their relationship with the Savior, and the completeness of His action to bring to them life, forgiveness, and salvation. This first way, in Paul' eyes is the only way because it has been God Himself who has called them to faith. Next Paul's imagery jumps to the kitchen, where he lets the gentile community know that if they accept this one false teaching it will result in their being drawn away from Christ, the same as leaven in a ball of dough does. The entirety of the dough, the wholeness of their faith, would become involved. As evidenced by Paul, this would take place without the gentiles even knowing that it was happening before it was too late. Once again Paul jumps back into the court room indicating that he has personally wrestled with this whole issue, and in his own relationship with Christ, he is absolutely convinced that this troublemaker in their midst is wrong, adding that Paul is confident that the Galatian Christians will know the Truth of Christ's Light for their faith journey. Close to the end of this passage, Paul suggests that this interloper is so dangerous that perhaps this person should be castrated in addition to their circumcision. This is pretty tough language to both hear and read! However, it is an indication of Paul's anger with this whole situation. Evidently Paul saw that there were times when discipline in the Church was necessary, but I think that is secondary to the other thing we learn here. Sometimes it is best for the Church to use a wide variety of means by which to get the message of the Gospel into the world. This actually fits with the way in which learning takes place, keeping a student's attention and using varied and different means for getting the message across. That is exactly what Paul has done in this passage from his letter to the Galatian Christians.
Thank you for joining me this morning. Every day that we are met with the Living Word of Christ is good for us.
With Love in Christ, Pastor Kim
Comentários