One of the most important things we
learn in Seminary is that each book of the bible must be taken on its own
merit. Meaning that it is not a good idea to use one text to prove another, or
use one to justify another; but, I think with today’s readings there may need
to be an exception. This is week two of our series on change and today we have
a change of Habit. How fitting for this to be the topic. It is Lent and it is a
time of reflection and changing the way we think about our lives and some
behaviors. So, I am going to share one of these with you. It is a very personal
type of change. It is the change in eating habits.
I have been trying to eat better
over the last several months. You might want to call it dieting, but I would
rather call it “trying to make better choices when I eat. We joined Lock Farm’s
CSA last year and we are doing it again this year. I don’t know if any of you
have tried it before, but it is not easy. Now, I know it is not specifically
mentioned here in Galatians but I do believe it is listed. While eating some
foods that you know are bad foods is not listed along with idolatry and
licentiousness, it may be under that catch all phrase “and the like;” For me,
at least.
I think it is also important to know
why Paul is writing this letter to the Galatians. Paul spent a lot of time in
Galatia. He took the time to build relationships with the people. He witnessed
how God has been active in his life and helped others to see how God has been
active in their lives. I am confident that he told his story of how God called
him to preach and teach about Jesus; you know the story, when he was on the
road and his name was Saul, the cloud came up and knocked him off his horse and
he heard the voice of God say to him, “Saul, Saul why do you persecute me?” He
told the story of how from that time on, he was known as Paul and that God
called him to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ; he was called to a life
of witness rather than persecution.
What
happened next is that it was time for Paul to move on. God called him on to the
next place to build and teach about God. As soon as he left some other people
claiming to be religious and righteous came into the region and began to tell
the people that Paul didn’t know what he was talking about. They told the
people that they had the answers and everything that Paul said was not true.
They started undoing everything that Paul had spent time building up. It is
clear by this portion of the letter that the people must have been saying that
it is okay to build idols, it is okay to do all these things that are flesh
driven. Meaning drink as much as you want, get angry, fight…do whatever you
want because you can. So, Paul wrote this letter saying that it is not okay to
do whatever you want if you want to follow Jesus Christ.
How do we know this? Because Jesus
never said it was okay to do all these things. He didn’t “drink till ya drop,
do whatever you want because it is your flesh, or hey don’t believe my dad
cause he is just being a Father!” I mean, I have never seen that in any Gospel
that I have read.
Instead, Paul is using what he knows
about Jesus to tell the Galatians something that he most likely taught them
when he was with them. As a witness the Good News of Jesus Christ, Paul knows
that Jesus was born, not of the flesh but that Jesus was born of the Spirit.
Paul knew that in the waters of Baptism that the Holy Spirit rested on Jesus.
Jesus was filled by the Holy Spirit from that moment on. He, Paul, knew that
there were many gifts that the Holy Spirit gave to Jesus Christ. He heard it
through story and he witnessed it in his own life.
So what are these gifts that Jesus
was given: They were the gifts of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Paul was a witness to all of these; either through learning or personally
experiencing it through his own conversion and being a messenger for God. Paul
is telling the Galatians that there is a base of information and knowledge to
know what it means to know …Jesus and follow Jesus. Paul knows that Jesus laid
a foundation for what it meant to live a righteous life. Through Jesus example
of living out all these gifts or fruits of the Spirit; love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control that this is the very foundation of
faith. It is the bedrock…you know that very first layer of building material
that goes down to strengthen any structure; to make that structure strong and
sturdy so that it can survive almost anything. It is that deeply laid
foundation that gives people strength.
There
is only one difference though. This bedrock of a foundation that is laid is
given to us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Holy
Spirit is in Christ Jesus all through his life and it is displayed and lived
out through him so that we can see these fruits of God’s Holy Spirit; So that,
we know that when we are baptized those same fruits of the Holy Spirit are
poured, through the water and the Word, into our hearts, minds, and body. They
are in us just waiting for us to bring all those out; so that we can live out
our lives using these fruits that God has given us. It is true that we need
people to teach us as we grow how to use these fruits: and we do, from family
friends, and numerous people in our lives…but, our greatest teacher in how to
use these gifts is God’s only Son, Jesus Christ.
Paul
is telling us, I believe, what Jesus is saying in our Gospel of Luke. He is
telling the people of Galatia that the strong foundation that Jesus tells of in
Luke is the foundation that the Holy Spirit of God gives us. Jesus tells us
that when we live our lives with the gifts and act out the gifts of love,
patience, peace, generosity, faithfulness and self-control, and the others that
are mentioned then we have set a foundation in our lives that nothing can wash
away. That is the difference between the bedrock of a house and the bedrock of
our faith in Jesus Christ; Living our lives and disciples of Christ and
practicing the patience, and love and faith that Jesus calls us to live means
that no floods, fires, or anything can destroy that: Not one thing can destroy
that and that, Brothers and Sisters in Christ, is something that you can bank
on because God’s Words are true and everlasting.
Well,
that is all well and fine but we are human. We are made of flesh and bones.
There are times, opportunities, and even people that may want us to worry more
about the flesh than the Spirit. We ourselves might want to be in control of
our own lives or decide “we know what is best.” We, too, can be weak and think
that our actions are something we can seek forgiveness for later. When we try
to make decisions to eat better or healthier, our willpower to give in to any
type of food that is comfort food can cause us to give in because we are human
and we make mistakes.
Paul
is telling us all not to give up. Paul is telling the people of Galatia to get
back on the wagon of faith and trust in God. Paul knows that we are all weak.
He realized his own weakness at his conversion and he knows that we all…not
just the Galatians are subject to moments of weakness. Jesus knows this as
well. Jesus tells us to act on His Words. He is telling us all that he knows we
are weak and that we don’t always listen to the Word of God. Jesus also tells
us that it is not too late. He does not say, “You didn’t listen so you are all
condemned.” In fact, the regular reading for today would have been the famous
passage “God so loved the world that he sent his only Son. Not to condemn the
world but so that the world might be saved (John 3:16-17).”
There
is time to act on God’s word to love, practice patience, self-control,
generosity, faithfulness, peace, and joy. These are the bedrock items that hold
us together, bind us, and bond us together as the children of God….Thanks be to
God: AMEN!
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