Rev. Will Rice
Grace United Methodist Church
Corpus Christi, TX
pastorwillrice@gmail.com
Galatians 2:1-14
“No Fighting in the Backseat”
We are on the second week of our summer road trip through Paul’s letter to the Galatians. We spent the first week of our trip just sort of figuring out the map. I mentioned last week that my family and I took a lot of car trips when I was young. Picture that there were six of us driving 1300 miles each way in an Oldsmobile station wagon, with no air-conditioning. Nearly every trip started off well. In fact, it was kind of fun all being together sharing a sort of adventure. Sometimes even the whole first day went really well. Now we weren’t a rich family. So at the end of the first day of this multi-day trip, we did not pull oFf the interstate, have a nice sit-down meal and settle into a Holiday Inn. No, we drove most of the night and slept in the car.
So, on day two, things got a little, rough. “Mom! His leg is touching mine.” “Dad! It’s my turn to sit by the window.” “I don’t have enough room.” “Move over!” “Give me my pretzels.” “Roll down the window!” “Quit breathing on me!” And it usually only got worse.
This may be an odd way to start a sermon, because we all know that Christians could never be accused of any sort of childish petty bickering.
For good or for bad, Christians have been arguing in one form or another since just about five minutes after Jesus ascended into heaven. Now as a representative of the institutional church, I should say, we aren’t arguing, we are debating doctrinal differences or working to clarify our core beliefs. Much like I would talk to my sister Julie in the back seat clarifying my core belief that it was my turn to sit by the window.
The section of Paul’s letter to the Galatians that we are looking at today represents what may have been the first, major, official argument in the life of the young Christian church. Historically, it is known as the Jerusalem Council. It took place around 48 AD and we read about it here, in Galatians and also in the Book of Acts, chapter 15.
2Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me.
Paul is in the midst of telling us about his faith journey and his journey as an apostle. But he leaves out a little time, fourteen years.
Let me bring you up to speed on what we talked about last week and the part we skipped. In other words, “Previously on The Adventures of Paul and the Galatians:” We have Paul, who used to be named Saul, who used to persecute Christians until he had this amazing encounter with the risen Christ. Paul was immediately called into the ministry of spreading the good news, or Gospel of Jesus, mostly to those outside of the Jewish faith, whom scripture refers to as the gentiles. One of the gentile groups he spreads the good news to is the Galatians whom this letter is a addressed to.
If you were here last week, you may remember that these Galatians lived way up in the northern part of the Roman Empire, so they were not Jewish. So, he is trying to convince them, right from the beginning of his letter, that he is sent, with the good news of Jesus, not from the Jewish authorities, but straight from God in Jesus Christ.
1Paul an apostle—sent neither by human commission nor from human authorities, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—
And why is it so important where his Gospel comes from, because there are some people who have come to the Galatian churches trying to sell them on a different version of the gospel. In the first chapter he writes.
6I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—
He wants them to know his gospel comes from Jesus and hasn’t been influenced by anyone else.
17nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus.
He is trying to reinforce that his version of the Gospel comes straight from Jesus Christ, but he does admit he eventually made contact with the church in Jerusalem.
18Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days; 19but I did not see any other apostle except James the Lord’s brother.
What he did during those three years, I am not sure, but then he goes and sees Cephas, who we know as Peter. They “why” of why we aren’t just calling him Peter is beyond the scope of this sermon, but for know just hear that as Peter.
We might wonder why Paul, if we wanted to show that his gospel came straight from Jesus Christ would even tell the Galatians he went to the Jerusalem church. If we think about it, even though Paul wanted them to know his authority came from Jesus, he still wanted to show that he and thereby the Galatian Christians were all part of the same church of Jesus Christ.
And here is what happened for the next fourteen years:
21Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, 22and I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea that are in Christ; 23they only heard it said, “The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24And they glorified God because of me.
If you want more details check out Acts chapters 11, 13 and 15.
2Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2I went up in response to a revelation.
Paul wants to let you know that he wasn’t summoned, he wasn’t be called on the carpet by the big shots in Jerusalem. He had a revelation from God that caused him to go.
He was going to the Jerusalem Council, the first sort of “come to Jesus meeting” in the history of the Christian Church, their first official argument. Fortunately or unfortunately, there is another account of this in the Book of Acts. What is interesting is that there are some differences. Paul says:
2I went up in response to a revelation.
Acts says:
1Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders.
It seems from this perspective, he still wasn’t summoned, but he was appointed to go and have a little debate. Back to Galatians:
Then I laid before them (though only in a private meeting with the acknowledged leaders) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure that I was not running, or had not run, in vain.
It seems that Paul may have delivered a sermon to the leaders of the church there in Jerusalem laying out the good news as he had been presenting it in his ministry.
in order to make sure that I was not running, or had not run, in vain.
That is an interesting line. The picture I have of Paul from scripture is this incredibly brash, self-confident man who truly believed that he had gotten his understanding of the good news of Christ right from Christ himself. That line makes it sound like that he was seeking their approval and if they hadn’t given it, he may have changed his gospel. Not likely!
10Am I now seeking human approval, or God’s approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ. . 11For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; 12for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
Back to today’s text
4But because of false believers secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might enslave us—
This is starting to sound like and episode of 24, there are spies in the room now, spies who are trying to mess with Paul, but it doesn’t work.
5we did not submit to them even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might always remain with you. 6And from those who were supposed to be acknowledged leaders (what they actually were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality) —those leaders contributed nothing to me.
Paul is telling the Galatians that his version of the Gospel, which he got right from Jesus Christ, is right on.
7On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel for the circumcised.
Without getting too explicit, let me just say this. Whenever you read uncircumcised in Galatians think, non-Jewish, gentile. When you read circumcised, think Jewish. Here is why it matters. Paul is writing this letter because the Galatians are being led astray by some teachers who disagree with Paul on a fundamental thing. Paul told the Galatians, “It is your faith in Jesus Christ that puts you right with God.” It seems the teachers are saying, “It is the Law of God that puts your right with God.” According to the Jews the way you entered into following the law was circumcision. And that is what is behind the argument of the Jerusalem Council. The institutional church was deciding what would be required to be a Christian. Would someone who wasn’t Jewish basically need to become Jewish and follow the Jewish laws before they could become Christian?
According to Paul, here is how it works out:
When James and Cephas and John, who were acknowledged pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10They asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was eager to do.
So Paul, in his Jerusalem meeting has worked out an arrangement. The folks in Jerusalem would keep preaching the Gospel to the Jews and Paul would keep preaching his Gospel to the gentiles, preaching the grace of God, no strings attached. End of story. Not quite.
Unfortunately, this part is a little different in Acts. To review the outcome in the version Paul tells in Galatians, Paul presents his version of the Gospel which we know to say that you are made right with God through faith, not through following the law. No strings attached, just remember the poor.
Here is how it ends up in Acts 15. James says:
19Therefore I have reached the decision that we should not trouble those Gentiles who are turning to God, 20but we should write to them to abstain only from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from whatever has been strangled* and from blood.
This seems like a minor difference, but let me try to put it all together and make it clear:
Paul, in Galatians, says the Jerusalem council approved of his gospel which said, “You are made right with God through believing in Jesus Christ. (period)”
Acts says that the Jerusalem council approved of Paul’s gospel which said, “You are made right with God through believing in Jesus Christ,” but you should abstain from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from whatever has been strangled and from blood.
Don’t worry too much right now about the “things polluted by idols, and the strangled stuff and the blood.” Suffice it to say these all are parts of the Jewish law, the law that Paul was saying you do not need to keep to be made right with God. We are going to spend more time next week thinking about what this all means, but for right now, let me ask you, when we talk about our faith, when we think about our faith, is it “Your faith in Jesus Christ is what puts you in right relationship with God.” or is it “Your faith in Jesus Christ is what puts you in right relationship with God, but…”
Really, think about it. In your mind, is their any sort of prerequisite to receiving the forgiving, transforming, grace of God? If having faith is what makes you right with God, is there anything else you have to do? Do you have to act a certain way? Is any behavior prohibited?
Really push yourself on this. Just about anyone could walk through our doors and we would accept them into our community, but is there someone who, in your mind, wouldn’t be accepted, even if they said, they believed in Jesus Christ?
What about a man in woman’s clothing? What if the person was drunk or high? What if they had a tattoo… on their forehead… of the devil? What if they announced they were gay? What if they hated America?
Now, even if you are saying, with a little discomfort, ok, “I would accept any of those if they said they had faith in Jesus Christ” what do you think the perception is? Do you think any of those people, upon finding faith in Jesus Christ would feel like they would be accepted here?
Let me give you the bad news: some of the people who most need to accept the forgiving, redeeming, life-transforming grace of God hold the perception that Christians won’t accept them. That’s because, as Christians, we only have so much control over the message.
There are people out there who present the message of Christianity as legalistic, intolerant, hypocritical and downright mean.[1] That’s the bad news, the perception. Here is the good news, the reality. God loves everybody. God is not always pleased with our behavior and God may work in our lives to change us. If someone is a murderer and accepts the grace of Christ, we are going to have to trust that God is going to help them not to murder. However we believe that the only thing necessary for salvation, the only thing necessary to be put into right relationship with God is faith. Period.
So here is our task. We have to let people know that. We have to overcome the loud voices that say Christianity is about manners and morals and judgement and say in an even louder voice, “Christianity is about grace!” And in order to do that, we have to get that idea very clear in our heads.
So here is your assignment this week: Do something to change someone’s perception. Everybody by now has a friend who doesn’t believe or has completely fallen away from the faith, right? If not, please remember that it is pretty hard to spread the good news of Christ when you are completely surrounded by people who already know about it.
Within nearly everyone’s workplace or extended group of friends or family is someone who is very much turned off of Christianity, very often because they have encountered it as judgmental and moralistic and condemning. Is there something you can do or say to begin to change their perception?
Maybe its time to interject a different viewpoint into a conversation. Maybe it is time to start a conversation of your own. Maybe it is time to just be an exceptionally caring individual who makes it clear that you place grace ahead of judgement.
Let me know how it goes.
[1] During the sermon, I projected some images of protestors from Westboro Baptist Church who have taken it upon themselves to spread their message of intolerance at the funerals of servicemen killed in Iraq. If you would like to see some of these images, go to www.google.com/images and enter “Westboro Baptist Church.” I will warn you that some of these images are more hateful that the ones I displayed in worship.
