Living in Christ

 

Galatians 2:(11)15-21

June 17, 2007

Aldersgate UMC

 

I.                    Two brothers,

a.       one a minister and the other a physician,

b.      each with the appropriate doctorate,

c.       strongly resembled each other.

                                                               i.      On one occasion,

1.      a young woman rushed up to the physician and said,

2.      "That was such an inspirational sermon you delivered last Sunday!"

d.      "You have mistaken me for my brother," he replied.

                                                               i.      "He preaches; I'm the one who practices."
--Thanks to Jack H. Stocker,
New Orleans, Louisiana.

 

II.                 Apotsle Paul, one of our best preachers

a.       Preaches and practices

b.      in today’s lesson from Galatians

c.       we see Cehpas/Peter withdrawing from table fellowship that had been enjoyed with the Gentiles

                                                               i.      beginning of Galatians 2 Paul recaps controversy over circumcision

1.      do Gentiles have to undergo circumcision or conversion to Judaism before becoming Christian?

2.      the answer had been “No.”

                                                             ii.      but now we hear in vs. 11-14 that some Gentile Christians were not acceptable to Peter

1.      sets context for today’s passage

2.      read from The Message

 

“Later, when Peter came to Antioch, I had a face-to-face confrontation with him because he was clearly out to line.  Here’s the situation. Earlier, before certain persons had come from James, Peter regularly ate with non-Jews.   But when that conservative group came form Jerusalem, he cautiously pulled back and put as much distance as he could manage between himself and his non-Jewish friends.  … but when I saw that they were not maintaining a steady, straight course according to the Message, I spoke up to Peter in front of all: “If you, a Jew, live like a non-Jew when you’re not being observed by the watchdogs from Jerusalem, what right do you have to require non-Jews to conform to Jewish customs just to make a favorable impression on your old Jerusalem cronies?”

 

d.      In other words, Paul is telling Peter “Practice what you preach!”

                                                               i.      Peter had been eating with Gentiles

                                                             ii.      But when these certain unnamed people came for James

1.      Peter no longer ate with Gentile Christians

 

e.       Paul declares a living relationship with God not by rule keeping but by the action of Christ 

 

f.        Paul declares that it is now the “Christ who lives in me” that brings us into relationship with God

                                                               i.      Paul had spent many years building a relationship with God by keeping the Law

                                                             ii.      He was very successful at living according to the rules of the Law

                                                            iii.      He should have been in right relationship with God, but did not feel it

                                                           iv.      “What Paul tore down was not a bad or wicked life, but one that the gospel had rendered passé.” (p. 387)

 

g.       Paul is talking about getting right justified

                                                               i.      old-fashioned typewriters

                                                             ii.      we’re like the type on the paper and God is the one who justifies our margins

                                                            iii.      people are only right with God

1.      set right

2.      and stay write

3.      by virtue of what God did in the cross

4.      and by what God does through Holy Spirit

                                                           iv.      If we hear the gospel and believe

1.      then seek to maintain relationship with God by law-observance

a.       then we deny God’s grace

b.      and back away from our calling in and by faith

 

III.               Today is Father’s Day

a.       All remember their fathers,

b.      but for some of us its bitter sweet

                                                               i.      we grieve loss of father

                                                             ii.      My father died when I was 22

1.      So much happened in my life since his death

2.      would like to have talked with him about

3.      graduated from college

4.      worked in civil engineering

5.      gave birth to two daughters

6.      daughters grew up and now I have a baby grandson

c.       Over these last 34 years I have yearned for a living relationship with my father

                                                               i.      had to process some of this with substitute fathers

                                                             ii.      discovered that when I acknowledge the part of my father that lives in me, he lives through my life

1.      one of the reasons I have to put my faith into action is because of my father

2.      he’s cheering me on when I partner with unions who represent working class people 

 

d.      similarly when we recognize that it is Christ living in us, we live in relationship with Christ

                                                               i.      who reaches out to those living on the margins

                                                             ii.      who cares about people not being able to find affordable housing

                                                            iii.      who wants to practice hospitality and welcome the sojourner in our midst

 

IV.              Paul’s words are profoundly social

a.       In spite of the personal language of the “I” and “we”

b.      Eventually, he addresses the possibility that Jew and Greek

                                                               i.      are not separated under the good news of the gospel

                                                             ii.      intended to be together in the same church

 

c.       when one asserts, “Christ lives in me

                                                               i.      previous standards of judgment are inadequate

1.      ethnic pride

2.      personal accomplishment

3.      all others swept away

                                                             ii.      if in me, then in others

1.      regardless of their origin

2.      point of view

3.      or behavior

 

d.      Paul’s position maintains the universality of God’s grace for all people

                                                               i.      Not just God of Jews

                                                             ii.      God who welcomes Jews and Gentiles

                                                            iii.      Sharing  ameal with Gentiles provides a social expression of the theological reality of God’s universal grace

 

e.       To withdraw from fellowship with any human beings on the basis of my own individual judgment

                                                               i.      As Paul sees Peter/Cephas doing

                                                             ii.      Fundamentally misunderstands the gospel of J.C.

 

f.        People relate to God because Christ is alive in them

                                                               i.      Not by what they do

                                                             ii.      Or do not accomplish by themselves

 

V.                 Baptism acknowledges that a spark of Christ lives within each person

a.       God loves you just the way you are, but he refuses to leave you that way, writes Max Lucado in his Just Like Jesus Devotional.

                                                               i.      When his daughter was a toddler, [Lacado] used to take her to a park not far from their apartment.

                                                             ii.      One day as she was playing in a sandbox, an ice-cream salesman approached them.

                                                            iii.      Max purchased her a treat,

1.      and when he turned to give it to her,

2.      he saw her mouth was full of sand.

                                                           iv.      Where he intended to put a delicacy, she had put dirt.

                                                             v.      Did he love her with dirt in her mouth? Absolutely.

                                                           vi.      Was she any less his daughter with dirt in her mouth? Of course not.

                                                          vii.      Was he going to allow her to keep the dirt in her mouth? No way.

                                                        viii.      He loved her right where she was, but he refused to leave her there.

                                                           ix.      He carried her over to the water fountain and washed out her mouth.

                                                             x.      Why? Because he loved her.

 

b.      “God does the same for us,” writes Max Lucado.

                                                               i.      God holds us over the fountain.

                                                             ii.      “Spit out the dirt, honey,” our Father urges.

                                                            iii.      “I’ve got something better for you.”

                                                           iv.      Yes, indeed. 

                                                             v.      God’s offering something better for us. 

                                                           vi.      Amen.