First preached Trinity 3 27th June 2004
Gal 5.1 & 13 -25 : Luke 9.51-62
Reading the last bit of this passage – v24 you might think that Paul believed that Christians had all achieved some sot of miraculous state of sinless perfection.
Far from it! He was writing this letter because people were acting stupidly, perversely and aggressively. Paul is very much aware of the weakness of human nature, but the question is how do you deal with it.
Paul’s opponents would have given a very clear answer. The way to behave is written in God’s Law the Torah (Gen – Deut). ‘Do that and you shall live.’ In fact they may well have implied that by leaving out this tradition Paul was inviting moral anarchy among his converts and bringing about their ruin. At the least they would say he was failing in his duty to provide moral guidance, making his people Christians without spelling out what that meant.
But to Paul their argument is all part of the denial of the sufficiency of Christ. As he is sufficient to save, without the Jewish ceremonies, so he is sufficient to direct, by his Spirit poured into our hearts
That of course is the problem. We do not let it. We turn back to the flesh. On the one hand we are still prone to its urges and desires which lead us into sin. On the other hand, when it comes to running our life we rely on a package of rules and regulations and what we are inclined to call ‘Good old common sense.’ This is all pretty wishy-washy, a lot less rigorous than the 630 regulations which the Rabbi’s identified in the Torah. We do not strive for anything higher.
But Paul says opting for Christ is opting for a higher way. ( Remember Jesus said, “Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Mat 5.20) You do not after all become a Christian, because you think that your life is all right, but you need to get out more and the Church seems a better club than the stamp collecting society. You become a Christian, because you want life the Jesus way. Because at root you know that the way it is going at present is going nowhere.
With that decision for Jesus, that response to his love for you, comes the gift and a portion of Christ’s Spirit whereby we call God ‘Abba, Father’.. Paul beautifully describes the Christ-like character in just nine words: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
The point is that they are not laws and do’s and don’ts they are characteristics and pointers. They point us out beyond ourselves, to what is constructive, what builds relationships and affirms people.
There seems to be an idea that these things are natural. I heard the Bishop of Oxford this week saying Christianity is just a way of being human. Well it is, but so is being an Al Quaeda operative, a drug pusher, or a football hooligan. They are all there as options. Christianity is about being Christ like. It is humanity with the sinful bits left out and the Holy Spirit grafted in.
To aspire to something higher is not natural, it is super-natural.
What Paul says is we have that super-natural force, within us because we have called on Christ to give us that aid. Let us call upon it. Let us not disappoint our Heavenly Father. Above all let us not despise this precious gift of the Holy Spirit. Rather let us explore what he can really do for us if we but give him the chance.
Filed under:Tags: Discipleship, Ethics, Gallatians 5:1', Law, Spirit