In Jesus Holy Name March 29, 2020
Text: Galatians Series Galatians 5 Redeemer
“Holding on to the Freedom We Have”
May the grace and mercy or our risen Lord bring comfort to you in these days of “sheltering in”.
Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States stated: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the blood stream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
“If we lose freedom here, there, is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth. And this idea that government is beholden to the people, that it has no other source of power except to sovereign people, is still the newest and most unique idea in all the long history of man’s relation to man.” End of quote.
Paul begins chapter 5 to the Galatians with a clarion call to not lose their freedom. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery”. (5:1) The most basic choice is between slavery and freedom. This verse tells us why Jesus came… to set us free from the fear of the wrath of God. Paul tells us what we must do to maintain our freedom…. “Stand firm.” Stand firm on the Gospel. The crucial point is that freedom comes at the cost of continual vigilance.
How do we stand firm in our freedom when we live in a performance-based world? The answer must be that we continually remind ourselves (and do it several times a day) We know we do not measure up to our own ethical standards. We know we fall short of moral purity, yet in love, God has already declared that we are “accepted and loved ” as long as we shelter under the arms of Jesus. (Ephesians 1:6)
Psalm 91:1 reminds us of this truth. “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”
Every day tiny decisions come our way to become selfish. Tiny decisions have enormous consequences. Paul reminds them and us “If you give in to the Judaizers, their rules of circumcision & Kosher food” … “then the work of Jesus and his sacrificial death and the power of His resurrection “is of no benefit to you.”.
“Mark my words! Christ will be of no value to you at all” (Galatians 5:2). to be circumcised, or to follow Jewish kosher laws would be to reject the gospel of the grace of God. It would be saying, “Christ is not enough for me.” In that case, you have lost the benefits that Christ came to secure for you. You have turned from freedom and returned to the chains of slavery of the law. Mark my words….you have added to “grace”.
Kent Hunter in his book “Who Broke My Church” wrote: “salvation occurs by grace, through faith. Grace means salvation is a gift from God. Just because it’s a free gift to you does not mean it has no cost. It cost Jesus his life.
Remember this: Justice happens when you get what you deserve. Mercy happens when don’t’ get what you deserve. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve. (repeat)
You don’t do things to become a Christian. When you become a Christian you do things that demonstrate that you are imitating Jesus in your behavior.” (p. 76)
The Galatian Christians were beginning to “drift”. They were beginning to “drift” from the values of Jesus. Values are what you consider important. (repeat) For me, the words of Jesus would be important.
They were beginning to drift away from their theological moorings, the doctrine of grace alone, through faith. Beliefs are what you demonstrate that you believe are true. (repeat)
They were drifting away from their “priorities”. Priorities are what you will always do first. (repeat) Everyday you make hundreds of choices. Priorities are signposts of what is important to help you decide what you will do and what you will say. In Galatians 5:14 Paul reminds them of their priority: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” And the second: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself”.
Think about your priorities: Are you more concerned about:
1. A person lost in sin… or a scratch on your new car?
2. Missing the worship service… or missing a day’s work?
3. Your church not growing… or your garden not growing?
4. Your bible open…or your Facebook page read?
They were drifting from a Jesus centered worldview. A world view is how you understand the world, the church, and your place in both. (repeat) Jesus said: “I have come to seek and save the lost.” Jesus said: “Who ever wants to be great among you must be a servant.” So Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan.
“Anyone who knows about Good Friday should understand that God is more interested in His mission to save people from their broken commandments than the comfort of His own son, Jesus? (p. 93)
This is why Paul writes to the Christians in Rome. “Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold or value system.” .” We are called to be unlike this world, but we are called to be in this world.”
As we read the book of Galatians I have repeatedly mentioned the “Judaizers,” that group of so-called Christian leaders who came from a Jewish background and who claimed to represent the apostles in Jerusalem. They were influencing the young Galatian believers (nearly all of them Gentiles) to become circumcised (and thus live under the Law of Moses) as a means of pleasing God.
Here is the reality the Judaizers were “bullies”. There are “bullies” in most every church. In recent years, society has finally put a foot down on bullies on the playground. These Judaizers were bullies on the playing field of church life. In most cases the church “bullies” mean well. They are generally upset with the Pastor, in this case the Apostle Paul. Bullies are generally upset with the youth worker, the music or any type of change. The Judiazers did not like the gospel of grace, that set people free from earning the love of God by keeping Jewish rules.
Bullies suffer from “consumer mentality. Saying “I want it my way”. These “bullies” were bringing the Galatian church to a stop. They caused these new Christians to “drift” from the teachings of Jesus. “Drift from the values of Jesus. Drift from the priorities of Jesus… love God, love your neighbor.. Grace is free. You are free to serve. You are free to live. God has forgiven your sins. You Galatians remember… the death of Jesus was sufficient.
I must admit that every time I have mentioned the Judaizers, it has been to roundly criticize them. Let me help you understand why they were so insistent on “rules” for moral and holy behavior.
Although we like to talk about the moral decline of Western Civilization in the 21st century, we need to know that things were much worse in Paul’s day. It is hard for us to easily grasp how morally degraded the Greeks and Romans were. Regarding sexual ethics, it was a period of moral, lawless chaos. One writer describes it as “an age when shame seems to have vanished from the earth.”
William Barclay offers this telling summary: “It has been said that chastity was the one completely new virtue which Christianity introduced into the pagan world.” It is against that backdrop that we must judge the Judaizers. Knowing the immorality of Rome and Greece, they thought the only way to combat it was with rules, rules and more rules. Their diagnosis was correct. It was their prescription that was completely wrong.
In what sense are Christians now free? Here are several answers to that question. We are …
Free from the guilt of sin.
Free from the penalty of sin.
Free from the shame of sin.
Free from the power of sin.
In our liturgy today we read the words from the book of Hebrews. We can approach the throne of God, the throne of grace because Jesus is there… as Paul wrote to the Christians in Colossae: Jesus took our list of broken commandments and nailed them to the cross and left them there….taking away Satan’s power to accuse us of wrong.
Therefore we can come to God anytime on the basis of the blood of Christ with the certainty that we will be accepted. Our freedom is first and foremost a spiritual freedom that opens up a new and everlasting relationship with God.
But freedom does not mean that we do not struggle with sin any longer. We are not yet free from the presence of sin. That won’t happen until we stand face to face before Jesus Christ. Galatians 5…..
But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love”. We are born with this fallen human nature which I like to call: “Selfishness”. “I want to be my own god.” This we inherited from Adam and Eve.
This human nature stays with us in one form or another until the day we die. Even though we are baptized, redeemed, and made new creatures by Jesus, this human nature is always with us, pulling us down, dragging us back to the world, enticing us to every sort of moral and spiritual compromise. It is what pulls us toward lust, anger, hatred, bitterness, violence, cheating, adultery, perversion, malice, envy, greed, and every other sin we can think of.
One writer defines the flesh as “the inner desire for selfish gratification at the expense of God and others.” That’s a good definition because it focuses on the selfishness of the flesh. (repeat) There is something in all of us that says, “Go ahead. You deserve this. You’ve earned it. No one can stop you,” even though we know the thing itself is sinful. Our human nature loves to be pampered and it whines like a little baby when it wants something. When our human nature throws a tantrum, we quickly give in to it. But that giving in leads to compromise morality and eventually to outright evil behavior.
Here is the tricky part. The flesh attacks us anytime, anywhere.
This is why I love Luther’s Morning Prayer, I have encouraged you to tape it to your coffee pot or on your refrig. to read every morning. My friends. “It works”.
This is why Paul can write: When you live by the Spirit you will not gratify the desires of the sinful human nature. Luther’s prayer is the way to begin your day.
I cannot do this for you. I can only do this for myself. Paul writes; “it is our responsibility to keep in step with the Spirit. For the fruit of the Spirit is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and gentleness and self-control.
Prayer
