Scripture:
Galatians 6:12-16
Gal. 6:12 Those
who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be
circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the
cross of Christ.
Gal. 6:13 Not
even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be
circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh.
Gal. 6:14 May
I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the
world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
Gal. 6:15 Neither
circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new
creation.
Gal. 6:16 Peace
and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the
Israel of God.
In his letter to the Galatians in a
Roman province of what is today modern Turkey, Paul lays the groundwork for two
important issues. One is that there is
no other gospel to be preached than that of the
living dynamic of God's grace in Jesus Christ, and the other is to anchor
Christianity solidly in history.
Although some
get their back up about all the historical detail in the revealed word of God,
history is important as a foundation to the Christian faith, as Paul pointed
out in 1st Cor. 15:3-10. Christianity is
not just a subjective belief system of mystical guesses and speculation, not a
matter of moralistic behavioral modification requiring conformity, not just
another philosophical or theological mix of human reasoning.
Through the
historic foundations of the Bible we have the impact of the gospel on Paul's
life, a man who was radically turned from persecutor to preacher, with
theological formulations leading to the personal and spiritual formation of
Christ in the personal lives of others, and the church; a dynamic of God's
grace that is still going on in the lives of individuals and the church today.
Yet just as
the Judaizers of Paul's day attempted to place worldly restrictions and
requirements upon the growing church of Jesus Christ, the same continues today
as the organizational mind of man attempts to put God in a box, using
"reason" and our own extrapolation of history to say what the church
of Christ is and should be, demanding the insertion of cultural morals, rather
than adjusting ourselves to the words and requirements God has already
adequately provided to us.
In this very
important section of Paul's letter to the Galatians, having already laid the
foundation for one gospel, in Christ, unadorned by human manipulations and
requirements, Paul goes on in the 16th verse to reveal something extremely
important about the church of his day and the church we know today, the church
worldwide being the Bride of Christ, those who will worship God in spirit and
in truth.
Verse 16 reads, "Peace
and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the
Israel of God." What does Paul mean
by those last five words of further explanation, "to the Israel of
God"?
The
Bible has always been its own best expository, so let's shed light on this
verse through the illumination of 1st Peter 1:1-2, "Peter, an apostle of
Jesus Christ, to God's Chosen People, who are scattered as exiles throughout
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.
I am an apostle, and you are chosen, according to the foreknowledge of
God, through the consecration of the Spirit, for obedience and to be sprinkled
by the blood of Jesus Christ. May grace
and peace be multiplied to you."
Note
that Peter uses the phrase, "to God's Chosen People, who are scattered as
exiles..." We are used to hearing
the Jews called "God's Chosen People," but Peter isn't addressing
Jews here. He is speaking to
Gentiles.
There
is both greatness and wonder in this verse, that Peter uses words and concepts
once applied only to Jews and now applies them to Gentiles, those who were once
considered to be outside the mercy of God, outside the love that God had for
any nation, a people defiled.
In
Deuteronomy (7:6, 14:2) the Jews are spoken of as a "holy people to the
Lord your God ... above all people that are upon the face of the
earth." Isaiah (45:4) calls them
"Israel, mine elect".
Throughout the Old Testament, to speak of "the Chosen People"
was to speak of Israel, excluding all other nations.
But
when God sent His Son, Israel rejected Him.
Jesus Himself, in the parable of the Wicked Husbandmen, declared the
inheritance of Israel was to be taken from them and given to others (Matthew
21:41, Mark 12:9, Luke 20:16).
Galatians
6:16 makes it clear. The Master would
give the vineyard to others. What once
belonged only to Israel now belongs to the Christian Church, with its members
from every nation around the world. The
mercy of God breached the ungrateful borders of Israel and has gone out to the
ends of the earth. We of the Christian
Church have seen His glory, we know the grace of Almighty God.
We
who are of the Bride of Christ, His Christian Church, are today much like the
Jews of Israel in another way. Notice
that Peter speaks of "God's Chosen People, who are scattered as exiles
throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia." Throughout their history the Jews seemed to
be forever on the move, sometimes being forcibly deported, being exiles in one
country or another. They took on the
trappings of the country in which they lived, but their hearts, if not their
eyes, were forever on Jerusalem. Yet
they remained exiles in the nations where they lived and worked and made their
homes. These Jews were labeled the
"Diaspora", the dispersion.
I
submit to you that the Christian Church today is the "Diaspora",
scattered throughout the nations of the world, yet with their hearts and their
eyes on Jesus Christ. Once it was the
Jews who were seen as "different' in the nations where they lived. Today it is the Christian who stands out as
different, refusing to become a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Hindu; refusing to bow
down to idols and false religions; choosing to live by the rule of God rather
than the corrupt and intemperate rule of men.
For
the Christian, there is only one King, and He has yet to return and claim His
kingdom. Their time on this earth is
only temporary; eternity is their home; they are strangers here, exiles in this
world.
According
to scripture, the inspired word of God, believers in Jesus Christ are both
exiles and a Chosen People. In John
17:13-16, Jesus acknowledges that while we are in the world, we are not of this
world, and prays that the Father will protect us. We are not to ignore or run away from the
world, for it's in our day to day dealings with the world that we find people
who need to be reconciled to God. The
Christian does not withdraw from the world, but sees everything in the light of
eternity. Having a personal relationship
with Jesus Christ, this becomes the touchstone of the Christian's life; this
dynamic determines his or her conduct.
In John 14:15 and elsewhere, Jesus says, "If you love Me, you will
keep my commandments."
For
if there be a Chosen People, there will be those not chosen, those who worship
a Christ reformed in their own image, approving their own fleshly desires,
ignoring the Christ who stands unchanged through history.
However,
as a Chosen People, an honor accorded us through the pain and suffering of
Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary, believers who have turned their life over
to Jesus Christ have the privilege of both challenge and responsibility. Through Christ we know the honor of having
the work of God delivered into our hands.
Throughout the New Testament God's revealed word gives us instruction on
how to live our lives, how to deal with others, and the importance of staying
true to Him whom we worship in spirit and in truth, turning away from evil.
The
gospel that Jesus Christ shared with His apostles, the gospel revealed
unchanged to Paul on the road to Damascus, this is what we are to share with
others through our words and through our actions; through our very lives. Who will hear and who will accept Christ as
their savior is the business of the Holy Spirit. Sharing the gospel is ours.
There
are two quotes out of history that always come to my mind here. One is from the historic Hindu Mahatmas Gandhi,
who said, "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians." And then the quote often attributed to St.
Francis of Assisi, "Preach the gospel always. When necessary, use words."
We
Christians are often so unlike the Christ we claim to love. Part of that is because we are human with a
sin nature. As the great Christian
Gilbert K. Chesterton has said, "Christianity has not been tried and found
wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried." We quit too soon. We try in our own power to be like Christ,
and cannot. The secret is to turn our
life over to Him so that we live Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified
with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me. The life I
now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave
Himself for me."
As
for preaching the gospel, there are those of us who must say with Paul in 1st
Corinthians 9:16, "For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I
am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!"
Others
of us preach to those around us by every action of our life. Now, there is a great misconception among
Christians that if non-Christians rub elbows with Christians, they will
"catch" the gospel. If we
belong to Christ, it shows, and others are watching. But some words, some explanation is always
necessary. A portion of 1st Peter 3:15
advises us, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you
to give the reason for the hope that you have." Our hope is in Jesus Christ, Creator and Lord
of the universe, and although this world doesn't know Him, we need not be
ashamed to say so. For we of Christ are
a chosen vessel, a chosen people, with the joys of eternity ahead of us, with
all the peace and the promises of love and life that come with being a chosen
one of God. What better gift to those
around us than to share that peace and that joy? Amen.
Week of Worship
Jan. 29-Feb. 5, 2012
Invocation: At Your word, O Lord, the worlds
were created, and by Your word new life is given. Open now my ears that I may hear Your special
word spoken to me today. Amen.
Read: Psalm 29
Daily Scripture Readings
Monday
John 1:1-13
Tuesday
Genesis 1:1-19
Wednesday
Genesis 1:20-31
Thursday Matthew 9:1-8
Thursday Matthew 9:1-8
Friday
1st Corinthians 12:1-10
Saturday
1st Peter 1:3-9
Sunday
Deuteronomy 18:15-20; 1st Corinthians 8:1-13; Psalm
111;
Mark 1:21-28
Reflection: (silent and written)
Prayers for the church, for others, for
yourself.
Hymn: "Send Your Word"
Benediction: And Jesus, God's Word enfleshed,
I hear You knocking and I open the door.
Come into my heart and mind, and speak to me from that interior place --
all the day long. Amen.
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