"HOW CAN YOU TURN BACK AGAIN?"

Lectionary passage: Galatians 4:8-16 - 8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods. ⁹Now, however, that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits? How can you want to be enslaved to them again? ¹⁰You are observing special days, and months, and seasons, and years. ¹¹I am afraid that my work for you may have been wasted.

12 Friends, I beg you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong. ¹³You know that it was because of a physical infirmity that I first announced the gospel to you; ¹⁴though my condition put you to the test, you did not scorn or despise me, but welcomed me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. ¹⁵What has become of the goodwill you felt? For I testify that, had it been possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

“Back in the days when you did not know God,
to those who were not gods you were as slaves.
But now that you know and are known by God,
why are you acting as a slave behaves,
and turning back to principles again
(observing special days and months and years)
of those who are not gods at all, but men?
My efforts have been wasted, it appears!”
Paul voices the frustrations that he feels,
because of their heedless apostasy.
Then to their Christian conscience he appeals:
“I plead with you, my friends, become like me,
because for your sake, I became like you.
I am not saying you have done me wrong.
Because of illness, I first preached to you
the gospel, as you have known all along.
And even though my illness was a trial
to you, as well as me, you did not scorn
nor treat me with contempt or show denial,
but welcomed me as if I’d not been born
a mortal, but an angel sent by God —
as if I were Christ Jesus, not just Paul!
That’s how devoted you were to our God.
So what happened, I ask you, to all
the joy you felt, for I can testify
that you would have torn out your eyes for me,
could you have done so.  Now I ask, am I,
for telling you the truth, your enemy?”

HEIRS OF GOD

Galatians 4:1-7 - My point is this: heirs, as long as they are minors, are no better than slaves, though they are the owners of all the property; ²but they remain under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. ³So with us; while we were minors, we were enslaved to the elemental spirits of the world. ⁴But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. ⁶And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ ⁷So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.

The son who is an heir is like
a slave, when he’s a little tike.
Although he’ll own it all some day,
till he’s of age, he has no say.
His guardian or some trustee
will exercise authority
concerning his estate, until
the time set by his parent’s will.
Paul uses this analogy
to amplify the point that we
as children were in slavery,
according to the world’s decree.
But when the time had come, God sent
his Son, for it was God’s intent
to free all who were under law
by him who was born under law,
that we might the full rights receive
of those who in God’s Son believe.
Because we’re children, God imparts
Christ’s Spirit into human hearts.
So we’re no longer slaves, but we
are children for eternity,
and since we’re children, also heirs
with Christ, who understands and cares.

IMPLICATIONS OF GALATIANS 3:28

Lectionary text: Galatians 3:28 - There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

RACE AND THE RACE

Defining identity strictly by race
denies that in Christ all are one.
For God does not look at the skin on your face;
God judges the race you have run.

IF WE CAN’T, WHO CAN?

The love of Christ transcends all gaps
of race, or class, or clan.
If church folk cannot demonstrate
the love of Christ, who can?

The hurting world must see and hear
the Christian gospel still.
If church folk will not share the news
  of Jesus' love, who will?

NO LONGER BLACK OR WHITE

Lectionary text: Galatians 3:28 - There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus..

“There's no more Jew or Greek,” said Paul.
        “No longer slave or free,
or male, or female, for we all
        are one in Christ,” said he.

About this text I’ve this to say,
        and I’m quite sure it’s right:
that if Paul were alive today,
         he’d add, “or black nor white.”

ONE IN CHRIST

Lectionary passage: Galatians 3:26-29 - ²⁶for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. ²⁷As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.

“Children of God through faith in Christ,                                    
children of God,” declared Paul.
Color and class and clan do not
matter to Jesus at all.

Children baptized in Christ and clothed
with Christ, in whom we are one.
Heirs of God’s pledge to Abraham,
for we belong to God’s Son.

There’s neither Jew nor Greek in Christ,
neither is there slave or free,
neither female nor male in Christ —
  one in the Spirit are we.

MARCHING SONG OF THE CHURCH GROWTH MOVEMENT

Lectionary passaage: Galatians 3:26-29 - ²⁶for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. ²⁷As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.

HUP, TWO, THREE, FOUR

HUP, two, three, four,
we are growing more and more.
We want people just like us,
who will join without a fuss.

HUP, two, three, four,
folks unlike us we ignore.
They don't cross the racial line,
and with us that is just fine.

HUP, two, three, four,
we don't go from door to door,
running up and down the pike,
asking people we don't like.

HUP, two, three, four,
adding members by the score,
we are having great success
changing people's church address.

HUP, two, three, four,
watch our church attendance soar,
social justice has no place,
when you're in the church growth race.

HUP, two, three, four,
everyone is keeping score.
Our approach God did anoint.
Our statistics prove the point!

HUP, two, three, four,
big is better, let's grow more.
Television, radio,
come to worship, see a show.

Bring your wallet, bring your dough,
That's what makes our program go.
If you want a church growth pro,
hire the devil down below.

His philosophy you know:
"Anything to help you grow!"
HUP, two, three, four,
Do we need to say much more?

YOU FOOLISH GALATIANS!

Lectionary passage: Galatians 3:1-5 - You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified! ²The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? ³Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? ⁴Did you experience so much for nothing?—if it really was for nothing. ⁵Well then, does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?

You foolish Galatians! How come you
have let someone hide the truth from you?
Before your eyes we had sincerely
showed Christ crucified to you clearly.
Did you get the Spirit by keeping
the law, as if someone by heaping
good works could obtain one's salvation?
You know that your justification
was not a reward for achieving
but God's gracious gift for believing.
0 foolish Galatians!  How could you
so quickly forget all the good you
saw God do among you, because you
believed what you heard?  So it does you
no good to impose the old burden,
for keeping the law is a burden!

PAUL’S RHETORICAL QUESTIONS

Galatians 3:1-5 - You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified! ²The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? ³Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? ⁴Did you experience so much for nothing?—if it really was for nothing. ⁵Well then, does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?

Paul was making much more than suggestions,                        
when he used his rhetorical questions.
There’s no doubt that the “foolish Galatians”
were aware of the full implications
of Paul’s questions about their deserting
the true gospel by thinking exerting
enough effort could gain their salvation.
It’s no wonder Paul felt such frustration!

LIVING BY FAITH

Galatians 2:20-21 - ²⁰and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing. 

“I have been crucified with Christ
and I no longer live,
but Christ now lives in me,” said Paul,
“and so the life I live
(this earthly life) I live by faith
in God’s Son totally,
who loved me and who gave himself
on Calvary for me.
The grace of God I cannot and
I do not set aside,
for if we could be saved by law,
then Christ for nothing died.

THE THEME OF GALATIANS

Lectionary text:  Galatians 2:16 - yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.

The theme of this epistle is declared in 2:16:
By faith in Christ, not works, we’re justified.
This emphasis on faith, which is distinctively Pauline,
was what caused Martin Luther to decide
the teachings of the Roman Church were scripturally wrong
and nullified the death of Christ, God’s Son.
With such distinctions Luther could no longer go along,
and so the Reformation was begun.

PETER’S ABOUT FACE

Lectionary passage: Galatians 2:11-14 - 11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned; ¹²for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction.¹³And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. ¹⁴But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, ‘If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?

Peter, James, and John gave Paul the hand of fellowship,
which meant Paul had the blessing of the church’s leadership.
When Peter came to Antioch, however, he withdrew
from eating with the Gentiles out of fear, because he knew
the Judaizers were opposed.  He was afraid of them,
and so reversed the view expressed back in Jerusalem.
This was the same disciple who three times denied his Lord,
and now again for fear he felt that he could not afford
to face the ire of those who thought that Gentiles were unclean,
unless they had been circumcised.  “What does baptism mean?”
asked Paul, reminding Peter that we’re saved through faith by grace.
O what a scene, when Paul confronted Peter face to face!

IT’S WHAT’S INSIDE THAT COUNTS, BUT. . .

Lectionary Text: Galatians 2:6 - And 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.

God does not judge by outward looks,
according to Paul. True,
but what one wears may tell a lot
about what’s inside, too!
And “clothes don’t make the person,”
sloppy dressers like to say.
Clothes make a first impression, though,
that may not go away.

REVELATION RESPONSE

Lectionary text: Galatians 2:2 - I went up in response to a revelation. 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.

Paul journeyed to Jerusalem, for he felt led to share
his “gospel to the Gentiles” with the Christian leaders there.
Because Paul was so Spirit led, no one should think it odd
he was responding to a revelation from his God.
That’s why he spoke with such conviction, so convincingly,
and if we, too, obey the Spirit’s prompting, so will we.

TITUS

Lectionary text: Galatians 2:2-3 - I went up in response to a revelation. 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. ³But even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 

Of Gentile stock was Titus, born and raised quite possibly                    

in Antioch, where he met Paul, who some believe to be
the person who converted him to Christianity.
For in the letter that Paul later wrote to Titus, he
refers to Titus as his faith child, and it’s plain to see
that Paul had confidence in Titus, for he pointedly
chose Titus to go with him and with Barnabas to see
the elders at Jerusalem, who did with Paul agree
that Titus, though he was a Gentile, did not have to be
subjected to the ritual of circumcision.  The
decision was for Paul, therefore, a major victory.
T. later was dispatched to Corinth, where apparently

THE CIRCUMCISION CONTROVERSY

Lectionary passage: Galatians 2:1-21 - Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. ²I went up in response to a revelation. 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. ³But even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 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— 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.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 ⁸(for he who worked through Peter making him an apostle to the circumcised also worked through me in sending me to the Gentiles), ⁹and 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. 

11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned; ¹²for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction.¹³And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. ¹⁴But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, ‘If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?’ 

15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; ¹⁶yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.¹⁷But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! ¹⁸But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor. ¹⁹For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ;²⁰and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing. 

Paul skips some fourteen years in his account.
        His mission journeys he does not recount.
Instead he tells how Barnabas and he
        went to Jerusalem again to see
the leaders of the church there and declare
        the gospel he’d been preaching everywhere,
his views on circumcision to explain,
        to make sure he’d not run his race in vain.
Some Judaizers had said Paul was wrong.
        Yet even Titus, whom Paul brought along,
the leaders in Judea did not seek
        to circumcise, though Titus was a Greek.
The question had arisen because some

TWO MORE POEMS

Lectionary passage: Galatians 1:23-24 - . . . 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.

"AND THEY GLORIFIED GOD BECAUSE OF ME!"

The faith that Paul was zealously once trying to destroy
he now was preaching boldly with conviction and with joy.
So that he could tell the Galatians those he formerly
had persecuted now “are praising God because of me.”
“Because of me” was not a boast of Paul’s own preaching skill;
they praised the Lord because Paul had been transformed by God’s will.

    "BECAUSE OF ME”

         "Because of me” in no way means
         “Because of what I’ve done.”
          It means “because I’ve been transformed
          by grace, in Christ, God’s Son.”

SET APART

Lectionary text: Galatians 1:15 - But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased . . .

Set apart, set apart,                                                                              

by God’s grace set apart,
justified, sanctified by the Lord.
Set apart, set apart,
a new call, a new start —
life redeemed, faith transformed, loved restored.

Met the Lord face to face,
set apart by his grace,
God was pleased to reveal Christ to me.
Set apart from my birth,
sent to preach o’er the earth,
though I wonder why God would choose me.

An apostle am I,
set apart till I die,
for his grace I continue to ask.
I’m unworthy, I know,
to be called by God, though
by his grace I am up to the task.

Set apart, set apart,
by God’s grace set apart,
justified, sanctified by the Lord.
Set apart, set apart,
a new call, a new start —
life redeemed, faith transformed, loved restored.

PAUL: BEFORE AND AFTER

Galatians 1:13-24 - 13 You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. ¹⁴I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. ¹⁵But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased ¹⁶to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any human being, 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.

        18 Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him for fifteen days; ¹⁹but I did not see any other apostle except James the Lord’s brother. ²⁰In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie! 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.

To his readers Paul relates this summary                                      
of the years before and after he became,
having been a persecutor zealously,
an apostle with a passion to proclaim
to the Gentiles the good news of Jesus. He
wants the churches of Galatia to recall
he received from Jesus his authority.
Here’s the story, in poetic form, from Paul:

“Of my former way of life you all have heard,
how intensely I did persecute the church,
and for all who were believers in the Word
how as far as to Damascus I did search.
Beyond many Jews of my age I advanced,
so extremely zealous for the faith was I.
The traditions of my forebears were enhanced
by my efforts to cause this new faith to die.
But when God, who had set me apart from birth
and had called me by his grace, chose to reveal
Jesus to me, so that I throughout the earth
might proclaim him to the Gentiles, no appeal
did I make to any person.  Nor did I
consult even the apostles, but I went
to Arabia at once, then by and by
I revisited Damascus. I had spent
about three years, when I felt that I should go
to Jerusalem and visit Peter there.
During fifteen days with Peter I saw no
other leaders except James, and I declare
before God that what I’m writing is no lie.
Later on I went to Syria and then
to Cilicia. Now, in Judea I
wasn’t known by sight to all the churches. When
the report reached them that he who had before
been a persecutor of the church was now
preaching what he’d been opposing heretofore,
they praised God because of me. This I avow.”

DIRECT FROM CHRIST

Lectionary passage: Galatians 1:11-12 (NRSV) -  For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

Paul wanted his Galatian readers all to understand
that what he preached he had received from Christ, not second hand.
Nor was the gospel he proclaimed taught him by anyone,
but it had been revealed to him by Jesus Christ, God’s Son.
No wonder Paul could dare to speak with such authority.
Would that our words could also have such authenticity.

CHRIST FIRST

Lectionary text: Galatians 1:10 - Am 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.

I need to ask myself this question every now and then:
        Is my desire to please the Lord, or is it mortal men
and women whose approval has become my foremost goal?
        To put Christ first in everything is a disciples’s role.
If by the favor of mere mortals I can be enticed,
        I can no longer claim to be a slave of Jesus Christ.

TWO POEMS ON THE WRATH OF PAUL

Lectionary passage: Galatians 1:6-9 - I 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— not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed! As we have said before, so now I repeat, if anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed!

                                                FALSE PREACHERS BEWARE!

                                                         “I find it quite astonishing,”
                                                         Paul started off admonishing
                                                         the churches of Galatia, for they
                                                         were apparently deserting
                                                         the true gospel and reverting
                                                         to a gospel that was false in every way.

                                                         Some people were confusing them,
                                                         and Paul thought he was losing them.
                                                         “If I or if an angel from on high,
                                                         should proclaim a gospel to you
                                                         other than the one preached to you,
                                                         let that preacher be forever damned.  As I

                                                         "have bluntly said to you just then,
                                                         so now I say to you again:
                                                         if anyone should try to preach to you
                                                         any gospel different from the
                                                         gospel that you first heard from me,
                                                         let that person be condemned.” (That means us, too!)

WOE TO THOSE WHO. . .

                                                         Woe to those who turn away!
                                                                 Woe to those who lead astray!
                                                         Those who once the truth have heard
                                                                 but have drifted from the Word
                                                         have no sympathy from Paul.
                                                                 And he has no use at all
                                                         for those preachers who depart
                                                                 from the truth in mind and heart.                

A DIFFERENT GOSPEL

Lectionary text: Galatians 1:6 - I 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—

Paul’s epistle to the churches of Galatia doesn’t start
        as his other letters do, with an expression from his heart
of thanksgiving for their faith and love.  He rails at them instead
        for departing from the gospel he had taught them. They’d been led
to accept a different gospel that was not good news at all.
        There was nothing that more quickly would evoke the wrath of Paul:
“Those who preach a gospel other than the one you heard from me
        and accepted, let those persons be condemned eternally!”

TWO POEMS ON GALATIANS 1:2b-5

Lectionary passage: Galatians 1:2b-5 - To the churches of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,who gave himself  for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

PAUL’S SALUTATION (a poetic paraphrase)

                                                    “Grace and peace from God our Father
                                                      and the Lord Christ Jesus, who
                                                      gave himself up for our sins to
                                                      save from this age me and you,
                                                      in accordance with the will of
                                                      God our Father, to whom be
                                                      all the praise and glory given
                                                      throughout all eternity."

TO WHOM BE GLORY

                                                         A correct evaluation
                                                         of Paul’s Christian salutation
                                                         would include in the description
                                                         that it’s also an ascription
                                                         and a forthright proclamation
                                                         of the gospel of salvation.

THE DATING OF GALATIANS

Lectionary text: Galatians 1:2 - and all the members of God’s family who are with me, 
To the churches of Galatia:

When Paul writes that he visited Jerusalem again, 
it seems to mean that was his second visit. If so, then
it coincides with what in Acts 11 Luke reports;
that, too, the so-called South Galatian argument supports.
For Acts 11:30 cites Paul’s second visit there.
In this epistle Paul does not make mention anywhere
of what had happened at the Council of Jerusalem,
and what the elders had decreed, when he appealed to them
about not forcing Gentile converts to be circumcised.
Had that event occurred, Peter would not have compromised.
The Council, it would then appear, had not yet taken place,
as Paul would have referred to it, when he went face to face
with Peter on that issue, for what more need Paul have said
than that the Council had decreed to do as he had plead?
The date of this epistle from this reasoning would be
before the Council, some suggest in 49 C.E.
But others argue for a later date, based on the view
it was the Council meeting Paul describes in Chapter 2.
The arguments on both sides are impressive, and so we
can’t fix the date of this epistle with full certainty.
About this subject there is so much more that could be said,
and I can’t make my mind up after all that I have read!

THREE POEMS ON GALATIANS 1:1-2

Lectionary Passage: Galatians 1:1-2 - Paul 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— 2 and all the members of God’s family who are with me, 
To the churches of Galatia:

PAUL:  TO THE CHURCHES OF GALATIA

Of the books in the New Testament whose authorship is sure                        
there is none about which Bible
        students can feel more secure
than Paul’s Letter to the Churches of Galatia, in which he
is defensive, confrontational, as only Paul can be.
It is personal and autobiographical as well,
and it coincides with what Acts and Paul’s other writings tell,
with no language or historical or time discrepancy
to discredit or cast doubt upon its authenticity.

SENT BY CHRIST

An apostle is “one who is sent.”
        Very clearly it was Paul’s intent
to make clear at the start that his mission
        was from Christ —not a human commission.
The Galatians could be assured
        Paul’s authority was from the Lord.
Would that all those who speak in Christ’s name
       could as truthfully make such a claim!

WHICH GALATIA?

Paul’s authorship is not the issue of this letter, though,
there is a question as to whom the letter was to go.
To the churches of Galatia the letter is addressed,
and scholars differ as to which one better meets their test.
There was a geographic territory by that name
in the north of Asia Minor, and a province called the same
by the Romans, which was farther south, and modern scholars say
it’s the latter one that Paul was likely writing to, and they
mention towns and cities to which Paul and Barnabas had come
in that region, such as Lystra, Derbe, and Iconium,
most likely on Paul’s “missionary journey number one.”
The South Galatia theory wins, when all is said and done.

AMAZING FAITH

Illustration from A Young Folks' History of Rome

Lectionary passage: Luke 7:1-10 (NRSV) - After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. 3 When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. 4 When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy of having you do this for him, 5 for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us." 6 And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; 7 therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this,' and the slave does it." 9 When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." 10 When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

On account of Jesus’ spreading reputation,

in Capernaum a Jewish delegation

came to meet him, as he came into the city,

in the hope they could persuade him to have pity

on a slave who was quite ill and close to dying.

On behalf of the slave’s owner they were trying,

a centurion who was quite well respected,

because when their synagogue had been erected,

he had made it possible with his donation.

So they now asked Jesus out of desperation,

hoping he would understand their intercession.

It is obvious they made a good impression,

for he went with them upon their invitation

to perform for them his healing ministration.

But before Christ reached the house to try and aid him,

the centurion sent others to dissuade him,

saying “Do not come. Our friend thinks he’s unworthy”:

“I declined to come to you, for I’m unworthy.

Only say the word for which I am appealing,

and I know my servant will receive your healing.

For I also am a man used to commanding,

and those under me do what I am demanding.”

Jesus thought the soldier’s words were most amazing;

he responded to what had been said by praising

the centurion’s great faith and then declaring

that in Israel it was beyond comparing.

Those who had been sent returned and to their wonder

found the servant was no longer down and under.

Now the moral of this tale is that believing

is the requisite to miracle receiving.

And no one who needs Christ’s help should be rejected,

for faith can be found where it is least expected.

A CLOUDY GOING AND COMING

Lectionary passage: Acts 1:10-11 -  While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11 They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."

The problem that some have with Christ’s ascension
isn’t helped at all by what Luke tells us next.
As they were staring up into the heavens,
they were suddenly, according to the text,
confronted by two men in white, who asked them,
“Men of Galilee, why are you standing here
and looking up into the sky intently?
This same Jesus who was with you will appear
again in the same way you saw him leave you.”
Just who were these messengers?  Luke doesn’t say.
He merely states that Jesus’ Second Coming
will take place in the same cloud-enshrouded way.
Again our task is not to solve a myst’ry,
which until that day comes no one can explain.
Our task is to prepare for Jesus’ coming
  in great power as the King of kings to reign.