For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. – Galatians 1:10-17
Pastors, churches, and denominations have turf wars. This is sad and regrettable. Jesus prayed that His people would “be one as [He] and the Father are one.” The heart of Paul’s message is that the coming of Jesus has moved us from Old Creation to New Creation, where “all are one in Christ” without the world’s obsession on race, social class, and gender (3:28). Yet, the verses copied above make abundantly clear that even from the earliest days of the church, there were many turf wars, uncharitable reports about other Christian leaders, and garden-variety politics.
As a pastor, I know about this personally. On occasion I’ll hear from someone that Pastor So-and-So said I am a [insert heresy], or that I preach [insert grave error], or that I [insert moral corruption]. Never mind that I haven’t talked to Pastor So-and-So in 10 years (if ever!) or that he has never actually heard or read my preaching and teaching. He’s convinced he knows all he needs to know to warn you away from a wolf like me. This is rampant in churches from evangelical to liberal.
Paul is dealing with exactly this and, as a result, starts walking on the thin ice of arguing his independence in a book about unity. That’s a dicey proposition!
He was being accused by the detractors of preaching easy-believism. Obviously, his failure to have Gentile converts circumcised was just a trick to make it easier to join—cheap grace! We all know he was tickling Gentile ears with what they wanted to hear because he wanted to be liked and have lots of followers. “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man?” In other words: “So, you thought I was looking for human approval, did you? Please! If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a SLAVE of Christ. Can I make it any plainer than that?”
He then begins establishing his independence by telling how he came by his gospel and what it did to him. “For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” And in case someone thought he didn’t know what the law demanded, he gives them an earful that they are the ones who have no idea! “I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.” Paul knows the law.
But he was stopped in his tracks when God, perhaps to Saul’s horror and amazement, revealed His son, Jesus Messiah, and had done so in order that he, Saul, an ultra-orthodox Jew, might tell the Gentile nations that Israel’s God loved them just as much as He loved Israel. That’s moving from Old Creation to New Creation. It’s going to make a lot of people mad, but others joyful. Because that’s what the gospel does!
Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this Sunday.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel– not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. – Galatians 1:1-9
I lived for a couple of years in Macon, Georgia. I met some fine people there. With a city charter in 1823, it’s nearly 100 years older than Oklahoma. This antebellum town was mostly spared from Sherman’s torch. That preserved many interesting historical things to see. I hadn’t lived there very long when little oddities began to catch my eye, such as a water fountain and another one like it some distance away, or at least evidence that another one formerly had been there. I noticed the same with restrooms, entrances, places to sit in churches(!), and so on. In some cases, these separate-but-not-equal constructions had been preserved, while others had been faintly changed. What had not been erased was the grandiose train station (now an event center), where there was carved in the stone on one side: “Colored Waiting Room.” This “room” was covered, but not enclosed. It had functioned that way until 1960.
Imagine if you had gone to Macon in, say, 1940 and begun construction on a building and organization where everyone, black and white and any other variety, could come and enjoy food, drink, help, conversation, education, singing, prayer, and mutual fellowship all together without respect to race, gender, or social class. With a good number of people behind you on this, it became a movement of good news. A growing number of people were helping get this place built. The mission seemed solid enough that you decided to go do it in another state where they hadn’t yet heard about such a wonderful thing.
After you had spent some time in the next state, you received word that back in Macon, some people had come in and said, “No, no, that guy (you!) brought this crazy concept of unity here, but that’s ridiculous. You know how it’s been from the beginning and what works and keeps the peace. We need to alter construction on this building to separate people again. After all, that guy (you!) acted like he was sent here from God, but, please, it’s not like he was an emissary from Washington or something!” And many people were persuaded by these detractors and abandoned your original vision no longer to divide along the lines of gender, race, and social class. How would you feel?
I think you’d feel like Paul. He establishes that he wasn’t sent to Galatia (central Turkey today) by men, “but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.” And you might be astonished that the good news of deliverance “from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father” had been so quickly deserted. His message to them is clear and pointed, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.”
Is the illustration here to the point or a little off? I believe we will find in the book of Galatians that it is spot-on. The good news (the gospel) Paul speaks of is not precisely a system of salvation or a new way of living religiously. The gospel that Paul brought to the Galatians that some were distorting was the announcement that Jesus, the crucified Messiah, is exalted as Lord of the whole world; therefore, He calls into existence a single, worldwide family. If you’re preaching something contrary to that, may you be accursed.
Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this Sunday.
Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish. – Psalm 1
Many people consider the Psalms as a kind of hymnal book for the ancient Israelites, and that observation definitely has merit. Within the Psalms, we see notes to the Choirmaster or we might see an introduction that tells us the next Psalm is a song of David. We also find references to melodies using a harp, lyre, trumpet, or tambourine. Yes, there is no doubt that the Psalms are filled with songs for the Israelites. We would be mistaken, however, to flatten our understanding of the Psalms to the point where we simply consider it to be a library of hymns and some liturgy. As the Church, we should recognize that these songs of praise to Yahweh are much fuller than that understanding. These songs are the battle cries of God’s covenant people as we battle against the powers and principalities of darkness in this world.
It is no mistake that the first Psalm sets the line of battle from the very start. These are the most foundational truths for any warrior: “Who is my enemy?” and “For what am I fighting?” This Psalm answers those questions with a call to the path of the righteous. We find this righteous path is compared and contrasted with the path of the unrighteous. The Psalmist tells us that the righteous path leads to a fruitful life of stability and prospering, while the kingdom of the world leads down a path of total insignificance. This unrighteous path is like chaff that the wind drives away and ultimately perishes. The line is drawn in this way between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of the world.
From the very first word of the very first Psalm, a division takes place for the reader. How are we to read the word, “Blessed”? There are two ways to read it. Do we read it according to the world where we find material blessings for the ‘good’ people? Or do we read it according to the kingdom of heaven where we find a call to covenantal blessings. A call to be sealed in covenant with God and, therefore, separated from the wickedness of the world.
Interestingly, Christ uses this same call to blessing found in the first Psalm when He preaches the Beatitudes. He takes the worldly perspective of blessing and turns it upside-down. It’s not Blessed are the Rich in material wealth…. No, our Lord says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Not only is Christ associating blessedness with being poor, but he is not even talking about the poor in the same way as the world. He is speaking in terms of the kingdom of heaven which our Lord brought into this world as a shining light into a vast darkness. The poor in spirit have lost all hope in in their self-righteous efforts and with empty hands, they hunger for the bread of life. The poor in spirit seek rest at God’s table, and they find eternal peace in communion with Christ. And that’s the gospel!
Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this Sunday.
John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” – Mark 1:4-11
The passage above is the gospel reading for the Sunday after the Epiphany. Epiphany is the manifestation of God incarnate in Jesus, particularly to the Gentiles as represented by the “three kings” (the Magi) in their visit from the east. There can be some confusion here because, although the Epiphany is the first day after the 12 days of Christmas, the wise men visited a couple of years after Jesus’ birth. We know this because of their interaction with Herod and his command to massacre the boys 2 years of age and younger. The gospel account says that the holy family was in a “house,” meaning that they were no longer in the manger. Still, it is a valuable period on the church calendar to help us engage with the rhythm of the history of redemption.
Very close to Epiphany is the Baptism of Jesus, which is celebrated on the first Sunday after Christmas. That’s why the gospel text above was chosen. Depending on how the dates and Sundays fall from year to year, the concentration may be on the one or the other. This year it is the baptism of Jesus, along with a reading from Acts 19, which is another place where the Spirit descends (as at Jesus’ baptism).
There are just a few verses here, but so much is taking place! Looking at some of these same verses during Advent, we saw that John the Baptizer is the new Elijah. Not only does he dress like Elijah, but God’s similar action at the Jordan River is impressive. Elijah and Elisha cross the Jordan on dry ground and that’s when Elijah asks Elisha what he can do for him. Elisha asks for a “double portion” of Elijah’s spirit. So there, on the western side of the Jordan, Elisha receives his request as Elijah ascends to heaven, and his “mantle” falls and strikes the Jordan, dividing the waters. Elisha crosses over to Jericho and heals the city’s cursed water.
Moses also ascended on the west side of the Jordan (“opposite Jericho,” Deut. 34:1). Joshua was his successor who also received the Spirit to continue God’s work. Joshua crossed the Jordan on dry ground and went to Jericho to wage war and to destroy it.
This demonstrates that John the Baptizer is the new Moses, and Jesus is the new (and better!) Joshua; John is the new Elijah, and Jesus is the new (and better!) Elisha. These instances show a passing through the waters of the Jordan into places away from the Promised Land where the battle can be fought. John baptizes Jesus who receives the Spirit and goes away to the wilderness to wage war against principalities and powers in high places, the spiritual forces of wickedness, and wins!
If we think for a minute about Jesus’ baptism, even more remarkable things are revealed. Mark says that Jesus “saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.” We’re used to hearing the Spirit described in such terms, but that would have been a real shocker to the original audience. The only place the Spirit of God was likened to a dove was in the Targum. That’s the Aramaic version of the Law and Prophets. Hebrew was used more for study, so the Targum was in the everyday language of Jesus’ time. The creation account of Genesis 1:2 says “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters, and God said, ‘Let there be light.’ “ The word translated in the ESV, “hovering,” also means “fluttering.” To capture the image, the rabbis who compiled the Targum said, “And the Spirit of God fluttered above the face of the waters like a dove, and God said: ‘Let there be light.’ “
Here we have the same three parties present at Jesus’ baptism as in the creation account: God the Father, God’s Spirit, and God’s Word, through which He creates. Not only that, but the Spirit was over water! In the same way that creation was the work of the Triune God, Mark is saying that the redemption of the world (i.e., the rescue and renewal of all things) has begun with the arrival of King Jesus.
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, above the waters, speaks: “And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’ “
Think of it: Jesus is baptized and He is enveloped with the best thing anyone could ever hear from his father: “I’m delighted with you!” There’s so much more I’d like to say, but let us be clear that the heart of all Christianity is summarized here. When the living God beholds every person baptized into Christ Jesus, He looks at each one and says, “You are my dear child: I’m delighted with you.” And that’s the gospel!
Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this Sunday.