Galatians 3:1-9, 23-29
Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. 2 Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. 3 How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? 4 Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?
5 I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.
6 In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” 7 The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.
8 What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.
23 Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed.
24 Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. 25 And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.
26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.
This morning’s reading reminds me of the classic one about two men who were standing on a bridge; one was about to jump off and the other was trying to talk him out of it. The man asked the jumper, “So are you a Christian or a Hindu or a Jew or what?” The jumper replied, “A Christian.” The man said, “Small world, me too! Protestant, or Catholic, or Orthodox?” The jumper answered, “Protestant.” The man replied, “Me too! What denomination?” The jumper said, “Lutheran” The man replied, “Me too! Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, or Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod?” The jumper answered, “Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.” The man replied, “Me too! Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, Lutheran Church of America, or American Lutheran Church?” The jumper answered, “Lutheran Church in America.” The man replied, “Me too! Suomi Synod, Augustana Synod, United Lutheran Church in America, American Evangelical Lutheran Church, or United Evangelical Lutheran Church?” The jumper answered, “United Lutheran Church in America.” The man replied, “Me too! General Council of 1866, Augustana Synod of 1860, or Synod of the South or 1863?” The jumper answered, “General Council of 1866.” The man replied, “Me too! Pennsylvania Ministerium of 1748 or New York Ministerium of 1786?” The jumper answered, “Pennsylvania Ministerium of 1748.” The man then pushed the jumper off the bridge and screamed, “Die Heretic!”
Who knew the Lutheran church had such a divisive past?! And that’s just the Lutheran church in North America for the last 275 years! Just imagine what the divisions look like in Europe over the last 500 years, especially in the fatherland of Germany! Everybody arguing over everything, from the biggest issues to the minutest, trivial ones. It’s no wonder the Jewish people came up with over 600 laws in biblical times. They were trying to maintain some semblance of order in the midst of mass confusion. To be fair, the God of the Torah isn’t an easily understood God. He interacts with people in the strangest of ways. God telling Noah to build a massive ark for no apparent reason? God telling Abraham to go into a foreign land and later telling him to kill his one and only son? God telling Moses of all people to lead one of the greatest mass exoduses in human history? No, the God of Jewish scripture is not an easily understood God. Sure, He helped the people by giving them ten seemingly straightforward commandments but even they proved to have multiple shades of gray to them. Hence, the development of over 600 laws from just a mere 10! God is complicating…people are complicating.
And God and people didn’t get any less complicating with the various leaders and prophets since the days of Noah and Abraham and Moses. The arguing just kept going year after year until finally a great unifier came on the scene. And not because of what he said or did. In fact, most of what he said and did created even further division among people. It was what was done to him that unifies us all. It was through his death and resurrection that God revealed an answer to a mystery that affects us all. Some of us wonder why there is suffering in the world. The familiar response is because there is sin in the world. So why is there sin in the world? Because of Satan. So why is there Satan? So that God can reveal the full magnitude of his glory and goodness. Why does God have to reveal that to us? So that we can cling to him and praise and worship him. Sooooo why does He need that? You get the idea, the mystery of suffering is a difficult mystery to unravel, not to mention the fact that not all of us suffer in this world. Hard to imagine, I know, but some of us manage to get through this life without suffering so that mystery doesn’t really affect them. But what does affect us all is death. We all die eventually so the mystery of death is universal. Now then, God revealed that mystery through Jesus Christ. God enabled himself to die to reveal that there is, indeed, life after death. Death isn’t an end but rather a beginning. A beginning to new life. But there’s a catch: the only way to experience that new life is through faith and belief in Christ. I know, it kinda seems like cyclical thinking. Jesus died and rose again simply for us to believe he died and rose again? Well, duh! And yet it’s difficult for many people to believe he rose again. It’s as if they don’t want there to be life after death. So what’s the alternative? Nothingness after death? So what’s the point of life? What’s the point of hope? I know, friends, I’m throwing a lot of questions out there this morning! But Jesus’ resurrection is powerful stuff, and this season of Easter is meant for reflecting on it. Jesus’ resurrection is unlike anything the world has ever known. Jesus’ resurrection revealed something about our God that is strikingly clear: He is a God of life and hope. Even death can’t destroy the life and hope that is in God. And life and hope are what unite us. Life and hope are endless.
And where do we find life and hope? Well, in Jesus Christ of course! The endless life of Jesus is the source of great hope, and it unites in ways that nothing else can. The resurrection and belief in the resurrection is the key to oneness. Paul understood this all too well as we heard in our reading for this morning. “For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.” It is our belief in the resurrection that holds us together in the body of Christ. We are one through Christ. Paul writes in his letter to Ephesians, “There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” (4:5)
We can argue about the things Jesus said or did. We can argue about the God of scripture. We can argue about the church body. I imagine we’ll argue about these things until the end of time! I also imagine there will be many divisions in the church in the years to come because of the endless arguing. But there shouldn’t be any arguing over one foundational truth of scripture: Jesus’ resurrection. It is the good news! It is what holds us all together as one body of Christ. It is the pivotal truth of Scripture! Life and hope are endless because of the resurrection and for that we give thanks! Thanks be to God! In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
