Galatians 3:23-29
Paul is trying desperately to get these Gauls…or Galatians…going in the right direction. Some have slipped into the fold who are suggesting they can do something to make themselves more acceptable to God, more loved by God. But, the gospel is simple and clear: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son….” (John 3:16). God is the one who can do something on our behalf; God is the one who makes us acceptable…and God already loves us—SO loves us.
Divisions have slipped in as well: “I’m Jewish and you’re Greek (or Gaulish!).” “Men have the more important place…” “She’s a slave—she can’t lead that small group!” God longs to see all of the divisions swept away. Paul declares it—“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Childhood— When I was growing up in the country of Guyana in South America, we lived outside of the capital city of Georgetown in Oleander Gardens. My friends were Jonathan from England, Richard from Barbados, Simone from Holland, Gavin from England, Savate from Guyana of Indian extraction, and David from Canada. These were the kids I played with—these were my best friends:
We were mostly boys, but Simone and her
little sister, Rosie, were often right there with us. We played games of
adventure born out of our imagination. We ran together, we played together, we
took tea together (former British colony!). On rainy days, we would gather and
play with whatever toys were lying about—usually some Corgi cars (I still have
mine!). It seems that we endured school so we could get home to play.
Here’s something else I remember: We never noticed or talked about our home countries, never compared who was better or worse, and never commented on the color of our skin—Jonathan was milk-white, Richard was black like midnight, and the rest of us some hue in between. We never excluded Simone and Rosa because they were girls. We never took account of the things that may have divided us because no one had as yet taught us to compare and contrast and segregate and hate all based on something that none of us had any control over in any way shape, form, or fashion.
Who has control over the color of their skin? Who chooses to be born of one nationality or another? What child gets to choose if he or she is a boy or a girl? These are handed to us…we are born to these things. And as children, these things never separate us, never divide us. We learn sexism, we learn racism, we learn nationalism…from parents or other adults we look up to, from the culture around us, but we are not born sexist, racist, or nationalistic. We learn these, and we can unlearn these.
A Taste of the Kingdom of Heaven – In Matthew 18, Jesus is teaching his disciples:
[Jesus]
called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he
said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little
children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matt. 18:2-3)
Childhood—when family and culture have yet
to build the walls of division and segregation in our lives.
Paul echoes these very words in his letter
to the Galatians. Did you hear him?
So
in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith…. (Gal.
3:26)
What Paul calls the Galatians to, what
Jesus call us to as the church, as the people of God, is to live in that way in
which “there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is
there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
If
Paul were writing these to the church in North America today, he might
continue:
“…neither
Republican nor Democrat, neither rich nor poor, neither Latino nor Gringo,
neither white nor black, neither Methodist nor Lutheran, neither straight nor
gay, neither banker nor barista, neither Yank nor Southerner, neither young nor
old… nor any other words that divide, that demean, that separate us from one
another…for you are all one in Christ Jesus”.
Galatians – Paul
Takes On the Law
Watch/Listen: HERE
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