So looking a bit at what we're seeing in Galatians,
I wanted to focus a bit about this idea of rules
and relationship, and how it is that we see the
distinction that following after God, it's not
about trying to see what laws are prescribed,
but rather asking how is it that the God we know
is the God that we serve with everything that
we say and do. When I was in elementary school,
they had an after -school program that was there
my my parents were both working and whenever
We'd finish school. I'd go over to this after
-school program and they had two spots there
there was one spot where you could sit to the
side and you could you work on your homework
and Then there was this other spot where basically
all these kids are running around having a whole
bunch of fun All right, but my parents have told
me that I'm supposed to finish up my homework
Before I go and play with all the other kids
now the math wasn't the problem. I love math
great thing But here's the problem. I was always
a slow reader It was always this thing where
my mind would get distracted all over the place
and nobody had invented ADD yet, so you know
we didn't know what that was But in trying to
get all this done the reading would take so long
that by time I finished or even got most of it
done, my parents were already there to pick me
up. It was like I never got to go and play with
the other kids. So it's like, could I have just
talked this out with my parents and said, hey,
could I do maybe some or half of the homework
and then go play with the other kids and then
I'll finish up the rest at home? Because my parents
didn't ever actually know what the issue was
I never told them I was so stuck in my mind That
I had to make sure I did exactly what I was supposed
to in these rules And I never questioned it my
sister though. Oh, she had no issue questioning
the rules at all and she made lots of friends
and and I was like click with all the other kids
and later on it's like Well, did you get your
homework done? I have too much and then she'd
do it at home anyway Well, the thing is that
I was living by the law without asking what the
law was even for. And I wasn't even bothering
to ask if it was actually hurting rather than
helping me. And even more than that, I didn't
trust the relationship with my parents and to
believe that they actually wanted the best for
me. I just believed the arbitrary law was what
they had in mind for me. The thing is that that's
this idea of what we see Paul explaining in today's
passage about the law. There are times when the
law is put into place to keep us in check and
help us along, but it was never meant to take
the place of our true parent, God. As we have
come of age in the faith, seeing Christ, and
knowing what it is to follow Christ Himself rather
than just seeing which laws were written down,
we aren't meant to spend our time focusing more
closely on the law. We're meant to cling to the
Spirit of God that Christ has given to us. The
law has a purpose, but it's not meant to bring
life. It's temporary, until the real parent,
the real guide, the real relationship, has taken
root. So we want to just look a little bit more
at the letter to the Galatians about law, about
faith, and about growing up in the Spirit. You
see, the law serves an important role. It offers
boundaries, it gives guidance, it gives discipline.
Over time though, the laws have changed. The
laws have changed. They've been different in
different times and different places for different
reasons. But that doesn't mean that some laws
were necessarily wrong or that others were right
instead. Sometimes the laws had to change because
of what was happening among the people. Israel
oftentimes had to see different things in the
same way as well. Depending on where they were,
the laws themselves were not always universal.
So for example, the Ten Commandments were given
at a time whenever the people were leaving Egypt
and having to start from scratch. The problem
is that the laws that they had gone under were
just so broken and so distorted because of the
gods that they worshipped and the way that they
lived, they had to start over. So the Ten Commandments
were there just to make sure they even knew where
to even start and gave a moral backbone and guidance
to Israel. But then you also realize, well over
time, that doesn't necessarily answer every question
that you have. So the rabbis came up with traditions.
What they were trying to do is to try to add...
Extra things that might help to make sense of
how you live your everyday life We're gonna try
to make sure you know well You should probably
wash your hands when you come into the temple
or hey You should make sure that you spend a
certain amount of time if you've been around
something unclean Make sure that you're careful
at before touching anything else that is clean
things of that nature Careful with what you eat
careful with what you prepare some were helpful,
but some were just burdensome. Just adding it,
what you could wear, what you could say, what
you could touch. All of these things started
adding up. But then we see Jesus and then they're
trying to ask Him, well which is the best one?
And He's simplifying it down to love God, love
your neighbor. Well that seemed like it became
a whole lot easier. Was it because the stuff
in the past was bad? It's just he's trying to
make sure to refocus because what had happened
was they had taken the Ten Commandments, something
that we think is so obvious and so basic, but
they had so manipulated it for their purposes
and their goals that it completely lost any sense
of what was supposed to mean in the first place.
You could have it and it could be meaningless.
And even later on though, this is even just looking
at the Jewish community. The early church, specified
only a few ethical essentials to the Gentiles.
Don't have sexual immorality. Don't eat meat
that still has the blood in it and a bunch of
you may be wondering well wait a minute I love
a good bloody steak. That's actually not the
blood That's actually the tissues in the meat
that as you're cutting it. It's actually releasing
and breaking the tissues That's actually not
straightforward blood which I know doesn't sound
nearly as great whenever you're trying to order
it from the steakhouse But just so you know is
that a lot of these rules were there because
they're just trying to make sure that people
keep what is important first and foremost in
their mind. And I want to make sure that I also
explain this part, is that even in this context,
they're not saying that there was no such thing
as faith before Jesus. This is not saying that
the Old Testament did not have faith. We know
from Romans and from Hebrews, Abraham, Moses,
the people that were following, they were following
by faith, but Paul is trying to show a distinction.
He's trying to help people who have been so focused
on the rules, on the laws, to understand, yes,
there was a reason, but as we move forward in
faith, we're not supposed to let the laws control
us when we're seeing what God desires of us.
because the law had become something that was
like custody over people. It's like following
school rules that made sense at the beginning,
but didn't make sense later on. The law, it evolves,
it adapts, it shifts over time because of things
that we may be seeing, but faith doesn't. And
that's why we always have to be careful, is that
the Word of God never changes. The law... sometimes
shifts because of circumstance. But the Word
of God, in other words, the whole of God and
who He is together never changes. But we also
want to make sure we understand why were those
even there in the first place? Why was it that
the laws distinctions were there to divide us
in the first place? What was even the purpose
to even start with? Well, there were a lot of
different reasons. One was that they wanted to
make sure that they were avoiding other idols.
Many of the rules that were there were because
these things were leading them away from God.
Having bloody meat at the time was actually something
used in idol worship because it was seen as consuming
the life force of the animal. or even trying
to understand what was happening with purity
laws and making sure that while certain things
were acceptable to other gods, they were not
for our God. And especially with marriage and
making sure that they were not connected to other
countries, because let's be honest, whenever
we are in a family with people of different beliefs,
how easy is it that we're always trying to figure
out the middle ground. It doesn't mean that the
other person is a terrible person. It's just
always asking the question of, what is it that
we're doing together? What is it that matters
to us together? But another part is to be able
to also ask the cultural identity. Because Israel
was tiny. It was a tiny little country. among
all these large superpowers. And how easy would
it be if they lost all of their culture to then
just blend in with all the other places? And
then after a while, once you blend in so much
and you lose the customs that you had, how easy
is it to also lose what you believe? Even for
health and hygiene, because so many of the things
that they avoided actually would have made them
sick, not just because of their diet, but also
because of what was actually done with the animals.
Eating pork back then was filthy. It was terrible.
But even more than that, other purity laws that
they had were actually keeping them clean and
actually preserving them at these times. Or keeping
them together as a people. Whenever we have certain
things that we follow together, It basically
keeps us united as a community, which is one
of the reasons why we still try to have seasons
of Advent and seasons of Lent, so we do something
together as a community. But you see, God wanted
them to be set apart. He wanted them to stand
separate, different from the rest of the world.
But you see, here's the difference. Is that in
today's world, We live in a world where being
different doesn't require you to be physically
separate from other people. It doesn't require
that you're going to be physically separated
from the rest of the world. You can be different
while still being alongside of them. And even
how many times do we end up being in families
with different cultures and different backgrounds?
And that can be an opportunity to share Christ,
to be able to know Him more clearly. And that's
the thing with what we see is that the distinctions,
the roles, don't need to control the same way
they did before. The Jews and the Gentiles, even
though they started in two different places,
they're both supposed to be called by faith to
Christ Jesus. There were slaves and free people
at that time. Terrible words, terrible terms.
but at the same time is reminding them not to
abuse the people that are underneath you. Treat
them like your brothers and your sisters. And
even seeing that men and women, how often they
were treated as these separate classes and to
say, even if there had been different rules because
of the different ways in which their bodies function,
you've got to stop treating them like they're
second class citizens. To be set apart by faith,
is not about trying to be set apart physically
from the others. But even more than that, what
is it that we see the laws being for the children,
the spirit being for the heirs? Because that's
the thing about this, is that as we grow, as
we become who we're meant to be, the way we look
at the rules isn't quite the same. Because...
I mean, I'm 45 years old. I have taken the ideas,
the rules, the things that I grew up with, and
I have made the most of them for my parents.
It would be strange if every day I called up
my mom and my dad and said, mom, dad, I need
you to let me know. Can I eat this cereal today?
Mom, dad, should I go and exercise today? Should
I do this part? Mom. Dad, do I need to get my
homework done now? Can I have dinner first? I'm
a pastor, I'm probably going to be doing homework
before and after dinner anyway. But that's also
what we were seeing, is that instead of looking
at Jesus and knowing that they had seen Him,
known God Himself, and that His Spirit was leading
them, many of them were still trying to go back
and check whether they had followed all of the
rules. But the thing is, is that even more than
that, is that oftentimes we create extra rules.
If I have a certain type of job, I'll be okay.
If I'm married by a certain age, I'll be okay.
If I can control everything and every person
around me, then it'll be okay. We want to create
laws that make us feel comfortable. But you see,
The idea is that while people in the past may
have needed the structure, we now have the Son
of God. Because the miracle is the relationship.
The miracle is coming to know Christ more clearly.
But you see, the same thing is that we do that
to other people too. We have in our mind expectations
for what make us comfortable from other people.
Why did you say it that way? Why did you act
that way? Why do you think that way? Why is it
that your life looks different from mine? And
how often do we put extra laws on others that
maybe we don't even follow perfectly ourselves?
We take these rules and we think that they're
the way that we follow God. But in reality, following
God is following His Son by way of His Spirit.
And that's what it is that we're called to be
as Christians. What it is that we're called to
be able to do is to walk by the Spirit, not to
try to spend the time making sure that we've
outlined and made a decision about every single
thing that we see about others around us. It's
not about trying to see every action from other
people and making decisions in our minds about
whether we approve of it or not. It's that each
and every day we ask how our lives are following
what Christ has shown us and then seeing how
we can then bless others to see the same for
their own life as well. As long as we continue
to figure out when and how the law has applied,
we're always going to miss the point. but rather
is to grow up in the faith to see what it means
in our lives today. Because that's what it is
that God is inviting us to do. It's to grow up
in grace. To live by the Spirit. Because the
thing is that following God's law is not about
the law. Following God's law is not about the
law. It's about asking how our lives are following
what Christ has shown us. And as Jesus died because
of the law, that all of these people kept seeing
him and saying, you are not fitting what we want
and what we expect. He died because of it. The
law doesn't bring life. It only kills. But he's
also conquered it. and He's conquered it for
us. So that instead of trying to figure out,
do I need to try to figure out more of these
laws that I can somehow prove to God that I'm
good enough and that I've made it? Or do I need
to try to figure out how other people can live
up to what I think God wants for them, is instead
to show them who has lived up to everything that
the Father has wanted. Because the more that
we bring them to our Savior, the more that we
share the one who gave His life, that's where
they start to change. This is where people come
to know what God desires, because this is where
His Spirit comes. This is how He leads us. Not
by what we've figured out, not by what we have
expected of others, but because of the Savior.
who has given everything to us. So being heirs,
it brings more than what any child would ever
have from their parent. Because instead of having
a list of rules, instead we have a loving father,
we have his son, and we have his spirit. And
because of that, we are part of a family. We
are part of a relationship. that goes beyond
any rule that we know we will fail to and Brings
us back every time we do with that Thanks be
to God