As we're going through life, we discover that
the world in each subsequent generation is always
a little bit different. We're always trying to
make sense of how to navigate it. You know, whenever
I was in elementary school, whenever we would
finish the school day, my parents were still
at work, and so I was there at the after -school
program. You know, and one of the things with
after -school programs, you know, you get a chance
to do fun, you know, hobbies and events and maybe
play sports and do other things. But that's not
what I did in the after -school program. You
see, my parents, they didn't realize how much
homework kids had anymore since when they were
kids. So they would always tell me, Jason, do
your homework first, and then you can go play.
They forgot that they had enrolled me in the
advanced, gifted, and talented program. And so
I was trying to get through all the homework
before they came to pick me up. And the thing
is, the math... That wasn't an issue whatsoever.
I love math. Everything's great. I was always
a slow reader. See, I was a child back before
they invented ADHD. You know, it didn't exist
back then, of course. So, but, joking aside though,
is my mind would always be scattered all over
the place, and I just could not get through it
that quickly. And by the time I finished it,
or even hadn't gotten through most of it yet,
and my parents came and I'd miss out on getting
to go play with everybody else. And that was
one of the things about this is my parents, they
didn't realize what was going on because I never
told them. I never said, hey, is there any way
that I can maybe do half the homework and then
I'll do the rest at home so I can spend some
time with the other kids? In my mind, Being a
good kid meant I was supposed to do exactly what
these rules had for me. Now, my sister, definitely
not. No, she was going to go off and play with
her friends and everything, and she had a great
time. Lots more friends and everything else,
and that's totally why I'm still scarred to this
day. Kidding aside, my parents didn't know. That
wasn't anything. But realizing that I was spending
so long... making sure that I was following the
rules from my parents, that I forgot that I had
a relationship with my parents. I was spending
so long thinking that doing all these things
was somehow going to make me right in their eyes
and that they, I don't know, love me or whatever
might have been playing in my childlike brain,
and not realizing that I could have just turned
to them and trusted that they would have given
me opportunity to get to know other kids and
enjoy things. I was looking to the rules to guide
me, instead of turning to my parents, the real
guides, the real relationship that was there.
And that's much of what we end up seeing from
Paul today in the Galatians, is that in this
letter, he's speaking about how people had been
spending so long looking at the rules, the laws
that they had, that they were missing out on
the fact that they had been given the Son of
God, and through Him, God's spirit. They had
spent too long looking at their laws and not
looking by faith at God himself. But that's something
to find that's important is to realize that the
law is oftentimes so temporary. It's not what
actually has the final word in our relationship
with God. See, laws change, but God's desires,
they don't. And that's something that we can
oftentimes miss out on. You see, the law, it
serves an important role. Laws, rules, guides,
they offer boundaries, guidance, discipline.
Over time though, laws change. Different times,
different places, different reasons. It doesn't
mean that these were necessarily wrong, just
because these might be right for today, but realizing
that... they might have to be flexible for where
we're at. Because the laws that we have aren't
universal. When the children of Israel left Egypt,
they had left a country, a nation, where their
standards were so biased toward these gods that
they had there. They were so out of keeping with
what God would want, that basically had to start
from scratch. He had to give them the Ten Commandments
just to even make sure that they even knew what
was even good and right in the world. But you
see, the Ten Commandments, they were the moral
backbone and the guidance of this nation, but
this nation needed more guidance because there
are other things that you're going to face. So
there were rabbis that had these other traditions.
They had different layers of how to try to do
more with following what God was wanting. You
see, some of them would be very, very helpful.
Like, well, you know, what type of clothing should
we wear? Or how do we prepare the food so that
it's clean in the sight of God? And how do we
make sure that our practices show that we're
different? These could be really good, but they
could also be really burdensome. Because sometimes
they could... make up more and more rules that
don't even serve the original purpose. Someone
had mentioned before that apparently there was
even a rule where on the Sabbath day when you
were not supposed to work, you were not even
allowed to spit on the ground because if you
did, it was furrowing the dirt which was in their
eyes the same as working. Did you catch that?
They had gotten so caught up in trying to make
extra laws for themselves, they even took that
idea of honor the Sabbath from the Ten Commandments,
and they abused it to the point of, I saw you
spit on the ground on the Sabbath day, you're
in trouble now. And that's oftentimes what we
do, is we may take something good, like the commandments
of God, and the way we use them can be so hurtful.
And so even to the point where then we see Jesus,
and Jesus, they come to him, they're saying,
you know, well, Jesus, which of the commandments
is the greatest? And he doesn't say something
like, well, all 10, you gotta follow them all
10, you know, perfectly, and then there you go.
He says, love God, love your neighbor. And to
remind them how straightforward it's really meant
to be. But even to a point where people were
even trying to figure out, not just for the Jewish
community, But what about for everybody else?
What laws, what rules do we give them to make
sure that God will be happy with them? But in
Acts 15, they actually keep it pretty simple.
Don't have sexual immorality and don't eat...
food worship to idols that still has the blood
in it and I know we get like kind of confused
with that because how many of you how many of
you like a really bloody steak I mean let's be
honest right oh man yes thank you like medium
rare rare on occasion if you really if the meat's
really really good but to be honest that's actually
not really the blood when you're cutting it it's
actually breaking the tissue and those that's
actually what's coming out that's actually not
the blood but the You like it tissue -y, doesn't
sound nearly as good as liking it bloody. But
the reason was because they wanted to make sure
that they weren't worshipping other gods. All
of these rules, all these laws, there was a purpose,
there was a point, but it wasn't for their own
sake. And it says in here, how is it that we
would follow what God desires? And it talks about
the idea that they used to follow the law, But
now they follow by faith. And I want to make
sure I clarify this. Is that Abraham, Moses,
the people of Israel? They were always supposed
to follow by faith. It says so in Romans and
Hebrews. There was always faith to follow. But
what Paul is trying to get at is they spent too
long looking at the rules. And now we need to
spend the time following after the Spirit. Because
what we end up seeing is that while rules may
change depending on circumstance Our faith and
the one we have faith in does not That's why
we say God's word never changes We don't say
God's law never changes We say God's word never
changes Because you have to see all of God for
who he is and for what it is he desires But then
maybe asking this question of why was it that
the laws were even dividing people in the first
place? Why was it so important that in the time
of Israel? Why did they have all these laws with
distinctions that kept them separated? Why was
that such a big deal? Well, there were really
important reasons in that context like number
one You had to make sure that you weren't following
after other idols It is so easy that when we
mingle with different people, we oftentimes take
on their beliefs, their values, their morals.
See, at that time, if they were too close to
the Gentiles, they started picking up their idol
worship. And there were some really terrible
practices that came in with worshiping these
other idols. It wasn't just bowing down. It was
death for children. It was harm for one another.
It was sexual hurt and immorality. But the same
thing also for marriages. When they married someone
from a different group, they were supposed to
also take on their idols. And that's why it was
so key to remember to be united with someone
who had the same beliefs and values. Because
we're people. We have a natural tendency to try
to find the middle ground wherever we are. or
even more than that, they wanted to keep their
cultural identity because Israel was tiny. All
these other nations nearby, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon,
they were huge. And this tiny little place, if
they weren't careful in holding on to their culture
and their customs, they could easily get swallowed
up by all these other places. But it turns out,
even health and hygiene, were benefited by these
things that if you had pork back then this isn't
something like oh man one of the hot dogs that
we have over here and we're like yeah grill it
up guys this is going to be awesome this stuff
was gross all right this was the sort of thing
you did not want inside of you but also even
their cleanliness because they didn't have the
same types of soaps or antibacterial gel that
you might have today and even making sure it
kept them together. Ever wondered why we even
have Advent and Lent seasons in the first place?
Things that help us to see the commonality and
it draws us together as a community. But you
see, God wanted all these things because He had
His people set apart. But here's the difference
though, is that in today's world, you don't have
to be physically separated. to be separated in
spirit and in truth. The thing is, is that now
we can see the ways in which we can live alongside
other people and still hold to who we are and
what we believe. And even times where we may
even come together with someone and find out
that while our backgrounds may be different,
is this an opportunity now to share Christ with
this person? and to be able to bring our future
families and our future community to know who
God truly is. What we end up seeing here is that
to be set apart by faith, we can still be united
in the world, but still hold to what we believe.
And that's what Paul is seeing. You notice the
list that he made? The Jews and the Gentiles,
the slaves and the free people, men and women?
It was realizing that now, The Jewish people
were going to be living among the Gentiles, but
they were all called to be in Christ Jesus. Even
realizing that in those days, the ways in which
they treated people that were called slaves or
servants, whatever term they were using for them,
and realizing that that was keeping them from
who God was and from being in the family. And
even more than that, The way that they use the
roles of men and women and the way that they
were harming the women in their society with
it Paul is trying to remind them you may have
had customs before that made sense But now don't
let those keep people from a life in Christ It
was not supposed to be about bloodline. It was
supposed to be about faith But knowing this In
the past, they had been like children with their
laws, but now they were meant to live as heirs
by the Spirit. You know, what would it be like
if, as we grow up, we still end up going to our
parents to answer everything for us and tell
us what to do? Could you imagine that? I'm 45
years old. Could you imagine me waking up in
the morning and say, Mom? Can I have tricks for
cereal this morning? I'd really like I've got
some Golden Grahams mom would that be would that
be okay? Could you imagine that I wanted to go
to comic blues and I said mom I promise I'll
be good. Don't worry I won't get into a whole
bunch of trouble could you imagine that I'm even
trying to make career changes and You know Christ
Memorial calls me up and says would you like
to be the pastor here? And I said yes, but let
me check with my parents first Could you imagine?
And yet, that idea is what people had been doing
in regard to the law. They were acting like kids,
going back over and over and seeing whether or
not the rules that they had created for themselves
were still in place. See, we oftentimes use the
laws as guardians. because laws oftentimes make
us feel comfortable. Even if it's not legal laws,
we're also looking at things that we set up in
our own lives, rules that we think will help
us live the life that we want. I'll only be okay
if I get this particular job, so I have to do
that one. Or I must be married by this age. Some
of us are in trouble. Or, if I just stay in control
of everything or everyone, then everything will
be okay. I'm sure no one's ever felt that need
to be in control. But we create these rules thinking
that somehow that will bring life, even though
we know that the law only brings death. And then
we do the same thing for others in our lives
too. We see them. We see the choices that they
make. We see the words that they use. We see
the ideas that they promote. And then we decide
that there must be something wrong with them.
And God couldn't possibly have any use for someone
like that. And we discover ourselves judging
people for things that if we were being honest,
in our hearts, we're not following them either.
We're being honest. We're struggling the same
way. Using the law does not actually bring us
life. We know that because of what happened to
Christ Jesus. Christ was there among people and
He was doing exactly what the Father wanted.
But they had all of these laws and rules in their
mind that they wanted to see people abide by,
especially Him. And He ends up getting killed
because He wasn't abiding by their rules that
they wanted. That's the thing about what happens
is that when we use the law and the rule around
us, we use it as a weapon so often, instead of
pausing and saying, how do I follow God more
clearly at this moment in time? But the amazing
part about grace is that even though Jesus had
to suffer for our laws that we created, He still
did it to bring us life. Forgiveness. His Spirit.
Because that's the thing that we're trying to
see here is that Paul is trying to get across.
Stop trying to make extra laws for yourself and
stop trying to make them for other people. Stop
and come to the one place that you and everyone
will find life in Christ. Seek Him. Follow Him.
Know Him. Listen to His Spirit. Pause and ask
not did I manage to do all the things that are
expected of me Instead pause and say what would
God call me to right now? What would God actually
find joy in at this moment? Because that's the
thing about us Is that it's time for us to finally
grow up in faith is that it's time for us to
stop letting what our rules and our laws in the
past told us and dictated instead say, where
are we supposed to be right now? Because if we
spend all this time figuring out whether or not
we are a failure according to things on our checklist,
then we don't stop long enough to realize that
we are a child of God because of love. And that
as that child, we're called to live accordingly.
When we see that, then we realize that following
God's law is not about the laws. Following God's
word is about following who God is. It's about
asking what the heart of God is and then seeking
how we make that our reality. Thing is, better
laws will never be the true answer. We need them.
And we need to follow them, because we need to
make sure that in this broken world, we don't
make a complete mess of it. But it's never the
final say. Because we are the heirs to the kingdom.
And as heirs to the kingdom, we already have
God's law in the one place it needs to be, in
our hearts. So my hope, for each of you, and
for the church as a whole, is that we will spend
our time asking how in the Spirit we're living
by relationship more than living by the rules.
Because the rules always have their limits, but
the love of God has none. May He lead and guide
us now and always by His Spirit. Thanks be to
God.