MPC
6th August 2017.August 6 - Galatians 3 - "One Family of Faith"
MPC
6th August 2017.
Phil Campbell
I saw someone said the other day that family tree tracking is one of the most popular uses of the Internet.
Time magazine says genealogy is the second most popular hobby in America. after gardening, and the second most visited category of websites; after pornography.
People just love... to know their heritage.
So Bruce and Elizabeth McClenahan; they've just spent their holidays tracking her family line in England.
They visited the house where her great great great grandparents lived from the 1840s to the 1870s.
And she's met people. Who all trace back the same family line.
Like her third cousin Michael. Who though he'd never met them before... opened up his home and treated them like long lost relatives. Because they actually were.
It's weird isn't it? If you've ever met a relative like that. And discovered there's a kinship there you maybe didn't even expect to find.
And that's something the apostle Paul wants the Galatian Christians to understand and experience. In a very reassuring way.
It's like he's saying, you guys might have been feeling shut out for a while by the guys from the church in Jerusalem who are trying to make you turn Jewish. We heard about them last week. But he says, you're just as much family as they are. And it's the same family.
Because if you've come to trust in Jesus, you share a common ancestor. In faith. You've got a heritage that goes way back. To the same beginning.
Look, if you're here for the first time in this series today, let me say sorry about that. It's like you've come in half way through a soap opera on TV. The Bold and The Beautiful. You can find the last few episodes on our website or on Apple podcasts. And it's worth catching up.
There's a back story. Because these first century ethnic Turks came to faith in Jesus when they heard Paul preaching the gospel to them. The message that the death of Jesus was the way to be made right with God.
And now there are these Jewish. Christians casting doubt; on whether they're genuine people of God or not.
And Paul in a nutshell says in verse 7, you guys. Who are not even Jews. If you've put your faith in Jesus; you've got a family line that reaches all the way back to our common ancestor Abraham. Linked by the faith gene.
Verse 7. Look at this words, verse 7:
Understand, then, that those who have faith... are children of Abraham.
It's the same in verse 9...
9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
You can spot Abraham's name there again in verse 14 and verse 16; he's there in verse 18; and he's there in verse 29. Where Paul makes exactly the same point.
29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, Abraham's family; and heirs according to the promise.
Which genetically is what the Jews pride themselves on. As the basis of their privilege.
It's a long and complicated passage. All about family lines. And who belongs where.
But it's all about the fact that under God's plan to bless his world there's only one family of blessing. Not two. And that's the family of faith in Jesus Christ. Not the family of Jewish law and rules.
So let's back up and start at the beginning of chapter 3. Where Paul's telling the Galatian Christians not to be such idiots. And you can imagine his tone.
We got the famous scam call from the tax office the other day. A recorded message from the Australian Tax Office. Which of course isn't the Australian Tax Office at all.
I hung up before the voice could tell me that a tax office audit had uncovered my tax debt that I could pay back by sending Apple iTunes vouchers to their special email address.
Though Jenny from Perth, who's 80... did what they said. And paid out $4000 the scammers over three days. Who after she paid $1500 the first day was contacted again for another $2000 for what they said was a refundable security deposit and $500 more for costs on day 3.
Can I say to you if you get a call like that... just hang up.
Which is what Paul says the Galatians should have done with the law pushers from Jerusalem.
"You foolish Galatians!" Verse 1. "Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified." I couldn't have been any clearer with the gospel.
And he says; he puts it as a string of questions; but he's saying in verse 2, you heard about crucified Jesus. You believed in crucified Jesus. And how he's the rescue from our sin problem; and then he says, you received God's spirit. Who's now at work changing your hearts.
He's going to unpack that in chapter 5. But that's the sequence, right?
Hear the gospel. The good news message.
Believe the gospel.
And you receive God's Spirit. Who starts rebuilding your attitudes which then starts reshaping your behaviour.
And not the other way around. "Come on, tell me," verse 2, "did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? "
Are you idiots, verse 3?
Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?
That you think you need to take on laws and rules to shape your lifestyle when you've started with the spirit?
It's a big question. And I've noticed as I've been visiting some growth groups it's a question that's still around. Surely the Old Testament law should be our finishing school? There's so many of them.
But Paul says, don't be fooled. Hang up the phone. It's all about believing and receiving what you heard.
Which he says, is exactly what Abraham did. Right back at the beginning in Genesis chapter 12. Which way before there were any laws given... was why God counted him as righteous. Credited to him. As righteousness.
Verse 6. Quoting directly from Genesis 15. This faith idea; this trusting God's word idea; it's nothing new. And it you've done that when you've heard the gospel it links you right back to the original father of faith, Abraham himself.
Faith isn't a mystical thing by the way. It's just deciding to rely on someone. They say, I'll get the tickets and meet you at the theatre. If it's faith, you turn up at the theatre and wait for them to turn up with the tickets. If it's not faith, you're thinking, I'd better buy some tickets myself to be sure. Now I know disorganised people where I'd probably do that. Which means I can't actually have faith in them. Faith's more about picking who you can trust. Abraham. Believed God. And that was counted to him as righteousness. All he needed to do.
Which is why as we've seen already in verse 7 Paul can say that those who have faith later... are children of Abraham; no matter what gene pool we're from. And that was always the plan.
Another bible quote. This passage is full of them. Look down at your footnotes and you'll see this bit's so important that he said it to Abraham three times. It's the story back in Genesis of what God grabbed Abraham and made his covenant promises. That Abraham was going to be the father of a great nation. That's as far as most Jews ever bothered reading. But the fact is three times God repeats, in Genesis 12 verse 3 and Genesis 18 verse 18 and Genesis 22 verse 18; it's not just going to be for you. But all the nations.
Verse 8. Scripture foresaw that God would justify the gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you."
Which is why, verse 9, those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
So there you go. Common ancestor. One family. You nations, you gentiles; all ethnicities; we're sharing that original blessing God promised to Abraham; when we hear the gospel message of Jesus clearly portrayed as crucified. And we believe it. That he was crucified for me! That even as a first century non Jew, even as a twenty first century gentile; you just need to hear about Christ crucified and put your trust in him. No works of the law required. No circumcision. No Jewish. feasts. No food laws. No commands. Because the spirit from that point starts reconstructing our hearts. In line with God's righteousness. In a way the law never could.
There's that kids story called the little train that could. He didn't think he could, but you know, even though he was just a little engine he finally made it over the mountain.
Well this isn't that story. In verses 10 to 14 Paul's telling the story of the law that couldn't. It's a string of four Old Testament quotes; that make Paul's point. Number 1. Do everything in the law. Or you're going to be cursed by it. But officer, I stopped for every red light except that one. It doesn't work, does it?
Deuteronomy 27 verse 6; Moses reading the riot act to Israel as they're about to enter the promised land. He says, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."
Why on earth. Would you want to bring new non Jewish. Christians ... under that system?
There's more. It's like he's piling up his Old Testament evidence.
Habakkuk 2 verse 4. Paul says, It's always been faith. "The righteous will live by faith." Whereas the law. It's always been about doing. Verse 12.
Which doesn't and can't and has never justified anyone. Never declared anyone innocent before God.
And by the clearly crucified Jesus. The curse of Israel's law has been removed from them. Once and for all. Because he took it on himself.
So with the law gone, the blessing of the spirit could pour out on all the nations. Without any need for law. Because it's finished. The curse of Israel's law; the sting of death. Taken by Jesus on the cross.
Let's have a diagram. A timeline. Abraham. On the left. Genesis 12, promises from God. Going to be the start of a nation of blessing. And of blessing for all the nations. Believes God. Counted righteous.
430 years later there's Moses. Who leads the Israelites out of Egypt; goes up Mount Sinai. God gives him the law. To separate the nation of Israel from everyone else. The food laws. The Ten Commandments. The whole package in Exodus and Leviticus and Deuteronomy.
And Israel lives under that law; and fails. Over and over again. Do it and you'll be blessed. Don't do it; Moses says you'll be thrown out of the promised land. Excluded.
It's like a lose lose. Israel lives. Under the curse of the law. And yet separated by it from everyone else.
And if you're looking for these people to be a blessing to all the nations... it's just not going to happen. I mean, where's the blessing in bringing everyone else; in bringing the gentiles; under the law that's just showing Israel's failure.
If God's working to bring together one big family of blessing, it's not going to be by the law.
Which is why Paul's so excited by what happens next.
Pick it up in verse 13 and 14. Paul speaking as a Jew. Who'd been under the curse of the law.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of (our) law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole."
Which means that the blessing given to Abraham can finally come. The blessing for the gentiles. The nations. The blessing that Paul says comes through the promise of the spirit.
Now look, I'm a bit infamous around the staff team for being pedantic about personal pronouns. Like the difference between the little words us and you. And again, among the growth groups there's been some debate about this point. But I want to point out that it's clear in verse 14; that it's ...
Israel under the law who he says has been redeemed from the curse of the law. So that's not a memory verse for you and me. Although I learned it as a teenager. But as non Jews., as gentiles; we were never under the curse of the law in the first place .We were completely excluded! But now the law's been taken away. So that we non Jews. can be included; by faith; in the one family of God's blessing in promise of the spirit.
Verse 14, Paul says, "He redeemed us; in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit."
All of us.
And finally be... as Paul goes on to say from verse 15; one family.
The faith children of Abraham; not the law children of Moses.
Now if you're someone who likes your sermons dished up super simple, like I am... I've gotta say, sorry, today's not one of those days.
And it's not over. But we're going to keep going.
Because when it comes to the way verses 16 to 20 get translated; our English bibles struggle a bit. Although it's all making the same point.
All this stuff about Abraham's seed, and it's seed and not seeds; and so without going into detail, in your talk outline I've swapped out and I've used the word family in place of the word seed; because your family is your offspring; which is what seed means as well. But it reads a bit smoother. And if you're the type who wants to pick on the details you can grab me at morning tea time.
In fact, I'll just read it. From New International Church Bulletin Version. And then we're just about done. Because it's all about being one family. And not two. God promised Abraham one family of blessing. One family of faith. Not two families with one a faith family and one a law family. See if you can see it...
16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his family. Scripture does not say "and to families," meaning many; but "and to your family," meaning one, who is Christ.
In other words, the family he was talking about was the family with faith in Christ. The Christ family. The family in Christ. Always the plan. Keep reading. And keep in mind the diagram. The timeline.
17 What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. 18 For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise
Which raises the question then, why the law? And who was it for? It was because in verse 19, Israel needed limiting. In the time leading up to the promise of the spirit. And the one family.
Mediated, brought together not by Christ. The law isn't what mediates the one family.
It's Christ.
Which is where Paul's the heading in verse 23. Talking again as an Israelite.
He says, we were under the guardianship of the law. Until Christ came.
But no longer. Because now he says, you're all, verse 26, Jew, Gentile, anything in Christ Jesus. You're all children of God. Clothed in Christ.
These famous equalising astonishingly egalitarian words.
There's no room for pride of place. There's no scope for snobbery. The church was a place in the first century where you'd clock off from work and you'd get together around a common meal table; equal. While in working hours one of you is a slave. And the other's free.
28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
There's a bit of a historic critique of Christianity that it didn't straight away abolish slavery. I reckon it did. right there.
I reckon it abolished male chauvinism. Right there. And any notion that a guy can excuse abusive demands on his wife. Or count himself superior.
It abolished Judaism right there as well.
It abolished racism. Right there.
Because here we are back where we started. one family. Just through belonging to Christ.
29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Astonishing. If you've heard Paul's gospel and believed it. In other words if you've put your faith, your hope, your confidence in the Lord Jesus; then you're part of a family line that stretches all the way back. To Abraham. You're part of something big. With a long heritage. You're part of the family.
Now can I ask you, has that been your experience? For you... is church, family? Is getting together with your brothers and sisters who trust Jesus; one of those great occasions where you keep seeing the family likeness in each other? Where you share that long common bond?
There are lots of different ways of expressing family. And I know for example here at MPC there's a lot of really positive energy towards making sure even though we gather in different groups across a Sunday; even though we've got a 9am group and a 1030 group and a 4pm group and a 7 o'clock group; there are people who are saying, we've gotta work hard at being one church family. And we serve across those boundaries. Like, thank you. To the 10:30 people and the Latechurch people who serve at kids church at 9. And vice versa. And the folks from morning church who turn up and do meals at Youthchurch. It's fantastic.
And look, one of the reasons for working together towards a bigger building is that it will help us express that. And gather all together sometimes; and all fit inside on special occasions rather than spilling into the courtyard.
But being one family is about more than that.
In Paul's case it's about making sure the old members; the Jewish. members; didn't impose so many rules on the new members that it shut them out. And it cuts both ways. In other places Paul says to the Gentile Christians, don't be so shocking and off putting to the Jewish Christians that you're alienating them.
I reckon in our case it's about celebrating give and take. I'm not sure we do... celebrate our diversity as much as we should. Our age diversity. Our style diversity. Celebrating if you're younger that there are older family members here you can love and care for. And they'll do the same for you.
I know here at 9am church we've been working to balance out the music a bit. Different styles different months. Lots of younger families these days, lots of older members. You'd hope we could celebrate that. Interesting fact. And you might reflect on it a bit.
In the National Church Life Survey results, people at MPC are less happy with our music than the national Presbyterian Church average. When the average national Presbyterian church is 50 people with maybe on a good day an organist.
Lest our music teams be discouraged by that, because they work hard and do a great job. I reckon what's happening is when we did the survey we said, well, every second month I don't really appreciate it. Instead of saying, it's great that we're expanding our style. For a different generation. And appreciating that. Keen to hear your thoughts.
The reality is that we. Are called to be the most non ageist, non sexist, non racist, non-music preferenced; most egalitarian and least status conscious people on the planet.
All one family. And look, in astonishing ways we are that. And people see that. And at the times it really counts people experience that.
If you're someone who hasn't come to the point of faith yet and you're looking a church and you're seeing community in a way that's good; and maybe you're attracted by that. Let me tell you, it's more than community. It's family. One family joined together simply by trusting Jesus together. Being reshaped by God's spirit. Expressing family however we can. Whenever we can.
Because it's a great family to be part of - God's one great family of faith.