Preacher: Rev. Bob Hiller
Series: Lectionary Series C
Category: Fathers
Keywords: fathers , galatians , judaizers , law , drill sargeant
Detail:
Well, happy Father’s Day to everyone! I hope you are enjoying your morning full of waffles and cars! I hope you dads get a great day with your family and you get to enjoy the afternoon watching the NBA Finals game 7 in someplace air conditioned. Well, this morning we are continuing through our brief look at the book of Galatians with a reading that is quite appropriate for Father’s Day because today, St. Paul focuses us in on what it means to be sons of God.
Just to bring you up to speed, last we talked about how a number of false teachers had slithered into the churches in the region of Galatia, teaching that, in order for one to maintain their right relationship with God, they had to be circumcised and obey the OT Laws. They taught one’s relationship to the Father was not based on the bloody work of Jesus alone, but on Jesus and obedience. In other words, in their minds, God was gracious…but not that gracious. He did His part to save, but now, the rest is up to you.
This group, known as the Judaizers, were introducing a theological disease into the Galatian church known as legalism. Legalism is the sort of cancer that arises in churches when we don’t properly understand that the Law is there to show us our sin and the Gospel is there for broken sinners. It arises in churches that teach the Gospel is only for converting non-Christians, but now that you are saved, you have to get down to work maintaining your relationship according to the Law. Legalism is so poisonous, not only does it completely undermines the gracious work of God in Jesus to save us by turning our faith towards our works, but, as we see in our reading today, it ruins our relationship with one another because it causes us to draw distinctions among sinners and saints.
Here’s how this works. When the church believes that our relationship to God is maintained by what we do, people start to focus their lives, not on the crucified and risen Jesus, but on their performance AND the performance of others. We Christians start to act like military drill sergeants who line up other Christians, examining who is up to par and who is falling short. Instead of lovingly correcting a brother or sister caught in sin and bringing them with us to Jesus, we start to examine how good and holy their fruit really is. For the Judaizers, this legalism came in the form of OT ceremonial law and heritage. The drill sergeants line us up and yell: Are you circumcised? How closely do you follow the dietary laws? We Jews have an advantage because we were born Jewish, and to us belong the promises of God. You need to catch up if you want to be holy like us.
In our day and age, the drill sergeants yell: Jesus may be the savior of your soul, but is He the Lord of your life? Have you truly accepted Jesus into your heart? Your not sure? Well, look at your fruits! How often do you pray? What is your devotional time like? Some go extreme with it: Do you speak in tongues? Do you use the right hymnal? Are you singing the newest, most anointed Christian songs on the radio? And, just like with your drill sergeant, no matter how much you ask, the Law, and the legalist using it, will never be satisfied by your answer.
But, notice what happens here: As soon as this sort of legalism infects the church, Christ is taken out of our sight and we are turned back in on ourselves, trying to figure out if we are Christian enough for God. Suddenly, we are placed right back beneath the Law. The focus of our lives, the focus of our relationship with God becomes grounded on the Law, that is, our performance.
Now, it is important to understand, that time under the Law is good and necessary for sinners like us. Too often in our pride, we need to be dressed down by the Law so our need for a Savior will become the only hope we’ve got! . In the OT, the Law was there to keep Israel from running amok, until Christ came. It didn’t work so well. It ended up condemning them in their sins and showing them their need for a Savior. So it does for all of us! The primary role of the Law is not to teach you to be a better person, but to expose the fact that you are not the person God created you to be! You are a sinner! You need salvation! All of us! No one has the advantage here. We’re all hopeless sinners under the Law apart from Christ, which is why there is no room for legalistic Christianity exams. The law, like a heartless, relentless drill sergeant, shows you no mercy. It may show you a righteous life, but it will never provide it for you. Trusting it will either drive you to despair or blindly make you a proud Pharisee who believes you are the most sanctified, holy person you know.
But, the Law is not God. It comes from God, but the legalist makes it God. To put it another way, the drill sergeant is not your Father. Your Father in heaven had you under the drill sergeant for a time, but his harsh, work came to an end when the Father sent His Son to satisfy the drill sergeant for you. Now, before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under the guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.
You are no longer under the authority of the drill sergeant. His demands were all met perfectly by Jesus. And Jesus met those demands on your behalf. Through His blood, sweat, and tears, Jesus did all that we sinners could not, gave us credit for it, and set us free. The Father, in fact, sent Jesus to do it. The problem with the legalist is that they want the drill sergeant in charge, not the Father. They want to be praised for their accomplishments, not trust that Christ has done everything necessary and so they can praise Him only. They want to give God all the glory, so long as they are rewarded for how well the glorify Him! They want to be able to distinguish themselves from the rest of the sinners.
Paul won’t have it. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise. See, God your Father is different than the drill sergeant. The drill sergeant demands and takes and is never satisfied. Your Father in heaven gives and loves and is completely satisfied in you because everything He demands of you in the Law, Jesus has done for you by His grace. Even the death you deserve for your sins Jesus died in your place. As Paul goes on to say, But, when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who are under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
The drill sergeant demands and takes. The Father gives and loves. He gives you baptism so you need not doubt whether or not the inheritance is for you. In the baptism He gave you, you were clothed in Christ. Because of all that Jesus has done for you, God has given you an inheritance, just like the sons would receive from their fathers in the first century. You all, by baptism, have a place, an inheritance, in your Father’s kingdom. He has even given you the Holy Spirit, who cries out “Abba! Father!” for you, as if to say, “Dear Father, this one is baptized, clothed in your Son, bought with His blood. He belongs to you! She is yours!”
Do you see why Paul is furious with the legalist? They want to leave this and go back to the drill sergeant! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Father’s Day, remember that your Father is a good father who loves and gives you all good things. His love for us is not based on our performance, he’s not like that father who loves one child better than the other. No, His love for us is the same, and it is perfect, because it is based on what Jesus has done for you. Just look to your baptism, for there you received this promise: You are a perfectly beloved child of our Father in Heaven. AMEN!
