Galatians 1b

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0:00 For the rest of us, we're working our way through Galatians. I like Galatians and have for a while mostly because at seminary they really, Martin Luther really loved Galatians because it's like this separation between the law and the gospel and he wrote a really cool introduction to his commentary on Galatians which goes through a couple of my theological distinctions that I really love, Center St Theology and two

0:32 kinds of righteousness. I've always really loved Galatians but I've never really studied the whole letter deeply so I'm having fun. I mentioned last week that I got this commentary by this guy. I like Ben Witherington III. He gives me way too much information. I decided several years ago that often reading commentaries made preaching worse for me, not better because I got into these arguments that academics care about that are less helpful and then you got to sort it out in your head and get to something meaningful.

1:05 Everyone's so wild is good to dig in and test what you know and learn more and I am doing that which is really fun for me. But I want to do just the second half of Galatians chapter one this morning and I don't know that we'll do half a chapter every week or a whole chapter but some of you took a Bible study last week on Galatians. I meant to have more this week but I don't but stick around after if you weren't here last week and want to grab one of those. We'll talk about Galatians chapter one after we finished here this morning out of there.

1:38 But for us I want to look at Galatians chapter one verse, we'll start at verse 11 for this morning. Paul says, for I would have you know brothers that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel for I did not receive it for many men nor was I taught it but I received it through the revelation of Jesus Christ for you have heard of my former life in Judaism how I persecuted the church of God vehemently and tried to destroy it.

2:12 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age according to my people. So extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. This word Judaism that Paul uses here he's talking about like it's not used a lot in the New Testament and it encompasses not just like the law of Moses or the way of faith that comes out of the Old Testament it includes that but it also includes the societal and

2:42 cultural kind of trappings and workings of how they had been living out that faith in occupied Roman territory for the last several hundred years and how they had built systems so that folks who were who would need to offer sacrifices at the temple but didn't live in Jerusalem could figure out how to do that it was a whole system and there were sects inside of it right and we've talked about this before but the Pharisees and the Sadducees

3:15 the Essenes and there were a couple others right and he's saying he was advancing in all those systems and really what you see when we talked about this some last week but when Paul comes on the scene in the story of Acts when he's called Saul and he's on the scene in the story of Acts he's really trying to figure out where are the bounds of Judaism and these followers of the way of Jesus are outside of the bounds of Judaism and so they

3:46 need to be cut off and stopped so that the way of Judaism can be kind of pure and so he's saying that he's been advancing and then we talked about last week how he's been guarding these bounds of Judaism violently right and pretty violently murderously right so tough guy brutal guy the other thing that we let we stumbled on a little bit last week that he brings out

4:22 again here is when he writes to the churches in Galatia there are several in Galatia we mentioned that we two weeks three weeks ago we looked at the story in Acts one of the stories where he moves through the three or four churches that might be included in Galatia and Paul did serious work to start the church there you know it was hard to get there he had to like take a boat and walk and then when he got there there was like a lot of aggression against him right he

4:57 went through three towns and it slowly built and they followed him by the third town they tried to stone him they did stone him they thought they had succeeded in killing him but he he didn't die he was resuscitated after they thought they left him for dead then he goes back and preaches I'm trying to remind you that Paul's done a lot of work to get these churches in Galatia started at his own significant expense right personal hardship and danger he has worked to start these churches

5:30 in Galatia and when he writes back and talks to them what their hope is why they should believe he's building some evidence about his own credibility but he's tying his credibility to the message that he preached he's saying there is a gospel message among you that does something so last week we looked at Paul says even if I came back to you and preached to you something different than what I preached this first time run me out of town because it's not Paul he says that gets it done

6:04 it's this great gospel message that in this present evil we looked at the gospel message in the book of Acts like it's this Jesus that comes to deliver you from all things in the present age in the midst of where you are to bring you freedom forgiveness of sins and liberation forever this is the gospel message in the person Jesus of Nazareth and he's like this is the power okay

6:36 for you have heard from my former life okay verse 14 and I was advancing in Jerusalem in Judaism beyond zealous okay verse 15 but when he who had set me apart before I was born and who called me by his grace was pleased to reveal his son to me in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles I did not immediately consult with anyone nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me but I went away to Arabia and returned to Damascus and then after three years I went up

7:11 to Jerusalem to visit Siphas and remained with him 15 days but I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother in what I'm writing to you before God I do not lie and then I went to him in the region then I went into the regions of Syria and Silesia and I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ they only were hearing it said he who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried the faith he once tried to destroy and they

7:44 glorified God because of me Paul is like a he says he's a really zealous guy clearly he he gets this like conversion experience and he's like I didn't even bother going to anyone like the the commentator I read about this trip up into Arabia and Damascus says there's a couple other clues in Acts and one other place where Paul gives a portion of his biography where it's reasonable to assume that he goes up into Arabia and Damascus to try out this idea that Jesus is

8:18 available to the Gentiles to the nations not just to the Jews immediately that he when Jesus appears to him and says and Paul puts together on the road to Damascus that Jesus is the Jesus of Nazareth is also Lord is also the Messiah he realizes several things at once puts it together that Jesus accomplishes the forgiveness of sins completely no more sacrifice is needed the work of Christ is so complete that it resolves the Sinai covenant and pushes us back into the

8:55 Abrahamic covenant and rebuilds us all upon a platform of faith so that everyone can come in you don't have to come in through the Mosaic covenant you can go straight to the Abrahamic covenant you could become a person just by the free gift of faith he puts that all together on the Damascus road and then goes out and tries it immediately Paul's this like great zealous person of faith it sounds um just like me right so much confidence

9:30 so much like surety amazing isn't it we talked about it last week but what kind of confidence in the gospel does it take to get up from being left for dead after being stoned and go back and preach it some more what kind of settled nature does he need to have something more than I do

10:14 Paul repeatedly and dramatically risks everything for the gospel message of Jesus it's astounding I have trouble risking what what might might I risk for the gospel message of Jesus

10:46 a couple hours of my week a percentage of my income awkward moments in conversation what might I risk for the gospel I was thinking about this surety that Paul has this like uh seeming unshakeable confidence

11:19 I'm sure he had his moments seeming unshakeable confidence in the gospel of Jesus and I caught this phrase in verse 15 but when he who had set me apart before I was born and who called me by his grace the first thing I thought about that was like man if he uh set you apart before you were

11:51 born uh took you a minute to figure it out right I don't know how old he was in the Damascus road but he was older than the womb so my first thought was like that my first thought was running down God in his fullness of time like like if he if God knew uh Saul was set apart from the womb why did he wait till after Stephen died to call him on the Damascus road like there and Stephen

12:21 wasn't the only one right like there's others that Paul Saul persecuted well the answer of course there is I don't know but but Paul has some realization that well he was in the womb God set him aside for this job and there are two other places where that phrase occurs the first one that comes to mind is in Jeremiah at the very beginning of the prophet Jeremiah anybody know the nickname

12:51 for Jeremiah yeah the weeping prophet right Jeremiah has like the most unsuccessful prophetic ministry in the story of scripture right famously he gets no converts he convinces no one to listen to him right when he's there during the Babylonian exile they take everybody off and he's left behind he wants to stay there and die in Jerusalem but there's a group that runs to Egypt for safety

13:22 and they take they drag Jeremiah with him and he's he's just like a tragic figure his kickoff into prophetic ministry uh now the words of Jeremiah the son of hillkiah one of the priests who were in uh anaboth in the land of benjamin to whom the word of the lord came in the days of josiah the son of ammon king of juda in the thirteenth year of the rain it came also to the jibsah of sin he was saying a lot of kings' dates verse four now the word of the lord came to me

13:57 Jeremiah saying before I formed you in the womb I knew you and before you were born I consecrated you I appointed you a prophet to the nations and then I said ah lord god behold I do not know how to speak for him a youth and the lord said to me do not say I'm only a youth uh one of the people that gets this surety that while he was yet in the womb did god set him aside for this job is

14:31 jeremaia because jerema is going to need every bit of assurance that he is doing the one thing god has set out for him to do there's another time that this phrase comes up it's in isiah chapter 49 and it's hard to know here if this is talking about being I guess this I should say it's hard for me

15:07 to know I haven't done enough research yet to know is isiah talking about himself here or is he speaking for the suffering servant prophetically on behalf of the messianic figure that's coming it could work either way but if we look at isiah 49 listen to me verse one oh coastlands and give attention you peoples from afar the lord called me from the womb from the body of my mother he named me he made my mouth like a sharp sword

15:42 in the shadow of his hand he hid me he made me a polished arrow in his quiver he hid me away and he said to me you are my servant israel in whom I will be glorified but I said I have labored in vain I have spent my strength for nothing in vanity yet surely my right yet surely my right is with the lord and my recompense with my god and now the lord says he who formed me from the womb to be his servant to bring back Jacob to him and that isro might be gathered to him for I am

16:13 Isaiah had a pretty tough job too so his confidence to say announce to the coastlands listen to me oh coastlands and give attention to me you peoples from afar from the womb of my mother I was set aside for this job such confidence and surety I mean I believe that Paul is the chief of sinners as he said that Jeremiah was a regular dude that

16:54 Isaiah was a regular dude so that if it's true that god paid attention to them in the womb and set them aside I'm sure it's also true for me that while I was in my mother's womb that the god who's caught up in all of creation is also caught up in my life that the god who knit together the cattle on a thousand hills also knit together me that the god who has figured out the salvation for humanity has figured out the salvation for me I'm sure that's true and also I don't have

17:29 the level of confidence to stand and yell from the coastlands I know for which god has sent me aside from my mother's womb I couldn't do it the way Jeremiah does it and write it down forever and say that I have had an encounter with god where god has said to me from the womb of your mother I set you aside for this purpose I just don't have it maybe some of you do and

18:02 it would be awesome I would love to hear the story of that it is not true for me and so it makes me a little frustrated that Paul has such clarity has it ever been like that for you where you see someone that has such clarity about their calling about what they're supposed to be

18:33 doing that you feel almost like I wish I had that experience I wish god had given me a dream like that I wish I had had that kind of a healing I wish god had intervened in my story in this way or that way have you ever had that kind of almost like jealousy is a harsh word but like

19:03 like where you just you wish you could have had it like maybe it's just harder for you yeah like crazy anybody had that no yeah give me nods you don't have to answer yeah okay cool I think that's a common experience and like

19:33 and that we started off this thing about Galatians as saying like we can learn from Paul but there's a danger in in trying to be Paul you and I are not Paul or Isaiah or Jeremiah God gave special measure for them for what they are called to do trying to make this point I found

20:04 Luke chapter 12 if you want to look there with me Luke chapter 12 Jesus is in the midst of this teaching and he's like trying to teach people stuff and you know Jesus walked around but not nearly as much as Paul Jesus had a smaller group of people that he was chartered to go talk to

20:36 Paul had like the whole known world Jesus had this little group Judea maybe Samaria he said he came first to the house of Israel and so he's trying to teach him and he often teaches him parables and he's teaching he's taught a pretty brutal parable pretty tough a little bit of judgment in it and if you go to verse 41 of chapter 12 Peter remember we've talked about this before but

21:06 from context clues we can figure out that Peter was probably the oldest of all of the disciples and that traditional rabbinic disciple relationship would be a rabbi would have a group of disciples one would be the oldest would be the next in line and they would be the one who answered the questions first and asked the questions first and so from context clues it looks like Peter was probably that one he this is why he walks on water this is why he has the confession of Christ now because he's more faithful than the other 11 but because he's the oldest and that's his job

21:38 is to answer first and so he Jesus gives this teaching and Peter expresses concern about the teaching probably on behalf of all of the disciples not because Peter's just more concerned Peter said Lord are you telling this parable for us the 12 or for all and the Lord said who then is is the faithful and wise manager whom his master will set over his household

22:12 to give their portion of food at the proper time blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes truly I say to you he will set him over all his possessions but if that servant says to himself my master is delayed in coming and begins to beat the male and female servants and to eat and drink and get drunk the master of that servant will come on a day

22:43 when he does not expect him and at an hour when he does not know and will cut him to pieces and put him with the unfaithful and that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will will receive a severe beating but the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating everyone to whom much is given of him much will

23:13 be required and from him to whom they entrusted much they will demand the more so tough translation what got me to this passage was I was remembering that last little verse to whom much is given much is expected right and so if Paul is expected to write three quarters of the New Testament and

23:44 walk around Asia Minor three times starting at least 13 churches in a hostile environment among amongst persecution intellectual and physical he's going to need much grace he's going to need a Damascus road experience if Jeremiah is going to be the weeping prophet he's going to need a fire in his belly that he cannot deny and what do they get Damascus road fire in the belly

24:17 I don't know what God has called you to but I know he has given you enough grace for it enough you lack nothing that you need I know he has given you experience blessing healing

25:01 grace enough for the life to which he has called you at a minimum love your neighbor as yourself and love the Lord you got with all your heart so on mind and strength at a minimum and then we start looking at what what we learned through the story of scripture and the church begins to call your vocational position right I know that you are born into a family and have obligations there I know many of us move into lives or reform families and have obligations

25:35 there sons daughters husbands wives friends neighbors and then you have a role in the creative act in the world where God is caring for the world through you we are disseminating ideas we are building buildings we are teaching kids whatever we are doing and in each of those places we love the Lord our God with all our heart soul mind and strength and we love our neighbor as ourselves

26:09 and at our own expense the best definition of love I've come up with for myself is solidarity at my own expense so if I look at how do I love my neighbor as myself how do I stand with my neighbor at my own expense how do I fulfill my vocational callings Paul demonstrates incredible faithfulness to his calling

26:42 how on earth amongst stonings and being run out of town amongst intellectual like obstruction and cultural barriers does he persist oh he's been given grace enough how might you persist in the faith you have been given grace enough where in your story might you

27:17 pull on for the confidence that God has given you what you need it's there the last little piece that I thought about with this grace enough for our calling enough remember remember the moment when Jesus is hanging on the cross

27:53 it's got the two other criminals next to them next to him and we don't know we don't know actually what they did they they they but it was something worth being killed for right and the one guy with I don't know what what goes on in a person who's hanging towards their death and making fun of the guy next to him I don't know what that is but something's going on in the guy and he's making fun of Jesus next to him right

28:27 he's like man I thought you could save us dude we're all here dying and the other guy criminal experiencing capital punishment looks it's like dude I don't think you should be making fun of him Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom and he had grace enough for the calling of the moment and Jesus goes today you'll be with me in paradise

28:58 like you have been called to something and you've been given grace enough for it I don't know what it is you may not know yet but there is enough no matter how many times you miss and mistake no matter how many times you drop the ball and fail God will make sure you get to the thing that you need in the end I'm saying so don't get tired don't give up don't despair that I've lost a calling on my life because I've failed too much the guy in the very

29:31 last moments fulfills it and has grace there to be with Jesus in paradise you certainly are not beyond the pale you certainly have not failed so much that you cannot yet succeed with God you certainly have not dropped the ball so completely that you can't fulfill that for which Christ knit you together in the womb of your mother it is in front of you yet so the encouragement today is to root yourself down in that gospel the deliverance of Jesus Christ

30:12 and take hope take courage that in that gospel is the grace that you need for the life in front of you let's pray hey Lord thank you for the gift of the cross and the person of Christ root in us faith today to believe the gospel message in a way that it brings to us the grace that we need for the calling you have put on our lives and give us the courage to run forward into

30:42 it like Paul in Jesus name we pray amen