Growing Up / Based on Galatians 5:1, 13-25 / Delivered June 26, 2016

Growing Up

Based on Galatians 5:1, 13-25

Delivered June 26, 2016

Delivered to Christian Community Home, Hudson WI

Hymns:

I Have Decided to Follow Jesus, Be Thou My Vision, They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love

Galatians 5:1, 13-25

 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

 5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.

 5:14 For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

 5:15 If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

 5:16 Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.

 5:17 For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want.

 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.

 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness,

 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions,

 5:21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

 5:22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,

 5:23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.

 5:24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

 5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.

The Jewish people had law upon law.  First there were laws as communicated by the prophets.  Then they added additional laws to help guide people further to not break a “big” law as a safety net.  We see hundreds of laws written in the books of the Old Testament and more referred to in the New Testament from the old ways.  There were many more in separate volumes not within our standard Bible.

People were killed for not following the law.  The Old Testament has stories of painful punishments given by God for not following the laws.  The religious leaders were the police department of the day.  It was better to stone one person than to put the whole tribe in danger.  Laws kept them safe from God’s anger.  The added laws kept them even more safe because it forced a step farther away from breaking a law of God.

They were living in a time of “do it because I told you so”.

The switch from many rules to just one major rules seems like crazy change.  It helps to consider the people of Israel as a whole being like a person in their relationship to God. 

My three thoughts today take on that theme.

Grow up

Understand the ‘why’

Live with love

Grow up

When a child is young most parents have a lot of rules.  In the beginning of life they don’t have historical knowledge of what can hurt them or others.  They don’t have the ability to handle complex tasks safely.  They haven’t developed their full brain centers to help drive good behavior.  So we set rules for their safety and the safety of others.  We cover power outlets, we lock cupboards with cleaning supplies, we install fences to keep them in the yard and out of the street and stick them in a play pen full of soft toys.  To the best of our ability we attempt to keep the house free from breakables or things that would poison them if they put it in their mouth, because they put nearly everything in their mouths! 

We use the word “NO” so much that often that is the word the baby says back to us.  That “NO” is sometimes followed by consequences; things being forcefully taken away, being grabbed and moved suddenly, a time-out in their room, or even a slap of a hand.  The loud “NO” is enough to scare sometimes, and that is its purpose.  The “laws” we give certainly are like a yoke of slavery. 

Not only do we set rules to protect them, we also set rules to train them how to be a good person.  Share your toys, do not hit your brother, do not pull your sisters hair, say “thank you” to Grandma for the present, do not shout in the house – such things help a person fit into their community as they grow and learn.

A small child cannot understand the why so we as parents must resort to the “because I told you so” in the early stages of life.  This would equal the stage of laws.  They don’t understand the “why” but they know if they break the rule there will be consequences. 

Those childhood laws remain until they develop self-control.  That is a sign of maturity.  If we leave out self-control and just do what feels right, we easily fall into the list of the works of the flesh.  At our most immature level we care deeply about ourselves and self-preservation, but not so much about others.

Understand the “why”

As a child gets more understanding some of the rules are eased.  They can understand the “why” a little better too.  You can cross the street, but look both ways.  Cars come down the street fast and drivers don’t always look for small children.  You can help in the kitchen, but use oven mitts when you are around the stove.  The stove is very hot and can burn you.  You can look at Mommy’s pretty vase but be very gentle with it.  It was a gift and Mommy would be very sad if it was broken.

Some of the rules stay, but as you age you don’t see them as rules because you understand the “why”.  You don’t hit others or pull their hair because it is unkind and makes them feel very hurt.  You say thank you to show gratitude and it makes Grandma feel good inside.  Sharing with others builds a sense of community.  Plus, hopefully the child learns that when he is kind to others more often they are trusting and kind back to him.

Paul is giving us a parenting lesson in our scripture today.  Through Jesus ministry the “why” was clearly revealed.  Verse 14 – “For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."”

The 10 commandments given directly by God support that commandment.  They don’t go away, but now we know the “why”.  If you truly loved another you wouldn’t steal from them, take their spouse, kill them, or lie to them.  If you truly love God you would keep Him first in your heart and honor him.

The “why” is love.  We love because He first loved us.  We love our neighbor like a brother or sister because God loves them as His child just like He loves us.  It isn’t that far away from a parent training a child not to pull their little sister’s hair.  Not only does it hurt the little sister, but it hurts the parent because they love her.  We may not have the capacity to love everyone, but God does.  He loves what we find unlovable, and that is enough to be the “why” for us to be kind.

Live with love

We are freed from the laws because we no longer need to memorize them.  If we are looking through the lens of love we will do them naturally.  “Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.”  Our mammal selves are selfish.  At our lowest level we are about survival and procreation so our genes live on.  That life is living as ‘flesh’.  But we have the Spirit to guide and teach us a higher way.  “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”  This is learning to live in community and seeing a higher purpose than your own brief life.

The scripture today is asking us to grow up.  It is true we are called ‘children’ of God, but we are challenged by Paul to mature from childish ways of thinking.  We are not asked to forget about ourselves, we are asked to love others as we love ourselves and to love God most of all.

Christ has set us free from those hundreds of laws by teaching us the “why”.  The laws are still a guide to what love looks like.  If you are acting in love you will be following them naturally and without the stress of worrying a religious leader was going to punish you.  We no longer act in this way because we fear punishment.  We act in love because we know it is the right thing to do.

Our path can be one of adding to what we care about and who we love.  We start by caring only about ourselves.  Next is caring about our family unit.  Next is our community – people who think and believe like us.  Next our country.  But what if we continued to expand our love to include all of the human race, and beyond that to all living creation on our small planet.

I dream of a world where all people love and care for each other.  It doesn’t seem very possible as I look at the world today.  I can only pray we, the human race, grow up.  I commit myself to live with love.  I pray you each join me in that path.  It is a start.

Amen