Sunday, September 03, 2017

Thinking like a 1st Century Greek Mystic

Galatians 5:16-26 & Ephesians 3:14-21 by Rev. David L.S. Robertson
Series:Summer 2017

I was scrolling through my Linked In news feed earlier in the week and noticed a post by an acquaintance of mine, Tim Neubauer, who worked with Samaritan’s Purse as part of the recovery efforts here in High River. His post, asked the simple question, “How then, shall we live?” Which is a very significant question for us who choose to follow in the Way of Jesus. In fact, it’s the same question that rests at the very root of today’s passage from Paul’s letter to the Galatians. A close read of Paul’s letters to the early churches always starts with words of introduction like: I Paul an apostle… to the church at Corinth, Philippi, Ephesus, Galatia. Then words of greetings, blessing, thanksgiving. Paul uses the same formula every time. His opening words are always gracious and polite—every time in every letter… except to the Galatians where he skips the customary words of blessing and thanksgiving and instead expresses astonishment and amazement at their foolishness. Paul is highly frustrated with them. His letter to the Galatians is one of the clearest expressions of his theology and answers the question, “how then, shall we live”, perhaps better than any of his other letters. Why? Paul’s frustration is caused by some zealous agitators in the Galatian community who are arguing very convincingly that to be a good Christian, the Galatian men need to be circumcised. They need to make the same form of physical and outward commitment to the faith following the Jewish custom. This infuriates Paul, because on the one hand, the Galatians are not Jewish and don’t need to be, and on the other hand the agitators are saying essentially, “it’s up to us to prove we are worthy of God’s love as something to be earned by our doing.” Paul disagrees in the strongest possible language and argues that the agitators are operating from the wrong end of the relationship. It’s not about joining an ethnic group, or custom based on one’s capacity to produce merit. Instead, it’s all about God’s relationship with us as the provider of love that is unconditional and not something to be earned. In God’s love, as Paul argues, “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (3:28). Therefore, no need for circumcision. Period. Paul seems to calm down as the letter continues, but his passion does not abate. The answer to the question, how then shall we live? is to live according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. It’s another way Paul goes after the bad theology surrounding circumcision. To understand the essence of Paul’s argument, we need to think like a 1st century Greek Christian mystic. Because, that is who Paul was.
Duration:23 mins 53 secs