Text: Galatians 2:4-5
But because of false believers secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might enslave us - we did not submit to them even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might always remain with you.
Briefly, from Friday, Paul, Barnabas, & Titus (uncircumcized and all) went up to Jerusalem to meet with the elders there so as to talk about Paul's work among the Gentiles.
In the old camp song "Pass it On" one of the lines is: It only takes a spark.... The spark has to do with the Spirit and God's love. It only takes a spark...and that is enough...it move and grow. Well, we could say quite the opposite here. Whatever it was that the false believers "brought in," it didn't need to be much. One word about "conditions" one sentence phrased with an "IF...THEN..." so as to give the message that we must do something before we can be the people of God in Christ - has the potential to enslave us. The truth about the Grace of God in Jesus is quite radical. It is completely - for all - or it is for no one. It is completely - with no effort on our part needed - or we must work our way into God's loving presence...which is an impossibility...so you could say it is pure hell. Conditional love is the love that is for sale outside the Reign of God...it is love that keep people separate and attempts to tell us that this is the way it is to be. This "love" is not love at all!
"We did not submit to them even for a moment." It only takes a moment of giving in to conditional words spoken as though they are a part of the Good News to cause the News to be less than Good. That is why Paul is so insistent to say they didn't even fall into it for a moment. The truth of the Good News - God for us, for life - must be as clear as Jesus eating with the tax collectors and sinners...Good News excludes no one. Paul and his friends will be laying out to the Jerusalem leaders what happens in the world when the Good News is released...there is no end to its power and influence.
Connection: It is important for all of us to question jokes and comments that degrade others. Racial slurs, jokes used at the expense of others. stereotypes and the like need to be confronted. So it is with the Good News. When something conditional is tied to it, a simple - "I don't think the Good News is Conditional." Even using a version of the popular WWJD (what would Jesus do) encourages us & others to try and picture Jesus doing what we may be doing. Can you imagine Jesus telling a joke at the expense of others.
O God of Love, your word is like a breath of fresh air for it opens up our lives and enables us to look with new eyes at our world. Be the rock upon which we will stand today so that we may be a living witness to the love that we see in Jesus. Amen.
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