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| Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. |
The Rev. Kathi Johnson
C Lectionary 13 – 30 June 2013
Text: Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas
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Grace to you and peace from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ…to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.[1]
Last week, because of VBS, we took
a week off from Galatians so that we could hear the stories about Paul as told
in the book of Acts. Today, we pick Galatians back up again.
When we last met our letter-writer,
Paul – that is, before Vacation Bible School – he was writing to the Galatians
in chapter 2 about God justifying us through his grace. In the lesson
from Galatians 3 appointed for last Sunday (the one we didn’t hear), Paul says
the following (in summary):
- We are baptized into Christ.
- We are clothed with Christ.
- We are one in Christ.
In today’s lesson from Galatians
chapter 5, Paul keeps going – talking about freedom – specifically, our freedom
as Christians.
In today’s reading from Galatians, Paul
shows us two opposing forces: the flesh and the Spirit. What he calls “the
flesh” is not simply our flesh-and-bone bodies – what he’s referring to is our
sinful selves: self-serving, discontent, divisive. An example: what’s best for
you might not be best for me, and if all I’m worried about is me, then I’m not
worried about you one little bit. That kind of attitude is what Paul means when
he talks about “the flesh.”
Here are what he includes as the
works of the flesh: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery,
enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy,
drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. And so while I certainly don’t
recommend it, these are all things that we can participate in because of our
freedom.
What Paul is trying to express is
this: if in exercising our freedom, these are the behaviors that we choose to
exhibit – how are we helping others? How are we building others up?
And so, Paul gives another list – a
list of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self- control. He then adds, “There
is no law against such things.” And why is there no law against the fruit of
the Spirit? Because the entire list is nothing but a demonstration of the love
that we have for others. Freedom in Christ, then, has less to do with always focusing on ourselves and more to do with loving others.
Paul goes on to say, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.” Another translation
is this: “If we live by the Spirit,
then let us keep in step with the
Spirit.” That image is from the military: soldiers, keeping in step with one
another, showing that they are organized and that they know what they are
doing. Paul uses this image of a military formation because it was something
quite familiar in the ancient Roman territories. And it describes how our own
formation with the Spirit should be. In step with the Spirit, we are unified
with the Spirit and also with each other.
As we are called to walk with the
Spirit, we are also called to look outside of ourselves – to love others. Paul
reminds the Galatians – and us – that one of God’s greatest commandments is
this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” A colleague, Dr. Bruce
Epperly, puts it this way: “Grace enables us to become large-souled persons who
see our own well-being and the well-being of others as intimately connected.”[2]
Our Redeemer has the opportunity
today to take some bold steps in learning and growing as individual Christians.
But also, these steps will enable us to learn and grow as a Christian community
– to learn about and grow into what it is that God is calling us to here in
Grand Prairie and also beyond. We are called to look forward. Jesus uses the
image of plowing a field in today’s gospel lesson – and so, if we are plowing,
we are focused on what is ahead.
We are also called to live our
lives in freedom. In that freedom, we are certainly called to love others. Let
us, then, my brothers and sisters, keep in step with the Spirit.
Let us pray:
Lord, make me an instrument of
your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me
sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant
that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to
understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we
receive.
It is in pardoning that we are
pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are
born to Eternal Life. Amen.[3]
May the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.
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