You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace (Galatians 5:4).

We use that term–fallen away.  Even Paul uses it, and I’m not going to argue with Paul. But falling is an accident; you don’t do it on purpose.  I would suggest that when we try to earn our justification we are actually stepping away from the throne of grace.  It’s intentional, at least on some level.  We choose it.

Bad choice, by the way.

Of course, the choice to step away results in a fall.

Kinda like stepping off of a building

or out of an airplane.

And sin, like gravity, pulls us down 

and away

and it’s really unlikely that you’re going to climb back up by yourself.

Hold tight to grace today, Beloved.

Happy Friday

Mark my words!  I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.  Again I declare to everyone who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law (Galatians 5:2-3).

Let’s not focus on the whole circumcision thing, OK?

Because, frankly, it makes me squirmy.

Circumcision was a symbol of the Law, of the old covenant God had with his people.  Christ had fulfilled the Law; he had finished it.  The Law wasn’t like a buffet–”I’ll take a little of this, a little of that, no thanks, that dish doesn’t agree with me.”  If a believer chooses to stake their claim to righteousness on some point of the Law, then they will be judged according to all of it.

And we all know how that tends to work out.

So, what’s it gonna be, Beloved?  Are you trusting Christ, or are you going to handle this yourself?  In the end, you can’t have both.

Happy Thursday, Beloved.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery (Galatians 5:1).

Today is Independence Day.  Maybe not on the calendar, but in our hearts. Today we celebrate our freedom.   Christ has set us free from our bondage to sin.  He has set us free from our need to try and earn our salvation, to somehow save ourselves.  He has set us free from the stress and worry and angst and anxiety which so often attack us.

Hear me, Beloved.  I’m not saying that those things are gone.  On the contrary, sin and self-righteousness and anxiety are still very much evident in this world and, at times, in our lives.  What I am saying is that you are no longer in bondage to them.

When Paul wrote the above verse to the Galatians he was talking about freedom from the Mosaic Law.  Some Jews had chosen to follow Christ, but still felt compelled to meet the demands of the old covenant.  Paul was pointing out that a person who has Christ no longer needs the old law, and to try and follow it is to be like a slave who, once free, returns to his chains.

I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that, for some of us, worry and stress operate in the same way as the Mosaic Law.

It’s about power.

The Judaizers liked the Law because it gave them a sense of control over their destinies.  They had rules to follow, stuff to do, that they thought would get them to Heaven.

“But Michael, I don’t worry because I feel powerful.  I worry because I feel powerless.”

Yes, but it’s still about power.  About control.  You worry because you know you are not in control, and you desperately want to be.  Because if you’re not in control, someone else is, and there’s a part of you that just cannot handle that.

I’m in the same boat, by the way.  May I steer?  Of course not.

Sometimes trust seems beyond our grasp.  And without trust, there is no rest.

So let’s pray for trust today, shall we?  I’ll pray for you, and you for me.  Maybe we can both be set free.

Today is the day to celebrate your independence.

And your dependence.

Happy Wednesday, Beloved.

If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise  (Galatians 3:29).

An inheritance is an interesting thing.

You are legally, socially, and morally entitled to it, though you did nothing to earn it.

Except be born.

Or, in this case, born again.

Happy Tuesday, Beloved.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).

E Pluribus Unum

Out of Many, One

It’s one of the mottos of the United States.  The words point out that, though we have come from many countries and cultures and creeds, we are one as American citizens.

Based on my news feed, America doesn’t feel very E Pluribus Unummy these days.  We fight and march and protest to defend, even glorify, our differences, rather than celebrate what makes us one.

Oy.

God sees it differently, Beloved.  When he looks at you, he doesn’t see color or gender or nationality or socioeconomic status.  He sees his Son shining out through your eyes.

And he likes it.

Maybe today, just for a while, we can try to see this tired, angry world as he sees it?

Care to give it a try?

Happy Monday, Beloved.

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ  (Galatians 3:26-27).

You show up to the wedding dressed in cutoff jeans and a pair of flip flops.  

There is no way you’re getting in wearing that nonsense.

But hold on, someone is coming.  It’s the bridegroom.  He smiles at you as though he were really glad to see you, as if you weren’t a total embarrassment in your grubbiosity.  He takes off his tuxedo jacket and drapes it around your boney  shoulders and your grimy T-shirt.  Then he turns to the attendant and says, “It’s OK…this one’s with me.

And just like that, you’re in.

And you, who have never really belonged anywhere, belong here.

Welcome home.

Happy Friday, Beloved.

Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law (Galatians 3:25).

Remember having a babysitter?  When you were a kid, your parents brought in the babysitter to keep you safe.  The sitter had limited authority over you but, as you often pointed out to her, she was not your mom.  At some point, your parents decided that you no longer needed a sitter; you were big enough to be on your own.

Or, you know, that they were sick of shelling out bucks to the babysitter.

The law worked in kind of the same way.  It kept God’s people safe, gave them boundaries and rules and direction until…well, until it was time to be a grownup.

Abstract concepts like faith and redemption and eternity are hard for children to grasp, so God gave his children concrete examples like the lamb and the scapegoat and the incense and the oil.  When he knew the time was right, he gave them Christ.

We often say we want to remain kids forever, but really it’s the grownups who get all the really cool stuff.

Be a grownup, Beloved.

Happy Thursday

So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith (Galatians 3:24).

I once worked for a ministry that connected churches in the US with sister churches overseas.  My job was to facilitate communications and streamline the process for the churches to visit one another.  I worked hard, and after a few months I had created a system that was basically automatic.  The churches no longer needed me as a go-between.

I had worked myself out of a job.

Oops

The law kind of worked that way.  It was designed to lead people to Jesus, after which it was no longer needed.  Those who continued to follow the law after the Resurrection were engaging in empty ritual.  Kinda like continuing to read the road map after you’ve arrived. At some point you’ve gotta put the map down and get out of the car.

I wonder how much of our current worship is like that.  How often do we focus on the song instead of the One the song was designed to lead us to?  How many times have we paid more attention to the performers than to the true Audience?  In how many of our churches–and hearts–do we value form over function?  

I stayed with that job for a few months after I had redundificated myself.  I pretended to my bosses and myself that my job still had value, but frankly it had none.  It was some of the least fulfilling time I have ever spent.

Hmm…something to chew on.

Happy Wednesday, Beloved.

Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.  (Galatians 3:23).

The Jews were bound by the do’s and don’ts

by the jot and the tiddle

by the special day and the right month

by the rules and the restrictions

eat this but not that

go here but not there

now but not then

with him but not her

and for God’s sake wash your hands

until faith was revealed.

Yep, that’s what bound them.

Beloved, what’s your excuse?

Happy Tuesday

But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Christ Jesus, might be given to those who believe (Galatians 3:22).

It’s a trap you cannot escape.

You can fight

you can dig

you  can beg

you can strain

you can weep

you can press

you can shout

you can lift

you can scream defiance to the cosmos

you  can employ all the awesome mightiness

of your pathetic puniness

against the trap.

But you cannot escape.

You must be set free by another.

Lucky for you, Beloved,

I know a guy.

Happy Monday.