WEBVTT 00:00:00.020 --> 00:00:04.091 We're in Galatians and I open with some questions. 00:00:04.091 --> 00:00:13.191 Have you ever been in this place of just getting overwhelmed by the complexities of the world around us? 00:00:13.191 --> 00:00:18.792 I know sometimes for me I get in this space where I do feel that way. 00:00:18.792 --> 00:00:33.323 I feel overwhelmed, I don't know exactly what God wants me to do, what God wants me to say, I'm not sure which direction I'm supposed to be moving, and it's just such a complicated world we entered this month. 00:00:33.323 --> 00:00:49.465 We were praying for bombing in Iran and Israel, and this was after a couple of years of Hamas and Israel and their violence, of years of Hamas and Israel and their violence. 00:00:49.526 --> 00:00:58.890 We're living through a time where we're trying to overhaul, or the current leadership wants to overhaul, how we run the country and we're feeling nervous for those that the country's been taking care of. 00:00:58.890 --> 00:01:12.409 And now we even have this kind of ugliness of trying to figure out there's a really bad guy, this Jeffrey Epstein, and we're trying to figure out what somebody connected to this and how, in our government, we're connected to it. 00:01:12.409 --> 00:01:14.784 And so it's this space. 00:01:14.784 --> 00:01:17.161 That's just very huh. 00:01:17.161 --> 00:01:20.370 What do you want from us, god? 00:01:20.370 --> 00:01:24.525 How am I supposed to live into all this complexity? 00:01:24.525 --> 00:01:37.319 How am I supposed to discern your will and live out who I'm supposed to be in the midst of what feel like just complex situations that we're living through. 00:01:37.319 --> 00:01:49.402 So Galatians, paul's letter to the church in Galatia, I feel like, brings some simplicity, some straightforwardness to this conversation. 00:01:49.402 --> 00:02:03.403 You might remember a few weeks ago the wisdom from Micah that I felt like really did a good job of simplifying the instruction from God do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with God. 00:02:03.403 --> 00:02:06.831 I feel like this basic guidance. 00:02:06.831 --> 00:02:13.008 Here's another version that comes from Paul here in the letter to the church in Galatia. 00:02:13.008 --> 00:02:18.431 I have found it to be like cool water on a warm summer's day. 00:02:18.431 --> 00:02:21.747 Anybody want any of that. 00:02:21.747 --> 00:02:28.409 Okay, I hope you enjoy my cool water of some sort. 00:02:29.010 --> 00:02:34.787 As we move into this, first of all, I want to tell you two Theologically meaty letter. 00:02:34.787 --> 00:02:43.387 Sometimes Jesus, he would teach in parables there'd be stories, but Paul theology, so it's going to be a little bit meaty. 00:02:43.387 --> 00:02:45.667 I hope you can enjoy that. 00:02:45.667 --> 00:02:49.783 We're going to get our thickness, our oatmeal, this morning. 00:02:49.783 --> 00:02:50.645 Are you excited? 00:02:50.645 --> 00:02:59.763 Now some of you those of you who pay more attention might be looking and going. 00:02:59.823 --> 00:03:06.433 I see we did Galatians 5, verse 1, and then we jumped a bunch and then started on 17. 00:03:06.433 --> 00:03:10.830 Right, so just to let you know, that's how the lectionary goes. 00:03:10.830 --> 00:03:13.609 So we're following sort of the lectionary. 00:03:13.609 --> 00:03:17.330 This happened in June, not now, but I wanted it for this month. 00:03:17.330 --> 00:03:18.465 I liked it for this month. 00:03:18.465 --> 00:03:36.350 Also, those passages have a lot to do with circumcision and I promised the fellas I wouldn't dwell on that too long, so we jumped kind of right over that, but it does. 00:03:36.350 --> 00:03:41.462 Verse 1 kind of sets up the rest of it, so that's why it appears as it does. 00:03:41.462 --> 00:03:43.866 So I'm jumping in here. 00:03:44.487 --> 00:03:49.581 Here is the first verse, for freedom Christ has set us free. 00:03:49.581 --> 00:03:50.905 Sorry, I have it on paper. 00:03:50.905 --> 00:03:57.641 I needed to get it in official old guy font so big enough for me to read it. 00:03:57.641 --> 00:04:00.087 Sometimes you get up here and it's a little too small. 00:04:00.087 --> 00:04:02.542 For freedom Christ has set us free. 00:04:02.542 --> 00:04:07.513 Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. 00:04:08.060 --> 00:04:13.670 I don't know if you remember, a couple of weeks ago we were talking about what Paul meant by freedom. 00:04:13.670 --> 00:04:26.055 It's not generally how we understand the American sense of freedom, the freedom to be able to do or create a society where people can be as free to do what they want as possible. 00:04:26.055 --> 00:04:29.067 That's kind of the American sense of things. 00:04:29.067 --> 00:04:31.576 That's not really what Paul was talking about. 00:04:31.576 --> 00:04:34.002 That's not the freedom he was talking about. 00:04:34.002 --> 00:04:48.906 He was talking about freedom from religious law, law being the ordered instruction of how we followed faith that we have in our Old Testament, in our Hebrew Bible, right. 00:04:48.906 --> 00:04:51.288 That that was what law was. 00:04:51.288 --> 00:04:55.771 That's what faith was was to follow the law and do all of the rules. 00:04:55.771 --> 00:04:58.769 And so Paul was saying we can simplify this. 00:04:58.769 --> 00:05:01.569 The spirit of this is love God, love neighbor. 00:05:01.569 --> 00:05:03.966 Everything can fit into there. 00:05:03.966 --> 00:05:08.571 So we're freeing you up from that sense of law and the complexity of law. 00:05:08.571 --> 00:05:17.274 That's part of what the freedom is, but also the freedom that comes with grace and forgiveness. 00:05:17.274 --> 00:05:27.875 We are free to live in the confidence of God's love, god's forgiveness, despite our imperfection. 00:05:27.875 --> 00:05:30.990 So that's what Paul's talking about with freedom here. 00:05:30.990 --> 00:05:34.728 So it's important as we go into the rest of it. 00:05:35.259 --> 00:05:43.547 All right, this next section, talking a little bit more about this freedom, and it's going to take a twist. 00:05:43.547 --> 00:05:46.016 I hope you're ready, for you were called to freedom and it's going to take a twist. 00:05:46.016 --> 00:05:47.824 I hope you're ready, for you were called to freedom. 00:05:47.824 --> 00:05:55.553 Brothers and sisters, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence. 00:05:55.553 --> 00:06:07.370 But through love, become slaves to one another, but through love, become slaves to one another. 00:06:07.370 --> 00:06:16.836 Remember when we were talking about freedom and now Paul's saying no, I want you to accept enslavement. 00:06:16.836 --> 00:06:21.242 Accept enslavement to each other. 00:06:21.242 --> 00:06:30.598 Right, it's simplified when we sum up the commandments and all that God was trying to instruct us. 00:06:30.598 --> 00:06:34.415 The law, for the whole law is summed up in a single commandment. 00:06:34.415 --> 00:06:39.033 This is what Paul wants us to understand you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 00:06:39.033 --> 00:06:48.814 That's why he's talking about enslave yourself to each other, and in that way we become something better. 00:06:48.814 --> 00:06:50.973 We become what God wants us to be. 00:06:50.973 --> 00:06:53.995 We become what God wants for us. 00:06:53.995 --> 00:07:00.896 I hope we're okay with that. 00:07:02.185 --> 00:07:22.894 This idea of enslaving ourselves to each other, not just something we do while we're on the journey of faith, but that that is the journey of faith, that enslaving of ourselves, that commitment to others, is really what Paul is kind of pointing to. 00:07:22.894 --> 00:07:37.012 But then he does this twist, this pivot If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. 00:07:37.012 --> 00:07:49.738 If you, however, bite and devour one another, you ever wonder how we would do if that was a test that was given to us. 00:07:49.738 --> 00:07:55.456 Are you abiding and devouring each other as a society? 00:07:55.456 --> 00:08:15.851 Politically, I don't know that we would want to take that class in any other way than pass-fail, any other way than pass-fail, right, I mean, we're certainly not getting an A in not devouring each other and biting each other. 00:08:15.851 --> 00:08:35.779 Economically it's kind of a challenge too, aren't we in a place where we're actually surprised when someone doesn't rank money as the highest priority, when other folks don't give all kinds of grace for somebody who's looking to make as much as he or she can? 00:08:35.779 --> 00:08:46.708 We're kind of really comfortable with this idea of hey, it's an open market, get what you can, get what you can. 00:08:46.708 --> 00:08:59.067 It's an interesting place to be when we're looking at that phrase, if you bite and devour one another. 00:08:59.067 --> 00:09:12.350 I think Paul's talking here about something bigger than that kind of reality, something that is about looking at a broader good, a common good. 00:09:12.350 --> 00:09:13.633 What does it mean to love your neighbor? 00:09:13.633 --> 00:09:16.018 What does it mean to enslave ourselves to each other? 00:09:16.018 --> 00:09:25.813 What I hear him saying is Paul's trying to tell us society's going to be better if we do that and you know what else? 00:09:25.813 --> 00:09:33.426 We as individuals are going to be better with that mindset. 00:09:33.426 --> 00:09:38.452 All right, we're moving on More theology. 00:09:38.493 --> 00:09:48.190 I told you it was meaty Flesh versus spirit versus spirit, flesh versus spirit. 00:09:48.190 --> 00:09:49.471 How many of you have? 00:09:49.471 --> 00:09:53.356 Well, you guys walked the journey with Pastor Walt, right? 00:09:53.356 --> 00:09:55.299 You know your Pauline letters. 00:09:55.299 --> 00:09:59.509 You know what he means by flesh. 00:09:59.509 --> 00:10:02.677 It's not generally what we understand flesh to be. 00:10:02.677 --> 00:10:07.846 We often think, oh, flesh. 00:10:07.846 --> 00:10:08.931 Well, yeah, talking about sexuality? 00:10:08.931 --> 00:10:10.556 Oh boy, that's pretty obvious. 00:10:11.426 --> 00:10:18.284 When we read this passage, we find he's not talking about sexual desires necessarily. 00:10:18.284 --> 00:10:28.264 He's really talking about human tendencies versus God's desires, our human desires versus God's desires, our human desires versus God's desires. 00:10:28.264 --> 00:10:32.535 You're probably hearing a duality in that. 00:10:32.535 --> 00:10:34.812 Oh, it's this way or it's the other way. 00:10:34.812 --> 00:10:38.254 And, by the way, human, bad, god, good. 00:10:38.254 --> 00:10:42.796 Sometimes that duality is helpful for people. 00:10:42.796 --> 00:10:56.975 Sometimes it's a little bit problematic when we're looking at her, our humanity, as being bad and the divine parts of us being the only good parts of us. 00:10:57.056 --> 00:11:00.409 But that's a bit of what Paul is trying to get across. 00:11:00.409 --> 00:11:05.243 The human part of you doesn't make all the greatest decisions. 00:11:05.243 --> 00:11:09.245 It's got other impulses, other things it's trying to get done. 00:11:09.245 --> 00:11:18.850 But there's a part of you that's divine, god inside of you, and that's the part that's good and we need to listen to that side. 00:11:18.850 --> 00:11:20.293 Do the God stuff? 00:11:20.293 --> 00:11:23.366 I think, is what Paul is trying to get across. 00:11:23.366 --> 00:11:47.816 So listen to what he says here Live by the spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh Again, not talking about sexuality necessarily, just talking about our human desires that go against what God would have for us, 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. 00:11:47.875 --> 00:11:49.879 To prevent you from doing what you want. 00:11:49.879 --> 00:11:51.250 You hear that duality. 00:11:51.250 --> 00:11:55.754 Would anybody argue with Paul a little bit on that? 00:11:55.754 --> 00:11:56.927 Or is that just me? 00:11:56.927 --> 00:11:58.673 Me and Stephen? 00:11:58.673 --> 00:12:00.648 The rest of you, yeah, it all makes sense. 00:12:00.648 --> 00:12:07.673 Anyway, and feel free to argue with Paul, deep man of faith, but still a man. 00:12:07.673 --> 00:12:12.995 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. 00:12:12.995 --> 00:12:16.375 Remember the ordered instruction of faith from the Old Testament. 00:12:16.825 --> 00:12:19.495 Now, the works of the flesh are obvious. 00:12:19.495 --> 00:12:31.460 I have preached this sermon before and I like to offer this as an opportunity for full confession to anyone who is interested. 00:12:31.460 --> 00:12:36.736 So if any of this pertains to you, feel free to stand up, raise your hand. 00:12:36.736 --> 00:12:42.013 Now, the works of the flesh are obvious. 00:12:42.013 --> 00:12:49.768 Fornication Okay, impurity, impurity. 00:12:49.768 --> 00:12:57.456 Licentiousness Okay, running clean, running clean. 00:12:57.456 --> 00:13:08.354 Idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife Okay, those are easier. 00:13:08.354 --> 00:13:09.664 Okay, I get it here. 00:13:09.664 --> 00:13:11.607 We're going to get into some tougher ones here. 00:13:11.607 --> 00:13:12.148 Are you ready? 00:13:12.148 --> 00:13:27.855 Jealousy, anger, but only on the road Right. 00:13:27.855 --> 00:13:29.298 It's different. 00:13:29.298 --> 00:13:43.721 It's different Quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing and things like these. 00:13:43.721 --> 00:13:52.629 I am warning you, as I warned you before those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 00:13:54.910 --> 00:14:06.998 I think in the midst of this, paul really wants us to hear that we can move away from this structured way of living faith with all these laws and just follow the laws. 00:14:06.998 --> 00:14:17.842 But we move into this new arena where it really might be just one, maybe two laws that it all barrels down to. 00:14:17.842 --> 00:14:30.755 We've said it before it's this law that says we need to love God and we need to love neighbor, and everything else will dovetail into that. 00:14:30.755 --> 00:14:36.553 That is really, I feel, like what Paul is trying to get us to understand. 00:14:36.553 --> 00:14:54.365 And if we are people who are trying to live into that spirit, to know God deeply, to feel that comfort, to feel that peace, to feel that sense of justice inside of us, then we need to focus ourselves into that one law or those two laws. 00:14:54.365 --> 00:14:59.557 And here's the deep irony of all of it that Paul is trying to get across. 00:14:59.557 --> 00:15:15.495 The irony is our enslavement to each other with these kinds of behaviors to each other, loving each other, loving God, our enslavement to each other actually is what leads to that true freedom. 00:15:15.495 --> 00:15:19.655 But it's not freedom in the way we usually understand it. 00:15:19.655 --> 00:15:29.296 It's a spiritual freedom, the freedom of knowing we are in step with God and we are being the people that God wants us to be. 00:15:29.296 --> 00:15:30.985 All right. 00:15:31.528 --> 00:15:35.452 Finally, the fun part Fruits of the Spirit. 00:15:35.452 --> 00:15:38.269 Enjoy this. 00:15:38.269 --> 00:15:54.716 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. 00:15:54.716 --> 00:16:03.153 There is no law against such things, and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 00:16:03.153 --> 00:16:07.504 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. 00:16:07.504 --> 00:16:14.715 Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another. 00:16:14.715 --> 00:16:16.485 I love that list one another. 00:16:16.485 --> 00:16:20.645 I love that list Especially. 00:16:20.645 --> 00:16:22.653 What I like about it is how it was written. 00:16:23.105 --> 00:16:33.230 Paul could have said you guys need to be better at showing love and you need to be better at showing faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and we would have taken it. 00:16:33.230 --> 00:16:35.229 Yep, you're right, paul. 00:16:35.229 --> 00:16:36.594 You're right, I'm going to do my best. 00:16:36.594 --> 00:16:39.725 But he doesn't do it that way. 00:16:39.725 --> 00:16:54.068 He talks in a way that implies a desire that we have and instead he refers to the fruits. 00:16:54.068 --> 00:17:06.251 He refers to these things as fruits, things that are produced in the world, love being produced, joy being produced. 00:17:06.251 --> 00:17:15.872 And he tells us that you can identify the Holy Spirit in your actions, in the world around you, by these fruits. 00:17:17.935 --> 00:17:25.135 We all want meaningful lives, we all want to know God, we all want to know the Holy Spirit. 00:17:25.135 --> 00:17:32.257 We want to look in the mirror in the morning and see somebody that God appreciates. 00:17:32.257 --> 00:17:44.627 We want to look in the mirror and see somebody we appreciate, want to look in the mirror and see somebody we appreciate. 00:17:44.627 --> 00:17:46.510 We all have that need to be able to see somebody good in that mirror. 00:17:46.510 --> 00:18:00.799 And Paul is in front of us saying when you see these things love, joy, gentleness, patience when you see those things, then you are in the presence of the Holy Spirit. 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:05.515 You are producing it, you are seeing it being produced. 00:18:05.515 --> 00:18:16.199 When you see love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, there is the Spirit. 00:18:21.644 --> 00:18:29.294 It might be a little bit too straight forward, but the answer to the question we all wonder about are we in the spirit? 00:18:29.294 --> 00:18:37.698 Well, we can just ask ourselves what are the fruits of our presence? 00:18:37.698 --> 00:18:43.157 What are we bringing to the party? 00:18:43.157 --> 00:18:49.739 Because to me it spoke exactly to what Paul was trying to get at. 00:18:49.739 --> 00:18:59.260 When we live interconnected, even enslaved, with those around us, we're able to become more than we are alone. 00:18:59.260 --> 00:19:02.248 Interconnected, even enslaved, with those around us, we're able to become more than we are alone. 00:19:02.248 --> 00:19:03.190 I see the fruits. 00:19:03.190 --> 00:19:16.218 I see the fruits in that story and I know I started with this thought, this concern that it was hard to understand exactly what God was looking for in a complex world. 00:19:16.218 --> 00:19:28.148 And I see a video like that and I hear a scripture like this and I think, maybe, maybe it's not as hard as we think it is. 00:19:28.148 --> 00:19:30.430 Amen.