Sunday Musings

Solidarity, freedom, and consequences

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TODAY IS THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

This is the third and final reflection on Galatians.

Until these three weeks, I’d never really considered how appropriate Galatians is for the beginning of Pentecost. But now? I’ll be thinking about these three readings and their implications for many weeks hence.

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Galatians 6:(1-6)7-16

[My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbor's work, will become a cause for pride. For all must carry their own loads.

Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher.]

Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.

See what large letters I make when I am writing in my own hand! It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh that try to compel you to be circumcised — only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. Even the circumcised do not themselves obey the law, but they want you to be circumcised so that they may boast about your flesh.

May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything! As for those who will follow this rule — peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

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Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow.

I love reading scripture according to the lectionary. But it does have drawbacks. The main problem is flow. From one week to another, listeners forget the texts of the previous Sunday. We hear passages individually instead of in the context of a larger narrative.

And that can be misleading.

This week is the third and final Sunday of the lectionary’s quick trip through Galatians. This is an interesting letter, one of the oldest New Testament documents — two decades earlier than any of the gospels — and it is authentic to the Apostle Paul.

In many ways, it is unique among Paul’s letters. Mostly because he says almost nothing good about those to whom he is writing! He was furious, calling them “foolish” and “bewitched” and even suggested that his opponents in Galatia “castrate themselves.”

Not exactly material for the kids’ Sunday school.

But, if he were writing it now, it would make for a viral thread on social media.

Not only is Galatians combative, but it is full of pithy wisdom. Jewels, really, of Christian insight. And that’s what we’ve been reading these few weeks — the good stuff (these verses are from the David Bentley Hart translation):

• There can be neither Judaean nor Greek, there can be neither slave nor freedman, there cannot be male and female, for you are all one in the Anointed One Jesus.

• The Anointed freed us for freedom; stand fast, then, and do not again be restrained by slavery’s yoke.

And today’s wisdom saying joins these other two:

• Do not be led astray: God is not mocked. For whatever a man may sow, this he will also reap.

At first glance, they might seem disconnected. But there’s a thread here.

Paul was angry because the Galatians were having a huge theological fight — it was their local version of a widespread controversy in early Christian communities. Most of Jesus’ first followers were Jews. But the movement was spreading and non-Jews were attracted to the message of Jesus.

At issue: Did non-Jews have to become Jews before becoming Jesus followers? Or could new converts follow the Way without needing to practice Jewish rituals (the arguments mostly centered around food and circumcision) first?

Paul, despite the fact that he was a Jew, believed that full participation in the Jesus movement did not depend on keeping Jewish law. Paul was trying to win an argument that might split the nascent Christian movement into little more than quarreling sects — the very opposite of the grand vision of a new humanity and new creation preached by Jesus.

It is important to remember that Paul wasn’t attacking Jews-in-general. He was angry at a faction of his co-religionists who (he believed) were putting unwarranted requirements on the new Gentile converts. He defended the newcomers, an outsider group, those not welcomed, and those marginalized for religious practices that the insiders deemed unclean or unworthy.

In effect, Paul was standing up for the religious “immigrants” to Christianity.

What was his answer to the problem? Welcome outsiders. Bring them into the community. Treat them as full citizens of God’s kingdom, siblings in the household of faith. Do not exclude others. Do not put unrealistic requirements on inclusion. Do not treat them cruelly.

Paul built his argument for inclusion on three points encapsulated in the three verses above:

• Solidarity (not division)

• Freedom (not slavery)

• Consequences (not insignificance)

Two weeks ago, Sunday Musings explored SOLIDARITY as the cosmic nature of things — the truth revealed in baptism — along with a paradoxical tension. Despite our created equality, the world has forced humanity into classes and hierarchies of fundamental inequality. That’s wrong. And it is in opposition to God’s intention for humankind.

Last week, we delved into Paul’s emphasis on FREEDOM. Jesus’ followers are completely free — and yet that freedom is and must be directed toward “neighbor love.”

Today, we hear about CONSEQUENCES. “You reap whatever you sow.”

Christianity is an oddball religion when it comes to sowing and reaping. In Matthew 6, Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.” On one hand, don’t give a mind to sowing or reaping — trust God’s generosity and provision. Don’t worry.

On the other hand, we hear these words from Jesus in Matthew 25, about the final judgment: “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me…. Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Actions matter. What you do now matters a great deal for the Age to Come.

Just like the former two statements in Galatians — the ones about solidarity and freedom — there’s a paradox. Solidarity seems impossible in this world, but it is the truth of who we are. Freedom seems to elevate the individual over community, but it is only in community that we are truly free. And today’s paradox: God is a a God of generosity and grace, but the way we treat others has consequences after this life for the life to come.

In effect, Paul said: Yes, I understand that this world is full of division and self-centered desires to the neglect of others. But, if you live according to “the flesh,” the world as it is, there will be consequences. Instead, live transformed by the Spirit — knowing the oneness of solidarity with all humanity and in the freedom of neighborly love. God is generous and gracious — and you must be, too. Imitate Jesus.

And the consequence of that? If you imitate solidarity, freedom, and generosity, the consequence is that you create solidarity, freedom, and generosity. You will know the fullness of the new creation, and peace and mercy will be your guides.

In these first weeks after Pentecost, the lectionary is leading us to understand that Pentecost is more than a miracle. It is more than a one-time event. And it is far more than a short-lived radical movement in the days and weeks immediately following Jesus’ death.

Pentecost is always at hand. When we press into solidarity with others, insisting that there are no boundaries between people. When we embrace the full freedom of giving ourselves to love our neighbors. When we recognize that what we do now matters for the years and decades to come. That’s when we step away from the cynicism of the world, of the flesh — and live according to the Spirit. It is not impossible. It can be paradoxical. It can seem hidden, elusive. But, through his angry, pleading, insistent screed, Paul outlined — for us — his moral trinity of Pentecost life:

• There is no Jew or Greek, no slave or free, no male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

• For freedom Christ has set us free … through love become slaves to one another.

• You reap what you sow … So let us not grow weary in doing what is right.

That’s the Book of Galatians. The oldest — and maybe most oddly contemporary — of all Paul’s letters.

And to which I add only one thing, "They who have ears to hear, let them hear."

I hope the message is loud and clear.

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INSPIRATION

Light weaves through
the bottom leaves
of the peach trees
and the world is changed
from what it was.
What was it before?
Darker, for sure. And
moving toward the hem
of one more miracle,
if light is a miracle,
which surely it is.

*

Earlier this morning
I walked into an earlier
slant of the same miracle
as I made my way
through the peaches
to the garden to turn
on the sprinkler heads.
As the light washed
my bare legs there
were no thoughts of
not good enough.
Only a pleasure
in feeling the glow,
not yet warm.

*

The peaches, today
they are ripe, after
months of growing
from bud to blossom
to green to the full
round blush of peach.
Tomorrow will be too
late, they’ll be too ripe
for picking. It is today.
It is today.

*

What in us must
be reaped today,
is there something
at the edge of ripeness
profound with its own
sweetness, something
that will be lost
if we do not
come to it now?

*

I have walked into
the house, to my corner,
to the cushion in the shadow
where I close my eyes and
breathe until my body
is mine and not mine
anymore. There
are no peaches, here,
no water, no answers
no light. It is dark
and getting darker
and miraculous,
if dark is a miracle,
which surely it is.
— Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, “Everywhere a Prayer”

If I were back in Gdańsk, I wouldn’t be friends
With a new girl either.
If I still had Magdalena
To copy homework from
And sit with at lunch,
I'd ignore a new girl too,
Like we snubbed Alexsandra who stood
Far enough away
To be discreet.
Close enough to be invited.

We just ignored her.

We played tennis, pretended not to notice
She was holding a racket and
Wearing shorts with pockets.
Why did we do that?

But we weren’t mean to her.
We didn’t whisper and laugh,
Avoid touching her in case we caught something.

We simply ignored her.
— Sarah Crossan, “Karma”

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LAST DAY FOR DISCOUNT ON SOUTHERN LIGHTS!

Each January, Brian McLaren and I host the Southern Lights Conference on St Simons Island, GA. This year’s theme is: Wisdom From the Edge, When the Center Cannot Hold. Our speakers include Jemar Tisby, Jennifer Harvey, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, and Rabbi Or Rose.

Join us January 23-25 in person or virtually.

Click here for information and registration: Southern Lights Conference.

📣 Cottage readers can receive at 15% discount on in-person and/or virtual registrations now until July 7.

Use the discount code: Cot26Sub when you register.

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