Royal Heirs

Gal. 3:23-29, 5:4-6

We come this morning to the body of Paul’s letter to the churches of Galatia. Remember that he is writing to address concern that they, as Gentiles who have accepted Christ, have not done enough to be in right relationship with God. Someone or some group has created concern for them that they need to convert to Judaism in order to follow the Messiah, to be circumcised and to follow all of the rules, rituals, and customs.

In a nutshell, Paul’s response is that all of the history of the Jews with God has been in anticipation of the Messiah, and the rules, rituals, and customs were preparatory. Now that the Messiah has come, circumcision as a sign of belonging has been replaced by baptism, which is available to all. The law has been fulfilled. Paul says it was like we were children and the law was our nanny, placed to accompany us and guard us, and to confine us, to hem us in and form faithfulness. Now, because of the faithfulness of Christ, we are no longer under the nanny’s tutelage. “For when the time of fulfillment arrived, God sent out his son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that he might redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as heirs. And because we are heirs, God sent out the spirit of his son into our hearts, calling out “Abba! Father!” Paul isn’t suggesting that we call God Abba Father. He is suggesting that we call God Abba, and then he translates it for the Galatians, “Father!” Abba is the Aramaic term for Daddy that gets picked up by Hebrew as a tender way for a beloved child to call their father. We see Abba in the New Testament only 3 times. Here, in his letter to the church in Roman Paul makes essentially the same declaration, “the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” And in the Garden of Gethsemane, as Jesus prays, “Abba, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Because of Jesus’s faithfulness, we have been adopted as heirs, we are children of the most high God. Now, from deep within ourselves we cry out to God, “Abba!” We are all heirs, and there is no distinction in the Will for first-borns or for status in the household, or for being one of the boys…no longer is their Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female…those were the major categories in 1st Century to decide who is “in” and who is “out,” who gets the privileges and who does not.

Rather than accepting that now they are adopted as heirs, brothers and sisters of the King, of equal inheritance with Jesus, these Gentile converts are trying to be “in” by becoming part of the “in” crowd, converting to Judaism. And Paul says you are essentially rejecting Jesus and choosing to be cared for by the law again, essentially to have a paid nanny, who keeps you from hurting yourself. You are rejecting the invitation to come close to God, to have that trusting, loving relationship with a parent that you know and love and who knows and loves you. You are missing out on true freedom of peace that comes from knowing that the One True God knows everything about you, loves you, and calls you “My Child” and the assurance that there is nothing you can do about it is so powerful that all you want to do is please your Abba.

N.T. Wright points out that this is not the easier of the two options. Community is not easy for us, laying down the struggle for power is not easy for us, giving up measures for comparison is not easy for us, eliminating lines of division is not easy for us…I can remember the day I realized that the lines on a map are not actually drawn on the earth…but, how do we know who belongs where, my six-year old understanding wanted to know. Richard Rohr describes Christianity as a life-style, “a way of being in the world that is simple, non-violent, shared, and loving. However, we made it into an established ‘religion’ (and all that goes with that) and avoided the lifestyle change itself. One could be warlike, greedy, racist, selfish and vain in most of Christian history, and still believe that Jesus is one’s ‘personal Lord and Savior’…,” Rohr says, “The world has no time for such silliness anymore. The suffering on Earth is too great.” Why would we do that, though? N.T. Wright says, “It’s easier to rule your life by the old line-up of options: racial or tribal identity, geographical or territorial loyalty, the demands of money, sex, and power. It’ much harder to follow the God revealed in Jesus and the spirit, and to learn true freedom, true humanness, in the fellowship of other followers.” But to deny the offer of the option of community is to deny our place as royal heirs, to deny Jesus, and to deny God’s will.

Just as Abraham believed and it was counted to him for righteousness, what matters for us is faith, working through love. Following Jesus does not force us to follow the law in order to be in relationship with God. It frees us to know and love God now and to be assured that God knows and loves us now, which motivates us to prepare for God’s coming kingdom, when sin will be no more and creation will flourish the way God intended. Paul writes, “We are waiting eagerly” in other letters he compares it to a woman giving birth…the world is in the midst of labor pains. But I think the metaphor goes deeper than just the pain. When you are in labor, you can’t help but push…as much as it might hurt…you know the outcome and you can’t wait and you don’t want to be where you are in that moment, but you are so grateful for it and hopeful for what is being birthed. And you are not in control. That is why circumcision or uncircumcision don’t matter anymore…it’s not up to us…God is in control. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the convictions of things not seen. Like Abraham, we are invited on this journey, this process of going from here to there, of birthing, of following God, without knowing how to get there or when we will get there. It’s not about doing enough; no accumulation of good deeds will create God’s beloved community. Righteousness cannot be attained by human achievement; the world will be set right by God.

We, as royal heirs, brothers and sisters of Jesus the King of Creation, are invited to believe, to be part of the birthing process, and be the recipients. And with the gift comes hope, and with hope, like parents waiting for a baby, comes preparation. “Faith, working through love” and it is not once and for all, it is a life-long process of learning to live by the spirit of Jesus rather than the instincts of our humanity.

The marks of that spirit-filled life are the signs of who is in and who is out, not who is circumcised and who is not. Next week we turn to those marks, the fruits of the Spirit.