David Bahn – Reflections

Several decades ago my aunt died very unexpectedly. She was much loved and it was a shock for the family and their many friends. I remember visiting with my uncle and sharing the Easter sermon I was going to preach as a lay reader that coming Sunday. It was well-intentioned on my part. But I may have failed to acknowledge the pain and loss he was experiencing at the time. Truly, her eternal hope was being realized, and she was with Jesus. But he had a lot of life to live then and there.

I remember how my mom spoke of missing my dad so severely. She lost him too soon; he was only 64 at the time of his death. And she lived for nearly 30 years after he died. She never doubted her eternal destiny. But life in the meantime was full of challenges, blessings, opportunities, and pain.

How do you live today in light of our eternal hope? What does it mean to acknowledge that we have been saved and yet we’re not in heaven just yet?

This is what Paul is speaking of here when he writes, “For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.” He is acknowledging that daily life is not a matter of ritualistic religion, but of daily faith working itself out in love. We’re commanded to love God above all things, and love our neighbor as ourselves. That’s not a matter of focusing on proper religious rituals, but of living in daily repentance and faith according to our calling. 

I think of John the Baptizer who was asked by crowds, tax collectors, and soldiers what they should do if they were living unto God. His answer: share with those in need, treat people honestly and fairly, and don’t use your power to intimidate or take advantage of others.

Living unto God is more than a two hour Sunday morning stint. It’s everyday life in humility, hope, kindness, mercy, and love. It’s a reflection of the way Jesus lived. And it is a life free from condemnation because he lived it perfectly and has secured our eternal salvation.

It’s all about Jesus. At times it’s sin and grace. Occasionally it’s repentance and faith. But it’s never “You are an Overcomer!” Or how to become a millionaire by giving generous offerings. Nor even “Why should you support Israel in their war against Hamas.”

But sometimes I almost feel guilty – like I’m a one-trick pony. But it is true: I’m pretty much a one-trick pony when it comes to preaching. In fact my son, decades ago offered me what he thought was a helpful insight into my preaching. “Dad,” he said, “whenever you preach, no matter the text or the topic, you always end up talking about Jesus.” I had to explain to him that was intentional. That is the center of our theology, the ground of our hope, and the basis for our life here and now.

But when I read Paul’s letter to the Galatians I almost wonder about his penchant for talking about justification by grace through faith. He is going to great lengths to set this foundation for his ongoing message to them. There is more to come. But none of it will make any sense apart from understanding that we are all justified by God’s grace through faith. Jew. Gentile. Slave. Free. Male. Female. Young. Old. We are all justified by something outside of us. I should say someone other than we ourselves.

Some say this article of faith is outdated and irrelevant to modern men and women. But I say we’re all wanting to be justified in any way other than by grace through faith. I want to make sure you understand my decision to buy that new lens is a good a just decision. You want to be certain your choice of car is appropriate. We all want to make our votes count and show just cause for how we voted.

It even flows to our prayers. We want to be sure our prayers are reasonable and good. We want to ask things in just the right way. We want to know we’re not being selfish when we pray.

These are good things, but what if we could act, vote, buy, and pray with the best of motives possible and leave it to God to sort out what is good and not. And what if we took his answers as they are without question because we actually believe God is good and trustworthy, gracious and loving?

What if we could live with a deep sense of peace knowing that we’re right with God because of his decision not our own? We are right with God by his grace and goodness, not our sincerity or intent to do good.

Paul died to the law so that he could be alive to God. I want to join him there and celebrate now and throughout eternity his goodness, grace, faithfulness, justice, glory, and love. I hope you will join me there at the foot of the cross.

Now you be good.

I’d rather be right than good.

Behave yourself!

You don’t want me to have any fun.

How sad that we trivialize moral behavior by talking about being good in these terms. As Lutheran Christians we trend away from a simplistic understanding of good and evil. We recognize that evil is not merely a matter of being naughty. And we believe, as Jesus said, “Only God is good.”

So I’m a bit intrigued by Paul’s differentiation between himself, Peter, and Barnabas as Jews, and “not Gentile sinners.”  “Sinners” in this context reflects a traditional Jewish way of distinguishing Gentiles, but Paul redefines and universalizes the term. He is not name-calling, for we all need God’s grace. Truth is, we’re all sinners.

But there is also a delightful irony here. When Paul says, “We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners,” he is employing irony. The Jews, despite their privileged position under the covenant, also fall short and need the same justification through Christ as the Gentiles do. His ultimate point is that no one—Jew or Gentile—is justified by works of the law but only through faith in Christ.

No amount of law-keeping or good-being will avail before God. We’ll never find our place in the kingdom of God by any means other than faith in Christ.

I’ve been giving faith some thought lately. Mine wavers from bright hot to cold dark. Sometimes I’m strong in my beliefs and have few questions or doubts. Other times, the tiniest doubt can upend my confidence. But faith itself is not the point. The point is what is our faith in? In what or whom do we believe? It’s not a matter of having strong faith. It’s a matter of having a strong savior. It’s not our strength that connects us to God’s promises, but God’s faithfulness that gives us strength.

Paul will, in other places, make it clear that we are all sinners in need of God’s forgiveness and grace. He will also make it clear that God is the author of our faith; it’s his gift to us by the Holy Spirit. If we ask how good we must be to please God, to be saved, or to qualify for his love, the goal is far too high. If we ask how good, faithful, gracious and loving God is, we will also never fathom the height, depth, breadth, and length of those qualities.

We must ever keep that in mind.

The nearest I’ve experienced someone spying out my freedom is when I had a respectful conversation with a brother pastor about worship style. Several years ago I was serving a church that already had a contemporary style worship service. By today’s standards it was quite tame – for lack of a better word. My brother pastor in the same circuit was very committed to a traditional liturgical worship style. He and I met for lunch one day to talk it over. I quoted both Galatians 5 (“for freedom Christ has set us free”), and the Formula of Concord, article X (FCX) on church ceremonies. FCX says we will not condemn one church or another because it has fewer or more ceremonies than we do.

I asked him to allow me the freedom to worship in that contemporary style. He asked me to use the freedom I had to worship with the traditional Lutheran liturgy. We agreed to disagree. He later left The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. I went on to serve St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas.

During my tenure there we added a contemporary worship service, which we called NewSong. Whenever the issue of worship styles came up, I would say, “We don’t say, ‘Oh, you never know what crazy things those NewSong people are going to do.’ Nor do we say, ‘Those Majestic Grace people are so rigid…’” We acknowledged the validity of both styles, though there were some who would find it nearly impossible to cross over to the other style. There are some pretty strong preferences in regard to this issue.

The issue Paul faced in Galatia, however, was far more significant than that of worship style. It was fellowship requirements. These events happened either before the Jerusalem Council (cf. Acts 15) or possibly during that time. In either case, the issue would be solved at that council, and the requirement of the Gentile believers for fellowship in the early church was simply that they, “abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell” (Acts 15:29).

Fifteen hundred years ago Pope Leo and Johann Eck were proffering a brand of the Christian faith that said you had to buy your way into heaven. You could purchase indulgences for a loved on who was in Purgatory, or pay to have your sins forgiven. All this was touted as a means by which people expressed their thanks for absolution, or showed their love for a departed parent or grandparent.

A man by the name of Martin Luther began to stand up against such pollution of the gospel. He insisted that our salvation was a gift of God’s grace, received by faith alone, on account of Christ alone, as testified to by Scripture alone – all to the glory of God alone. Luther asserted a freedom from the tyranny of the Pope, and church traditions that had no basis in Scripture.

There may be those who wish to throttle our freedom. And sometimes it can become messy when we encounter different practices and preferences. But I stand on Augsburg Confession Article VII, which says in part, “And to the true unity of the Church it is enough to agree concerning the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments. Nor is it necessary that human traditions, that is, rites or ceremonies instituted by men, should be everywhere alike.” And I stand on Galatians 5:1, “It was for freedom that Christ has set us free.” Let no one spy out that freedom!

Pastor Stephen DeMik preached on giving thanks several years ago at St. John. I was impressed by his message – especially the point he made about giving thanks to God. In other words, it’s not enough simply to be thankful, we need to remember to whom we are to be thankful.

In these few verses we learn specifically who that God is: YHWH, (printed in English in all caps, as “the LORD,” and standing for the Hebrew יהוה {Yod, He, Waw, He}). This is the sacred holy name for God. Not only that, however, it is the personal name of God. It’s the name God revealed to Moses when he sent him to Egypt to free his people from Pharaoh. God has a name. He can be known. Today we call God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the three persons of the Holy Trinity. And Christians will want to name Jesus by name in their prayers of thanks.

I like, also, to remember the cause for thanksgiving. Years ago we offered people the opportunity to express thanks for the things they could touch, see, taste, feel, and smell. The list of things was delightful and enriching. There are so many things for which we must be thankful. List 10 or 25 or 50 today. But the initial reason offered here is because God is good. And because God is good, he has redeemed us. From far and wide, east, west, north, and south, we have been redeemed and brought near to God.

God is good all the time. He is the one rock of life and salvation. We may weave and wander. We may stumble and fall. But God is good all the time. All the time, God is good. Never wavering. Never slumbering. Always steady and true. And in his goodness and grace he has purchased and won us through Jesus’ death and resurrection. We belong to him. We have been saved. We are his – now and forever.

On this Thanksgiving day, thank God for his redemption, grace, and goodness and all the gifts you enjoy – all by his goodness and grace. All the time. Thanks be to God! In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The saying “Praise in public, correct in private” emphasizes the value of publicly affirming others to build confidence and morale while addressing critiques or sensitive issues in private to preserve dignity and respect. That second part, especially, is very much in line with Jesus’ instructions about confronting someone as recorded in Matthew 18. We must do it privately until there is no hearing possible.

There are some situations when it is necessary to go public with an issue of concern. In this case it was Paul confronting Peter to his face (and apparently in public) about his duplicity in dealing with Gentile believers. The issue wasn’t just about duplicity. It was about the impact and influence that Peter had on others in his behavior. Peter’s actions led the rest of the Jews to act “hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.” 

Even Barnabas: telling words. Barnabas was the one who introduced Saul to the other disciples shortly after his conversion. Barnabas was the son of encouragement who laid the proceeds from the sale of his property at the feet of the disciples. Barnabas was set aside with Saul for mission work from the church in Antioch. Now he was being led to believe that the Gentile believers would have to observe Old Testament laws in order to be in fellowship with the Christian Church.

So Paul gets loud and combative. “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” Don’t confuse them Peter! Don’t roll back God’s mission among the Gentiles because of your fears. This Gospel message is a message of freedom from an impossible task: obeying the Law in order to please God. 

Paul is setting the stage for his major point of this letter: It was for freedom that Christ has set us free (Galatians 5:1). If there needs to be a public conflagration in order to protect the truth of the Gospel so be it. Two dangers need to be avoided in this case. One is to make too little of issues that truly undercut the Gospel message. The other is to make every issue a major issue, setting aside Jesus’ clear teaching to go first to your brother or sister before taking things public.

In every case the issue is how we are to win the erring brother and make the Gospel message clear. For God’s ultimate desire is that the Gospel is proclaimed and his lost people are found.

The saying “Praise in public, correct in private” emphasizes the value of publicly affirming others to build confidence and morale while addressing critiques or sensitive issues in private to preserve dignity and respect. That second part, especially, is very much in line with Jesus’ instructions about confronting someone as recorded in Matthew 18. We must do it privately until there is no hearing possible.

There are some situations when it is necessary to go public with an issue of concern. In this case it was Paul confronting Peter to his face (and apparently in public) about his duplicity in dealing with Gentile believers. The issue wasn’t just about duplicity. It was about the impact and influence that Peter had on others in his behavior. Peter’s actions led the rest of the Jews to act “hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.” 

Even Barnabas: telling words. Barnabas was the one who introduced Saul to the other disciples shortly after his conversion. Barnabas was the son of encouragement who laid the proceeds from the sale of his property at the feet of the disciples. Barnabas was set aside with Saul for mission work from the church in Antioch. Now he was being led to believe that the Gentile believers would have to observe Old Testament laws in order to be in fellowship with the Christian Church.

So Paul gets loud and combative. “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” Don’t confuse them Peter! Don’t roll back God’s mission among the Gentiles because of your fears. This Gospel message is a message of freedom from an impossible task: obeying the Law in order to please God. 

Paul is setting the stage for his major point of this letter: It was for freedom that Christ has set us free (Galatians 5:1). If there needs to be a public conflagration in order to protect the truth of the Gospel so be it. Two dangers need to be avoided in this case. One is to make too little of issues that truly undercut the Gospel message. The other is to make every issue a major issue, setting aside Jesus’ clear teaching to go first to your brother or sister before taking things public.

In every case the issue is how we are to win the erring brother and make the Gospel message clear. For God’s ultimate desire is that the Gospel is proclaimed and his lost people are found.

• Forming: Team members get to know each other, set goals, and define roles.
• Storming: Conflict arises as people challenge ideas and each other.
• Norming: People resolve their differences, appreciate one another’s strengths, and respect the leader.
• Performing: The team works smoothly, showing high levels of efficiency, innovation, and autonomy. 

I’ve seen this at work when I help congregations with their strategic mission planning. The process is sometimes necessarily messy. Different ideas must be considered. Different approaches must be hashed out. Different understandings must be synthesized. The dross needs to be removed. The best ideas brought forth.

When it comes together well, by God’s grace and with his blessing, it’s a beautiful thing. But coming together isn’t a matter of arriving at a good plan. Coming together is a matter of people coming together to work together with Jesus in his mission. It is more than a product. It is a mission movement we seek.

This is what Paul is recalling here. Time in Jerusalem with the pillars of the church: Peter, James, and John yielded some clarity. But there was still storming and norming that had to happen. This was due in part to the radical change that was taking place as the new church was forming.

That which was initially Jewish was becoming multi-ethnic, multicultural, and multinational. This was a new wine in new wineskins moment. The old wineskins were being burst by the new wine of the Great Commission movement. The Gospel was going to the ends of the earth.

The Jerusalem church would never be the same. In the years to come the power centers of the Christian faith would be Rome, Constantinople, and Europe, and now we might look to sub-Saharan Africa as the center of power in the Christian Church. But make no mistake, the power there is not hierarchical. It is the power of the Holy Spirit, bringing more and more people to faith.

I once expressed my view about the mission of God by saying, “When it comes to the Mission of God, I’d rather have chaos than gridlock any day.” Chaos that leads to the salvation of more people, and the successful pursuit of God’s mission may not be pretty. But in a fallen world it is inevitable. And God has a way of working through fallen people to accomplish great things.