Pastor Steve Richards

We all must be obedient to something or someone. As we enter the final chapters of Deuteronomy (and the close of the Pentateuch – five books of law), Moses makes clear that the renewal of Israel is possible. After forty years of wandering in the wilderness, God’s covenant remains. The question is whether the people will remain true to the covenant as they enter the Promised Land. Obedience will result in great blessing. Disobedience is really not an option as we read through the curses. Who would want what chapter 29 describes? But the choice is before them. They can abandon God and the covenant, as some among them no doubt are doing, or they can keep the covenant and remain loyal to the LORD as God.

We have a similar choice each day. Will we remain loyal to God? If so, we follow in the ways of God. Whatever we choose has consequences. Paul says: People reap what they sow. Those who sow to please their sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; those who sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:7-9)

I can be impatient about the results. As I get older I gain a perspective that helps me to see what has been sown in my life as a result of the loyal I have given to the one I have chosen to obey.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.

Ahhhhhh… Finally a message that begins to resonate within me. If Christianity was all law, I don’t know that I could bear it. Galatians 5:6 is a welcome gift. The one thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. There are times when I think laws would be easier. If everything was clear cut – do this, do that, yes, no, right, wrong, bad, good – I have days when that seems simpler. But Paul has me convinced. It would not be better, and I would never be faithful (did you read some of those laws!), never measure up to the law. Love is challenging and not simple, but it is freeing and uplifting and draws me ever closer to God.

Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heaven, to earth come down;

Fix in us thy humble dwelling; all thy faithful mercies crown!

Jesus, thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love thou art;

Visit us with thy salvation; enter every trembling heart.

Breathe, O breathe thy loving Spirit into every troubled breast!

Let us all in thee inherit; let us find that second rest.

Take away our bent to sinning; Alpha and Omega be;

End of faith, as its beginning, set our hearts at liberty.

Come, Almighty to deliver, let us all they life receive;

Suddenly return and never, nevermore thy temples leave.

Thee we would be always blessing, serve thee as thy hosts above,

Pray and praise thee without ceasing, glory in thy perfect love.

Finish, then, thy new creation; pure and spotless let us be.

Let us see thy great salvation perfectly restored in thee;

Changed from glory into glory, till in heaven we take our place,

Till we cast our crowns before thee, lost in wonder, love, and praise.

               (Charles Wesley, written in 1747)

I don’t know if this works for you but as I was reading Galatians I thought of instant coffee. Maybe it was because it was early and with the shift to Daylight Saving’s Time, it felt especially early. But there was a time in life when my coffee consumption consisted of instant. It was quick and easy – not so tasty, but I did not know that then. But then I was introduced to brewed coffee from beans freshly ground. It took more time. I had to wait longer for my coffee, and it cost more. But today, I don’t want it any other way. I don’t want to go back even if it will save time and money.

I don’t know if that is really a fair analogy. But Paul is asking why they would want to go back to a life and a faith controlled by laws after they have tasted freedom in Christ. Maybe they thought freedom was too good to be true. It may be easier to rule your life by racial identity, geographical or tribal allegiances, or the demands of money, sex and power. But is it better – really?

So you are no longer slaves, but God’s children; and since you are his children, he has made you also heirs. (Galatians 4:7) It may be harder to follow the God revealed in Jesus Christ and to learn true freedom and to live in the fellowship of other followers. But once you have tasted this new way, can you really go back to the old way?

God has acted. We have tasted. It is too good not to be true.

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Paul was frustrated and more than a little upset with the Christians in Galatia. We would need to live there to fully understand the emotion behind these words.

If you have been following this reading program through the Old and New Testaments, I hope you are beginning to understand. We’ve reached a section in Deuteronomy where my first words written in my journal are “Here we go again.” More laws with brutal punishments, often sexist by our 21st century perspective. Do I really want to read much more of this? And I think that’s the point. The law served its purpose, but the law is not our purpose.

Once Paul had moved on from Galatia, other teachers arrived who were emphasizing the necessity of serving the law. Paul was frustrated that the Galatians would listen to such teaching – a teaching that Paul had also embraced until his conversion. What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed (Christ) to whom the promise referred had come. (verse 19) So the law was put in charge of us until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. (verse 25)

It is easy to become legalistic. We all want a certain order and would like everyone around us to live according to that order. It seems that life would be easier if we had a rulebook (especially if I developed the rulebook!) to consult that would define right and wrong actions, standards of behavior, and consequences when the rules are broken. Easier as long as I am the law abiding, law enforcer. There was a time when I thought that’s why there was an advantage to being the Dad. Until my own children pointed out the inconsistencies in how I was applying the laws to my own life – and I had to realize there was a greater purpose in family life than laws.

The Old Testament was God-given, and remains part of Christian scripture – and Paul is not saying anything else. But because of the Christian story of God working in the lives of people from Abraham onward, the laws designed to set Israel apart and preserve it are now set aside. Not because the laws were bad or unnecessary, but they were good and effective and have now completed their task.

Today, my life purpose is faith in Jesus Christ. As Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Why should we listen to you? We all have received emails with information that is presented as true and authoritative. Maybe it even ends with a dare – “this is so shocking that I dare you to forward this to ten of your friends.” Maybe you have forwarded it only to find out later that it was an effort to spread false information or one person’s opinion presented as authoritative. Today, we can find almost anything on the Internet, but should we believe it just because it’s on the Internet? Or just because someone we know says it is true? Who should we listen to?

Among the first churches that Paul started was one in the city of Galatia. When Paul moved on, others arrived who told these new Christians that Paul was only a secondhand apostle. He was not one of the original twelve who followed Jesus. Can you really trust a secondhand apostle? They said, “You can’t trust what Paul said.” They planted the seeds of doubt and offered their own teaching that was more aligned with Jewish practices, i.e. one must become a Jew in order to be a Christian. So, Paul writes this letter to the Galatians, presenting his resume. In his opening words, he establishes the reason he can be trusted: sent not with a human commission nor by human authority, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.

And then Paul tells his story – how he came to faith, how his life was changed when called by Jesus Christ. What makes any of us worth listening to? When it is a matter of faith, it is not me but the one who called me and lives within me – only Jesus Christ, my Lord. May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14) Let it not be me but Christ through me.

What is your resume of faith?

Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb.  They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. (Mark 16:8)And with these words, Mark’s gospel concludes. It was probably not how it originally ended. Somehow the ending got lost. That any of the Bible survived the centuries is nothing short of miraculous. In time, two different endings were added to this chapter (some translations of the Bible only include one of the endings). Neither ending resembles the style of writing that we have come to know as Mark.

So, I’m reflecting on verse 8, realizing that if I had been there on the day of crucifixion and again on the third day when the tomb was empty I, too, would have been “trembling and bewildered”. What exactly happened on that Easter morning and how it happened is hard to explain. It would take a leap of faith – and it still does. We know the women eventually told others, otherwise how would I know what I know? Mark’s gospel gives us a description of disciples who did not understand and often failed to listen while Jesus was with them. It reminds me of the times when my own children were preschoolers and I thought they were not paying attention until at night as I tucked them into bed, I would get a question about something I had said, reminding me that they were, in fact, paying attention even when I wished they were not!

The disciples would go on to accomplish great things in the name of Christ (and very likely what is written in verses 9-20) – and so will we. If we have been listening at a level deeper than the words themselves – if we will allow the message of scripture to live within us, faith will flow from our hearts in times of need – whether that need is our own or our neighbor’s need.

The women went out and fled from the tomb. And I think that when they stopped running, they were overwhelmed with a deep sense of Christ, not dead but alive and living with them in a way that would never end. I know that, because that’s what I’ve experienced. Christ living in me.

I want to be satisfied. I think that’s a good place to be. It is also consistent with scripture. Whether it is what we’ve been reading in the Old Testament or the New Testament, we are promised a place in life where we will be satisfied. Call it the Promised Land or the Kingdom of God. So to be satisified and to seek to be satisfied is appropriate.

But then I read how Pilate wanted to satisfy the crowd (Mark 15:15). I read the chapters from Deuteronomy that describe how the people kept turning from God in order to satisfy themselves. Who do I want to satisfy?

What we are learning from scripture is that only in satisfying God do we find true satisfaction.Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God (Deuteronomy 8:11).

What do you do when the strong person in your life suddenly becomes weak? I’m not sure I can even imagine what the disciples felt as they watched Jesus being taken away. He had always been ready with a word or an action. Now he is warning them that they are going to collapse around him. But will they? Will we?

Each morning I write in a journal, highlighting certain verses of scripture that stand out as I am reading and then adding a question or comment to consider for the day. At the bottom of the page, the journal has this question: How will I be different today because of what I have just read? Above this question I have highlighted the verse from Mark 14:38 – The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. When I am living under God’s control, I am moving against my own human weakness.

My prayer for today is found in Psalm 43. Lord, send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me. For today, let this be so in my life.

What’s coming in the future? Jesus shares some very confusing and disturbing news about the future. There will be distruction (and in 70 AD, Roman will destroy Israel, killing everyone it can) and persecution (a generation later, Roman will torture and kill scores of Christians). We have the perspective of history to see what happens, but for the disciples they must have wondered what they had gotten themselves into.

What have we gotten ourselves into? Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. (Mark 13:31) In Psalm 36, I read: For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. And in Deuteronomy 4:9, God wants Moses to remember all that God has done throughout his lifetime: Do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live.

There is much about the future that is uncertain – the signs often look frightening. How many times have we read in scripture – do not be afraid. Yesterday, today, tomorrow, forever – the words of Christ will never pass away. I will place my hope and future in Jesus Christ.

What does it mean to be “not far from” something? In the reading from Deuteronomy, we have a review of history that was covered in earlier books. Moses and the people come to the edge of the Promised Land. They are not far from it but are afraid to go any further even with assurances from God that life will go well for them. They are not far but for those who were guided by fear, they will never come any closer to the Promised Land than “not far from it.”

I don’t want to live far from it. I want to experience it. I want to live in it. We often use the words “not far from” as an advantage – to live not far from work or school or family or the grocery store. When Jesus says, “You are not far from the kingdom of God,” (Mark 12:34), it sounds like it is within reach. It is an advantage but only if I will reach toward the kingdom of God. How is that possible? The greatest commandment – which interestingly enough is not new, it is found in Deuteronomy 6.

To know the right answer gets one close – not far from. To go the rest of the way, I must let what I know to be right to be reflected in my life. I want to live in the kingdom of God. What could I do today in my life to reach the Promised Land?