Justification by Faith (Galatians series)

(1 Kings 21.1-21 Galatians 2.15-end Luke 7.36-8.3)

170607 Trinity 2 Year C East Pinchbeck

Comment after Drama:

Not exactly Rumpole of the Bailey. More like Rum Do at the Bailey. Imagine it was you in the dock. The Prosecutor reads out the accusations. How embarrassing would that be. How dreadful!. The jury bring in the verdict—Guilty, guilty, guilty … Without Christ, you and I are as guilty as sin! We haven’t a hope in hell! They might as well strap us to the chair right now. It’s no pleading Not Guilty. You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool God any of the time. The only resort is to plead guilty. We all need a Saviour. The evangelist Rico Tice says, “You can’t recognise who Jesus is until you recognise who you are.” You can’t expect to find a Saviour until you realise that you need a Saviour. Remember the 2 thieves who were crucified alongside Jesus? One was a clever dick who even in that desperate situation refused to see what deep trouble he was in. The other recognised what he was, a sinner who deserved to die, and he was able to recognise who Jesus was and ask for his mercy: “remember me when you come into your kingdom”. Jesus assured the wretched man that he would be with Jesus in paradise. So don’t think to yourself “Well I’m as good as the next man” or “at least I’m not as bad as old …>“. Much better (quoting Paul to Timothy) “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief”.

Talk:

“He loved me and gave himself for me.” The passage we heard from Paul’s letter to the Galatians is perhaps the first ever writing down of what the Church has come to refer to as “justification by faith”. The words make it sound complicated and difficult to understand. All it means is “He loved me and gave himself for me.” The word “justify” is a legal term meaning the person on trial is declared not guilty and deserves all the privileges of someone who hasn’t broken the law at all. And this is what we saw in our law court drama.

But the cross is not just a matter of the law, an exercise in mercy versus justice, a kind of legal ace of trumps like Portia played in the law court scene in The Merchant of Venice. “He loved me and gave himself for me”. No, that speaks of arms outstretched in love, of a heart bursting for love, of the self-giving of love to the feckless and undeserving, to you and to me.

The Galatians had got it all wrong and Paul was narked with them—and not just a bit! They had heard of the saving love of Christ, and had responded in faith and commitment. But now they were making out that to be a “proper” Christian you had to keep the Jewish law, be circumcised and keep yourself apart from non-Jews. Nonsense, says Paul, you stupid wallies! Actually, though, although you might smile, it’s very easy for us to fall into the same trap ourselves.

We all want to be liked and accepted – by our family, our workmates, by the people of the church, by God. Often people only accept us if we are good-looking, clever, wealthy or powerful, so we work hard to project the right image. Unconsciously perhaps, it is easy to transfer this attitude to God, thinking we need to earn his acceptance. If only we could live better, pray more, witness to more people … In Galatians, Paul challenges this sort of thinking. He says it’s futile to try to earn God’s acceptance because we are already accepted in Christ, through what he has done for us. The message of Galatians should free us from a sense of guilt or inadequacy.

If we are “justified” in God’s eyes by keeping the law, or living a good life, then Jesus died for nothing. What we see at the cross is God’s unconditional love for us. All we can do is say Thank You!

In my secular job I’m a teacher and one of my roles is as 6th form tutor. I have to help the students find a suitable place at university. A student finds somewhere they would like to study and then they will get one of three possible responses. Either a Rejection—they can’t go. Or a Conditional offer—they can go there if they can 2 A grades and a grade B perhaps; in this case the student has to earn their place. Or sometimes they will be given an Unconditional offer– in other words the university want them just as they are. If a student gets an Unconditional offer they are often flummoxed “what do I have to do?” they will ask. “Nothing I tell them. Just accept it. Get on board”. Of course there is a time limit, if they haven’t accepted by a certain date it can be too late. And so with God’s unconditional love to us.

Simon the Pharisee thought he was quite a good chap really, at any rate a lot better than that prostitute who Jesus allowed to grovel all over his feet. But Simon was a sinner just the same. His sins were sins of omission—lack of love, lack of respect, lack of affection, compassion, and Jesus found him cold, legalistic and self-righteous. None of us want to be like that. But it can be difficult to accept unconditional love. If I were to sell my house and just give you all the money from it because I thought you needed it, you’d probably say “you shouldn’t have …” or “oh no, I couldn’t possibly accept that”. Some of us find it difficult enough even to accept a lift to the supermarket! When you say to yourself “I must try to be a better Christian,” to earn God’s acceptance, then it’s as though you were saying to Jesus “you shouldn’t have …” “you shouldn’t have died on the cross for me—I couldn’t possibly accept a sacrifice like that”. It must break God’s heart when we think like that!

There’s nothing you or I can do to earn our salvation—the only response that God wants from you is that of the woman with the jar of anointing oil: a heart overflowing with the knowledge of your own unworthiness and the amazing uniqueness and love of your Saviour Jesus. Simon the Pharisee could see the truth of what Jesus was saying when he told the story of the two debtors, but he couldn’t or wouldn’t apply it to his heart. Let’s pray for God to soften our hearts so that we can accept with simple gratitude his unconditional love for us and be ready to pour out our thankfulness at the feet of Jesus. Amen.