Pentecost 2C

Galatians 3:23-29

²³ Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. ²⁴ Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵ But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, ²⁶ for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.

²⁷ As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸ There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
²⁹ And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.

The Season of Pentecost

Fifty days of Easter concluded with the fire and wind of the Day of Pentecost, followed by Trinity Sunday—uniquely named after a doctrine rather than an event. Because God is triune or three-in-one, one-in-three, every Sunday is Trinity Sunday, but it's cool to have a special day to worship Trinity as mystery without trying to explain the unexplainable.

Now we're into the half-year long segment of Ordinary Time when we count Sundays after Pentecost as the church really comes into its own.


Galatians

In culture and in geography, the church at Galatia was the first ethnic church. Biblically, they also were ethnos because they were gentiles. The words Galatia, Gaulle, Gaelic, Celt, Celtic all come from the same root.

In his letter to the Galatians the apostle Paul emphasizes the gospel of death and resurrection with its central theme of freedom. In Galatians Paul cautions us about human-made laws such as sacrifice, keeping kosher, and circumcision—what Paul usually means when he says "law." But in Galatians 3:23-24 he talks about law as the ten words (decalogue) or commandments of the Sinai covenant. Lutheran and Reformed theological traditions often cite three uses of the law/commandments:

• to draw people to Christ
• to convict us of sin
• to lead people to correct behaviors


Freedom from Sin and Death

There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28

My seminary professor who taught the Pauline Letters announced to the class, "This ain't Emancipation Proclamation!"

At the time of this letter, categories of Jew/gentile, male/female, slave/free were central in the Greco-Roman world. In the twenty-first century there still are Jews and Greeks, women and men and non-binaries, young and old, rural and urban, but Paul was referring to Jesus breaking down ranks of superior-inferior, better-lesser, worthy-unworthy.

As Paul also loves to remind us, because Jesus Christ has freed us from sin and death, we are free to live as servants to all. The NT uses two different words that translate into English as both servant and slave.


Juneteenth

With ever-increasing awareness of the history of chattel slavery in the USA and this week's commemoration of Juneteenth, interpreting Paul's announcement, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female; you are one in Christ Jesus," as an early emancipation proclamation won't fly, yet it still reflects Jesus' own behavior and his call to us to welcome, include, and appreciate everyone's unique gifts and style to create a community filled with rich diversity.


Bounded Freedom

As the Law and the Prophets and Jesus of Nazareth explain and teach, our freedom has limits and boundaries. It's not absolute, because we need to consider the impact of everything we do on our neighbor, who in turn must consider the impact of their actions on us (their neighbor).

In Galatians 3:23-24 Paul talks about law as the ten words or commandments.

A pair of common examples:

When the world began to open up during the covid pandemic, if you went to restaurants, concerts, or activities in public venues, you needed to show your vax card or stay home, although they didn't mandate vaccines.

After you get a license to drive a vehicle, you need to follow the rules of the road and learn different ones when you're in another state or country, because people need to trust they'll be safe walking or driving.

Civil laws, statutes, and expectations show us how to reverence God by attending to our neighbors' needs. In his Small Catechism, Martin Luther set a pattern for future interpretations by describing what each commandment forbids and then how we can act to fulfill each one.