Church jottings 2022-09-25

 Today's sermon from WSFC: the Gospel must be preserved

Galatians 2:1–10
Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. (ESV)

• At the beginning of service, Pastor Ian mentioned about missions. The best argument for missions is God's own character and missional activity; Jesus says "as God sent me, so I send you". The most empathic reason for someone in the U.S. to care about missions is that we are "the ends of the earth" when you stand near Jerusalem. We only know the gospel, hundreds of years and thousands of miles away, because faithful brothers and sisters brought the good news to our distant shores. Let's not let that end with us.
  
  
• God's Word is timeless, but we need to be careful not to separate texts from their historic background and purpose. The Holy Spirit certainly intended for us to find meaning in Galatians for ourselves, but Paul wasn't writing to us, he was writing to a particular people and context and problem. Much of that is relevant for us today (e.g. how do we know Paul preached the one true gospel), but it wasn't to our mindset and questions that he directly wrote. Let's not be egotistical.
  
  
• Pastor Trent emphasized that Paul had to wait and be prepared in Arabia for three years, and that we too often need prepared. This point, about waiting and not being overly anxious to get on with the work, hits home for me.
   
•  It's important not to conflate the good things we should do with what we must do to be with God (i.e. be saved). There are things we should do, not to earn love but because we are loved.
• Christians make lots of mistakes, and our standing before God, His love for us, does not rise and fall with those mistakes. Repentance is measured and known because of a baseline impulse to recognize sin as sin, confess, apologize, and try again. It is not measured by success at doing better and not needing to do the above all over again.
• I need to repent to my kids about not showing this well, and I need to find ways to communicate this to them. We want to strive for better, but messing up again doesn't ruin everything.
•  Doing good and loving things (e.g. caring for the poor in v.10) is not adding to the Gospel; it is the life that flows out of it. It's not "you have to do this, or you're not saved." It is "my heart is new and wants to love people and honor God... how do I do that?" (This has frequently come up in regards to evangelism. We don't need to be told yet again to do it, we need training on how.)
  
• Jesus + nothing = everything (not original to me). Jesus + something means you're a slave to whatever that something is (law/works/etc.). Jesus + nothing means I'm only a slave to Jesus, and He's a much better Master than anything else, including me.
  
  
• Something to wrestle with: Is targeting our ministries at times/places where it's easiest for people to change (e.g. college ministry) a mark of doubting the power of God to change people at less-than-opportune times? Not knocking college ministry (I've been amazingly helped by them), but where's my heart when I think through this?
  
  
• Justification is only part of / one analogy of salvation and what we are saved to. The resurrection is as important as the cross: epistemology, relationship, hope, all derive from a risen Savior and King.
  
  
• "God shows no partiality" is part of the good news, too. It doesn't matter where or to whom I was born, etc. God shows grace regardless of all those things that divide humanity.
• This is a good part of our country (at least it's ideals). Someone had a book about American history, "Boston Revolts!", and I wrestle a lot with how political revolution could fit in a Christian worldview. Our history (and everyone's) is full of the good, the bad, and the complicated. More on that some other time.
   
• Evangelism isn't my responsibility to save everyone I can by my own means/power. It is God using me to proclaim the Gospel to all, then He will save His own.
  
  
• I want to keep working on my side project essay collection/book on forgiveness. I've been thinking a lot about the part on when is forgiveness complete and what really defines it, and particularly the role of repentance in that and reconciliation. Need to remember Acts 11:18, that God gives "repentance that leads to life", so repentance is an important and necessary part of how God forgives and reconciles. 
  
  
• I need to check out a timeline of the NT and how various events fit together (e.g. Paul's time in Tarsus, Barnabas's initial visit to Antioch, their famine relief effort and collection, the Jerusalem council, etc.). Inspired by the timing of the events described in today's text.
  

 

Rebooting

Every week after church, I find my sermon notes sheet filled with stuff. Some of it relates directly to the sermon; some spins off indirectly from there. Some ideas are inspired by song lyrics, and others are seemingly at random. But there they are, myriad ideas that lay on a page, most of which will collect dust until they finally end up in a trash bin.

It's been quite a long time since I posted anything here. I've often let the perfect be the enemy of the good, and the work of a well-refined essay has daunted me, obstructing me from posting anything at all. I'd like to get to the really good, but I have to start somewhere, and I've been told that anything worth doing is worth doing poorly (at least to get started). 

So for now, I'm going to be posting these jottings, and maybe expand on one or two in long-form if I feel up to it. Maybe they'll help someone else reading here, if anyone notices. But at least this'll be a step in the right direction for me, and maybe in time, by God's grace, some good will come from it. Either way, here we go...