Galatians 2:15-21
Proper 6 (11) - Year C
Prelude to this passage — verses 11-14 — is good old hypocrisy. It remains alive and well as there remains much fear on which it is based. It is still important to both oppose it in others and have it opposed in one’s self.
“Live by the law, die by the law” is still a rallying cry from those on the margin who most quickly feel the force of law, absent any grace. Eventually even the most callous begin to recognize there is an evolution going on that is leaving them behind. When finally extinction of privilege is recognized by the privileged, it is usually too late to do anything but hunker down, plug your ears, and la-la-la-la-la.
So how do you image Christ? Lawyer or Teacher? Sovereign or Partner? Enforcer or Friend? Binder or Beloved?
Your choice will determine your ability to notice hypocrisy and not buy into it. Depending on your choice it will be harder or easier to reduce hypocrisy in your own life. Blessings on choosing to be included and to include.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2013/06/galatians-215-21.html
Interesting footnote in the NRSV: "...we might be justified by faith in Christ" or "...we might be justified by the faith of Christ."
This is part of the eternal tension between responsibility and authority. So often we split these two apart and set up failure. We give responsibility without authority or authority without responsibility. In losing the connection between the two we end up sinning in one direction or another.
Play with these for awhile. Are you drawn to one phrasing or the other? What is a link between them?
This almost feels like an optical illusion that flips back and forth between foreground and background - which way do the steps go? Is it a crone or a damsel? Where is the focus put? On what is the action based?
- - -
Karen (Reader)
In a New Testament class in seminary we explored this very nuance. It seems to be an agency question of sorts. If I am justified, reckoned as righteous, because of faithfulness in Christ, then it is about me, my action, first. If I am justified, reckoned righteous, because of the faithfulness of Christ, of God's action in Christ, the action to which I respond as my faith becomes known, God's action has priority.
In some ways, I draw a parallel to believer's or infant baptism. Who is the actor in each scenario? Is there an actor? Both textual interpretations require my action, but as I read, I see a priority, perhaps only implied.
There could be pluralistic implications to this as well, if taken out far enough, whether one perceives the salvific natural of Christ to be exclusive or inclusive. I'll have to pull out that paper, preferably the graded one, with the instructors comments.
I have to play in my mind with the notion of authority and responsibility, as I haven't really thought of it in those exact terms.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2004/june2004.html
"For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God."
We all seem to have our limits. There are litmus tests that we put all around ourselves to see if we are still the person we used to be.
Where in our limits can we find the freedom of G*O*D? Where is the "crack in the cosmic egg" (good book) that offers the option to move forward?
How about such restatements as:
... through United Methodism I died to United Methodism, so that I might live with God
... through America I died to America, so that I might live with God
... through the Economy I died to the Economy, so that I might live with God
... through my Sexuality I died to my Sexuality, so that I might live with God
... through Cultural/Societal Mores I died to Cultural/Societal Mores, so that I might live with God
... through Ethics I died to Ethics, so that I might live with God
What have you been holding on to more tightly than living with G*O*D?
Is this a helpful model to assist us in moving beyond the fear and suffering of our well-defended limits? ...
... through _____ I died to _____, so that I might live with God!
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2004/june2004.html
It seems to be possible to be greedy for justification in the same way we can be greedy for a fruit of the spirit. So we can always have it on our mind. We pray for it and search it out and work to have it evidenced in our life. We will even gather others around us to call our desire to us.
Yet the arrival of justification cuts our desire from underneath. What was our big deal all about anyway, Alfie?
Wherever a vision of a larger perspective comes from ("law", Christ, ginseng extract, or Princess Bride "true love") it leads to other larger perspectives. It is this interconnectedness, not our birth order or perceived status, not what someone else does for us, that orients, makes sense of, or justifies our work at this moment. All the authority needed to proceed is present. Grace, in whatever form, now leads us beyond our initial greed.
- - -
faith-based living
leads to new laws
justifying in small ways
our faith circling
back on itself
grace-based living
leads to new lands
exploring alternatives
beyond established boundaries
into what's next
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html
It is amazing what a change can come from shifting one little word to another. In 16a it is important to note that the usual translation of "faith in Jesus" (making it our work to believe) is more accurately translated "faith/faithfulness of Jesus" (carrying us with him as he draws near to G*D, regardless of any privilege or disability we might happen to bring along). For those into such things, this change from an objective to subjective case is much more important than it might seem on first blush. You can find out much more about this at the Girardian Lectionary site - move down the page to the Galatians section.
This begins to put a new light on justification and helps Paul end simply with a subjective relationship with G*D through grace.
The web site Faith Futures: Jesus Then and Now brings us another word regarding this shift:
"The case for the less familiar translation is strengthened when we notice that in Romans 4, where we find similar ideas and terms used by Paul, the salvation flowing to the Jews on the basis of Abraham's faithfulness is contrasted with the faithfulness flowing to all people on the basis of Jesus' faithfulness."
This raises a significant question for those who profess to follow Jesus' Way and are charged by the Spirit to do even greater inclusion. Jesus appears to expand grace to Gentiles (including all people). What will be brought into a new relationship with G*D because of your faithfulness? Creation?
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2010/06/galatians-215-21.html